Jehoram of Judah

Jehoram of Judah (יהורם המלך) was the king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, and the son of Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 8:16).

Jehoram took the throne at the age of 32 (2 Chronicles 21:5). William F. Albright has dated his reign to 849 BC-842 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 848 BC-841 BC.

Jehoram formed an alliance with the kingdom of Israel by marrying Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. Despite this alliance with the stronger northern kingdom, Jehoram's rule of Judah was shaky. Edom revolted, and when Jehoram marched against this people, his army fled before the Edomites, and he was forced to acknowledge their independence. The town of Libnah revolted during his reign, according to the author of 2 Chronicles (21:10), because he "had abandoned Yahweh, God of his fathers."

"2 Chronicles" relates that a raid consisting of Philistines, Arabs and Ethiopians looted the king's house, and carried off all of his family except for his youngest son Jehoahaz (21:16f). After this, Yahweh caused Jehoram to suffer a painful inflammation of the abdomen, and his bowels came out and he died two years later (21:18f).

A name in Israel

"Jehoram", which was not used as a first name in traditional Jewish communities, due to the Bible's negative opinion of him, is at present a fairly common male name in Israel (usually, in the shorter form "Yoram" (יורם). Among others, it is the name of the well-known Israeli singer Yehoram Gaon.

In Israeli colloquial speech, "yoram" is often used as a disparaging term, with associations similar to "wimp" in American English. The reasons for this derivation, evident since the 1970s, are not clear.