Jotham (King of Judah)

The son and successor of Uzziah on the trone of Judah. As during his last years Uzziah was excluded from public life on account of his leprosy, his son, then twenty-five years of age, administered for seven years the affairs of the kingdom in his father's stead (2Chr 26:21ff; 2Chr 27:1). After his father's death he became sole monarch, and reigned for sixteen years (B.C. 759-743). He ruled in the fear of God, and his reign was prosperous. He was contemporary with the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, by whose ministrations he profited. He was buried in the sepulchre of the kings, greatly lamented by the people (2Kg 15:38; 2Chr 27:7ff).

Ruled from 740/39 to 732/31.

This entry includes text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897.

Son of Uzziah or Azariah; tenth king of Judah (751 to 735 B.C.). His father sacrilegiously offered incense in the Temple (2Chr 26:16ff) and was smitten with leprosy. He was thus compelled to dwell apart from the people, and for nearly fourteen years Jotham was regent, or, in reality, king over Judah. He inherited a strong government, well officered and administered. He himself is said to have built the upper gate of the house of Yhwh and to have avoided the rashnesswhich allowed his father to enter the Temple (2Chr 27:2). "He built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers." He also defeated the Ammonites, who paid him an immense annual tribute. His might is attributed by the Chronicler (2Chr 27:6) to his having "ordered his ways before Yhwh, his God."

But the increasing corruption of the Northern Kingdom began to permeate Judah, as is seen in the words of Isaiah and Micah. Hosea's references to Judah indicate also a lack of purity of life and worship under Jotham's reign.