Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
Jehoshaphat slept with his feathers ... Jehoram ... reigned. The late king left seven sons. Two of them are in our version named Azariah; but in the Hebrew they appear considerably different, the one being spelled Azariah, and the other Azariahu. Though Jehoshaphat had made his family arrangements with prudent precaution, and while he divided the functions of royalty in his lifetime (cf. 2 Kings 8:16), as well as fixed the succession to the throne in his oldest son, he appointed each of the others to the government of a fenced city, thus providing them with an honourable independence. But his good intentions were frustrated. For no sooner did Jehoram find himself in the sole possession of sovereign power, than from jealousy, or on account of their connections, he murdered all his brothers, together with some leading influential persons, who, he suspected, were attached to their interest, or would avenge their deaths. Similar tragedies have been sadly frequent in Eastern courts, where the heir of the crown looks upon his brothers as his most formidable enemies, and is therefore tempted to secure his power by their death.