Jotham

Three men in scripture bear the name Jotham. The youngest son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) survives the massacre at Ophrah and pronounces a curse on Shechem in the form of a fable. A king of Judah, son of Uzziah, reigns sixteen years in Jerusalem and is named in Matthew's Davidic genealogy. A descendant of Jahdai appears once in a tribal list of Caleb. The three accounts are unrelated except by the shared name; the bulk of the biblical material concerns the second.

Son of Gideon

Jotham is the youngest son of Jerubbaal — that is, Gideon — and the lone survivor of his half-brother Abimelech's purge. Abimelech "went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, on one stone: but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself" (Jud 9:5).

When Shechem makes Abimelech king, Jotham reappears on Mount Gerizim to indict the city. He calls down to its men, "Listen to me, you⁺ men of Shechem, that God may listen to you⁺" (Jud 9:7), and tells them a fable about the trees seeking a king. The olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine each refuse the throne — none will leave its useful work to "wave to and fro over the trees" (Jud 9:9, 11, 13). Only the bramble accepts, on terms of mutual incineration: "If in truth you⁺ anoint me king over you⁺, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon" (Jud 9:15).

Jotham's application is direct. If Shechem has dealt "truly and uprightly" with Jerubbaal's house in making Abimelech king, then "rejoice⁺ in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you⁺" (Jud 9:19). But if not, "let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech" (Jud 9:20). Having spoken, "Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother" (Jud 9:21).

The chapter closes by reporting the curse fulfilled: "all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God return on their heads: and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal" (Jud 9:57).

King of Judah — Accession

The second Jotham is a king of Judah, son of Azariah (also called Uzziah). His public service begins during his father's leprosy. The Kings account reports, "And Yahweh struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house. And Jotham the king's son was over the household, judging the people of the land" (2Ki 15:5). Chronicles gives the same picture: "And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land" (2Ch 26:21).

On Uzziah's death Jotham accedes. Kings notes the synchronism with Israel: "In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign" (2Ki 15:32). His place in the Davidic line is fixed in the Chronicler's genealogy — "Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son" (1Ch 3:12) — and carried forward into Matthew's: "Uzziah begot Jotham; and Jotham begot Ahaz; and Ahaz begot Hezekiah" (Mt 1:9).

King of Judah — Reign

The Chronicler frames Jotham's reign with both age and length: "Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok" (2Ch 27:1). The verdict on his conduct is favorable but qualified by a temple notice: "And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done: nevertheless he did not enter into the temple of Yahweh. And the people did yet corruptly" (2Ch 27:2). His abstention from the temple distinguishes his piety from his father's transgression there; the people's continuing corruption is also noted.

His reign is marked by building and military strength. "He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. Moreover he built cities in the hill-country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers" (2Ch 27:3-4). Against Ammon he prevails: "He fought also with the king of the sons of Ammon, and prevailed against them. And the sons of Ammon gave him the same year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the sons of Ammon render to him, in the second year also, and in the third" (2Ch 27:5).

The Chronicler's summary makes the cause explicit: "So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before Yahweh his God" (2Ch 27:6). Further acts and wars are referred to "the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah" (2Ch 27:7).

His death is recorded in both books. Kings: "And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead" (2Ki 15:38). Chronicles: "And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead" (2Ch 27:9). The transition to Ahaz, whose reign is treated harshly elsewhere in the records, is the immediate sequel.

Prophetic Setting

Jotham's reign anchors the dating formulas of three prophets. Isaiah's vision is "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (Is 1:1). Hosea is told "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel" (Ho 1:1). Micah comes "in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (Mi 1:1). Jotham's sixteen years are part of the period that produced these books.

Within Hosea's oracles to Israel during this same span, Yahweh's indictment of the northern kingdom describes the moral state contemporaneous with Jotham's southern reign: "Hear the word of Yahweh, you⁺ sons of Israel; for Yahweh has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land. Swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery are rampant; and blood is everywhere" (Ho 4:1-2). The Chronicler's note that "the people did yet corruptly" under Jotham (2Ch 27:2) sits alongside Hosea's harsher portrait of Israel in the same period.

Son of Jahdai

The third Jotham is named once, in a Calebite genealogy in the line of Judah: "And the sons of Jahdai: Regem, and Jothan, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph" (1Ch 2:47). UPDV's spelling here is "Jothan" rather than "Jotham"; the man is otherwise unknown.