Jotham of Judah
Jotham (
Yotam in
Hebrew "God is perfect or complete") was the king of
Judah, and son of
Uzziah with
Jerusha, daughter of
Zadok.
William F. Albright has dated his reign to
742 BC-
735 BC, while
E. R. Thiele offers the dates
740 BC-
732 BC. He is also one the kings mentioned in the
genealogy of Jesus in the
Gospel of Matthew.
Because his father Uzziah was afflicted with
tzaraas towards the end of his reign, Jotham was appointed royal steward. Because both
2 Chronicles (26:21, 27:1) and
2 Kings 15:33 state Jotham became king at the age of 25, scholars have concluded that Jotham became Stewart at 25, but upon his father's death sole king for 16 years. He is recorded as having built the Upper Gate of the
Temple of Jerusalem, and extended the "wall of
Ophel" (2 Chr. 27:3).
The author of
2 Kings mentions that he fought wars against
Rezin, king of the
Arameans, and
Pekah, king of
Israel (15:37). The account of
2 Chronicles adds an account of his victory over the
Amorites, which resulted in the Amorites paying him tribute of 100
talents of silver, and 10,000
kors each of wheat and barley (27:5).
He was contemporary with the prophets
Isaiah,
Hosea, and
Micah, by whose advice he benefited.
