Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

The daughter of Ahab was his wife - This was the infamous Athaliah; and through this marriage Jehoshaphat and Ahab were confederates; and this friendship was continued after Ahab's death.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And he walked in the way of the king's of Israel, as did the house of Ahab,.... Imitated them in idolatry:

for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; whose name was Athaliah, 2 Kings 8:26, and by her he was drawn into idolatrous practices; of such bad consequence are marriages with idolaters; it is very much that so good a king as Jehoshaphat his father was should contract such an affinity; he suffered for it in more instances than one:

and he did evil in the sight of the Lord; was guilty of idolatry, than which nothing was more displeasing to the Lord; for he made high places, and compelled his subjects to commit idolatry, 2 Chronicles 21:11.

Geneva Study Bible

(l) The Holy Spirit shows by this the danger of joining with infidels.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

daughter of Ahab — Athaliah, through whose influence Jehoram introduced the worship of Baal and many other evils into the kingdom of Judah (see 2 Chronicles 21:2-20). This apostasy would have led to the total extinction of the royal family in that kingdom, had it not been for the divine promise to David (2 Samuel 7:16). A national chastisement, however, was inflicted on Judah by the revolt of Edom, which, being hitherto governed by a tributary ruler (2 Kings 3:9; 1 Kings 22:47), erected the standard of independence (2 Chronicles 21:9).

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

He walked — After his father's death.

The daughter — Athaliah. This unequal marriage, though Jehoshaphat possibly designed it as a means of uniting the two kingdoms under one head, is here and elsewhere noted, as the cause both of the great wickedness of his posterity, and of those sore calamities which befel them. No good could be reasonably expected from such an union. Those that are ill matched are already half-ruined.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Kings 8:18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

Ver. 18. For the daughter of Ahab was his wife.] That wicked woman Athaliah, who drew him to her father’s courses.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, after his father’s death. The daughter of Ahab; Athaliah, 2 Kings 8:26. This unequal marriage, though Jehoshaphat possibly designed it as a mean of uniting the two kingdoms under one head, and in the true religion, is here and elsewhere noted as the cause both of the great wickedness of his posterity, and of those sore calamities which befell them.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

18.For — Introducing the reason or special cause why Jehoram walked in the way of the kings of Israel.

The daughter of Ahab was his wife — Her name was Athaliah. Compare 2 Kings 8:26. This marriage was probably arranged and brought about by the parents of the parties, but it was the source of untold woes to the kingdom of Judah. It was the cause of Jehoram’s walking in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s marriage with Jezebel was instrumental in introducing Phenician idolatry into the northern kingdom. A comparison of ages given in 2 Kings 8:17; 2 Kings 8:26 shows that this marriage was consummated at an early age, for Joram’s youngest son, Ahaziah, was born when he was only eighteen years old, and he had other sons. See 2 Chronicles 21:17.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

2 Kings 8:18. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel — That is, after his father’s death. For the daughter of Ahab — Namely, Athaliah, 2 Kings 8:26; was his wife — By whom he was seduced from the religion of his pious father and grandfather. This unequal marriage, though Jehoshaphat possibly designed it as a means of uniting the two kingdoms under one head, is here and elsewhere noted, as the cause both of the great wickedness of his posterity, and of those sore calamities which befell them. No good could be reasonably expected from such a union. Those that are ill matched are already half ruined.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Achab, Athalia. She led her husband into all wickedness. (Tirinus) (2 Paralipomenon xxi.)

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

as = according as.

daughter of Ahab. Compare 2 Kings 8:26. See App-55.

did evil. Compare 2 Chronicles 21:2-4.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

Daughter of Ahab - Athaliah, through whose influence Jehoram introduced the worship of Baal and many other evils into the kingdom of Judah (see 2 Chronicles 21:2-20). This apostasy would have led to the total extinction of the royal family in that kingdom, had it not been for the divine promise to David, (2 Samuel 7:1-29.) A national chastisement, however, was inflicted on Judah by the revolt of Edom, which, being hitherto governed by a tributary ruler (2 Kings 3:9; 1 Kings 22:47), erected the standard of independence (see the notes at 2 Chronicles 21:9).

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) In the way of the kings of Israel.—This is further explained by the following clause, “As did the house of Ahab,” or rather, to wit, as the house of Ahab acted, i.e., Jehoram, as son-in-law of Ahab and Jezebel, lent his countenance to the cultus of the Tyrian Baal. Under the influence of his wife Athaliah, as it may be surmised, Jehoram slew his six brothers directly after his accession to the throne (2 Chronicles 21:4). In this connection the remarks of Michaelis are interesting: “In the reign of Jehoram falls the building of Carthage; Dido, her husband Sichæus, her brother Pygmalion, king of Tyre, and murderer of Sichæus. By marriage Tyre brought its then prevalent spirit, and a vast amount of evil,into the two Israelitish kingdoms.” (The Syriac, Arabic, and Vulg. read “in the ways.”) The reason why the details added in Chronicles are here omitted is to be found in the studied brevity of the compiler in the case of less important characters.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

in the way

3:2,3; 1 Kings 22:52,53

the house

9:7,8; 21:3,13; 2 Chronicles 21:13; Micah 6:16

the daughter

26; 1 Kings 21:25; 2 Chronicles 18:1; 19:2; 21:6; 22:1-4

his wife

Genesis 6:1-5; Deuteronomy 7:3,4; 1 Kings 11:1-5; Nehemiah 13:25,26