📖 Biblical Definition
Fourth king of Judah (1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 17-20), son of Asa, reigning twenty-five years (c. 870-848 BC). Jehoshaphat continued his father's reformer-king pattern with considerable additions of his own. He walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; but sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments (2 Chronicles 17:3-4). He sent princes, Levites, and priests throughout Judah to teach the Book of the Law in the cities (2 Chronicles 17:7-9, the first recorded systematic teaching-tour of the Torah). The fear of the LORD fell on the surrounding kingdoms, who brought tribute. When the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites came against him in vast multitude, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast in all Judah, prayed publicly (2 Chronicles 20:6-12, one of the great prayers of the OT), heard the prophetic word through Jahaziel (be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's), and watched the Lord set the invading armies against each other before a single Judahite arrow was loosed. Jehoshaphat's tragic shadow is his persistent alliance with the wicked Ahab king of Israel and with Ahab's son Jehoram (2 Chronicles 18; 19:2, Jehu the seer's rebuke: shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD?). The reign as a whole is a model of reformer-king leadership tempered by the warning against unbelieving political alliance.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Fourth king of Judah (c. 870-848 BC); reformer-king who systematized Torah-teaching; the Lord defeated the Moab-Ammon-Edom coalition without Judah's arrow; tragic Ahab alliance.
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JEHOSHAPHAT, proper n. (fourth king of Judah) Son of Asa. Reigned twenty-five years (c. 870-848 BC; 1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 17-20). Walked in the first ways of David; sought to the LORD God of his father; walked in His commandments. Sent princes, Levites, and priests throughout Judah to teach the Book of the Law in the cities (2 Chronicles 17:7-9; the first recorded systematic Torah-teaching tour). Defeated the Moab-Ammon-Edom coalition through fasting, prayer, and prophetic-Spirit-led liturgical procession (2 Chronicles 20). Tragic shadow: persistent alliance with the wicked Ahab and his son Jehoram (2 Chronicles 18; 19:2).
📖 Key Scripture
2 Chronicles 20:15 — "And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's."
2 Chronicles 17:7-9 — "Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes... to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them he sent Levites... And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people."
2 Chronicles 19:2 — "And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD."
2 Chronicles 20:12 — "O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition. Jehoshaphat is rightly remembered as a reformer-king; the principal pastoral lesson is the warning against unequal alliances even in a faithful king's reign.
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Jehoshaphat as a proper name does not undergo lexical corruption. The principal pastoral lesson the contemporary reader frequently misses is the Jehu-the-seer rebuke for Jehoshaphat's persistent alliances with the wicked house of Ahab (2 Chronicles 19:2). The reformer-king who systematized Torah-teaching across his kingdom, who proclaimed a national fast in crisis, who saw the Lord defeat a vast coalition without his own arrow, was nonetheless rebuked by the seer for his unbelieving political alliances. The pattern warns the godly leader against assuming that his substantive faithfulness in primary matters licenses compromise on the question of yoking with unbelievers. The biblical principle (2 Corinthians 6:14ff in the NT) is established already in the Old Testament wisdom of Jehoshaphat's career.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Fourth king of Judah; 870-848 BC; reformer-king; Torah-teaching tour; Moab-Ammon-Edom deliverance.
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['Hebrew', 'H3092', 'Yehoshafat', 'Yahweh has judged']
['Hebrew', 'H8451', 'Torah', 'law, instruction (the Book of the Law his teachers carried)']
['Hebrew', 'H6951', 'qahal', "assembly (Jehoshaphat's gathering of all Judah for the fast)"]
Usage
"Fourth king of Judah; twenty-five-year reign; great reformer."
"Systematized Torah-teaching across the cities of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:7-9)."
"Defeated the Moab-Ammon-Edom coalition by fasting, prayer, and prophetic word."