Cloud of Witnesses
Reviewed entry
RighteousOld Testament

Righteous King Jehoshaphat

9th century BC

Also known as Jehoshaphat King of Judah

A king of Judah who walked in the ways of the Lord and trusted Him in battle; an ancestor of Christ.

December 14New Calendar
Feast Day
December 27Old Calendar
Suggest a correctionContribute
Hymn / ApolytikionTroparia & apolytikia to read and chantIcon galleryBrowse icons and imagery elsewhere
Commemorated as

The Holy and Righteous King Jehoshaphat, King of Judah and Ancestor of Christ

Life

Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, the son and successor of King Asa and the father of Jehoram. According to the biblical record he came to the throne at the age of thirty-five and reigned for twenty-five years in the ninth century BC. The scriptural narratives concerning him are found chiefly in the First Book of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles, which present him as a ruler who walked in the ways of the Lord and sought to lead his people in faithfulness to the covenant.

In the Orthodox Church he is numbered among the Holy Forefathers, the Old Testament ancestors of Christ according to the flesh, and is honored in that collective commemoration observed before the Nativity. As one of the kings of the royal line of Judah, he stands in the genealogy of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

In his own wordsReadHide
We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
2 Chronicles, 20:12 · King James Version (PD)

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Reign and reforms

Succeeding his father Asa, Jehoshaphat undertook comprehensive religious reform. In the third year of his reign he sent priests and Levites throughout the cities of Judah to instruct the people in the Law, and he sought to remove the high places dedicated to false worship. The biblical chronicler presents his rule as combining religious devotion with effective governance.

He also established a judicial order, appointing judges in the fortified cities of Judah and setting up a court of appeal in Jerusalem, with care taken to keep ecclesiastical and secular jurisdictions distinct. His reign is remembered as a period of relative peace and prosperity for the kingdom.

Alliances and the victory at Ein Gedi

Jehoshaphat pursued alliance with the northern Kingdom of Israel, sealed through the marriage of his son Jehoram to Athaliah, daughter of King Ahab. He accompanied Ahab to the siege of Ramoth-Gilead, a venture for which he was rebuked by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani.

The most celebrated episode of his reign was an invasion by a coalition of Moabites, Ammonites, and others who encamped at Ein Gedi. Facing the threat, Jehoshaphat prayed in the Temple, confessing the kingdom's powerlessness before so great a host. The Levite Jahaziel prophesied deliverance, and according to the account the allied armies fell into confusion and destroyed one another, so that Judah gathered the spoils without battle.

Commemoration among the Forefathers

Jehoshaphat is venerated in the Orthodox Church among the Holy Forefathers, the Old Testament patriarchs, prophets, kings, and righteous men and women who are the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh. This company, extending from Adam through the royal line of Judah to the Theotokos and John the Forerunner, is commemorated together on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, the Sunday falling between December 11 and 17 in the period of the Nativity Fast.

A distinct individual veneration of Jehoshaphat is not clearly attested; he is honored chiefly within this collective commemoration of the ancestors of Christ. His place there rests on his inclusion in the genealogy of the Gospel of Matthew and on the scriptural portrait of him as a king who trusted in the Lord.

Member ofReadHide
Synaxis of the Holy Forefathers and Foremothers
Synaxis
Family2 relativesShowHide
His father and predecessor on the throne of Judah, whose religious reforms Jehoshaphat continued.
Righteous King Asa
His son and successor, married to Athaliah daughter of Ahab — an alliance Jehoshaphat sealed with the northern kingdom.
Jehoram
Related Saints3 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

His forefather; Jehoshaphat reigned in the royal line of David and stands in the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:8).
Prophet-King David
His ancestor in the Davidic succession of the kings of Judah.
Prophet-King Solomon
Joining Ahab's campaign against Ramoth-gilead, Jehoshaphat asked for a true prophet of the Lord and so heard Micaiah, who alone foretold the disaster against the counsel of Ahab's four hundred prophets.
Prophet Micaiahson of Imlah

Browse similar saints by calling and place.

More Holy Land256
Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints