Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 20:31
So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text records Jehoshaphat’s accession to the throne of Judah immediately after a period of divinely granted national rest. It supplies his age at coronation, total reign length, and maternal lineage as a historical summary.
The words — The verb וַיִּמְלֹךְ (va-yimlok) marks the formal beginning of his royal authority, while the phrase בֶּן־שְׁלֹשִׁים וְחָמֵשׁ שָׁנָה (ben-sheloshim ve-chamesh shanah) specifies his thirty-five years of age at that point.
The thread — This chronological data aligns with the accession marker in 1 Kings 22:41, which dates his reign to the fourth year of Ahab over Israel. The parallel records anchor Judah’s monarchic timeline to the northern kingdom’s regnal framework.
Why it lands — The verse establishes a factual succession record before the surrounding narrative evaluates his spiritual conduct. It requires the reader to treat the king’s documented tenure as the baseline for assessing covenant faithfulness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 22:41 In the fourth year of Ahab’s reign over Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah.