Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 21:12
Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, which stated: “This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A letter arrives at King Jehoram from the prophet Elijah, delivering a message from the LORD during Jehoram’s reign after he established high places and led Judah into idolatry.
The words — The text highlights מִכְתָּ֔ב (mikh.Tav), literally “a writing,” and כֹּ֣ה (koh), meaning “thus,” framing the divine message as a formal written declaration.
The thread — The contrast between Jehoram’s path and his predecessors appears in 2 Chronicles 14:2 and 17:3, which record Asa and Jehoshaphat walking in the ways of David, while 2 Kings 2:1 notes Elijah’s imminent departure before he delivers this written rebuke.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to recognize that covenant faithfulness is measured by walking in the established ways of the ancestors, and that prophetic correction arrives even when a king has already abandoned them.
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 there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 14:2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.
- 2 Chronicles 17:3 Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,
- 2 Kings 2:1 Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,
- 1 Kings 15:11 And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done.
- 1 Kings 22:43 And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
- 2 Kings 2:11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
- Jeremiah 36:2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today.
- Jeremiah 36:23 And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire.
- Jeremiah 36:28 “Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.
- Daniel 5:5 At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,