Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 15

Jotham’s wars and his death

2 Kings 15:36-38

The Bible mentions two important wars that Judah fought during the rule of Jotham.

The first of these wars was against Ammon, a nation on the north-east side of Judah. At the time of Saul and David, Ammon was well-known for the cruelty of its rulers (1 Samuel 11:1-2; 2 Samuel 10:1-4). However, David defeated it in war (2 Samuel 12:29-31).

By the time of Azariah (also called Uzziah), who was Jotham’s father, Judah was again in control of Ammon. 2 Chronicles 26:8 records that the people in Ammon paid taxes to Azariah. However, when Jotham became king, the king of Ammon refused to pay the taxes to him. That was the reason for the war.

2 Chronicles 27:5-6 says that God gave success to Jotham. He won the war, and for the next three years he received especially large payments from Ammon.

The second war was against the armies of Aram and of northern and central Israel. That war began during Jotham’s rule; but the most important battles were during the rule of Jotham’s son, Ahaz (16:5) The Bible says that God sent those armies to oppose Judah. That probably means that God permitted those enemies to attack Judah because of the evil deeds of the people in Judah. During their time of success and wealth, they had not turned back to God. So God permitted them during a time of troubles to have another opportunity to turn to him.

Jotham himself, however, remained loyal to God all the time that he was king of Judah. When he died, the people buried him with honour in the royal graves. He was the last in a series of four kings who had ruled Judah well: Joash, Amaziah, Azariah and Jotham. However, he was the only one of those four kings who remained loyal to God until his death.

This book is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words), which was developed by Wycliffe Associates (UK).

July 2025

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