Jehoram or Joram (Hebrew: יְהוֹרָם, romanized: Yəhorām) was the ninth king of the northern Kingdom of Israel according to 2 Kings 8:16 and 2 Kings 8:25–28. He was the son of King Ahab and Jezebel and brother to Ahaziah and Athaliah.
According to 2 Kings 8:16, in the fifth year of Jehoram of Israel, a different Jehoram became king of Judah. The author of the Books of Kings speaks of both Jehoram of Israel and Jehoram of Judah in the same passage. They were brothers-in-law since Jehoram of Judah married Athaliah, sister of Jehoram of Israel.
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Biblical narrative
Jehoram began his reign in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat of Judah and ruled 12 years according to 2 Kings 3:1. William F. Albright dated his reign to 849–842 BCE, whereas E. R. Thiele proposed 852–841 BCE.
Unlike his predecessors, Jehoram did not worship Ba'al. He removed the "pillar of Baal" according to 2 Kings 3:2, probably a special pillar that Ahab had erected near his palace at the then-capital of Jezreel. However, the writer of 2 Kings says that he still "followed in the ways of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who led the Israelites to sin." With Jehoshaphat of Judah, Jehoram attacked Moab, which was ruled by Mesha. In the war between Aram-Damascus and Israel, Elisha the prophet befriended Joram, revealing to him the plans of the enemy. Subsequently, when Ben-hadad of Aram-Damascus besieged Samaria, the capital of Israel, it reduced the city almost to starvation and cannibalism. As a result, Jehoram sought to behead Elisha. The latter, however, foretold that a period of plenty was imminent; the siege was soon lifted, the city's food supplies were replenished, and the old relation between the king and the prophet was restored.