In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set a king over themselves.
Jehoram had just become king in Judah, married to Ahab's daughter and copying the ways of Israel's kings. Commentators read the revolt in his days two ways: as God's government on a king tied to evil, and as an old word to Esau coming true.
Writers trace Edom's revolt back to the marriages that joined Judah's royal house to Ahab's:
These ungodly marriages led both kings into the ways of the kings of Israel. The same holds true at all times. A Christian tied to a child of the world loses his testimony, and even the appearance of his Christianity. The world is never improved by the Christian's alliance with it... Until now Edom had a governor who depended on the throne of Judah. Now it revolts and chooses a king for itself. The result is war. Jehoram has the advantage, but the revolt is not crushed, and this enemy is never subdued. It goes on "to this day."
Another writer notes what Judah's neighbours saw and did:
His power decayed at once, and the neighboring nations were quick to see it and take advantage of it... The spirit of rebellion spread: "At the same time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers."
Edom's people came from Esau, Jacob's brother. Writers tie the revolt back to Isaac's words to Esau, quoted here from an older translation:
Isaac said of Esau, "By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother: and when you have the dominion, you shall break his yoke from your neck." This prediction was fulfilled. The kings of Israel defeated them again and again, yet in the end they were able to declare their freedom.
One writer traces a fixed national character in Edom:
So the leading trait of Edom was envious dislike of the people of God. We do not find it so strong in any other nation. Babylon was Israel's greatest scourge except one: Rome, which punished the Jew even more terribly. Yet neither in Babylon nor in Rome was there the personal, unrelenting spite that seemed to be concentrated in Edom.
Edom's name points past the politics:
Edom is the same name as Adam, only slightly disguised. So the nation stands for the flesh, and "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
The same writer sets Jehoram beside his father Jehoshaphat:
Jehoshaphat had at least kept Edom under control, but not so Jehoram. If we walk faithfully with God, we will be able to keep the flesh under control. But when faith wavers, the flesh will soon show itself in deliberate evil.
Jehoram tried to win Edom back with a night attack, and he failed. One writer draws the lesson:
Edom was too strong, just as the flesh is too strong for mere human energy... Libnah also revolted at that time. Libnah means "whiteness." This teaches us that Judah lost control of moral purity at the same time as they lost control of the flesh. This will always be true.
The writers see God's own hand here, ruling over people who belonged to Him:
It is His government which we see here; for He rules over those who are in covenant with Him, those who are His house.
Behind the chastening stands a promise that Jehoram's wickedness could not cancel:
Yet despite Jehoram's wickedness, the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of His promise to David and to David's descendants (v. 7). So the grace of God stands out as greater than judgment, even though in righteous government God would bring serious suffering on Israel.
- Cause: The alliance with Ahab's house came first; Edom's revolt followed. A believer joined to the world loses testimony, and the world is never improved by the link.
- Loss: What Jehoshaphat kept under control, Jehoram could not hold. Walk faithfully with God and the flesh stays down. When faith wavers, the flesh takes over.
- Spread: Rebellion did not stop at the border. Libnah — "whiteness" — fell too. Lose your grip on the flesh and you lose moral purity.
- Limit: Chariots and a night attack recovered nothing. Edom was too strong for mere human energy, just as the flesh is.
- Mercy: God was governing His own house, not discarding it. The promise to David stood, so grace proved greater than judgment even under real chastening.
And Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled into their tents.
Judah had ruled Edom since David's day. Now Edom had broken free, and this verse records how Joram tried to win it back — a night breakout at Zair that saved his life but not his grip on Edom. Two questions follow. Why did Judah's strength fail? And why did an old word spoken over Esau come true now?
Two kings named Joram reigned at the same time — one over Israel, one over Judah. So which one fought at Zair?
There was, therefore, a Jehoram, king over Judah, as well as a king of Israel by the same name. They are also known by the name Joram. The two names swap freely. In 2 Kings 9:15 and 17 the king of Israel is called Joram; in 2 Kings 8:21 the king of Judah is called Joram.
Joram marched out with his chariots, and the Edomites surrounded him. One writer fills in what happened next:
His power decayed at once, and the neighbouring nations were quick to see it and take advantage… This happened at Zair, in Idumea, south of the Dead Sea. The enemy had him surrounded, and he only just escaped death or capture. He got himself out by a night surprise, but the expedition was a failure.
Joram struck a real blow and lived, yet Edom stayed free. One writer weighs both halves of that outcome:
The Lord, faithful to the promises made to David, does not destroy Jehoram of Judah. But Jehoram finds no rest in the world. His corrupted religion cannot give it, and the discipline and chastening of God do not leave him with it. Edom, which until now had a governor dependent on the throne of Judah, revolts and chooses a king for itself. The result is war. Jehoram has the advantage, but the revolt is not crushed, and this unsubdued enemy continues on "to this day."
Long before Joram, Isaac had told Esau that a day would come when he would throw off his brother's yoke. Writers point to Joram's reign as the moment it came true. David had made Edom serve; Joram could not hold what David won.
The blessing of Esau was: "By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck" (Genesis 27:40)… David put garrisons throughout all Edom, and all the Edomites became his servants (2 Samuel 8:14). But later, in the days of Joram, Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah. Joram was able to punish them, yet Judah was growing weaker.
Does that cancel the older promise to Jacob? One writer says it only delays it, and traces the delay to Jacob's own faith:
This will be made good in its season, for the elder shall serve the younger — the promise is yes and amen. But from the days of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, of the house of David and the line of Jacob, Esau or Edom has been in revolt. So the promise is delayed, tangled and weighed down in ways the grace of God and the gift by grace had never designed. Jacob would never have gone through any of it, had his faith been simpler.
The failure had a cause older than the battle. Joram had tied his house to Ahab's by marriage:
It was all the result of his unwise alliance with the ungodly house of Ahab. He reaped what he sowed — at least as a dreadful foretaste of it. And his descendants had to reap it in full, in a most terrible way… He had married the daughter of a murderer, and as a natural result his own hands were soon stained with blood.
One writer draws a lesson from the failed night attack:
Jehoram (also called Joram) tried again to bring Edom under control. He took all his chariots with him and attacked by night, but his own troops fled. Edom was too strong, just as the flesh is too strong for mere human energy.
- Cause. Joram's alliance with Ahab's house was the root. What he sowed there he reaped in his own kingdom, and his descendants reaped it worse.
- Collapse. His power decayed at once, and the nations nearby saw it. Edom threw off Judah's rule and crowned its own king.
- Cost. The night attack at Zair was an escape, not a conquest. Surrounded, he broke out and lived — God kept His promise to David — but the campaign failed.
- Consequence. He had the advantage in battle and still lost the war; the revolt was never crushed, and Edom stayed free "to this day."
- Continuity. Isaac's word about breaking the yoke came true here. Yet "the elder shall serve the younger" is delayed, not undone.
But the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
Jehoram of Judah lost two things at once: a conquered nation to the south and a town inside his own borders. The verse gives no explanation. It leaves the reader asking why a king of David's line could not hold what his fathers had won.
Jehoram did fight back, and the campaign nearly cost him his life. One writer describes how fast the kingdom weakened.
Decline of power set in at once, and the neighbouring nations were quick to notice it and take advantage. The Edomites revolted from the rule of Judah and made themselves a king. Then Jehoram went out with his princes and all his chariots. He rose up by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him. This happened at Zair, in Idumea, south of the Dead Sea. The enemy surrounded him, and he barely escaped destruction or capture. He got himself out by a night surprise, but the expedition was a failure. The spirit of rebellion spread.
Edom was the nation descended from Esau. One reference work reads its revolt as words Isaac once spoke coming true.
The words of Isaac were fulfilled. David put garrisons throughout all Edom, where the descendants of Esau lived, and all the people of Edom became his servants, 2 Samuel 8:14. Later, in the days of Joram, Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah. Joram was able to punish them, but Judah was growing weaker: "So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day." Obadiah announces Edom's final judgement: no remnant is restored.
Commentators read Edom as a picture of the flesh — the old nature in us. On that reading, Jehoram's failure was a failure of faith.
In Jehoram's days Edom revolted from the authority of Judah and made a king over themselves. Jehoshaphat had at least kept Edom under control, but not so Jehoram. By faithfully walking with God we shall be able to keep the flesh under control, but when faith wavers, the flesh will soon assert itself in wilful evil.
Others press the point further: this is an enemy no treaty can win over.
You cannot turn this enmity into friendship. It is exactly the same with the flesh: "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law, indeed, it cannot." So the barrier is there. And it stands even though many refuse to believe in any irredeemable old nature like this inside the Christian. They claim kinship, and would gladly make a brother out of Edom. It cannot be.
The second revolt struck inside Judah itself. One writer reads the town's name as a clue to what was really slipping away.
Edom was too strong, just as the flesh is too strong for mere human energy. So Judah regained no authority over Edom, right up to the day this account was written. Libnah also revolted at that time. Libnah means "whiteness." This teaches us that Judah lost control of moral purity at the same time as they lost control of the flesh. This will always be true. If we do not keep the flesh in subjection, we shall not have moral purity.
Libnah was no ordinary town.
Libnah was a city of Judah, a priestly city belonging to the sons of Aaron. What a shame for Jehoram! In his own kingdom one of the morally most important cities detached itself from him.
Jehoram had married Ahab's daughter. One writer puts the danger of such a partnership in everyday terms.
A Christian yoked together with a child of the world is bound to lose his testimony, and even the appearance of his Christianity. The world is never improved by the Christian's alliance with it. Instead, it is bad company that corrupts good manners.
One commentator sets God's correction beside the promise that kept David's line in place.
He went even further than his father in alliance with evil, "for Ahab's daughter was his wife, and he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD." Yet "the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David." So when the Edomites revolted and Jehoram went out, he struck them. Still, God chastised him: "At the same time Libnah revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers."
- Yoking — it started with a marriage into Ahab's house. A believer yoked to the world loses his testimony, and the world is never improved by it.
- Forsaking — Libnah's revolt had a stated cause. Jehoram had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.
- Losing — Edom pictures the flesh. Walking with God keeps it under control. When faith wavers, the flesh takes over.
- Spreading — control of the flesh and moral purity go together. So Libnah, whose name means "whiteness", went the way of Edom, and a priestly city inside Judah broke away.
- Kept — God would not destroy David's house, because of His covenant. Yet He still corrected the king. Being kept is not the same as escaping discipline.