Jotham

About Jotham Written by AI

Jotham was the youngest of Gideon's seventy sons (Judges 9:5). After Gideon's death, Abimelech, another of Gideon's sons, conspired to become king and killed his seventy brothers on one stone (Judges 9:5). However, Jotham escaped by hiding (Judges 9:5). Jotham went to Mount Gerizim and delivered a parable to the men of Shechem, warning them of the consequences of their actions in supporting Abimelech (Judges 9:7 to 21). In the parable, the trees sought to anoint a king over them, but the worthy trees (olive, fig, and vine) refused, while the bramble accepted and threatened to devour the cedars of Lebanon (Judges 9:8 to 15). Jotham then fled to Beer and remained there, fearing Abimelech (Judges 9:21). Later, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, causing them to turn against each other (Judges 9:22 to 25). This ultimately led to Abimelech's downfall and death, which was seen as a fulfillment of Jotham's curse (Judges 9:57).

Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.

Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897

This entry is on the name Jotham, and may cover more than one person or place by that name.

Jehovah is perfect. (1.) The youngest of Gideon’s seventy sons. He escaped when the rest were put to death by the order of Abimelech (Judg. 9:5). When “the citizens of Shechem and the whole house of Millo” were gathered together “by the plain of the pillar” (i.e., the stone set up by Joshua, 24:26; comp. Gen. 35:4) “that was in Shechem, to make Abimelech king,” from one of the heights of Mount Gerizim he protested against their doing so in the earliest parable, that of the bramble-king. His words then spoken were prophetic. There came a recoil in the feelings of the people toward Abimelech, and then a terrible revenge, in which many were slain and the city of Shechem was destroyed by Abimelech (Judg. 9:45). Having delivered his warning, Jotham fled to Beer from the vengeance of Abimelech (9:7-21).

(2.) The son and successor of Uzziah on the throne of Judah. As during his last years Uzziah was excluded from public life on account of his leprosy, his son, then twenty-five years of age, administered for seven years the affairs of the kingdom in his father’s stead (2 Chr. 26:21, 23; 27:1). After his father’s death he became sole monarch, and reigned for sixteen years (B.C. 759-743). He ruled in the fear of God, and his reign was prosperous. He was contemporary with the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, by whose ministrations he profited. He was buried in the sepulchre of the kings, greatly lamented by the people (2 Kings 15:38; 2 Chr. 27:7-9).

M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.