Meaning of JOTHAM

"Jehovah is eternal, sincere."
(a) Youngest son of Gideon. His seventy brothers (his father was a polygamist) were murdered by Abimelech, his half-brother.

Jotham escaped, went to Mount Gerizim, and cursed the usurpation with a fable against the people of Shechem who were in the valley and against Abimelech himself (Judg. 9:1-21).

This curse was fulfilled with Abimelech's destruction of Shechem and Abimelech's death at Thebez (Judg. 9:22-57).

(b) King of Judah, he shared the throne with Uzziah his father, also called Azariah (750-739 BC), who had fallen victim to leprosy (2 Kings 15:5, see Uzziah). His regency began during the reign of Jeroboam II in Israel (1 Chron. 5:17).

This simultaneity is confirmed if the earthquake occurred in the time of Uzziah and Jeroboam II (Am. 1:1; Zech. 14:5), and if it occurred at the time when Uzziah wanted to seize the priesthood, or shortly after (Ant. 9:10, 4).

Jotham obeyed Jehovah, although he allowed worship to continue in the high places where the people gave themselves to idolatry. He carried out works in the Temple, expanded the fortifications, and built cities of Judah, and a network of castles and towers, crushing the Ammonites and making them tributaries.

During the sixteen years of his reign, Isaiah and Hosea continued to exercise his ministry (Is. 1:1). Towards the end of his reign the northern Israelites and Syrians invaded Judah. He died at 41 years of age, being succeeded by his son Ahaz.