You may have a time keeping the kings’ names straight. They certainly didn’t keep their paths straight!
Like Pete for Peter or Jim for James, some biblical names also had short forms. In this episode there are two Jehorams, also called Joram. Joram the son of Ahab has reigned for five years in Israel since his father succumbed to his battle wounds. During these years, good king Jehoshaphat has been reigning in Jerusalem. But he has also died, and now his son, also Jehoram (or Joram), has come to the throne at the age of 32. Unfortunately his rule is indistinguishable from Israel’s idolatrous kings, especially because “the daughter of Ahab was his wife” (2 Ki 8:18), the wicked Athaliah. When Jehoshaphat dies, Edom on Judah’s southern border takes the opportunity to break free from Judah’s hegemony. “So Joram went to Zair, and all his chariots with him. Then he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; and the troops fled to their tents. Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day” (vv 21-22). But Joram of Judah also dies, and “Ahaziah his son reigned in his place” (v 24). However, Athaliah is still the wicked queen mother. Time passes. Now Joram in Israel is in the twelfth year of his reign (v 25), and Ahaziah is king in Judah, the grandson of good king Jehoshaphat on one side and grandson of wicked king Ahab through his mother, Athaliah, on the other. After ruling one year, he’s caught up in his relatives’ political intrigue. “He went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead” (v 28). During the battle, Joram is wounded and “went back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds” (v 29). Ahaziah visits him there, and now the stage is set for the beginning of the eradication of the devil-worshiping house of Ahab!