And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
Parallel translations
- WEB and you will have great sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels fall out by reason of the sickness, day by day.’”
- BSB And day after day you yourself will suffer from a severe illness, a disease of your bowels, until it causes your bowels to come out.’”
- NKJV and you will become very sick with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day.
- NASB and you will suffer severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.’ ”
- NLT You yourself will suffer with a severe intestinal disease that will get worse each day until your bowels come out.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The prophet foretold that Jehoram himself would suffer a fatal, agonizing bowel disease. His own body would bear God's judgment.
Overview
Elijah announced that Jehoram would endure a lingering, painful illness ending in death. The personal nature of the judgment fit a king who had personally led others into sin. The fulfillment, recorded later, confirms the reliability of God's prophetic word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Chr 21:18–19And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
- Deut 28:37And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
- Deut 28:27The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
- Deut 28:59Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
- Ps 109:18As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
- Num 5:27And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
- Deut 28:61Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
- Deut 28:67In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
- Acts 1:18Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
- Acts 12:23And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 21:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.