“Thus King Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign. He reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. He walked in the way of his father King Asa. He did not turn aside from it. He did what was right in the sight of the Yahweh. Yet the high places were not removed. The people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their ancestors. The rest of the acts of King Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the Annals of Jehu son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.”

Now we are back at 1 Kings, chapter 22. He walked in the ways of his good father, King Asa, in a way that was pleasing to Yahweh. However, here there is no mention of the male temple prostitutes that he exterminated in 1 Kings. Here it simply says that the high places were not removed. There always seemed to be some ambiguity about these high places of worship outside of Jerusalem. There is the same mention of his mother here as in 1 Kings. This is the closest reference to the book of Kings, since this biblical writer called it the “Book of the Kings of Israel,” but not the “Annals of the Kings of Judah.”   Also he referred to the “Annals of Jehu the prophet.” King Jehoshaphat lived to be 60 years old after a reign of 25 years as king.