Son of Uziyahu; governed the household and judged the people of the land while his father lived apart with tzara'at (2 Kings 15:5), then reigned in his own right for 16 years
2 Kings 15:34 — 'he did that which was right in the sight of Yah, according to all that his father Uzziah had done' — though, like his father, he did not remove the high places (bamot) where the people still sacrificed (2 Kings 15:35)
Built the upper gate of the Temple and undertook extensive building projects in the hill country of Yehudah (2 Chronicles 27:3–4)
Fought successfully against the Ammonites, who paid him heavy tribute for three years (2 Chronicles 27:5)
His reign is the dating reference point for the opening of three prophetic books — Isaiah 1:1, Hosea 1:1, and Micah 1:1 all list 'Yotam' among the kings during whose reigns those prophets ministered
Named in Matthew 1:9 (as 'Jotham')
“He did right as his father had — his reign anchors the opening dates of Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah”
Traditional note: 2 Kings 15:33 names Yotam's mother as 'Yerusha, daughter of Tzadok' — named in scripture but not modeled as a separate entry in this dataset (see the general note on queen mothers in 'rechavam' and 'maakah-bat-avshalom'). Note that this 'Tzadok' (Yerusha's father, a private individual of unknown further description) is a different person from Tzadok ha-Kohen, the priestly figure planned for this dataset's Levitical-line section — the name Tzadok ('righteous') was common.
