Although initiating reforms that will ensure faithfulness among his people (teaching), Jehoshaphat makes a foolish mistake by entering into an alliance with Ahab king of Israel to the north in 18:1–34. This is ironic in light of the fact that Jehoshaphat spent his initial days fortifying his kingdom against this northern power (17:1–2). Little does he know the tragic outcome of this alliance, since it will be sealed by the marriage of his son Jehoram to Ahab’s daughter Athaliah (2 Chron. 18:1), whose bloody purge will nearly extinguish the Davidic line (22:10–12). A pact with Ahab’s kingdom would have been tempting, especially since Ahab’s marriage to the Phoenician princess Jezebel reveals that he had already developed an alliance with the Phoenician city-states. That Ahab is the more pow…