Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 8:18

"And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife; and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah." — 2 Kings 8:18 (ASV)

In the way of the kings of Israel. —This is further explained by the following clause, As did the house of Ahab, or rather, that is to say, as the house of Ahab acted, i.e., Jehoram, as son-in-law of Ahab and Jezebel, supported the cultus of the Tyrian Baal. Under the influence of his wife Athaliah, as it may be surmised, Jehoram killed his six brothers directly after his accession to the throne (2 Chronicles 21:4).

In this connection, the remarks of Michaelis are interesting: “In the reign of Jehoram, the building of Carthage occurred; Dido, her husband Sichæus, her brother Pygmalion, king of Tyre, and murderer of Sichæus. By marriage, Tyre brought its prevalent spirit at that time, and a vast amount of evil, into the two Israelitish kingdoms.” (The Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate read “in the ways.”) The reason why the details added in Chronicles are here omitted is found in the studied brevity of the compiler in the case of less important characters.