Who is Jehoshaphat and why is he jumping?
Where does the expression 鈥渏umpin鈥� Jehoshaphat!鈥� come from? A reader wrote in to ask, and I had a lovely time trying to figure it out. No one is sure how Jehoshaphat鈥檚 name ended up in this interjection, or why he鈥檚 jumping, but there are several interesting possibilities.聽
This mild oath first appeared in a novel from 1866, when a cowboy-backwoodsman used it to convey his surprise and admiration at how far a horse (and its beautiful rider) had jumped: 鈥淏y the jumpin鈥� Geehosofat, what a gurl she air sure enuf!鈥� It later became a favorite saying of cartoon cowboy Yosemite Sam, the adversary of Bugs Bunny.
Jumpin鈥� Jehoshaphat! (and just plain Jehoshaphat!) originated in the United States during the 19th-century craze for 鈥渕inced oaths,鈥� pseudo-swearwords that replaced profane or blasphemous words with inoffensive ones. These not-quite oaths could be quite poetic: They rhymed (holy moly!), used alliteration (jumpin鈥� Jupiter!), and were fun to say (gee willikers!). Jumpin鈥� Jehoshaphat follows suit.
The Jehoshaphat in question is the biblical king of Judah. It might seem odd to refer to him as 鈥渏umping,鈥� since he is best known for standing still. In聽2 Chronicles, Judah is threatened with invasion, and Jehoshaphat and his people pray to God for help. The Lord tells them, 鈥渢he battle is not yours but God鈥檚 ... take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf鈥� (20:15, 17 New Revised Standard Version). The Judeans emerge victorious. One might not expect the steadfast Jehoshaphat to begin leaping around, so jumpin鈥� Jehoshaphat! might carry extra force, meaning something like 鈥淚鈥檓 as surprised as if King Jehoshaphat started jumping!鈥�
Looked at another way, though, Jehoshaphat and jumping go hand in hand. The king appoints men to sing and to praise God as the soldiers march to meet their enemies. Such prayer may well have involved leaping and dancing, since leaping is associated with joy and the praise of God across the Bible. In the Song of Solomon, the beloved comes 鈥渓eaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills鈥� (2:8); David uses the metaphor of jumping to credit God for his success: 鈥渂y my God I can leap over a wall鈥� (Psalm 18:29). And Christ Jesus tells his followers that if the world curses them, they should 鈥渞ejoice ... and leap for joy鈥� for their 鈥渞eward is great in heaven鈥� (Luke 6:23). One of the Greek words the New Testament uses for rejoice 颈蝉听agalliao, which comes from roots that mean literally 鈥渕uch鈥� and 鈥渏ump.鈥�
If I had to choose the expression鈥檚 most likely origin, I鈥檇 say that 19th-century Americans were trying out different words for mild oaths, and that jumpin鈥� Jehoshaphat! was both appropriately biblical and fun to say.
