Joiakim (High Priest)

Biblical Record

Joiakim is mentioned three times, all in Nehemiah 12. Scripture gives no account of his life or deeds; he appears only in genealogies and lists.

• Nehemiah 12:10: This verse records the lineage of the high priestly family. It states that Jeshua begat Joiakim, and Joiakim begat Eliashib. Jeshua was the high priest who returned from exile with Zerubbabel. In the books of Haggai and Zechariah he is called "Joshua the son of Josedech."
• Nehemiah 12:12–21: This passage lists the men who served as heads ("the chief of the fathers") of each priestly family "in the days of Joiakim." The earlier passage, Nehemiah 12:1–7, lists the priests who returned in the time of Jeshua; this list presents the following generation.
• Nehemiah 12:26: This verse records that the Levites and porters listed previously served "in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe" (a scribe being one who copied and taught the Law).

Significance in Scripture

Joiakim forms the link between Jeshua, the high priest of the first generation of the return from exile, and Eliashib, the high priest who took part in rebuilding the wall in the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:1). The Book of Nehemiah organizes its list of priestly families by reference to his name. In this way it shows that the priestly office continued to pass in orderly succession from generation to generation after the rebuilding of the temple. His name does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

• Chronology: Nehemiah 12:26 presents Joiakim as though he were a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah. Elsewhere, however, the high priest in Nehemiah's time is identified as his son Eliashib. Some interpreters therefore read the verse as referring to a broader period, "from the days of Joiakim to the days of Nehemiah and Ezra." Scholarly views also differ depending on how the dates of Ezra's and Nehemiah's activity are reckoned.
• Extrabiblical sources: The Antiquities of the Jews by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus is reported to mention Joiakim as the high priest who succeeded Jeshua. A high priest of the same name also appears in the Book of Judith, which the Catholic Church accepts as deuterocanonical. Opinions differ, however, on whether this figure should be identified with Joiakim, and Protestants do not include Judith in the canon.
• Confusion of names: He is a different person from Jehoiakim, king of Judah (2 Kings 23–24).