Jehoahaz

Name

The Hebrew name is understood to mean "the LORD has taken hold." Three people in the Old Testament bear this name. This article deals mainly with Jehoahaz king of Israel; the others who share the name are treated separately below.

Biblical Record

Jehoahaz King of Israel

After the death of Jehu, his son Jehoahaz succeeded him on the throne (2 Kings 10:35). According to 2 Kings 13:1, he reigned in Samaria for seventeen years. Scripture evaluates him as one who "did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD" and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, namely the worship of the golden calves set up at Bethel and Dan (2 Kings 13:2).

As a result, Israel was delivered into the hand of Hazael king of Aram and of his son Ben-hadad (2 Kings 13:3). The text records that Hazael oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:22). Israel's army was reduced until only "fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen" remained (2 Kings 13:7).

At this point Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD, seeing the oppression of Israel, gave Israel "a saviour," so that Israel escaped from the hand of Aram (2 Kings 13:4–5). Nevertheless, the people did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, and the Asherah pole (KJV "the grove") remained standing in Samaria (2 Kings 13:6). When Jehoahaz died, he was buried in Samaria, and his son Joash succeeded him. Joash recovered from Ben-hadad the cities that had been lost in his father's time (2 Kings 13:9, 25).

Others with the Same Name

• Jehoahaz king of Judah: The son of Josiah. After Josiah died at Megiddo, the people made him king. After three months he was deposed by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt and carried off to Egypt, where he died (2 Kings 23:30–34; 2 Chronicles 36:1–4). These events are generally dated to around 609 BC. In 1 Chronicles 3:15 and Jeremiah 22:11 he appears under the name Shallum.
• Ahaziah king of Judah: In 2 Chronicles 21:17 he is called "Jehoahaz," the youngest son of Jehoram. In 2 Chronicles 22:1 he appears under the name Ahaziah.

Significance Within Scripture

The books of Kings narrate the reign of Jehoahaz in the sequence "sin → foreign oppression → crying out → a deliverer," a pattern resembling the cycle repeated throughout Judges. Second Kings 13:23 attributes Israel's survival to the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This verse is understood to place its emphasis not on Israel's repentance but on God's grace and covenant faithfulness. None of the three men named Jehoahaz is mentioned by name in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• Who was the "saviour"? Second Kings 13:5 does not name the deliverer, and interpreters have proposed several identifications:
• His son Joash (13:25)
• His grandson Jeroboam II (14:27)
• The Assyrian king who attacked Damascus in the same period
• The prophet Elisha
• Chronology: Scholars differ in how they reconcile the accession years given in 2 Kings 13:1 and 13:10, so the precise dates of his reign remain unsettled.
• Confusion of names: His name resembles those of Ahaz king of Judah and Ahaziah king of Israel, and Bible readers often confuse them.

In the Korean Church

In Korean churches, Jehoahaz is treated mainly as one of the kings of the northern kingdom in Bible read-through programs and in expository preaching on Kings. He is reportedly seldom the subject of a sermon in his own right. Second Kings 13:4–5 is sometimes cited as a passage showing the compassion of God, who answers even the supplication of a wicked king.