Jehoash (King of Israel)

Biblical Account

Jehoash was the grandson of Jehu and the son of Jehoahaz. The Hebrew text uses two forms of his name, "Joash" and "Jehoash," so Bible translations render the name as "Joash" in some places and "Jehoash" in others, depending on the version and passage. A king of the same name, Joash king of Judah, reigned during the same period. The father of Gideon and the king's son mentioned in 1 Kings 22:26 were also named Joash, but all of these are different individuals.

According to 2 Kings 13:10, he became king in Samaria in the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah and reigned sixteen years. Scripture judges that he "did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD" and did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam (2 Kings 13:11).

• Elisha and the prophecy of the arrows (2 Kings 13:14-19): When Elisha fell sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash came to him and wept, saying, "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof." Elisha had him shoot an arrow through the east window and called it "the arrow of the LORD's deliverance" from Aram. He then told the king to strike the ground with the arrows; when Jehoash struck only three times and stopped, Elisha was angry. Had he struck five or six times, he would have consumed Aram; now he would defeat it only three times.
• Victory over Aram (2 Kings 13:25): Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad son of Hazael three times and recovered the cities that had been taken in his father's day.
• War with Amaziah king of Judah (2 Kings 14:8-14; 2 Chronicles 25:17-24): When Amaziah, having defeated Edom, challenged him to battle, Jehoash rebuked him with the story of a thistle that sought a marriage alliance with a cedar and was then trampled by a wild beast. Amaziah would not back down, and the two kings met in battle at Beth-shemesh. Jehoash won and captured Amaziah. He then broke down four hundred cubits of the wall of Jerusalem, carried off the gold, silver, and vessels of the temple and the royal palace, and took hostages.

He died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jeroboam (commonly called Jeroboam II) succeeded him (2 Kings 14:16).

Significance Within Scripture

Jehoash was the third king of the dynasty of Jehu. His victories belong to the larger narrative of 2 Kings 13, which portrays God granting deliverance while Israel was oppressed by Aram (2 Kings 13:23). His cry to Elisha echoes the words Elisha himself spoke when Elijah was taken from him (2 Kings 2:12). The New Testament does not mention this Jehoash directly.

Interpretation and Issues

• The arrows struck only three times: Elisha did not specify in advance how many times to strike, and interpreters differ over why he was nevertheless angry. Many commentators read the episode as revealing the king's lack of zeal and faith; others see it as the king's failure to grasp the full meaning of the prophecy.
• A mixed assessment: The text judges him an evil king, yet it also records him weeping at the prophet's deathbed and experiencing God's deliverance. Interpreters differ on how to read this tension.
• The parable of the thistle: This plant fable is often compared with Jotham's fable (Judges 9).
• Chronological questions: Scholars differ in how they reconcile the accession year and length of reign given in 2 Kings 13. Some explanations posit a coregency (a period in which father and son reigned together).
• Confusion between the two kings named Joash: Because two kings of the same name reigned at the same time, sermons and teaching materials sometimes conflate him with Joash king of Judah and the account of that king's temple repairs. The two should be distinguished.

In Korean Churches

In Korean churches, the scene of the arrows struck only three times is reportedly a frequent sermon text on persevering in faith and prayer to the end, or on a lack of zeal. In Korean Sunday schools, Jehoash is usually treated as part of the Elisha narrative rather than as a central figure in his own right.