Jehoshabeath

Biblical Account

The name Jehoshabeath appears in 2 Chronicles 22:11. In 2 Kings 11:2, which records the same event, she appears under the name Jehosheba. Second Kings calls her "the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah," while 2 Chronicles describes her as "the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,)". Joram and Jehoram are two forms of the same king's name.

After King Ahaziah of Judah died, his mother Athaliah destroyed all the royal seed and seized the throne for herself. At that time Jehoshabeath secretly took Ahaziah's young son Joash from among the princes who were being slain and hid him, together with his nurse, in a bedchamber. Joash then remained hidden with Jehoshabeath in the house of the LORD, that is, the Temple in Jerusalem, for six years (2 Kings 11:3; 2 Chronicles 22:12). In the seventh year her husband, the priest Jehoiada, made a covenant with the military commanders and set Joash on the throne; Joash was anointed, and Athaliah was put to death (2 Kings 11:4–16; 2 Chronicles 23). Scripture records nothing further about Jehoshabeath after these events.

Significance Within Scripture

Through Jehoshabeath's actions, the royal line of David was spared from being cut off. For this reason the episode is often read as an instance of the keeping of God's promise to establish David's throne forever, that is, the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7). The New Testament does not mention Jehoshabeath directly. The genealogy in Matthew 1 lists Uzziah (Ozias) immediately after Joram, omitting Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah, but the Davidic line did in fact continue through Joash.

Interpretations and Points of Discussion

• The question of her mother: The text does not identify Jehoshabeath's mother. Interpreters are therefore divided over whether she was Athaliah's own daughter or a daughter born to Jehoram by another wife. The text does not settle the question.
• Relationship to Zechariah: Jehoiada's son Zechariah was later stoned to death during the reign of Joash (2 Chronicles 24:20–22). Scripture, however, does not say that Zechariah was Jehoshabeath's son. Some works present her as Zechariah's mother, but this is a conjecture not found in the text.
• Comparison with other narratives: Because this is a story of a child hidden from an oppressive ruler, some interpreters read it alongside the accounts of Jochebed and Miriam, who hid Moses, and of the flight into Egypt to escape Herod. These are thematic comparisons drawn by interpreters, not connections made by the text itself.

In the Korean Church

Jehoshabeath appears only briefly in Scripture. Consequently, she is seldom treated as a central figure in her own right; instead, she tends to be mentioned in sermons and Sunday school lessons dealing with the enthronement of Joash or the reforms of Jehoiada. Sermons often present her as an example of a woman of faith who risked her own safety to preserve life, or as a hidden servant through whom God's promise was carried forward. Because two forms of her name are used, some church members who read the New Korean Revised Version mistake Jehosheba and Jehoshabeath for two different people.