JEHOAHAZ

(Je·hoʹa·haz) [Jah has taken hold].

1. Variant spelling of the name of Ahaziah, who succeeded his father Jehoram as king of Judah in the late tenth century B.C.E. (2 Chron. 21:16, 17; 22:1) This alternate spelling, also found in the Masoretic text at 2 Chronicles 25:23, simply transposes the divine name (Jah) to serve as the prefix instead of the suffix without changing the meaning of the name. Once this king of Judah is called Azariah.—2 Chron. 22:6b; see AHAZIAH No. 2.

2. King of Israel; son and successor of King Jehu. For seventeen years Jehoahaz reigned, from 876 to about 860 B.C.E. (2 Ki. 10:35; 13:1) When he succeeded his father to the throne, much of the realm was controlled by Syrian King Hazael of Damascus, who had seized from Jehu all of Israel’s territory E of the Jordan River. (2 Ki. 10:32-34) And because Jehoahaz did what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes, God allowed Hazael to continue to oppress Israel all the days of Jehoahaz, reducing his fighting force to a mere fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers. Finally, Jehoahaz sought Jehovah’s favor, and because of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jehovah did not allow Syria to bring Israel completely to ruin. (2 Ki. 13:2-7, 22, 23) Upon his death Jehoahaz was buried in Samaria and was succeeded on the throne by his son Jehoash.—2 Ki. 13:8, 9; 2 Chron. 25:17.

Certain translations, and the Masoretic text, spell the name Joahaz in 2 Kings 14:1.—See JOAHAZ No. 1.

3. King of Judah; fourth son and successor of Josiah. His mother’s name was Hamutal. (2 Ki. 23:31) Ezra and Jeremiah, according to certain manuscripts, call him Shallum, which some suggest may have been his name prior to his accession to the throne. (1 Chron. 3:15; Jer. 22:11) After the death of his father at the hands of Pharaoh Nechoh of Egypt, Jehoahaz, the youngest son of Josiah, was apparently the people’s choice as successor to the throne. (2 Ki. 23:29, 30) In 2 Chronicles 36:2, where this same event is mentioned, certain translations (AS, AT, JP, Ro) have the shortened form Joahaz for Jehoahaz.—See JOAHAZ No. 3.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when made king, and he ruled badly for three months in the early part of the year 628 B.C.E., until he was imprisoned at Riblah by Pharaoh. Later he was taken to Egypt, where he died in captivity, just as the prophet Jeremiah had foretold.—2 Ki. 23:31-34; Jer. 22:10-12.