Jehoash ( ''Yəhō’āš'' or ''Yō’āš'';

Israelian Hebrew Israelian Hebrew (or IH) is a northern dialect of biblical Hebrew (BH) proposed as an explanation for various irregular linguistic features of the Masoretic Text (MT) of the Hebrew Bible. It competes with the alternative explanation that such fe ...

: *''’Āšīyāw''; ''Yaʾsu'' 'ia-'-su'' ; fl. 790 BC) was the twelfth king of the ancient northern

Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) The Kingdom of Israel ( ), also called the Northern Kingdom or the Kingdom of Samaria, was an History of ancient Israel and Judah, Israelite kingdom that existed in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Its beginnings date back to the firs ...

and the son of Jehoahaz in 2 Kings 14:1. He was the 12th king of Israel and reigned for 16 years. When he ascended the throne, the Kingdom of Israel was suffering from the predations of

Aram-Damascus Aram-Damascus ( ) was an Arameans, Aramean polity that existed from the late-12th century BCE until 732 BCE, and was centred around the city of Damascus in the Southern Levant. Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later years b ...

, whose king

Hazael Hazael (; ; Old Aramaic 𐤇𐤆𐤀𐤋 ''Ḥzʔl'') was a king of Aram-Damascus mentioned in the Bible. Under his reign, Aram-Damascus became an empire that ruled over large parts of contemporary Syria and Israel-Samaria. While he was likely ...

was conquering land controlled by Samaria. William F. Albright dated his reign to 801–786 BC, while Edwin R. Thiele offered the dates 798–782 BC.

Biblical account of his reign

According to the second book of Kings, Jehoash was sinful and did evil in the eyes of Yahweh for tolerating the worship of the golden calves, yet outwardly at least he worshiped Yahweh."Joash, Jehoash;" ''New Bible Dictionary''. Douglas, J.D., ed. 1982 (second edition). Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL, USA. , pp. 597–598 He reigned as king of Israel for 16 years and led the Israelites through some decisive battles, including a war with the

kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...

Death of Elisha

According to 2 Kings 13:14, Jehoash went to visit the prophet

Elisha Elisha was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a Jewish prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, Ełishe (Yeghishe/Elisha) via Armenian or Alyasa via Arabic, a ...

, who was sick with the illness that would eventually lead to his death. He held the prophet

in honor, and wept by his bedside while he was dying. Jehoash pleased Elisha, addressing him in the words Elisha himself had used when

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

was carried up into heaven: "Father, father! Israel’s chariots and riders!" When Jehoash failed to obey Elisha's instructions completely, Elisha predicted that Jehoash would only defeat Aram-Damascus three times rather than five or six times, which may have been enough to end the Syrian threat. In three signal and successive victories, Jehoash overcame the Syrians and retook towns Hazael had captured."Jehoash", ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
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War with Judah

Later in his reign, Jehoash led the men of the Kingdom of Israel in the defeat of king Amaziah of Judah. Amaziah had begun to worship some of the idols he had taken from the

Edomites Edom (; Edomite: ; , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomites appear in several written sources relating to the ...

, which the author of Chronicles believes led to his ruin and his defeat by Jehoash, whom he had challenged to battle. Jehoash had warned Amaziah, saying:

A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. You have indeed defeated Edom and now you are arrogant. Glory in your victory, but stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?2 Kings 14:9–10; "Joash var. Jehoash." ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary'', Vol III, 1992. Freedman, David Noel., ed., New York: Doubleday. pp. 857–858

Jehoash utterly defeated Amaziah at Beth-shemesh, on the borders of Dan and Philistia. Jehoash then advanced on

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, broke down a portion of the wall, and carried away the treasures of the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and the palace. Jehoash took Amaziah as a prisoner. Amaziah's defeat was followed by a conspiracy that took his life. Jehoash also took hostages to assure good conduct. After the battle he soon died and was buried in

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

Archaeology

The excavation at

Tell al-Rimah Tell al-Rimah (also Tell ar-Rimah) is an archaeological settlement mound, in Nineveh Province, Iraq, roughly west of Mosul and ancient Nineveh in the Sinjar region. It lies 15 kilometers south of the site of Tal Afar. It has been proposed that ...

yields a

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

of Adad-nirari III which mentioned "Jehoash the Samarian" and contains the first cuneiform mention of

by that name. A postulated image of Jehoash is reconstructed from plaster remains recovered at Kuntillet Ajrud.Pirhiya Beck (1982) ''The Drawings from Horvat Teiman (Kuntillet 'Ajrud)'', Tel Aviv, 9:1, 3–68, DOI: 10.1179/033443582788440827Tallay Ornan (2016) ''Sketches and Final Works of Art: The Drawings and Wall Paintings of Kuntillet 'Ajrud Revisited'', Tel Aviv, 43:1, 3–26, DOI: 10.1080/03344355.2016.1161374 The ruins were from a temple built by the northern Israel kingdom when Jehoash of Israel gained control over the kingdom of Judah during the reign of Amaziah of Judah.Nir Hasson
A strange drawing found in Sinai could undermine our entire idea of Judaism
Is that a 3,000-year-old picture of god, his penis and his wife depicted by early Jews at Kuntillet Ajrud?. ''Haaretz''. April 4, 2018

References

{{Authority control 9th-century BCE kings of Israel 8th-century BCE kings of Israel House of Jehu

Biblical account of his reign

Death of Elisha

War with Judah

Archaeology

See also

References