Jehoash | |
---|---|
King of Israel (Northern Kingdom) | |
Reign | c. 798 – c. 782 BC |
Predecessor | Jehoahaz |
Successor | Jeroboam II |
House | House of Jehu |
Father | Jehoahaz |
Jehoash (Hebrew : יְהוֹאָשׁYəhō’āš or [1] יוֹאָשׁYō’āš; Israelian Hebrew: 𐤀𐤔𐤉𐤅 *’Āšīyāw; [2] Akkadian: 𒅀𒀪𒋢 Yaʾsu [ia-'-su]; Latin : Joas; fl. c. 790 BC), whose name means "Yahweh has given," [3] was the twelfth king of the ancient northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and the son of Jehoahaz. [4] He was the 12th king of Israel and reigned for 16 years. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 801–786 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 798–782 BC. [5] When he ascended the throne, the Kingdom of Israel was suffering from the predations of the Arameans, whose king Hazael was conquering land controlled by Israel.
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. [3] 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. [6]
Jehoash went to visit the prophet Elisha, who was sick with the illness that would eventually lead to his death. He held the prophet Elisha 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 was carried up into heaven: "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof." [7] When Jehoash failed to completely obey Elisha's instructions, Elisha predicted that Jehoash would only defeat the Arameans three times rather than five or six times, which may have been enough to end the Syrian threat. [8] In three signal and successive victories Jehoash overcame the Syrians, and retook from them the towns which Hazael had captured from Israel. [9]
Later in his reign, Jehoash led the men of the Kingdom of Israel in the defeat of king Amaziah of Judah. [3] Amaziah had begun to worship some of the idols he had taken from the Edomites, 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?" [8]
Jehoash utterly defeated Amaziah at Beth-shemesh, on the borders of Dan and Philistia. Jehoash then advanced on Jerusalem, broke down a portion of the wall, and carried away the treasures of the Temple and the palace. Jehoash took Amaziah as a prisoner. Amaziah's defeat was followed by a conspiracy that took his life. [10] Jehoash also took hostages to assure good conduct. [3]
After the battle he soon died and was buried in Samaria. [11]
The excavation at Tell al-Rimah yields a stele of Adad-nirari III which mentioned "Jehoash the Samarian" [12] [13] and contains the first cuneiform mention of Samaria by that name. [14] The inscriptions of this "Tell al-Rimah Stele" may provide evidence of the existence of King Jehoash, attest to the weakening of Syrian kingdom (cf. 2 Kings 13:5), and show the vassal status of the northern kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians. [15]
A postulated image of Jehoash is reconstructed from plaster remains recovered at Kuntillet Ajrud. [16] [17] 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. [18]
Ahab was the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon according to the Hebrew Bible. He was widely criticized for causing "moral decline" in Israel, according to the Yahwists. Modern scholars argue that Ahab was a Yahwist and introduced Yahweh to the Kingdom of Judah via imperialism. This mostly occurred in the latter half of his reign.
The Book of Kings is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel.
Jehu was the tenth king of the northern Kingdom of Israel since Jeroboam I, noted for exterminating the house of Ahab. He was the son of Jehoshaphat, grandson of Nimshi, and possibly great-grandson of Omri, although the latter notion is not supported by the biblical text. His reign lasted 28 years.
The Kingdom of Israel, Northern Kingdom or Kingdom of Samaria, was an Israelite kingdom in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age, whose beginnings can be dated back to the first half of the 10th century BCE. The kingdom controlled the areas of Samaria, Galilee and parts of Transjordan. The regions of Samaria and Galilee underwent a period with large number of settlements during the 10th century BCE, with the capital in Shechem, and then in Tirzah. The kingdom was ruled by the Omride dynasty in the 9th century BCE, whose political center was the city of Samaria.
This article concerns the period 799 BC – 790 BC.
Jehoram was the ninth king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel, and brother to Ahaziah and Athaliah.
Joash, also known as Joash, Joas or Joás, was the eighth king of Judah, and the sole surviving son of Ahaziah after the massacre of the royal family ordered by his grandmother, Athaliah. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba. Jehoash was 7 years old when he ascended to the throne, reigning for 40 years. He was succeeded by his son, Amaziah of Judah. He is said to have been righteous "all the days of Jehoiada the priest" but to have deviated from fidelity to Yahweh after Jehoiada's death.
Amaziah of Judah, was the ninth king of Judah and the son and successor of Joash. His mother was Jehoaddan and his son was Uzziah. He took the throne at the age of 25, after the assassination of his father, and reigned for 29 years, 24 years of which were with the co-regency of his son. The second Book of Kings and the second Book of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible consider him a righteous king, but with some hesitation. He is praised for killing the assassins of his father only and sparing their children, as dictated by the Mosaic Law.
Jehoahaz II of Israel was the eleventh king of Israel and the son of Jehu. He reigned for seventeen years.
Hazael 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 born in the greater Damascus region of today, his place of birth is unknown, with both Bashan and the Beqaa Valley being favoured by different historians.
Adad-nīrārī III was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Note that this assumes that the longer version of the Assyrian Eponym List, which has an additional eponym for Adad-nīrārī III, is the correct one. For the shorter eponym list the ascension year would be 810 BC.
The Omride dynasty, Omrides or House of Omri were the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Samaria founded by King Omri. The dynasty's rule ended with the murder of Zechariah of Israel by Shallum in 752 BCE, who was then killed by Menahem in the next month.
Kuntillet ʿAjrud or Horvat Teman is a late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE site in the northeast part of the Sinai Peninsula. It is frequently described as a shrine, though this is not certain. The Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions discovered in the excavations are significant in biblical archaeology.
The Pazarcık Stele is an Assyrian monument which functioned as a boundary stone erected by the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III in 805 BC to demarcate the border between the kingdoms of Kummuh and Gurgum. The reverse and obverse of the stele have been inscribed in the Akkadian language in different times.
The House of Jehu or Jehu dynasty was a reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel. They are depicted in both of the Books of Kings. Their estimated reign is placed from the 9th century to the 8th century BCE.
2 Kings 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the reigns of Jehu's son, Jehoahaz, and Jehu's grandson, Jehoash, in the kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jehoash, the king of Judah, as well as the events around the death of Elisha. The narrative is a part of a major section 2 Kings 9:1–15:12 covering the period of Jehu's dynasty.
2 Kings 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reigns of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, as well as of Joash, and his son, Jeroboam (II) in the kingdom of Israel. The narrative is a part of a major section 2 Kings 9:1–15:12 covering the period of Jehu's dynasty.
2 Kings 12 is the twelfth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the reign of Joash as the king of Judah.
The Tell al-Rimah stela or the Stele of Adad-nirari III is a victory stele of Adad-nirari III which may include a reference to an early king of Samaria as "Jehoash the Samarian" which would be the first cuneiform mention of Samaria by that name.