Who is King Jehoash in the Bible?

Quick Facts

Father: Jehoahaz of Israel, 2 Kings 13:10
Predecessor: Jehoahaz of Israel, 2 Kings 13:10
Kingdom: Kingdom of Israel, 2 Kings 13:10
Succession: 12th king
Length of reign: 16 years, 2 Kings 13:10
Successor: King Jeroboam II, 2 Kings 13:13
Morality: evil king, 2 Kings 13:11
Other name: Joash, 2Ki 13; 2Ki 14:1; 2Ki 14:27; 2Ch 25:17-25; Ho 1:1; Am 1:1
Bible reference: 2 Kings 13:10-25

Disambiguation

  • King Jehoash of Israel/King Joash of Israel
  • King Jehoash of Judah/King Joash of Judah

Jehoash reign in North Israel

The name Joash means Jehovah-fired. Jehoash, son of King Jehoahaz, was a second-generation descendant of King Jehu. Jehoash’s ascension to the throne was based on the promise God made to King Jehu that his descendants to the 4th generation would be kings of Israel. In light of this promise, after Jehu’s death, the throne was peacefully passed to his son Jehoahaz, who also had it passed to his son Jehoash. Jehoash was the 12th king of North Israel. He reigned for 16 years in Samaria, their capital city. He did evil in God’s sight by perpetuating the sins of Jeroboam.

Jehoash inherited the kingdom along with its problems. Since the days of Joram of Israel up to Jehoash himself, King Hazael of Syria had harassed Israel and had taken territories from Israel. Jehoash had to confront him just as his predecessors did. When King Jehoash died (of natural causes) his throne was handed over to his son Jeroboam II who was a third-generation descendant of King Jehu (2 Kings 13:13).

Jehoash visits Elisha on his dying bed

Now when Elisha fell sick and was going to die, King Jehoash went to see him and he wept before him. Elisha had the king take a bow and some arrows. Then he had him draw the bow and open the east window. And Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. Then Elisha had the king shoot the arrow through the window. This is a sign that God shall deliver Israel by making them defeat the Syrians at Aphek. Then he had the king pick up the other arrows and asked him to strike them against the ground. The king did it three times and stopped. Elisha was angry and said that if he had done it five or six times he would have defeated Syria until he had made an end of it. But because he did it three times he would defeat Syria thrice. (2 Kings 13:14-19)

Jehoash defeats Benhadad III

Now the Syrian champion king, Hazael, whom the Lord had used to punish Israel since the days of Joram of Israel, died shortly after Jehoash was made a king (2Ki 13:24). Benhadad III, the son of Hazael, was made a king in place of his father. During that time, God helped Jehoash to defeat Benhadad III three times according to the word of Prophet Elisha and he recovered from Benhadad III the Israeli cities that his father captured. (2 Kings 13:25)

Jehoash-Amaziah war

King Jehoash became a king during the reign of King Joash of Judah. King Jehoash outlived King Joash of Judah into the reign of Joash’s son, King Amaziah. With time, King Amaziah personally invited King Jehoash to war by sending messengers to King Jehoash, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” Jehoash tried to avoid war between them but King Amaziah would not listen; he insisted on going to war with Israel.

Therefore these two kings and their armies came to fight at Bethshemesh and Judah lost the battle and they fled. King Jehoash captured King Amaziah alive and brought him to Jerusalem. King Jehoash had 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem broken down from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate. He took many hostages and took all the gold, silver, and vessels that were found in the Temple of King Solomon and the treasures of the king’s house, and returned to his city, Samaria. (2 Kings 14:8-14)

Achievement of Jehoash

  • King Jehoash beat King Benhadad III three times in battle and recovered the cities of Israel that Benhadad’s father had captured from the hands of King Jehu. (2Ki 13:19; 2Ki 13:25)
  • He also defeated King Amaziah at Bethshemesh and enriched his kingdom by sacking the temple and the king’s palace of all the gold, silver, and other valuables. (2Ki 14:13-14; 2Ki 13:12)

Contemporaries of Jehoash

  • King Hazael was reigning in Syria when Jehoash was made a king. Hazael had been an enemy of Israel for life. (2 Kings 13:24)
  • Joash of Judah had reigned for 37th years when Jehoash became a king. (2 Kings 13:10)
  • King Amaziah, son of Joash of Judah, began to reign when Jehoash had reigned for 2 years. Jehoash defeated Amaziah in war. (2 Kings 14:11)
  • Benhadad III, son of Hazael, became a king during the reign of Jehoash. They were enemies and fought many wars. (2 Kings 13:25)

Major events during Jehoash’s reign

  • King Hazael died shortly after Jehoash began to reign. (2 Kings 13:24)
  • He defeated King Benhadad III three times in battle and recovered the cities that his grandfather, King Jehu, lost to King Hazael of Syria. (2 Kings 13:25)
  • There was an Israel-Judah war at Bethshemesh of Judah. Judah lost to Israel and the temple and the king’s palace were sacked of all valuables. (2 Kings 14:11)
  • There was a Judah-Edom war. King Amaziah of Judah defeated Edom. (2Ki 14:7; 2Ch 25:12)
  • During Jehoash’s reign, King Amaziah came to hire 1000 warriors from Israel for 100 talents of silver so that they would help him fight and win a war against Edom. These 1000 warriors were later asked to go back home and did not participate in the war. (2 Chronicles 25:6-10)

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