King living at the time of Divided Monarchy
Joash (Jehoash), son of Ahaziah, became king of Judah at age seven and reigned for forty years.
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Also known as Jehoash
Joash, also known as Jehoash, was the king of Judah and the son of Ahaziah. He became king at the age of seven, after being hidden by his aunt Jehosheba for six years following the usurpation of the throne by Athaliah (2Ki.11.2; 2Ch.22.11). During his forty-year reign (2Ki.12.1; 2Ch.24.1), Joash initiated repairs to the temple of the Lord, which had fallen into disrepair (2Ki.12.4-7; 2Ch.24.4).
However, after the death of his mentor, Jehoiada the priest, Joash turned away from the Lord and allowed the worship of idols (2Ch.24.17-18). When Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, prophesied against this wickedness, Joash ordered his execution (2Ch.24.20-22).
Consequently, Judah faced military defeats and Joash was wounded (2Ch.24.23-24). He was eventually assassinated by his own servants and succeeded by his son Amaziah (2Ki.12.20-21; 2Ch.24.25-27). Joash's reign was marked by both early reforms and later apostasy, highlighting the importance of godly leadership and the consequences of turning away from the Lord.
Part of: Kings, prophets and the house of David
Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab (and in the usual reading of Jezebel), married Jehoram of Judah, then after her son Ahaziah's death killed the royal heirs and ruled Judah six years, importing Baalism. The infant Joash was hidden in the temple.
Sources: 2 Kgs 8:18 · 2 Kgs 11:1-3
The priest Jehoiada hid Joash for six years, then led a coup in the seventh year with temple guards, had Athaliah put to death and crowned the boy. He remained Joash's guide until his death; Joash's later apostasy is reported.
Sources: 2 Kgs 11:4-16 · 2 Kgs 12:2 · 2 Chr 24:17-22
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26 verses in 3 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H3101
But Jehosheba daughter of King Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah, and he was not killed.
Joash was seven years old when he became king.
In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His motherʼs name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.
And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days he was instructed by Jehoiada the priest.
Then Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as sacred gifts into the house of the LORD—the census money, the money from vows, and the money brought voluntarily into the house of the LORD.
By the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, however, the priests had not yet repaired the damage to the temple.
So King Joash called Jehoiada and the other priests and said, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, therefore, take no more money from your constituency, but hand it over for the repair of the temple.”
So King Joash of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.
As for the rest of the acts of Joash, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla.
In the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash son of Ahaziah over Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria seventeen years.
In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Joash over Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years.
In the second year of the reign of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz over Israel, Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah.
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done. He did everything as his father Joash had done.
There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.
Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash over Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria forty-one years.
Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
But Jehoshabeath daughter of King Jehoram took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, was Ahaziahʼs sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she could not kill him.
Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His motherʼs name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.
And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
Some time later, Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the LORD.
Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariahʼs father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiadaʼs son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”
Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.
There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.
Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.