Jazer – Jehohanan

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Jazer

ja'-zer (ya`zer or ya`zeyr; Septuagint Iazen in Codex Alexandrinus; Iazer): In some cases, e.g. , the King James Version reads "Jaazer." This was a city of the Amorites East of the Jordan taken, along with its towns, by Moses, and occupied by the tribe of Gad (; ). The country was very fertile, and its spacious pasture-lands attracted the flock-masters of Gad (), the southern border of whose territory it marked (). It was assigned to the Merarite Levites (; ). The place was reached by Joab when taking the census (). In the 40th year of King David mighty men of valor were found here to whom he entrusted the oversight in Reuben and Gad "for every matter pertaining to God, and run the affairs of the king" ( f). The fruitfulness of the country is alluded to in f; . (Note: "Sea of" Jazer in this verse has arisen through accidental repetition of yam, "sea," from the preceding clause.) The city was taken from the Ammonites by Judas Maccabeus, and burned (1 Macc 5:7,8; Ant, XII, viii, 1).

Onomasticon places Jazer 10 Roman miles West of Philadelphia (`Amman), and about 15 miles from Heshbon, where a great stream rises, which flows into the Jordan. Many would identify it with Khirbet Car, on the South of Wady Cir, about 5 miles West of `Amman. The perennial stream from Wady Cir reaches the Jordan by Wady el-Kefrein. Cheyne (EB, under the word) suggests Yajuz on Wady Zorby, tributary of the Jabbok, with extensive Roman remains. It lies a little way to the East of el Jubeihat ("Jogbehah," ). It is situated, however, to the North and not to the West of `Amman, where Eusebius, Onomasticon, places it. Neither identification is certain.

W. Ewing

Jaziz

ja'-ziz (yaziz, meaning uncertain): The Hagrite who was over David's flocks ( (Hebrew 31)).

Jealousy

jel'-us-i (qin'ah; zelos): Doubtless, the root idea of both the Greek and the Hob translated "jealousy" is "warmth," "heat." Both are used in a good and a bad sense--to represent right and wrong passion.

When jealousy is attributed to God, the word is used in a good sense. The language is, of course, anthropomorphic; and it is based upon the feeling in a husband of exclusive right in his wife. God is conceived as having wedded Israel to Himself, and as claiming, therefore, exclusive devotion. Disloyalty on the part of Israel is represented as adultery, and as provoking God to jealousy. See, e.g., ,; ; ; ; ,; ; ; .

When jealousy is attributed to men, the sense is sometimes good, and sometimes bad. In the good sense, it refers to an ardent concern for God's honor. See, e.g., (compare ; ); (compare ). In the bad sense it is found in ; ; ; ; ,.

The "law of jealousy" is given in . It provided that, when a man suspected his wife of conjugal infidelity, an offering should be brought to the priest, and the question of her guilt or innocence should be subjected to a test there carefully prescribed. The test was intended to be an appeal to God to decide the question at issue.

See ADULTERY; SACRIFICE.

E. J. Forrester

Jealousy, Image Of

See IMAGES.

Jealousy, Water Of

See ADULTERY, (2).

Jearim, Mount

je'-a-rim, je-a'-rim (har-ye`arim): A mountain by the side of which passed the border of Judah (). It is mentioned here only, and is identical with CHESALON (which see).

Jeatherai; Jeaterai

je-ath'-e-ri, jeat'-e-ri (Revised Version (British and American)), (the King James Version) (ye'atheray, meaning unknown): A descendant of Gershom, "son" of Levi ( ()), and probably an ancestor of Asaph (so commentators); in 6:39-43 the corresponding name is "Ei." The difference in the Hebrew words is not great.

Jeberechiah

je-ber-e-ki'-a (yebherekhyahu, "Yah blesses"): The father of the Zechariah whom Isaiah (8:2) took as a witness of his prophecy against Syria and Ephraim (circa 734 BC).

Jebus

je'-bus (yebhuc; Iebous): In ,, "Jebus (the same is Jerusalem)"; ,, "Jerusalem (the same is Jebus)." It was once thought that this was the first name of Jerusalem, as indeed might be suggested by the Biblical references, but it is now known from the Tell el-Amarna Letters that Urusa-lem was a name used centuries before the time of David (see JERUSALEM, I). It would appear probable that the name "Jebus" was evolved by the Hebrews as an alternate name, and possibly they may have imagined an earlier name, for Jerusalem from JEBUSITE (which see), the name of the local tribe who owned the district in the first centuries of Israel's occupation of Canaan.

E. W. G. Masterman

Jebus; Jebusi; Jebusite

je'-bus, jeb'-u-si, jeb'-u-zit (yebhuc, ha-yebhuci): "Jebus" is an old name for Jerusalem (,; parallel , "the same is Jerus"; see preceding article). "Jebusi" (literally, "Jebusite") is also used as a name for the city in the King James Version (,; compare ); the Revised Version (British and American) correctly renders "Jebusite" (see JERUSALEM). "Jebusites," for the people (in the King James Version ; ,, etc.), does not occur in Hebrew in the plural; hence, in the Revised Version (British and American) is always rendered in the singular, "Jebusite." The "Jebusite" is said in ; to be the 3rd son of Canaan, i.e. of the country of Canaan. Elsewhere he represents a tribe separate from the Canaanites. He stands between Heth and the Amorite (compare ; ; ,). In the lists of the peoples inhabiting Palestine the "Jebusite" is always placed last, a fact indicative, probably, of their smaller number.

To what race the Jebusites belonged is doubtful. Their name does not seem Semitic, and they do not make their appearance till after the patriarchal period.

The original name of Jerusalem was Babylonian, Uru-Salim, "the city of Salim," shortened into Salem in and in the inscriptions of the Egyptian kings Ramses II and Ramses III. In the Tell el-Amarna Letters (1400 BC) Jerusalem is still known as Uru-Salim, and its king bears a Hittite name, implying that it was at the time in the possession of the Hittites. His enemies, however, were closing around him, and one of the tablets shows that the city was eventually captured and its king slain. These enemies would seem to have been the Jebusites, since it is after this period that the name "Jebus" makes its appearance for the first time in the Old Testament (,).

The Jebusite king at the time of the conquest was Adoni-zedek, who met his death at Beth-boron ( ; in the word "Amorite" is used in its Babylonian sense to denote the inhabitants of Canaan generally). The Jebusites were a mountain tribe (; ). Their capital "Jebus" was taken by the men of Judah and burned with fire (), but they regained possession of, and held, the fortress till the time of David ().

When Jerusalem was taken by David, the lives and property of its Jebusite inhabitants were spared, and they continued to inhabit the temple-hill, David and his followers settling in the new City of David on Mt. Zion (,; ; ). And as Araunah is called "king" (), we may conclude that their last ruler also had been lowed to live. His name is non-Sem, and the various spellings of it (compare , "Ornan") indicate that the Hebrew writers had some difficulty in pronouncing it. The Jebusites seem ultimately to have blended with the Israelite population.

James Orr

Jecamiah

jek-a-mi'-a: the King James Version for JEKAMIAH (which see).

Jechiliah

jek-i-li'-a (yekhilyah). See JECHOLIAH; Kethibh and the Revised Version (British and American), where Qere is yekholyah = "Jecoliah" (the King James Version).

Jecholiah

jek-o-li'-a (yekholyahu; the King James Version = yekholyah, Qere in , "Yah is able" or "Yah has been able"): The mother of King Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah. The Revised Version (British and American) has "Jecoliah" in 2Ki and so the King James Version in 2 Ch.

Jechonias

jek-o-ni'-as (Iechonias, the King James Version; Greek form of "Jechoniah," the Revised Version (British and American)):

(1) The altered form of Jehoiachin (Additions to Esther 11:4; Baruch 1:3,9; ,). The last but one of the kings of Judah.

(2) The son of Zeelus (1 Esdras 8:92), called "Shecaniah" in .

Jecoliah

jek-o-li'-a: ; the King James Version; see JECHILIAH; JECHOLIAH.

Jeconiah

jek-o-ni'-a.

See JEHOIACHIN.

Jeconias

jek-o-ni-as (Iechonias):

(1) One of the chiliarchs who made great gifts of sheep and calves at the Passover of Josiah (1 Esdras 1:9); called "Conaniah" in .

(2) One reading makes Jeconias (not Joachaz) son of Josiah in 1 Esdras 1:34 margin.

Jedaiah

je-da'-ya, je-di'-a:

(1) (yedha`yah, "Yah knows"):

(a) A priest in Jerusalem (; ).

(b) = , where "children of Jedaiah" are mentioned = "Jeddu" in 1 Esdras 5:24.

(d) Another priest of the same name (,).

(e) One of the exiles whom Zechariah was commanded to send with silver and gold to Jerusalem. Septuagint does not take the word as a proper name (,)

(2) (yedhayah, "Yah throws" (?)):

(a) Father of a Simeonite prince ().

(b) One of the repairers of the wall of Jerusalem ().

David Francis Roberts

Jeddu

jed'-oo (Ieddou): Called JEDAIAH (which see 1, (b)) in canonical books (1 Esdras 5:24).

Jedeus

je-de'-us (Iedaios): Called ADAIAH (which see) in (1 Esdras 9:30).

Jediael

je-di'-a-el (yedhi`a'-el, "God makes known" (?)):

(1) A "son" of Benjamin or probably of Zebulun (,,). See Curtis, Chronicles, 145-49, who suggests emending the name to yachle'el, Jahleel, in agreement with .

(2) One of David's mighty men (), probably = the Manassite who deserted to David at Ziklag ( (Hebrew 21)).

(3) A Korahite doorkeeper in David's reign ().

Jedidah

je-di'-da (yedhidhah, "beloved"): Mother of King Josiah of Judah, daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath ().

Jedidiah

jed-i-di'-a (yedhidh-yah, "the beloved of Yah"): The name conferred by God through Nathan upon Solomon at his birth ().

Jeduthun

je-du'-thun.

See ASAPH.

Jeeli

je-e'-li (Ieieli: Called "Jaalah" in and "Jaala" in (1 Esdras 5:33).

Jeelus

je-e'-lus (Ieelos): Called "Jehiel" in (1 Esdras 8:92).

Jeezer

je-e'-zer (the King James Version) ('i`ezer; the Revised Version (British and American) IEZER): The name of a elan of Gilead (), but read la-'abhi`ezer, i.e. "of Abiezer" (compare ).

See ABIEZER.

Jeezerites

je-e'-zer-its.

See ABIEZER.

Jegar-Saha-Dutha

je-gar-sa-ha-du'-tha (yeghar sahadhutha'; Septuagint Bounos marturei, "(the) mound witnesses"): The name given by the Aramean, Laban, to the "cairn of witness," called by Jacob GALEED (which see) (). The rest of the second part of this name appears again in , where sahadhi, should be rendered with the Revised Version (British and American), "he that voucheth for me," i.e. "my witness."

Jehallelel; Jehaleleel

je-hal'-e-lel (Revised Version (British and American)), je-ha-le'-le-el (the King James Version) (yehallel'el, "he shall praise God"):

(1) A Judahite ().

(2) A Levite, a descendant of Merari ().

Jehdeiah

je-de'-ya, ja'-de-ya (yechdeyahu, "may Yahweh give joy!"):

(1) A Levite, head of the family of Shubael ().

(2) An officer of David "over the asses" ().

Jehezkel; Jehezekel

je-hez'-kel (Revised Version (British and American)), je-hez'-e-kel (the King James Version) (yechezqe'l "God strengthens"):

(1) A priest of David's time ().

(2) Jehezkel in King James Version margin, for EZEKIEL (which see).

Jehiah

je-hi'-a (yechiyah, "may Yahweh live!"): Keeper of the ark with Obed-edom (), but in verse 18 the name is ye`i'el, JEIEL (which see)

Jehiel; Jehieli

je-hi'-el, je-hi'-e-li (yechi'el, "may God live!"):

(1) A Levite, one of the musicians appointed to play upon instruments at the bringing up of the ark by David (,; ); (yechi'eli): A patronymic of this name (,), but Curtis (Chronicles, 286-87) reads "Jehiel () and he is brethren Zetham and Joel" (); compare , where the three seem to be brothers. See (2) above.

(2) A Gershonite, head of a Levitical house (; ).

(3) Son of a Hachmonite; he was "with the king's (David's) sons," i.e. their tutor ().

(4) A son of King Jehoshaphat ().

(5) In the King James Version, where Qere is yechu'el, the Revised Version (British and American) "Jehuel," a Hermanite Levite who took part in cleansing the temple in Hezekiah's reign.

(6) An overseer in Hezekiah's reign ().

(7) One of the three "rulers" of the temple in Hezekiah's reign ().

(8) Father of Obadiah, a returned exile () = "Jezelus" of 1 Esdras 8:35.

(9) Father of Shecaniah () = "Jeelus" of 1 Esdras 8:92. He was a "son" of Elam, and so probably the same as "Jehiel" in , one of those who had married foreign wives = "Jezrielus" of 1 Esdras 9:27.

(10) A "son" of Harim, and one of those who had married foreign wives () = "Hiereel" of 1 Esdras 9:21.

(11) The King James Version in = JEIEL (q.v. (2)).

(12) The King James Version in = JEIEL (q.v. (3)).

David Francis Roberts

Jehizkiah

je-hiz-ki'-a (yechizqiyahu, "Yah strengthens"): One of the Ephraimite chiefs () who with Obed are said to have opposed the enslavement of the Judahites taken captive by Pekah in his war against Ahaz (circa 734 BC).

Jehoaddah; Jehoadah

je-ho-ad'-a (Revised Version (British and American)), je-ho'-a-da (the King James Version) (yeho`addah, "Yah has deposed" or "numbered"): A descendant of King Saul (), called "Jarah" in , where the Septuagint has Iada = ya`dah.

See JARAH.

Jehoaddan

je-ho-ad'-an (yeho`addan, meaning unknown): In ; and Qere, the King James Version in , where Kethibh and the Revised Version (British and American) are "Jehoaddin" (yeho`addin), the mother of King Amaziah of Judah.

Jehoaddin

je-ho-ad'-in.

See JEHOADDAN.

Jehoahaz

je-ho'-a-haz, je-ho-a'-haz (yeho'achaz, "Yah has grasped"; Ioachas; ):

(1) Son of Jehu, and 11th king of Israel. He is stated to have reigned 17 years.

1. Chronology of Reign:

Josephus was already aware (Ant., IX, viii, 5) of the chronological difficulty involved in the cross-references in and 10, the former of which states that Jehoahaz began to reign in the 23rd year of Jehoash of Jerusalem, and reigned 17 years; while the latter gives him a successor in Jehoash's 37th year, or 14 years later. Josephus alters the figure of 13:1 to 21; and, to meet the same difficulty, the Septuagint (Aldine edition) changes 37 to 39 in 13:10. The difficulty may be met by supposing that Jehoahaz was associated with his father Jehu for several years in the government of the country before the death of the latter, and that these years were counted as a part of his reign. This view has in its favor the fact that Jehu was an old man when he died, and may have been incapacitated for the full discharge of administrative duties before the end came. The accession of Jehoahaz as sole ruler may be dated about 825 BC.

2. Low Condition of the Kingdom:

When Jehoahaz came to the throne, he found a discouraged and humiliated people. The territory beyond Jordan, embracing 2 1/2 tribes, or one-fourth of the whole kingdom, had been lost in warfare with the Syrian king, Hazael (,). A heavy annual subsidy was still payable to Assyria, as by his father Jehu. The neighboring kingdom of Judah was still unfriendly to any member of the house of Jehu. Elisha the prophet, though then in the zenith of his influence, does not seem to have done anything toward the stability of Jehu's throne.

3. Israel and Syria:

Specially did Israel suffer during this reign from the continuance of the hostility of Damascus (,,). Hazael had been selected, together with Jehu, as the instrument by which the idolatry of Israel was to be punished (). Later the instruments of vengeance fell out. On Jehu's death, the pressure from the east on Hazael was greatly relieved. The great conqueror, Shalmaneser II, had died, and his son Samsi-Ramman IV had to meet a revolt within the empire, and was busy with expeditions against Babylon and Media during the 12 years of his reign (824-812 BC). During these years, the kingdoms of the seaboard of the Mediterranean were unmolested. They coincide with the years of Jehoahaz, and explain the freedom which Hazael had to harass the dominions of that king.

4. The Elisha Episodes:

Particulars of the several campaigns in which the troops of Damascus harassed Israel are not given. The life of Elisha extended through the 3 reigns of Jehoram (12 years), Jehu (28 years) and Jehoahaz (12 or 13 years), into the reign of Joash (). It is therefore probable that in the memorabilia of his life in :29, now one and now another king of Israel should figure, and that some of the episodes there recorded belong to the reign of Jehoahaz. There are evidences that strict chronological order is not observed in the narrative of Elisha, e.g. Gehazi appears in waiting on the king of Israel in 8:5, after the account of his leprosy in 5:27. The terrible siege of Samaria in is generally referred to the reign of Jehoram; but no atmosphere is so suitable to it as that of the reign of Jehoahaz, in one of the later years of whom it may have occurred. The statement in 13:7 that "the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing," and the statistics there given of the depleted army of Jehoahaz, would correspond with the state of things that siege implies. In this case the Ben-hadad of would be the son of Hazael (13:3).

5. His Idolatry:

Jehoahaz, like his father, maintained the calf-worship in Bethel and Dan, and revived also the cult of the Asherah, a form of Canaanitish idolatry introduced by Ahab (). It centered round a sacred tree or pole, and was probably connected with phallic worship (compare 1 K 15:13, where Maacah, mother of Asa, is said to have "made an abominable image for an Asherah" in Jerusalem).

6. Partial Reform:

The close of this dark reign, however, is brightened by a partial reform. In his distress, we are told, "Jehoahaz besought Yahweh, and Yahweh hearkened unto him" (). If the siege of Samaria in belongs to his reign, we might connect this with his wearing "sackcloth within upon his flesh" (6:30)--an act of humiliation only accidentally discovered by the rending of his garments. goes on to say that "Yahweh gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians." The "saviour" may refer to Joash, under whom the deliverance began (13:25), or to Jeroboam II, of whom it is declared that by him God "saved" Israel (14:27). Others take it to refer to Ramman-nirari III, king of Assyria, whose conquest of Damascus made possible the victories of these kings.

See JEHOASH.

W. Shaw Caldecott

(2) A king of Judah, son and successor of Josiah; reigned three months and was deposed, 608 BC. Called "Shallum" in ; compare . The story of his reign is told in , and in a briefer account in . The historian o 2 Kings characterizes his reign as evil; 2Ch passes no verdict upon him. On the death of his father in battle, which threw the realm into confusion, he, though a younger son (compare with 23:36; makes him the fourth son of Josiah), was raised to the throne by "the people of the land," the same who had secured the accession to his father; see under JOSIAH. Perhaps, as upholders of the sterling old Davidic idea, which his father had carried out so well, they saw in him a better hope for its integrity than in his elder brother Jehoiakim (Eliakim), whose tyrannical tendencies may already have been too apparent. The prophets also seem to have set store by him, if we may judge by the sympathetic mentions of him in and ,. His career was too short, however, to make any marked impression on the history of Judah.

Josiah's ill-advised meddling with the designs of Pharaoh-necoh (see under JOSIAH) had had, in fact, the ill effect of plunging Judah again into the vortex of oriental politics, from which it had long been comparatively free. The Egyptian king immediately concluded that so presumptuous a state must not be left in his rear unpunished. Arrived at Riblah on his Mesopotamian expedition, he put Jehoahaz in bonds, and later carried him prisoner to Egypt, where he died; raised his brother Jehoiakim to the throne as a vassal king; and imposed on the realm a fine of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. So the fortunes of the Judean state, so soon after Josiah's good reign, began their melancholy change for the worse.

John Franklin Genung

(3) In ; = AHAZIAH, king of Judah (which see) ( ).

Jehoash; Joash

je-ho'-ash, the uncontracted form of (yeho'ash, yo'ash, "Yahweh has bestowed"; compare ,; ,; , etc.; Ioas):

(1) The 9th king of Judah; son of Ahaziah and Zibiah, a woman of Beersheba (:21; :27). Jehoash was 7 years old at his accession, and reigned 40 years. His accession may be placed in 852 BC. Some include in the years of his reign the 6 years of Athaliah's usurpation.

I. Ninth King of Judah

1. His Early Preservation:

When, on Athaliah's usurpation of the throne, she massacred the royal princes, Jehoash was saved from her unnatural fury by the action of his aunt Jehosheba, the wife of Jehoiada, the high priest (,; ,). During 6 years he was concealed in the house of Jehoiada, which adjoined the temple; hence, is said to have been "hid in the house of Yahweh"--a perfectly legitimate use of the phrase according to the idiom of the time.

2. The Counter-Revolution:

During these formative years of Jehoash's early life, he was under the moral and spiritual influence of Jehoiada--a man of lofty character and devout spirit. At the end of 6 years, a counter-revolution was planned by Jehoiada, and was successfully carried out on a Sabbath, at one of the great festivals. The accounts of this revolution in Kings and Chronicles supplement each other, but though the Levitical interest of the Chronicler is apparent in the details to which he gives prominence, the narratives do not necessarily collide, as has often been represented. The event was prepared for by the young king being privately exhibited to the 5 captains of the "executioners" (the Revised Version (British and American) "Carites") and "runners" (; ). These entered into covenant with Jehoiada, and, by his direction, summoned the Levites from Judah (), and made the necessary arrangements for guarding the palace and the person of the king. In these dispositions both the royal body-guard and the Levites seem to have had their parts. Jehoash next appears standing on a platform in front of the temple, the law of the testimony in his hand and the crown upon his head. Amid acclamations, he is anointed king. Athaliah, rushing on the scene with cries of "treason" (see ATHALIAH), is driven forth and slain. A new covenant is made between Yahweh and the king and people, and, at the conclusion of the ceremony, a great procession is formed, and the king is conducted with honor to the royal house (; ). Thus auspiciously did the new reign begin.

3. Repair of the Temple:

Grown to manhood (compare the age of his son Amaziah, ), Jehoash married two wives, and by them had sons and daughters (). His great concern at this period, however, was the repair of the temple--the "house of Yahweh"--which in the reign of Athaliah had been broken up in many places, plundered, and allowed to become dilapidated (,; ). To meet the expense of its restoration, the king gave orders that all moneys coming into the temple, whether dues or voluntary offerings, should be appropriated for this purpose (), and from the account in Chronicles would seem to have contemplated a revival of the half-shekel tax appointed by Moses for the construction of the tabernacle (,; compare ; ). To enforce this impost would have involved a new census, and the memory of the judgments which attended David's former attempt of this kind may well have had a deterrent effect on Jehoiada and the priesthood. "The Levites hastened it not," it is declared ().

4. A New Expedient:

Time passed, and in the 23rd year of the king's reign (his 30th year), it was found that the breaches of the house had still not been repaired. A new plan was adopted. It was arranged that a chest with a hole bored in its lid should be set up on the right side of the altar in the temple-court, under the care of two persons, one the king's scribe, the other an officer of the high priest, and that the people should be invited to bring voluntarily their half-shekel tax or other offerings, and put it in this box (; ,). Gifts from worshippers who did not visit the altar were received by priests at the gate, and brought to the box. The expedient proved brilliantly successful. The people cheerfully responded, large sums were contributed, the money was honestly expended, and the temple was thoroughly renovated. There remained even a surplus, with which gold and silver vessels were made, or replaced, for the use of the temple. Jehoiada's long and useful life seems to have closed soon after.

5. The King's Declension:

With the death of this good man, it soon became evident that the strongest pillar of the state was removed. It is recorded that "Jehoash did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him" (), but after Jehoiada had been honorably interred in the sepulchers of the kings (), a sad declension became manifest. The princes of Judah came to Jehoash and expressed their wish for greater freedom in worship than had been permitted them by the aged priest. With weak complaisance, the king "hearkened unto them" (). Soon idols and Asherahs began to be set up in Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. Unnamed prophets raised their protests in vain. The high priest Zechariah, a worthy son of Jehoiada, testified in his place that as the nation had forsaken Yahweh, he also would forsake it, and that disaster would follow (). Wrathful at the rebuke, the king gave orders that Zechariah should be stoned with stones in the temple-court (). This was done, and the act of sacrilege, murder, and ingratitude was perpetrated to which Jesus seems to refer in ; ("son of Barachiah" in the former passage is probably an early copyist's gloss through confusion with the prophet Zechariah).

6. Calamities and Assassination:

The high priest's dying words, "Yahweh look upon it, and require it," soon found an answer. Within a year of Zechariah's death, the armies of Hazael, the Syrian king, were ravaging and laying waste Judah. The city of Gath fell, and a battle, the place of which is not given, placed Jerusalem at the mercy of the foe (; ,). To save the capital from the indignity of foreign occupation, Jehoash, then in dire sickness, collected all the hallowed things of the temple, and all the gold of the palace, and sent them to Hazael (,). This failure of his policy, in both church and state, excited such popular feeling against Jehoash, that a conspiracy was formed to assassinate him. His physical sufferings won for him no sympathy, and two of his own officers slew him, while asleep, in the fortress of Millo, where he was paying a visit (). He was buried in the city of David, but not in the royal sepulchers, as Jehoiada had been ().

Jehoash is mentioned as the father of Amaziah (; ). His contemporaries in Israel were Jehoahaz () and Jehoash ().

(2) The son of Jehoahaz, and 12th king of Israel (; ; ).

II. Twelveth King of Israel

1. Accession and Reign:

Jehoash reigned for 16 years. His accession may be placed in 813 BC. There were almost simultaneous changes in the sovereignties of Judah and of Assyria--Amazih succeeding to the throne of Judah in the 2nd year of Jehoash, and Ramman-nirari III coming to the throne of Assyria in 811 BC--which had important effects on the history of Israel in this reign.

2. Elisha and Jehoash:

During the three previous reigns, for half a century, Elisha had been the prophet of Yahweh to Israel. He was now aged and on his deathbed. Hearing of his illness, the young king came to Dothan, where the prophet was, and had a touching interview with him. His affectionate exclamation, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof" (; compare 2:12), casts a pleasing light upon his character. On his lips the words had another meaning than they bore when used by Elish himself at Elijah's translation. Then they referred to the "appearance" which parted Elisha from his master; now they referred to the great service rendered by the prophet to the kingdom. Not only had Elisha repeatedly saved the armies of Israel from the ambushes prepared for them by the Syrians (), but he had given assurance of the relief of the capital when it was at its worst extremity (). To Jehoash, Elisha's presence was indeed in place of chariots and horse. The truth was anew demonstrated by the promise which the dying prophet now made to him. Directing Jehoash in the symbolical action of the shooting of certain arrows, he predicted three victories over the Syrians--the first at Aphek, now Fik, on the East of the Lake of Galilee--and more would have been granted, had the faith of the king risen to the opportunity then afforded him ().

3. Assyria and Damascus:

An interesting light is thrown by the annals of Assyria on the circumstances which may have made these victories of Jehoash possible. Ramman-nirari III, who succeeded to the throne in 811 BC, made an expedition against Damascus, Edom and Philistia, in his account of which he says: "I shut up the king (of Syria) in his chief city, Damascus. .... He clasped my feet, and gave himself up. .... His countless wealth and goods I seized in Damascus." With the Syrian power thus broken during the remainder of this ruler's reign of 27 years, it may be understood how Jehoash should be able to recover, as it is stated he did, the cities which Ben-hadad had taken from his father Jehoahaz (). Schrader and others see in this Assyrian ruler the "saviour" of Israel alluded to in ; more usually the reference is taken to be to Jehoash himself, and to Jeroboam II (compare ).

4. War With Judah:

The epitome of Jehoash's reign is very brief, but the favorable impression formed of him from the acts of Elisha is strengthened by another gained from the history of Amaziah of Judah (; ). For the purpose of a southern campaign Amaziah had hired a large contingent of troops from Samaria. Being sent back unemployed, these mercenaries committed ravages on their way home, for which, apparently, no redress was given. On the first challenge of the king of Judah, Jehoash magnanimously refused the call to arms, but on Amaziah persisting, the peace established nearly 80 years before by Jehoshaphat () was broken at the battle of Beth-shemesh, in which Amaziah was defeated and captured. Jerusalem opened its gates to the victor, and was despoiled of all its treasure, both of palace and temple. A portion of the wall was broken down, and hostages for future behavior were taken to Samaria (,).

5. Character:

Jehoash did not long survive his crowning victory, but left a resuscitated state, and laid the foundation for a subsequent rule which raised Israel to the zenith of its power. Josephus gives Jehoash a high character for godliness, but, like each of his predecessors, he followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam I in permitting, if not encouraging, the worship of the golden calves. Hence, his conduct is pronounced "evil" by the historian (). He was succeeded by his son Jeroboam II.

W. Shaw Caldecott

Jehohanan

je-ho-ha'-nan (yehochanan, "Yahweh is (or has been) gracious"):

(1) A Korahite doorkeeper in David's reign, "son" of Meshelemiah (). Septuagint, Luc, has "Jehonathan."

(2) One of the five captains over King Jehoshaphat's army (), probably father of Ishmael, "son of Jehohanan" ().

(3) (the King James Version has "Johnnan") = "Johanan" of , = "Jonathan" of , "son" of Eliashib (; but "grandson" in ). He was high priest in Ezra's time = "Jonas" in 1 Esdras 9:1 (the King James Version "Joanan").

(4) One of those who had married foreign wives () = "Joannes" the Revised Version (British and American), "Johannes" the King James Version (1 Esdras 9:29).

(5) Son of Tobiah, the Ammonite, Nehemiah's opponent (, the King James Version "Johanan").

(6) Head of the priestly family of Amariah ().

(7) A priest present at the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem ().

(8) The name in the Hebrew of .

See JOHANAN, (7).

David Francis Roberts

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (1915). Public domain. Text from the CrossWire Bible Society.