1. Jehu's son and successor; king over northern Israel nearly 17 years, 856-840 B.C. (2 Kings 13:1-9). His reign began in the 22nd or even the 21st year (Josephus) of Joash of Judah, rather than the 23rd year. His persevering in his father's sin, namely, the worship of Jeroboam's calves, and his leaving the Asherah still standing in Samaria from the time of Ahab (2 Kings 23:30-31), brought on Israel Jehovah's anger more than in Jehu's time; for the longer sin is persevered in, the heavier the final reckoning, an accumulated entail of guilt descends (Exodus 20:5). (See GROVE.) Hazael of Syria and his son Benhadad, as his commander in chief, scourged the people all Jehoahaz' (not as KJV "their") days (Exodus 20:3; Exodus 20:22), leaving him only 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 footmen, "making the people like the dust by threshing": (Amos 1:3) "they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron," i.e. sledges on wheels with iron teeth, cutting the straw as well as threshing out the grain (2 Samuel 12:31; Isaiah 28:27). In his affliction Jehoahaz besought the Lord (Hosea 5:15; Psalms 78:34). "Jehovah hearkened unto him," Israel's oppression moving God's pity, irrespective of Israel's merits (2 Kings 14:25-26). So "He gave Israel a saviour," not in Jehoahaz' reign, but in that of Joash and Jeroboam II his successors, who were each in turn "a saviour"; for the answer to prayer often comes when the petitioner is dead and gone (2 Kings 14:22-25). Notwithstanding his misfortunes, Jehoahaz had shown "might" in the conflict with Syria. 2. The name given to Jehoram's youngest son during his father's lifetime. Ahaziah was his name as king (2 Chronicles 21:17). 3. Son of Josiah; at his father's death the people took and made him king, 610 B.C., in preference to his two elder brothers, Johanan and Jehoiakim (1 Chronicles 3:15; Jeremiah 22:11; 1 Kings 16:33; 2 Kings 23:36; 2 Chronicles 36:2). Zedekiah, though put before Jehoahaz or Shallum in 1 Chronicles 3:15, was younger; 2 Chronicles 36:11 he is given precedence because of his longer reign, namely, eleven years, whereas Jehoahaz reigned but three months, then was carried by Pharaoh Necho to Egypt, never to return. Jehoahaz, or Shallum, was born of the same mother as Zedekiah, namely, Hamutal; so they are put together, whereas Jehoiakim was son of Zebudah. With Josiah the regular succession of David's house ceased. The people set up Jehoahaz out of order; Johanan is never after mentioned; the pagan Pharaoh set up Jehoiakim; Nebuchadnezzar Zedekiah. Jeremiah gave Jehoahaz the significant name Shallum, i.e. "to whom it is requited"; a second "Shallum," son of Jabesh, who reigned only one mouth in Samaria (2 Kings 15:13), instead of Shalom, "peaceful," like Solomon: bitter irony! The popular party set great hopes upon him (Jeremiah 22:10-12), as though he would deliver the kingdom from Pharaoh Necho, and "anointed" him with extraordinary ceremony to compensate for his defective title to the throne. Ezekiel 19:3-4 compares him to "a young lion" which "learned to catch the prey and devoured men." His mother, "Jerusalem," is called "a lioness," referring to her heathenish practices in sad contrast to Jerusalem's name (Isaiah 29:1) Ariel, "the lion of God," and Judah, "a lion's whelp ... an old lion" in a good sense (Genesis 49:9). Meditating revenge for his father's death at Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29-30), Jehoahaz was carried captive from "Riblah" in Hamath to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho; "they brought him with chains (or hooks or rings, fastened in wild beasts' noses, appropriate figure as he was compared to a 'lion'; the Assyrian king literally put a hook through the nose of captives, as appears in the Ninevite remains) unto ... Egypt." "He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his fathers had done." Josephus says "he was godless and tyrannical (literally, polluted) in disposition." In 2 Chronicles 36:3 "Jerusalem" is stated to be the place where the king of Egypt deposed him. Doubtless Pharaoh, having there dethroned him, took him thence to "Riblah." After his victory at Megiddo, Necho intended to march forward to the Euphrates, but hearing that Jehoahaz had ascended the throne as the people's favorite, whose leanings would be on the side of Babylon against Egypt, like Josiah's, he sent a division of his army, which took Jerusalem and dethroned Jehoahaz, and laid a heavy tribute on the land. Eliakim would readily act as his vassal, as owing his elevation to the throne, under the name Jehoiakim to Necho. Indeed Pharaoh did not recognize the reign of Jehoahaz because elevated without his consent; therefore the words are "Pharaoh made Eliakim king in the room of Josiah his father" (2 Kings 23:34). The main army marched slowly to Riblab, his head quarters, and thither he had Jehoahaz brought, then chained and taken to Egypt. The people, feeling Jehoiakim's heavy taxation for the tribute to Egypt (2 Kings 23:35), lamented for their favorite in spite of his faults. Jeremiah 22:10; "weep ye not for the dead (Josiah; 2 Chronicles 35:24-25), (so much as) for him that goeth away; for he shall return no more," namely, Jehoahaz. Dying saints are to be envied, living sinners to be pitied. Jeremiah's undesigned coincidence with the facts recorded in the history confirms the truth of both.

Jehoahaz (je-hô'a-hăz), whom Jehovah holds. 1. Son and successor of Jehu, king of Israel for 17 years, b.c. 856-840. See 2 Kings 13:1-9. His reign was disastrous to the Kingdom. The kings of Syria, Hazael and Benhadad, oppressed and spoiled the country. When his troubles multiplied he sought the Lord, whom he had forsaken, and God ultimately raised up a deliverer in the person of Jehoash, his son. 2 Kings 5:25. 2. Son and successor of Josiah, king of Judah, 2 Kings 23:30; called Shallum, 1 Chronicles 3:15; Jeremiah 22:11. Though he was the fourth son, yet the people chose him king. He was an evil-doer, 2 Kings 23:32, and referred to as a young lion by Ezekiel 19:3. He reigned only three months, b.c. 610. Pharaoh-necho sent him a prisoner loaded with chains into Egypt, and there he died, Jeremiah 22:11-12, and his brother Jehoiakim became king in his stead. 2 Kings 23:30; 2 Kings 23:35. 3. The same with Ahaziah and Azariah. Compare 2 Chronicles 21:17; 2 Chronicles 22:1; 2 Chronicles 22:6; 2 Chronicles 22:8-9.

Possession of the Lord

1. Son and successor of Jehu king of Israel: he reigned from B.C. 856 to 841. He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and was oppressed by Hazael king of Syria, who compelled him to reduce his army to fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers. His submission to Syria continued under Benhadad. But when he prayed to the Lord a 'saviour' was raised up who delivered him out of the hand of the Syrians. 2 Kings 13:1-25 ; 2 Kings 14:1,8,17 ; 2 Chronicles 25:17,25 . 2. Son and successor of Josiah king of Judah: he reigned only three months, B.C. 610. He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and was deposed by Pharaoh-Necho, who sent him in chains to Egypt, where he died. 2 Kings 23:30-34 ; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4 . He is called SHALLUM in 1 Chronicles 3:15 ; Jeremiah 22:11 . In the parable of the Lion's whelps in Ezekiel 19:1-9 this king is referred to as being carried in chains to Egypt. 3. Name given to AHAZIAH in 2 Chronicles 21:17 . See AHAZIAH, No. 2.

JEHOAHAZ 1. Jehoahaz of Israel (in 2 Kings 14:1 and 2 Chronicles 34:8 ; 2 Chronicles 36:2 ; 2 Chronicles 36:4 Joahaz ) succeeded his father Jehu. Our records tell us nothing of him except the length of his reign, which is given as seventeen years ( 2 Kings 13:1 ), and the low estate of his kingdom, owing to the aggressions of Syria. A turn for the better seems to have come before his death, because the forces of Assyria pressing on the north of Damascus turned the attention of that country away from Israel ( 2 Kings 13:3-5 ). 2. Jehoahaz of Judah (in 1Es 1:34 Joachaz or Jeconias ; in 1Es 1:38 Zarakes ) was the popular choice for the throne after the death of Josiah ( 2 Kings 23:30 ). But Pharaoh-necho, who had obtained possession of all Syria, regarded his coronation as an act of assumption, deposed him in favour of his brother Jehoiakim, and carried him away to Egypt, where he died ( 2 Kings 23:34 ). Jeremiah, who calls him Shallum , finds his fate sadder than that of his father who fell in battle ( Jeremiah 22:10-12 ). 3. 2Ch 21:17 ; 2 Chronicles 25:23 = Ahaziah , No. 2 . H. P. Smith.

There are two sons of kings of this name in Scripture—Jehoahaz, son of Jehu. (2 Kings 13:1) and Jehoahaz, or Shallum; son of Josiah, king of Judah, (Jeremiah 22:11) The name is a compound, signifying, from Achaz, a possession of the Lord.

otherwise SHALLUM, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, Jeremiah 22:11 . Josiah having been wounded mortally by Necho, king of Egypt, and dying of his wounds at Megiddo, Jehoahaz was made king in his room, though he was not Josiah's eldest son, 2 Kings 23:30-32 . He was in all probability thought fitter than any of his brethren to make head against the king of Egypt. He was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned about three months only in Jerusalem, in the year of the world 3395. King Necho, at his return from the expedition against Carchemish, provoked at the people of Judah for having placed this prince upon the throne without his consent, sent for him to Riblah, in Syria, divested him of the kingdom, loaded him with chains, and sent him into Egypt, where he died, Jeremiah 22:11-12 . Jehoiakim, or Eliakim his brother, was made king in his room.

(jih hoh uh haz) Personal name meaning, “Yahweh grasps hold.” Two kings of Judah and one king of Israel bore this name. 1. In 2 Chronicles 21:17 , the son and successor of Jehoram as king of Judah (841 B.C.). He is more frequently referred to as Ahaziah. 2. In 2 Kings 10:35 , the son and successor of Jehu as king of Israel (814-798 B.C.). His reign is summarized in 2 Kings 13:1 . Although 2 Kings 13:1 states that he reigned for seventeen years, a comparison of 2 Kings 13:1 with 2 Kings 13:10 seems to point to a reign of fourteen years or a coregency with his son for about three years. 3. In 2 Kings 23:30 , the son and successor of Josiah as king of Judah (609 B.C.). He is also known as Shallum. See Israel ; Chronology of the Biblical Period .

1. Son and successor of Jehu king of Israel, B. C. 856, reigned seventeen years. In punishment for his sins and those of his people, Israel was invaded and reduced to great extremities by the Syrians under Hazael and Benhadad. The king humbled himself before God, and deliverance came by the hand of Joash his son, 2 Kings 13:19,25 2. Also called Shallum, 1 Chronicles 3:15 , the third son and the successor of Josiah king of Judah, B. C. 609, reigned about three months in Jerusalem. He was deposed by the king of Egypt, 2 Kings 23:30-34 2 Chronicles 36:1-4 . See also Jeremiah 22:10-13 Ezekiel 19:3 .

Jehovah his sustainer, or he whom Jehovah holdeth. The youngest son of Jehoram, king of Judah (2 Chronicles 21:17 ; 22:1,6,8,9 ); usually Ahaziah (q.v.). The son and successor of Jehu, king of Israel (2 Kings 10:35 ). He reigned seventeen years, and followed the evil ways of the house of Jeroboam. The Syrians, under Hazael and Benhadad, prevailed over him, but were at length driven out of the land by his son Jehoash (13:1-9,25). Josiah's third son, usually called Shallum (1 Chronicles 3:15 ). He succeeded his father on the throne, and reigned over Judah for three months (2 Kings 23:31,34 ). He fell into the idolatrous ways of his predecessors (23:32), was deposed by Pharaoh-Necho from the throne, and carried away prisoner into Egypt, where he died in captivity (23:33,34; Jeremiah 22:10-12 ; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4 ).

Three kings in Israel and Judah had the name Jehoahaz. The first was the Judean king Ahaziah, for whom Jehoahaz was an alternative name. He reigned for only one year (842 BC; 2 Chronicles 21:16-17; 2 Chronicles 22:1; see AHAZIAH). The second was the son of Jehu who succeeded his father as king of Israel. He came to the throne in 814 BC and reigned for seventeen years. He was a worthless ruler, during whose reign attacks from Syria brought Israel almost to total collapse. If God had not mercifully intervened, the people would have been left homeless and the entire army destroyed (2 Kings 13:1-9). The third king named Jehoahaz was a son of Josiah. He had a brief three-month reign over Judah (609 BC) in the kingdom’s closing years. Pharaoh Necho, having just defeated and killed Josiah, considered himself the overlord of Judah and would not accept Jehoahaz as king. Necho threw Jehoahaz into prison and later took him to Egypt, where he eventually died (2 Kings 23:29-34). He was also known as Shallum (Jeremiah 22:11-12).