Jehoahaz of Israel

Jehoahaz of Israel (Hebrew: יְהוֹאָחָז‎, meaning "Jehovah has held"; Latin: Joachaz) was king of Israel and the son of Jehu (2 Kings 10:35). William F. Albright has dated his reign to 815 BC – 801 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 814 BC – 798 BC.^[1] A stamp seal dated to the end of the 7th century BC has been found with the inscription "[belonging] to Jehoahaz, son of the king"^[2].

He reigned seventeen years. His account in 2 Kings states that he was initially faithful to Yahweh, but his people followed the religious practices of the house of Jeroboam, which included the worship of a cultic pole of Asherah in Samaria. The kings of the Arameans, Hazael and Ben-hadad, prevailed over him, leaving him an army of 50 horsemen, 10 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers (2 Kings 13:1-9). As Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and a deliverer was given to relieve Israel from the Aramean. This “deliverer” must have been the Assyrian emperor, Adad-nirari III (810-783), who came to the throne during Jehoahaz’s reign. He did serve as “deliverer” to Israel in that he attacked and crushed Damascus in 803 BC, thus bringing relief to Israel from the Aramean oppression^[3].

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