📖 Biblical Definition
Eighth king of Judah (2 Kings 11-12; 2 Chronicles 22:10-24:27), whose extraordinary infancy and tragic later years frame one of the most dramatic narratives in the divided-kingdom history. When Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and mother of the previous king Ahaziah, slaughtered all the royal seed of the house of Judah to make herself queen, the infant Joash was hidden by his aunt Jehoshabeath (wife of the high priest Jehoiada) in the temple of the LORD for six years. In the seventh year, Jehoiada brought Joash out, crowned him at age seven, slew Athaliah, and made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people. Joash reigned forty years and did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest (2 Chronicles 24:2). He restored the temple (2 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 24:4-14) and ordered the Levites to gather Judah's tax for its repair. The tragedy is Joash's apostasy after Jehoiada's death: the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and Joash hearkened unto them and forsook the LORD God of his fathers; the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada to rebuke Joash, who repaid the rebuke with murder (2 Chronicles 24:20-22, Zechariah stoned in the court of the LORD's house). The Lord judged Joash through a small Syrian raid and through his own servants' conspiracy. Joash's life is the cautionary biography of the king whose faithfulness depended on a single godly priest's mentorship and who collapsed when the mentor died.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Eighth king of Judah (c. 835-796 BC); hidden in the temple as an infant from Athaliah's purge; crowned at seven; restored the temple under Jehoiada; apostatized after Jehoiada's death; killed his mentor's son Zechariah.
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JOASH, proper n. (eighth king of Judah) Reigned forty years (c. 835-796 BC; 2 Kings 11-12; 2 Chronicles 22:10-24:27). Hidden in the temple as an infant by his aunt Jehoshabeath (wife of the high priest Jehoiada) during Athaliah's purge of the royal seed; crowned at age seven by Jehoiada; covenant made between the LORD, the king, and the people. Did right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada. Restored the temple. Apostatized after Jehoiada's death; killed Jehoiada's son Zechariah for the prophetic rebuke (2 Chronicles 24:20-22). Judged by Syrian raid and his servants' conspiracy. Cautionary biography of the king whose faithfulness depended on his mentor's living presence.
📖 Key Scripture
2 Chronicles 24:2 — "And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest."
2 Chronicles 24:20-22 — "And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son."
Matthew 23:35 — "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."
2 Kings 12:9-12 — "But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD: and the priests that kept the door put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition. The principal pastoral lesson is the warning against derivative faithfulness that collapses without the mentor's living presence.
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Joash as a proper name does not undergo lexical corruption. The principal pastoral lesson the contemporary reader frequently misses is the cautionary pattern of Joash's biography: forty years of reign, the first portion faithful under Jehoiada's mentorship, the latter portion apostate after Jehoiada's death, climaxing in the murder of the mentor's son who came in the Spirit's power to rebuke the king's apostasy. The Lord Jesus Himself recalls this murder (Matthew 23:35, Zacharias slain between the temple and the altar). The warning is sharp: faithfulness that is wholly dependent on a single godly mentor is not yet the believer's own faithfulness; the test comes when the mentor is gone.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Eighth king of Judah; 835-796 BC; rescued from Athaliah by Jehoiada; apostatized after Jehoiada's death; killed Zechariah.
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['Hebrew', 'H3060', "Yo'ash", 'Yahweh has given']
['Hebrew', 'H6271', 'Athaliah', 'wicked queen-grandmother who killed the royal seed']
['Hebrew', 'H3077', 'Yehoyada', 'Yahweh knows; the rescuing high priest']
Usage
"Eighth king of Judah; rescued from Athaliah's purge by his aunt and uncle."
"Forty-year reign; first faithful under Jehoiada, then apostate after Jehoiada's death."
"Murdered Jehoiada's son Zechariah in the court of the LORD (Matthew 23:35)."