Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

JEHOAHAZ

1. Twelfth king of Israel, succeeding his father, Jehu, and ruling from 814 BC to 798 BC. Because he was an evil king, God punished Israel by subjecting them to the Aramean kings Hazael and his son Ben-hadad. The military force in Israel was reduced to 50 cavalrymen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 infantrymen. The oppression became so severe that Jehoahaz prayed to God, who listened to him and delivered Israel from the Arameans, but not until the reign of Joash (Jehoash) (2 Kgs 13:2-7, 25). During Jehoahaz’s reign, relations between Judah and Israel seem to have been fairly good, since Jehoahaz (14:1, “Joahaz”) named his son Joash after his contemporary, Joash king of Judah (2 Kgs 13:1, 9; 14:1).

2. Seventeenth king of Judah, ruling three months in 609 BC. The people chose him to succeed his father, Josiah, who was killed in the battle of Megiddo. His mother’s name was Hamutal. Jehoahaz was 23 years old at his coronation. He is also called Shallum (1 Chr 3:15), and Jehoahaz may well be a throne name. He is characterized as an evil king before God. His rule ended when Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in Hamath. Later he was taken to Egypt, where he died (2 Kgs 23:30-34). Jeremiah prophesied that Jehoahaz would never return to Israel but would die in the land of his captivity (Jer 22:11-12).

3. Another form of the name of Ahaziah, the sixth king of Judah, who ruled in 841 BC (2 Chr 21:17; cf. 22:1). Both forms of the name have the same meaning. The difference is the placement of the divine name. In Jehoahaz it comes first, “Jeho-” and in Ahaziah it comes last, “-iah” (-yah). See Ahaziah #2.

4. Full name of Ahaz, the 12th king of Judah, according to an inscription of Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III. See Ahaz #1.