2 Kings 13:10-13

I. THE PERIOD OF RECOVERY 13:10-14:22

The reigns of Jehoash in Israel (2 Kings 13:10-13) and Amaziah in Judah (2 Kings 14:1-22) may be regarded as transitional. During their reigns, Israel and Judah gradually began to recover from the almost half century of total domination by the Arameans. Sandwiched between the discussion to these two transitional kings is the last narrative pertaining to Elisha (2 Kings 13:14-25).

A. THE REIGN OF JEHOASH OF ISRAEL 13:10-13

TRANSLATION

(10) In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria; and he reigned sixteen years. (11) And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did not torn from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin; he walked in it. (12) And the rest of the acts of Joash and all which he did, and his might with which he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the king of Israel? (13) And Joash slept with his father, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

COMMENTS

Joash is the shortened form of Jehoash. According to 2 Kings 13:10 both the Northern and Southern kingdoms were ruled by monarchs who bore the name Joash. This coincidence in names lasted for the space of three yearsfrom the thirty-seventh to the fortieth and final year of the Southern Joash. The Northern Joash (Jehoash) ruled on after the death of his Southern namesake for thirteen years (2 Kings 13:10). A problem in the synchronisms between the two kingdoms occurs in 2 Kings 13:10 which has been painstakingly worked out by Edwin Thiele.[573]

[573] Thiele, MNHK, tables VI and VII. Thiele proposed to solve the discrepancy in the mathematics of the Jehoahaz-Joash synchronism by postulating a change in the method of tabulating regnal years in both kingdoms in the year 798 B.C. When this is taken into account, no discrepancy exists in the Biblical text.

Twelfth King of Israel
JOASH (or JEHOASH)
798-782 B.C.
(Yahweh-gifted)

2 Kings 13:10-25; 2 Kings 14:8-16

Synchronism
Jehoash 1 = Joash 37
Contemporary Prophet
Elisha

A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. Proverbs 12:3

Jehoash followed in the footsteps of his father by continuing to condone and participate in the calf worship inaugurated by Jeroboam (2 Kings 13:11). 2 Kings 13:12-13 are cast in the form of the concluding summary with which the author usually closes out his discussion of the individual kings. No further information about Jehoash is given here save that he fought with Amaziah king of Judahan episode which the author will discuss in detail in chapter 14and that he was buried in Samaria. Following this concluding summary the author does not follow his usual practice of moving on immediately to the next king, but on the contrary relates further information about the reign of Jehoash.