Jehoahaz of Judah (632 BC-)


 *  16th King of Judah (r. 609 B.C.)
 * Reigned 3 months before overthrow by Pharoah
 * Birth name= Shallum
 * Major Biblical figure

Biography
Jehoahaz or Joachaz (born as Shallum) in the Douay-Rheims and some other English translations (Hebrew: יְהוֹאָחָז‬, Modern Yəhō'aẖaz, Tiberian Yehōʼāḥāz, "Yahweh has held"; Greek: Ιωαχαζ Iōakhaz; Latin: Joachaz) was king of Judah (3 months in 609 BC) and the third son of king Josiah whom he succeeded. His mother was Hamautal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He was born in 633/632 BC[3] and his birth name was Shallum.

In the spring or early summer of 609 BC, Necho II began his first campaign against Babylon, in aid of the Assyrians. He moved his forces along the coastal route Via Maris towards Syria, along the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon and prepared to cross the ridge of hills which shuts in the Jezreel Valley on the south. There he found his passage blocked at Megiddo by the Judean army led by Josiah, who sided with the Babylonians. After a fierce battle Josiah was killed. The Assyrians and their allies the Egyptians fought the Babylonians at Harran. The Babylonian Chronicle dates the battle from Tammuz (July–August) to Elul (August–September) of 609 BC. Josiah was therefore killed in the month of Tammuz, 609 BC, or the month prior, when the Egyptians were on their way to Harran.[5] Chronological considerations related to his successor limit the month in which Josiah was killed and Jehoahaz took the throne to Tammuz.

Although he was two years younger than his brother, Eliakim, he was elected to succeed his father on the throne at the age of twenty-three, under the name Jehoahaz. This fact attests the popularity of the young man, and probably also his political affiliations or policy, as being in line with those of his father.[1] He reigned for only three months,[2] before being deposed by the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II and taken into Egyptian captivity.[6]

He disregarded the reforms of his father Josiah. (2 Kings 23:32; Jeremiah 22:15-16)

Both William F. Albright and E. R. Thiele dated his reign to 609 BC,[7] making his birth in 633/632 BC.

Narrative 2 Kings
31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. (2nd Kings 23:31-33)

Marriage and Family
Josiah had four sons: Johanan, and Eliakim (born c. 634 BCE), whose mother was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah; and Mattanyahu (c. 618 BCE) and Shallum (633/632 BCE), whose mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. Eliakim had his name changed by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt to Jehoiakim.

Royal Succession
His son Shallum succeeded Josiah as king of Judah, under the name Jehoahaz. Shallum was succeeded by Eliakim, under the name Jehoiakim, who was succeeded by his own son Jeconiah; then, Jeconiah was succeeded to the throne by Mattanyahu, under the name Zedekiah.[13] Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the kingdom was conquered by Babylon and the people exiled.

After the failed siege of Harran, Necho left a sizable force behind, but returned himself to Egypt. On his return march, he found that the Judeans had selected Jehoahaz to succeed his father Josiah. Necho brought Jehoahaz to Riblah and imprisoned him there. He then deposed Jehoahaz and replaced with his older brother Eliakim as king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz had ruled for three months. Necho brought Jehoahaz back to Egypt as his prisoner, where Jehoahaz ended his days.[8][9]