Jehoash (Joash) of Israel
Israel · 798 – 782 BC · 16 years · 2 Kings 13:10 – 14:16
His Story
Jehu’s grandson. He visited the dying Elisha and wept over him — “O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!” — and received the prophecy of the arrows: strike the ground, and Syria will be beaten as many times. He recovered from Judah’s Amaziah the cities his father had lost, and defeated Syria three times, as Elisha had said.
His Sin — How He Displeased the LORD
He continued in Jeroboam’s sins. And his half-heartedness stands in Scripture forever in one gesture: told to smite the ground with the arrows, he struck three times and stopped — where five or six blows would have meant Syria’s utter defeat.
The Good He Did
He honored Elisha sincerely, weeping over the prophet as the true defense of Israel — he knew where the nation’s strength had lain, even if he did not seek the prophet’s God as Elisha had.
The LORD’s verdict
“And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.”2 Kings 13:11 (KJV)
How His Reign Ended
He died and was buried with the kings of Israel in Samaria; Jeroboam II, his son, inherited a kingdom on the edge of its greatest — and most hollow — prosperity.
Lessons for Believers Today
- Strike the ground again. Half-hearted obedience wins half a victory; God measures our expectation by our earnestness.
- It is possible to venerate God’s servants and neglect God’s commands — tears over Elisha did not make Jehoash obedient.