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Joash's Later Choices
After Jehoiada died, Joash listened to other voices, turned from the Lord, and his reign ended in shame.
Jehoiada the priest lived to a great age and died at 130 years old. He was buried in David’s city among the kings because he had done good in Israel and for God and his house. After Jehoiada died, the princes of Judah came to Joash, and the king listened to them.
Then the people abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this guilt, wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem. Even so, God sent prophets to call them back to him, but they would not listen.
The Spirit of God came on Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood above the people and warned them that they had disobeyed the Lord’s commands and forsaken him. But they conspired against Zechariah, and by the king’s command they stoned him in the court of the Lord’s house.
So Joash did not remember the kindness Jehoiada had shown him, but killed Jehoiada’s son. As Zechariah died, he called on the Lord to see and repay. At the end of the year, the Syrian army came against Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed the princes, and sent plunder to the king of Damascus. Though they were a small company, the Lord gave them victory as judgment because Judah had forsaken him.
2 Kings also tells how Hazael king of Syria captured Gath and then turned toward Jerusalem. Joash took the dedicated gifts and all the gold from the treasures of the Lord’s house and the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem. Chronicles adds that the Syrians left Joash seriously wounded.
After the Syrians left, Joash’s own servants conspired against him and killed him. Kings says they struck him at the house of Millo on the way down to Silla. Chronicles says this conspiracy was for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest. Joash was buried in David’s city, but not in the tombs of the kings, and Amaziah his son became king in his place.
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A retelling for older readers with an adult of 2 Kings 12:17–21; 2 Chronicles 24:15–27. You can read the Bible passage together too.
2 Kings is the lead account and briefly reports Hazael’s attack, Joash’s payment, and Joash’s death. 2 Chronicles supplies the sequel after Jehoiada’s death, including Judah’s idolatry, Zechariah’s warning, the reason given for judgment, Joash’s wounding, and the note that he was not buried in the kings’ tombs. The conspirators’ names are spelled differently in the two accounts, and 2 Chronicles 24:25 speaks of the blood of Jehoiada’s sons even though Zechariah is the son named earlier in the chapter.
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Source: World English Bible Classic, a public domain translation. This page is a retelling, rather than a word-for-word Bible text.
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Joash: Rescue, Temple Repairs and Later Choices →