Israel suffers under Aram, then receives relief
Divided Kingdom · Draft · BSB
Content revision: 125fdcc9b9f02844 · No editorial review date recorded
Date: Israel · Jehoahaz and Jehoash · Reign summaries overlap Judah’s Joash
Jehoahaz of Israel continues Jeroboam’s practices and suffers severe Aramean oppression. He seeks the LORD, who provides a deliverer, though Israel’s worship remains unchanged. His son Jehoash succeeds him; the passage briefly summarizes that reign as well.
The deliverer in this passage is not named. Jehoash of Israel and Joash of Judah are different kings, despite the interchangeable forms of their names. The summary mentions Jehoash’s death before the following account returns to events during his life.
Primary Scripture
13:1 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash son of Ahaziah over Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria seventeen years.
13:2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.
13:3 So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.
13:4 Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel.
13:5 So the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel lived in their own homes as they had before.
13:6 Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them. The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.
13:7 Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
13:8 As for the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, along with all his accomplishments and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
13:9 And Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And his son Jehoash reigned in his place.
13:10 In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Joash over Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years.
13:11 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit, but he walked in them.
13:12 As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash, along with all his accomplishments and his might, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
13:13 And Jehoash rested with his fathers, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
Related Scripture
Deuteronomy 4:29–31 · teaching
Moses speaks of seeking the LORD in distress and of his mercy and covenant remembrance.
Location evidence
Samaria represents Israel’s royal center. The battles and the unnamed deliverer’s work are not given invented locations.
Event map marker: Identified site; [longitude, latitude] = [35.195, 32.276111]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Samaria: Identified site. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.195, 32.276111]. Classification source: editorial.
OpenBible.info: Samaria (CC BY 4.0)
OpenBible.info: Samaria (CC BY 4.0)
For the class
What does the account distinguish between relief from oppression and a changed direction of worship?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: editorial (content/authored/divided-kingdom.json)
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm