יוֹצָדָק
Jotsadak, an Israelite
Definition
יוצדק (Yôwtsâdâq) is a shortened form of the name יהוצדק (Yehotsadak), meaning 'Yahweh is righteous' or 'Yahweh has shown righteousness.' It refers to Jozadak (also called Jotsadak), the father of Jeshua (Joshua) the high priest, who was among the Israelites exiled to Babylon. This Jozadak is a key transitional figure, as his son Jeshua returned from exile to help lead the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 3:2, 8). The name appears exclusively in the post-exilic books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Haggai, always in genealogical or leadership contexts related to the restoration community.
Biblical Usage
This proper name is used five times in the Old Testament, all within post-exilic historical books. It consistently identifies Jozadak as the father of Jeshua the high priest, establishing priestly lineage and authority during the return from Babylonian exile. It appears in lists of leaders who oversaw the rebuilding of the altar and temple (Ezra 3:2, 3:8, 5:2), in a genealogy of priests who had married foreign wives (Ezra 10:18), and in a record of priestly heads from the time of Jeshua (Nehemiah 12:26). The usage underscores the importance of proper priestly descent in the restored community.
Etymology
The name יוצדק (Yôwtsâdâq) is a contracted form of the fuller name יהוצדק (Yehotsadak, H3087). It is a theophoric name, combining the divine element for Yahweh (יהו, yahu) with the root צדק (ts-d-q), meaning 'to be righteous' or 'just.' Thus, the name means 'Yahweh is righteous' or 'Yahweh has vindicated/been just.' The shortened form יוצדק likely developed through common phonetic contraction, dropping the initial 'heh' sound of the divine name.
Semantic Range
As a theophoric name meaning 'Yahweh is righteous,' יוצדק embodies a core attribute of God—His righteousness and justice. This is profoundly significant in its post-exilic context: the bearer's son, Jeshua, leads the community that is rebuilding after the exile, a judgment Yahweh declared righteous. The name serves as a living reminder that even in the aftermath of divine judgment, God's character remains just, and His restoration of His people is an act of covenant faithfulness. It connects the priestly line directly to a confession of God's righteous nature.
In ancient Israelite culture, names often carried significant meaning and were seen as reflective of character or divine action. A name like Jozadak ('Yahweh is righteous'), borne by the father of the first high priest after the exile, would have been a powerful theological statement. It affirmed that the catastrophic exile was not a failure of Yahweh's justice but a fulfillment of it, and that the subsequent restoration was likewise an act of His righteousness. The preservation of this name in genealogies was crucial for establishing the legitimate, divinely-approved priestly lineage required for temple service in the restored community.
יהוצדק (Yehotsadak, H3087) — The longer, original form of the same name, used in Haggai 1:1, 1:12, 1:14, and 2:2, 2:4 to refer to the same person. צדק (tsedeq, H6664) — The root noun meaning 'righteousness' or 'justice,' which forms the core meaning of the name. יהושע (Yehoshua, H3091) — The name of Jozadak's son, Jeshua/Joshua, meaning 'Yahweh is salvation,' another theophoric name from the same restoration period.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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