Jehosheba
Jehosheba, also known as Jehoshabeath, was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest; she saved the infant Joash from Athaliah's massacre of the royal family.
Biography
Jehosheba (also called Jehoshabeath in 2 Chronicles 22:11) was a princess of Judah, daughter of King Jehoram and sister of the slain King Ahaziah. When Ahaziah's mother Athaliah seized power and ordered the slaughter of all the royal heirs, Jehosheba took her infant nephew Joash and hid him with his nurse in the temple for six years (2 Kings 11:2–3). Her husband was Jehoiada the high priest, giving her both the courage and the access needed to conceal the child. Her bold and selfless act preserved the sole surviving heir of the Davidic line, ensuring that God's covenant promise to David, that his dynasty would endure, would not be extinguished by a murderous usurper.
Significance
Jehosheba stands among the Bible's most consequential women, though she receives little narrative attention. By hiding Joash, she preserved the Davidic line at the precise moment it was most vulnerable to extinction. Theologically, her action was an instrument of divine faithfulness to the covenant God made with David in 2 Samuel 7. That a woman's quiet courage, enacted in a temple sanctuary, thwarted the complete annihilation of the messianic lineage demonstrates how God guards his redemptive purposes through the obedient acts of often-overlooked individuals. Jehosheba is a prototype of those who shelter the vulnerable at great personal risk.
Verse Appearances (2)
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2Chr
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]