Jozacar
Jozacar (or Zabad), along with Jehozabad, was one of the servants who conspired against and killed King Joash of Judah.
Biography
Jozacar, also identified as Zabad in the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 24:26, was a servant and court official of King Joash of Judah who conspired to assassinate the king at Beth-millo (2 Kings 12:20–21). His co-conspirator was Jehozabad. The assassination took place after Joash had ordered the stoning of Zechariah son of Jehoiada, the prophet who had confronted Joash for abandoning the LORD after the death of Jehoiada the priest. Joash was killed while he lay ill, his own servants turning against him. The chronicler notes that Jozacar was the son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, a detail that may carry theological significance given the story's themes of foreign influence and covenant unfaithfulness.
Significance
Jozacar's act of regicide is embedded in a narrative of divine justice. King Joash, who had been preserved as an infant from Athaliah's massacre and who had enjoyed the mentorship of the godly priest Jehoiada, descended into apostasy after Jehoiada's death and killed the prophet who rebuked him. Jozacar's conspiracy thus becomes an instrument of the judgment that Zechariah had invoked: 'May the LORD see and avenge!' (2 Chronicles 24:22). The episode illustrates the biblical principle that leaders who abandon covenant faithfulness and persecute God's messengers expose themselves to providential judgment, often through unexpected and ironic means.
Verse Appearances (2)
2Kgs
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]