King of Judah, 835-796 BC, and the son of Ahaziah. When his father was killed in the massacre associated with Jehu's attempt to sieze the throne of Israel, his grandmother Athaliah arose and attempted to kill off all of her son's descendants and siezing power to herself. Joash, then a baby, was rescued by his aunty Jehosheba and kept hidden before an elaborate ruse by his uncle and priest Jehoiada crowned him king at the age of 7 (2 Ki 11; 2 Chron 23).
Joash's reign is reported in two accounts in the Old Testament; 2 Ki 12 and 2 Chron 24 with details that seem at odd with each other. Both acknowledge Joash's repair and refurbishment of the temple in Jerusalem. Chronicles, however, limits Joash's apparent faithfulness to Yahweh worship only to the duration of Jehoiada's ministry as priest; after the priest's death Joash turned to worship the Asherah instead. When Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, warned Joash of his apostasy, Joash had him killed. It appears, therefore, that—for reasons not noted in the biblical texts—a major fall-out between the court and the temple occurred with the death of the old priest. 2 Chron 24:25b may be read as suggesting that those officials who conspired to kill Joash when an attack by the Syrians had left him seriously wounded may be temple-friendly.
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