Son of King Jehu of Israel (2 Ki 10:35; 13:1-9). He reigned for "seventeen years" from c.815-799 BC. Jehoahaz did not appear to have been a capable man and his reign was known for its oppression by Hazael of Syria that had already begun in his father's time. 2 Ki 13:7 paints a pathetic picture of his greatly reduced circumstances: "Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time." Religiously, he continued in the idolatrous policies set by Jeroboam ben Nebat.
©ALBERITH
191116lch