Yoash (King of Judah)

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The Hidden King
TANAKH
The heroic actions of Jehoshabeath saved the future King Joash from certain death, ensuring the continuation of the Davidic line. The book of II Chronicles recounts how Jehoshabeath, daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, hid Joash from Athaliah's massacre of the royal family.
But Jehoshabeath, daughter of the king, spirited away Ahaziah’s son Joash from among the princes who were being slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Jehoshabeath, daughter of King Jehoram, wife of the priest Jehoiada—she was the sister of Ahaziah—kept him hidden from Athaliah so that he was not put to death.
II Chronicles 22:11
Reforming the Temple
TANAKH
King Jehoash took proactive measures to ensure the maintenance of the Temple, even rebuking the priests for their initial failure to carry out the repairs. The second book of Kings details the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah, including Jehoash's administrative and financial reforms to repair the Temple.
Jehoash was seven years old when he became king. Jehoash began his reign in the seventh year of Jehu, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. All his days Jehoash did what was pleasing to GOD, as the priest Jehoiada instructed him. The shrines, however, were not removed; the people continued to sacrifice and offer at the shrines. Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money, current money, brought into the House of GOD as sacred donations—any money that someone may pay as the money equivalent of persons…
II Kings 12:1-8
The Downfall of Joash
MIDRASH
Joash's hubris in accepting divine homage serves as a powerful reminder of the dangers of forgetting one's humanity. The Midrash Tanchuma recounts the story of how King Joash fell from grace after the death of the High Priest Jehoiada.
Joash also made himself into a deity, as stated (in II Chron. 24:17): [NOW] AFTER THE DEATH OF JEHOIADA {THE PRIEST}, <THE PRINCES OF JUDAH CAME AND BOWED LOW TO THE KING.>. They said to him: You are a deity. Were you not a deity, you would not have spent six years in the Holy of Holies (II Chron. 22:12). The High Priest would only enter there one time (each year), and everyone would pray for him to enter in peace. Now you have remained there six years. Were you not a deity, you would not have lived…
Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vaera 16:3
The Fall of King Yoash
MIDRASH
King Yoash's betrayal and subsequent assassination serve as a stark reminder of the consequences of treachery. The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, an early halachic midrash on Exodus, recounts the dramatic end of King Yoash's life.
(II Chronicles 24:25) "and when they left him (Yoash) — for they left him with many wounds — his servants rebelled against him because of the blood of the sons of Yehoyada the Cohein, and they killed him on his bed and he died."
Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Amalek 1:7
The Rise and Fall of King Yoash
MUSAR
King Yoash's story illustrates the critical impact of mentorship and the perilous influence of flattery. In Mesillat Yesharim, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto uses the biblical account of King Yoash to highlight the importance of moral guidance and the dangers of self-deification.
For example, we see by Yoash [ben Achazya king of Judah] (Shemot Raba 8:2) who acted good all the days he was taught by his teacher Yehoyada HaKohen. But after the death of Yehoyada, his servants came and began to flatter him and magnify praises of him until they likened him to a god; "Then the king hearkened to them" (Divrei Hayamim II 24:17).
Mesillat Yesharim 23:20
Divine Protection in the Holy of Holies
COMMENTARY
The story of Joash being hidden in the attic of the Holy of Holies underscores the theme of divine protection and sanctuary in Jewish tradition. Rashi, the renowned medieval French rabbi, references this event in his commentary on Psalms 27:5, drawing from Seder Olam and the book of Kings.
That He will hide me in His tabernacle I am confident that He will hide me in His Temple, and we learned in Seder Olam (ch. 18) that this verse was stated concerning Joash the son of Ahaziah, who was hidden by his sister, Jehosheba, in the attic of the Holy of Holies, as the matter is stated (in II Kings 11:3): “And he was hiding with her in the house of the Lord for six years.”
Rashi on Psalms 27:5:1
The Crown of Legitimate Kingship
TALMUD
The crown of the Davidic kings was said to only fit those who were truly fit for kingship, affirming the legitimacy of the Davidic lineage. The Talmudic discussion in Tractate Avodah Zara highlights the symbolic significance of the crown and testimony during the coronation of Joash.
Similarly, it is stated with regard to Joash: “Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown [hanezer] and the testimony, and made him king” (II Chronicles 23:11). “Nezer” is a crown. What was the “testimony”? Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: It is a testimony for the progeny of house of David that anyone who is fit for kingship, the crown fits him properly; and anyone who is unfit for kingship, the crown does not fit him properly.
Avodah Zarah 44a:17
Anointing Kings in Ancient Israel
HALAKHAH
The anointment of kings in ancient Israel was a complex process with specific conditions and traditions, and Yoash was one of the few Davidic kings who was annointed. In his monumental 12th-century legal code, Mishneh Torah, Rambam details the procedures and conditions for anointing kings.
A king should only be anointed next to a spring. We do not anoint the king who is the son of a king, for the kingship is a hereditary position for the king for all time, as [Deuteronomy 17:20] states: "[Thus] he and his descendants [will prolong their reign] in the midst of Israel." If there is a controversy, he should be anointed to resolve the controversy and to notify to all that he alone is the king, as Solomon was anointed because of the controversy [stirred up by] Adoniyahu. Yoash was anointed because of Atal'ya, and Yehoachaz was anointed because of his brother Yehoyakim…
Mishneh Torah, Vessels of the Sanctuary and Those Who Serve Therein 1:11
A Creative Solution for Temple Repairs
SECOND TEMPLE
King Jehoash's innovative fundraising method for the Temple repairs demonstrates the power of creative solutions in motivating communal generosity. Josephus, the 1st-century Jewish historian, recounts how Jehoash's wooden chest with a hole for donations successfully inspired the people to contribute to the Temple's restoration.
2. Now Jehoash, king of Jerusalem, had an inclination to repair the temple of God; so he called Jehoiada, and bid him send the Levites and priests through all the country, to require half a shekel of silver for every head, towards the rebuilding and repairing of the temple, which was brought to decay by Jehoram, and Athaliah and her sons. But the high priest did not do this, as concluding that no one would willingly pay that money; but in the twenty-third year of Jehoash's reign, when the king sent for him and the Levites, and complained that they had not obeyed what he enjoined them…
The Antiquities of the Jews 9:8:2

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