Jehoahaz of Judah
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| Jehoahaz | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Jehoahaz from Bartolomeo Gai's Epitome historico-chronologica (1751) | |
| King of Judah | |
| Reign | 609 BC |
| Predecessor | Josiah |
| Successor | Jehoiakim |
| Born | Shallum c. 633/632 BC |
| House | House of David |
| Father | Josiah |
| Mother | Hamautal |
Jehoahaz III of Judah (Hebrew: יְהוֹאָחָז, Yəhō’āḥāz, "Yahweh has held"; Greek: Ιωαχαζ Iōakhaz; Latin: Joachaz), also called Shallum,[1] was the seventeenth king of Judah (3 months in 609 BC) and the fourth son[2] of king Josiah whom he succeeded.[3] His mother was Hamautal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He was born in 633/632 BC.[4]
In the spring or early summer of 609 BC, Pharaoh Necho II began his first campaign against Babylon, in aid of the Assyrians. He moved his forces along the coastal route Via Maris towards Syria, along the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon and prepared to cross the ridge of hills which shuts in the Jezreel Valley on the south. There he found his passage blocked at Megiddo by the Judean army led by Josiah. After a fierce battle Josiah was killed. The Assyrians and their allies the Egyptians fought the Babylonians at Harran. The Babylonian Chronicle dates the battle from Tammuz (July–August) to Elul (August–September) of 609 BC. Josiah was therefore killed in the month of Tammuz, 609 BC, or the month prior, when the Egyptians were on their way to Harran.[5] Chronological considerations related to his successor limit the month in which Josiah was killed and Jehoahaz took the throne to Tammuz.
