Jehosheba

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("Jehovah's oath, i.e. devoted to Him".) Daughter of king Joram of Israel. Jehoiada's wife. So Elisheba (God's oath) was Aaron's wife, Elizabeth Zacharias'. (See Jehoiada .) Athaliah is not specified as her mother, but this may be due to the sacred writer's abhorrence of her name. Possibly her mother may have been another wife of Joram ( 2 Kings 11:2). Jehosheba is the only instance of a princess marrying the high priest. Her position enabled her through God's providence to rescue the little prince Joash, and hide him and his nurse in a bedchamber in the palace, afterward in the temple ( 2 Chronicles 22:11;  2 Chronicles 23:11;  2 Kings 11:2-3), where he was brought up with her sons, who assisted at his coronation. Zechariah, Jehoiada's successor, one of them, was afterward slain, a martyr for the truth. (See Zechariah .)

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Jehosh'eba. (Jehovah'S Oath). Daughter of Joram, king of Israel, and wife of Jehoiada, the high priest.  2 Kings 11:2. Her name in the Chronicles is given as Jehoshabeath . (B.C. 882). As she is called,  2 Kings 11:2, "the daughter of Joram, sister of Ahaziah," it has been conjectured that she was the daughter, not of Athaliah, but of Joram, by another wife. She is the only recorded instance of the marriage, of a princess of the royal house, with a high priest.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

JEHOSHEBA (  2 Kings 11:2; Jehoshabeath in   2 Chronicles 22:11 ). Daughter of Jehoram of Judah. On the death of her half-brother Ahaziah, she was instrumental in preserving the Davidic stock, by concealing the infant Jehoash in a lumber-room of the palace (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). According to the Chronicler, she was wife of Jehoiada.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The aunt of Joash, king of Judah, whose life in infancy and childhood she saved, in spite of the designs of Athaliah,  2 Kings 11:1 -  3 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Chronicles 22:11 2 Chronicles 22:11

Holman Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 11:2 2 Chronicles 22:11

Morrish Bible Dictionary

See JEHOSHABEATH.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Yehoshe'ba, יְהוֹשֶׁבִע , Jehovah Swearing; Septuag. Ι᾿Ωσαβεέ , Josephus Ι᾿Ωσαβέδη ), the daughter of Jehoram, sister of Ahaziah, and aunt of Joash. kings of Judah. The last of these owed his life to her, and his crown to her husband, the high priest Jehoiada ( 2 Kings 11:2). In the parallel passage ( 2 Chronicles 22:11) the name is written JEHOSHABEATH ( יְהוֹשִׁבְעִת , Yehoshabath '; Sept. Ι᾿Ωσαβέδ ). B.C. 882. (See Jehoash), 1. Her name thus exactly corresponds in meaning to that of the only two other wives of Jewish priests who are known to us, viz. ELISHEBA the wife of Aaron ( Exodus 6:23), and Elisabeth the wife of Zechariah ( Luke 1:7). As she is called ( 2 Kings 11:2) the daughter of Joram, sister of Ahaziah, it has been conjectured that she was the daughter, not of Athaliah, but of Joram by another wife (comp. Josephus, Ant. 9:7, 1, Ο᾿Χοζίᾷ Ὁμοπάτριος Ἀδελφή ). She is the only recorded instance of the marriage of a princess of the royal house with a high priest. On this occasion it was a providential circumstance — "for she was the sister of Ahaziah" ( 2 Chronicles 22:11) — as inducing and probably enabling her to rescue the infant Jehoash from the massacre of his brothers. By her he and his nurse were concealed in the palace, and afterwards in the Temple ( 2 Kings 11:2-3;  2 Chronicles 22:11), where he was brought up probably with her sons ( 2 Chronicles 23:11), who assisted at his coronation. One of these was Zechariah, who succeeded her husband in his office, and was afterwards murdered ( 2 Chronicles 24:20). — Smith. Needless doubt has been thrown upon her marriage with Jehoiada (Newman, Heb. Monarch. p. 195), which is not expressly mentioned in Kings, as "a fiction of the chronicler to glorify his greatness." This, however, is certainly assumed in  2 Kings 11:3, and is accepted by Ewald (Geschichte, 3, 575) as perfectly authentic. (See Jehoiada).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

jē̇ - hosh´ē̇ - ba , jē - hō̇ - shē´ba ( יהושׁבע , yehōshebha‛ , "Yahweh is an oath"): Called "Jehoshabeath" in   2 Chronicles 22:11; daughter of Jehoram king of Judah, possibly by a wife other than Athaliah ( 2 Kings 11:2 ). According to  2 Chronicles 22:11 , she was the wife of Jehoiada, the priest. She hid Jehoash, the young son of King Ahaziah, and so saved his life from Queen Athaliah.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Jehosh′eba, daughter of Jehoram, sister of Ahaziah, and aunt of Joash, kings of Judah. The last of these owed his life to her, and his crown to her husband, the high-priest Jehoiada [JEHOIADA].