Hebrew word · H2977
יֹאשִׁיָּ֫הוּ
yoshiyahu
Josiah
Josiah ('YHWH supports / heals', a name of uncertain meaning) was king of Judah c. 640–609 BC. His thirteenth year is about 627/626 BC.
Appears 53 times in 48 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
A king of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ki.13.2;
son of: Amon (H0526H) and Jedidah (H3040); married to Hamutal (H2537) and Zebidah (H2080);
father of: Jehoahaz (H3059H), Jehoiakim (H3079), Zedekiah (H6667H) and Shallum (H7967J)
Also named: Iōsias (Ἰωσίας "Josiah" G2502)
§ Josiah = "whom Jehovah heals"
1) son of Amon by Jedidah who succeeded his father to the throne of Judah and reigned for 31 years; his reign is noteworthy for the great revivals back to the worship of Jehovah which he led
2) a returned exile and son of Zephaniah at whose house took place the solemn and symbolical crowning of Joshua the high priest in the time of Zechariah the prophet
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Jeremiah 25:3
- Range of meaning
Josiah ('YHWH supports / heals', a name of uncertain meaning) was king of Judah c. 640–609 BC. His thirteenth year is about 627/626 BC.
- Against the English
All translations agree here. The point is historical, not about word meaning.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Jer 1:2 dates Jeremiah's call to the same year. 2 Kgs 22–23 and 2 Chr 34–35 describe Josiah's reform of 622 BC and his death at Megiddo in 609 BC. Jer 25:1 dates this speech to Jehoiakim's fourth year, the first of Nebuchadnezzar, i.e. 605 BC.
Where it appears
1 Kings · 1
-
1 Kings 13:2 יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ [will be] Josiah
And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’”
Here: A name containing Yahweh's name (-yahu). Its exact meaning is uncertain (perhaps 'Yahweh supports' or 'Yahweh heals'). The point is the naming itself: a specific person is named long in advance.
2 Kings · 13
-
2 Kings 21:24 יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ Josiah
But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
-
2 Kings 21:26 יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ Josiah
And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah reigned in his place.
-
2 Kings 22:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ Josiah
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.
-
2 Kings 22:3 יֹאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ Josiah
Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the scribe, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying,
-
2 Kings 23:16 יֹאשִׁיָּ֗הוּ Josiah
And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it, according to the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who had foretold these things.
-
2 Kings 23:19 יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ Josiah
Just as Josiah had done at Bethel, so also in the cities of Samaria he removed all the shrines of the high places set up by the kings of Israel who had provoked the LORD to anger.
-
2 Kings 23:23 יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ Josiah
But in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.
-
2 Kings 23:24 יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ Josiah
Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to carry out the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the LORD.
-
2 Kings 23:28 יֹאשִׁיָּ֖הוּ Josiah
As for the rest of the acts of Josiah and all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
-
2 Kings 23:29 יֹאשִׁיָּ֙הוּ֙ Josiah
During Josiah’s reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went out to confront him, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
Here: The name probably means something like 'YHWH supports/gives.' He is the reforming king the narrator has just praised above all others (23:25).
-
2 Kings 23:30 יֹ֣אשִׁיָּ֔הוּ Josiah
From Megiddo his servants carried his body in a chariot, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.
-
2 Kings 23:34 יֹאשִׁיָּ֗הוּ יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ Josiah
Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, where he died.
1 Chronicles · 2
-
1 Chronicles 3:14 יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ Josiah
Amon his son, and Josiah his son.
-
1 Chronicles 3:15 יֹאשִׁיָּ֔הוּ Josiah
The sons of Josiah: Johanan was the firstborn, Jehoiakim the second, Zedekiah the third, and Shallum the fourth.
2 Chronicles · 17
-
2 Chronicles 33:25 יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ Josiah
But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
-
2 Chronicles 34:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ Josiah
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
-
2 Chronicles 34:33 יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֜הוּ Josiah
And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required everyone in Israel to serve the LORD their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
-
2 Chronicles 35:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֧הוּ Josiah
Then Josiah kept the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.
-
2 Chronicles 35:7 יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ Josiah
From his own flocks and herds Josiah contributed 30,000 lambs and goats plus 3,000 bulls for the Passover offerings for all the people who were present.
-
2 Chronicles 35:16 יֹאשִׁיָּֽהוּ׃ Josiah
So on that day the entire service of the LORD was carried out for celebrating the Passover and offering burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josiah.
-
2 Chronicles 35:18 יֹֽ֠אשִׁיָּהוּ Josiah
No such Passover had been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present, and the people of Jerusalem.
-
2 Chronicles 35:19 יֹאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ Josiah
In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed.
-
2 Chronicles 35:20 יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֙הוּ֙ יֹאשִׁיָּֽהוּ׃ Josiah
After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him.
-
2 Chronicles 35:22 יֹאשִׁיָּ֨הוּ Josiah
Josiah, however, did not turn away from him; instead, in order to engage him in battle, he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to fight him on the Plain of Megiddo.
-
2 Chronicles 35:23 יֹאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ Josiah
There the archers shot King Josiah, who said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded!”
-
2 Chronicles 35:24 יֹאשִׁיָּֽהוּ׃ פ Josiah
So his servants took him out of his chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. And Josiah was buried in the tomb of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.
Here: The verse ends on the king's name, which the English often turns into 'him'. Then comes a paragraph break (פ) before Jeremiah's laments in v. 25.
-
2 Chronicles 35:25 יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ֒ יֹאשִׁיָּ֙הוּ֙ Josiah
Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.
Here: King of Judah (c. 640–609 BC), the great reformer. He had just been killed by Egyptian archers at Megiddo (35:23–24).
-
2 Chronicles 35:26 יֹאשִׁיָּ֖הוּ Josiah
As for the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of loving devotion according to what is written in the Law of the LORD—
-
2 Chronicles 36:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ Josiah
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
Jeremiah · 18
-
Jeremiah 1:2 יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ Josiah
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah,
-
Jeremiah 1:3 יֹאשִׁיָּ֙הוּ֙ יֹאשִׁיָּ֖הוּ Josiah
and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
-
Jeremiah 3:6 יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ Josiah
Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
Here: King of Judah from about 640 to 609 BC, remembered for his religious reform. Jeremiah's call came in Josiah's 13th year, about 627 BC (Jer 1:2).
-
Jeremiah 22:11 יֹאשִׁיָּ֜הוּ יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ Josiah
For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah but has gone forth from this place: “He will never return,
Here: The reforming king killed at Megiddo in 609 BC. He is the 'dead one' of verse 10, whom the people are told not to weep over.
-
Jeremiah 22:18 יֹאשִׁיָּ֙הוּ֙ Josiah
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
Here: The reforming king who 'did justice and righteousness'. When he died, all Judah mourned him and Jeremiah composed laments for him (2 Chr 35:24–25). The son will get none.
-
Jeremiah 25:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֖הוּ Josiah
This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
-
Jeremiah 25:3 לְיֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ of Josiah
“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
Here: 'Of Josiah', the reforming king (reigned about 640–609 BC). Starting the count in his reign reminds hearers that the warnings began in the best of times, before the reform of 622 BC.
-
Jeremiah 26:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֖הוּ Josiah
At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the LORD:
-
Jeremiah 27:1 יֹאושִׁיָּ֖הוּ Josiah
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD.
-
Jeremiah 35:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֛הוּ Josiah
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
-
Jeremiah 36:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֖הוּ Josiah
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
-
Jeremiah 36:2 יֹאשִׁיָּ֔הוּ Josiah
“Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today.
Here: Josiah, the reforming king. Jeremiah was called in his 13th year, about 627 BC (Jer 1:2). Naming Josiah also quietly sets up a contrast: Josiah humbled himself when a scroll was read to him (2 Kgs 22), while his son Jehoiakim burns this one.
-
Jeremiah 36:9 יֹאשִׁיָּ֤הוּ Josiah
Now in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a fast before the LORD was proclaimed to all the people of Jerusalem and all who had come there from the cities of Judah.
-
Jeremiah 37:1 יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ Josiah
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.
-
Jeremiah 45:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֛הוּ Josiah
This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
-
Jeremiah 46:2 יֹאשִׁיָּ֖הוּ Josiah
concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:
Here: Josiah, the reforming king whom Necho killed at Megiddo in 609 BC (2 Kgs 23:29). Josiah, Necho and Jehoiakim all appear in one heading.
Zephaniah · 1
-
Zephaniah 1:1 יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ Josiah
This is the word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:
Zechariah · 1
-
Zechariah 6:10 יֹאשִׁיָּ֣ה Josiah
“Take an offering from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon—and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.