Jehozadak(josedech, jozadak)
“Jehovah is righteous, or Jehovah has justified”
Summary
The son of the high priest Seraiah who was carried into Babylonian captivity when his father was executed at Riblah; though he inherited the high priesthood, he never exercised it, but his son Joshua (Jeshua) became the first high priest of the restored Temple.
☩Name and Etymology
The Hebrew name יְהוֹצָדָק (Yehotsadak) means 'Jehovah is righteous' or 'Jehovah has justified.' It also appears in the contracted form Jozadak (יוֹצָדָק, Yotsadak) in Ezra and Nehemiah, and as Josedech in Haggai and Zechariah (KJV). The Septuagint renders it as Ἰωσεδέκ (Iosedek). The name is suggestive: both the last king (Zedekiah, 'Jehovah's righteousness') and the representative of the priesthood in captivity bore names expressing that the suspension of throne and priesthood was God's righteous judgment for Judah's sins.
☩Life and Captivity
Jehozadak was the son of Seraiah, the high priest at the time of Jerusalem's fall (1 Chronicles 6:14-15). When Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, he took Seraiah to Riblah and executed him along with other leaders (2 Kings 25:18-21). Although Jehozadak succeeded to the high priesthood after his father's death, he had no opportunity to perform its functions, as he was carried into captivity in Babylon (1 Chronicles 6:15). He evidently died in exile, as his son Joshua became the high priest who officiated upon the return from captivity.
☩Father of Joshua the High Priest
Though Jehozadak never served as high priest, his son Joshua (Jeshua) became the first high priest to officiate after the return from Babylon, serving alongside Zerubbabel the governor. Joshua is consistently identified as 'the son of Jehozadak' (or Jozadak/Josedech) throughout the post-exilic writings (Haggai 1:1, 12, 14; 2:2, 4; Zechariah 6:11; Ezra 3:2, 8; 5:2; 10:18; Nehemiah 12:26). All subsequent high priests until the time of Alcimus descended from Jehozadak through Joshua. The name Joshua ('salvation') is itself significant: as the first Joshua led homeless Israelites into Canaan, so this Joshua led returning exiles to restore Temple worship—and both prefigure Jesus, who saves His people from sin.
Related Verses13 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Jehozadak," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Jehozadak," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Jehozadak," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Jehozadak," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).