JEHOIADA jĭ hoi’ ə də (יְהﯴיָדָ֤ע; LXX ̓Ιωδαε, the Lord knows or has acknowledged; for a technical sense, see H. Huffmon, BASOR 181 [1966], 31ff.; RSV JOIADA, joi’ e de, Heb. יֹֽויָדָע׃֙, Neh 3:6). 1. Father of Benaiah, who was a commander of David’s bodyguard (2 Sam 23:20).

2. An Aaronite prince who joined David at Hebron (1 Chron 12:27).

3. A son of Benaiah (1 Chron 27:34).

4. Priest of the Lord in Jerusalem, who organized the coup that set Joash on the throne, and was for many years his trusted adviser (2 Kings 11; 12; 2 Chron 23; 24). He was already old when Athaliah massacred the royal family, but his wife Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram, must have been young; 2 Chronicles 23:11 implies that Jehoiada already had a family.

Some six years after Jehosheba had rescued her infant nephew Joash from the massacre, Jehoiada ventured all in appeal to popular loyalty to the House of David. First he secured the support of the mercenaries (Carians), who were assigned as Temple and palace guards (2 Kings 11:4-8). The Chronicler adds that he enlisted the chiefs of the towns where the Levites resided; this tallies with references to “the people of the land” in 2 Kings 11:14, 20. Rudolph thinks this an interpolation, arguing that such an assembly could not have been secret; however, the queens’ policy had evidently not restricted access to the Temple, and the crowd present when the guard was changed that Sabbath appeared orderly and peaceable. Upon the king’s coronation, their rejoicing drew the attention of Athaliah; but Jehoiada was ready, and her death ended all opposition. Jehoiada followed up the coronation with a covenant of religious restoration in which “the people” took part (vv. 16, 17; not the country folk as such, but the congregation, as representing all Judah).

Jehoiada continued to guide Joash, though age doubtless weakened his administrative ability (2 Chron 24:4-7). He was honored with a royal burial; but the nobility soon rebelled against his strict religious tradition (vv. 17f.).

Bibliography W. Rudolph, Festschrift Bertholet (1950), 473-478; J. Gray, Kings (1964), 524.