Joash was seven years old when he began to reign ,.... This, and the following verse, are the same with 2 Kings 11:21 . See Gill on 2 Kings 12:1 . See Gill on 2 Kings 12:2 . read more
And Jehoiada took for him two wives ,.... Not for himself; he had a wife who was aunt to King Joash, and he had sons who were concerned with him in anointing him, 2 Chronicles 22:11 and was now upwards of one hundred years of age; but for the king, when he was at an age fit for marriage, he advised him to marry, and proposed wives to him, whom he thought would be agreeable; for, observing what mischief was done both in church and state through Jehoram's marrying Athaliah, he was desirous... read more
Moral weakness. The extremely interesting circumstances under which Joash came to the throne ( 2 Chronicles 23:1-21 .) make us wish that there was something satisfactory to record of him when he sat upon it. Unfortunately, it is not so. One work in particular he wrought (see next homily) for which he deserves honour, but his character stands before us as that of an essentially weak man. He did what was right all the days of Jehoiada, but no longer. He allowed one man, to whom he was much... read more
The early years of Joash. I. HIS PARENTAGE . 1 . His father. Jehoabaz, Ahaziah, or Azariah ( 2 Chronicles 21:17 ; 2 Chronicles 22:1 , 2 Chronicles 22:6 ), Jehoram's youngest son, who ascended the throne on his father's death, reigned one year, was slain by Jehu ( 2 Chronicles 22:9 ), and buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David, because, though himself bad, he was a good man's son ( 2 Chronicles 22:9 ). 2 . His mother. Zibiah of Beersheba, concerning... read more
The sad and strange unreliableness of human disposition and life here. One of the strangest of all the sadnesses of human life is the uncertainty and unreliableness of human disposition, which it is so constantly exposing to view. Not only has the fairest promise vanished (like the sun of many a morning) long before the character could be supposed to be firm or even fairly formed, but after the period justly esteemed critical has passed, after fruit has set, and even after some fruit has... read more
All the days of Jehoiada . Of the "forty years" mentioned in the former verse, these "days of Jehoiada" will cover, some, at any rate, say, two years more than "twenty-two years;" for compare our 2 Chronicles 24:6 , 2 Chronicles 24:12-15 with the parallel, 2 Kings 12:6 , 2 Kings 12:7 , 2 Kings 12:9 , noting the thenceforward silence there respecting Jehoiada, and even making ample allowance for it. read more
That special note is made of Jehoiada's selecting of the wives may at any rate point to the suggestion that he was all a father to Joash, and both for his own sake and the kingdom's sake anxious as to the character of the women by whom a new kingly seed should take rise in place of that destroyed by Athaliah ( 2 Chronicles 22:10 ). Our 2 Chronicles 25:1 leaves it probable that "Jehoaden of Jerusalem" was one of these, though it is likely enough that Joash married, whether her or some one... read more
Jehoiada lived after the accession of Joash at least 23 years 2 Kings 12:6. Thus the idolatries of Joash 2 Chronicles 24:18 were confined to his last 10 or 15 years. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Chronicles 24:1-14
This account of Joash's good beginnings we had as it stands here 2 Kgs. 12:1-21, though the latter part of this chapter, concerning his apostasy, we had little of there. What is good in men we should take all occasions to speak of and often repeat it; what is evil we should make mention of but sparingly, and no more than is needful. We shall here only observe, 1. That it is a happy thing for young people, when they are setting out in the world, to be under the direction of those that are wise... read more