Jehozadak

Jehozadak — also written Josedech and Jozadak — is the priest in whose person the Aaronic line passes through the Babylonian exile. The name appears at the end of the priestly genealogy in Chronicles, behind the deportation under Nebuchadnezzar, in the post-exilic record of Ezra and Nehemiah, and as the father of Joshua the high priest who rebuilt the second temple alongside Zerubbabel.

Priest of the Exile

The Chronicler closes the line of high priests by carrying it down to Jehozadak. Azariah begets Seraiah, "and Seraiah begot Jehozadak" (1Ch 6:14). What happens to him is then stated plainly: "And Jehozadak went [into captivity], when Yahweh carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar" (1Ch 6:15). The high-priestly succession does not end with the burning of the temple; it goes with the people into exile in the person of this priest.

Ben Sira's praise of the fathers later remembers the same line by remembering Jehozadak's son: "And also Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, Who in their days built the House, And set up on high the Holy Temple, Which was prepared for everlasting glory" (Sir 49:12). Jehozadak himself is not named as a builder; he is the link by whom the priesthood survives the captivity, so that his son can rebuild.

Father of Joshua the High Priest

In the return narratives Jehozadak is identified almost entirely as the father of Joshua (also called Jeshua). When the altar is raised in Jerusalem, "Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God" (Ezr 3:2). The temple foundation begins in the second year: "Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began" (Ezr 3:8). When the work resumes after its long pause, "Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, rose up and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them" (Ezr 5:2).

The same patronymic recurs in the harder business of the return. Among the priests who had married foreign women, Ezra's list includes "of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah" (Ezr 10:18). Nehemiah's chronicle locates the post-exilic Levites and singers "in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest the scribe" (Ne 12:26) — Jehozadak's grandson now occupies the high-priestly office, and Jehozadak's name still anchors the genealogy.

Haggai's Word to Joshua Son of Jehozadak

The prophet Haggai addresses the rebuilding generation by naming Joshua son of Jehozadak alongside Zerubbabel the governor. The opening oracle comes "in the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying" (Hag 1:1). The response is recorded in the same form: "Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God" (Hag 1:12). And then Yahweh's stirring up of the people: "And Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of hosts, their God" (Hag 1:14).

The second oracle is delivered the same way. Haggai is told, "Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying" (Hag 2:2). The exhortation that follows pairs the two leaders again: "Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, says Yahweh; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you⁺ people of the land, says Yahweh, and work: for [my Speech is] with you⁺, says Yahweh of hosts" (Hag 2:4). Through Haggai, Jehozadak's name is the priestly half of the post-exilic pairing — the temple's builder named alongside its governor, and named always as Jehozadak's son.

The Crowning in Zechariah

Zechariah brings Jehozadak's name into a sign-act. Yahweh tells the prophet to take silver and gold from the returning exiles and "take [of them] silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest" (Zec 6:11). The crowning is performed on Jehozadak's son: the high priest of the rebuilt temple, the priest whose father had gone into captivity, now receives the crowns made from the gifts of those who came back.