JOACHAZ. - King of Israel, son and successor of Jehu (v.), who reigned 17 years (815-799 B.C.). This was a period of extreme humiliation for Israel, under the permanent pressure of the kings of Syria.
It is unknown what battles were fought between J. and the Arameans: it is known only that Israel was left with barely a small garrison of about 50 horsemen, 10 war chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers (II Kings 13:7): a true catastrophe, which was followed by political enslavement. One reads indeed that throughout that time God gave the Israelites into the power of Hazael king of Syria and of his son Ben-hadad III (ibid. 13:3). Hazael was able to cross the territory of Israel freely and push south as far as to attack the kingdom of Judah and threaten its very capital Jerusalem, and he withdrew only after the sending of rich gifts by the king of Judah, Joash (II Kings 12:17 ff.). But when J. implored Yahweh, "the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, who freed it from the yoke of Aram and restored to it tranquility and freedom" (II Kings 13:4-6).
Who this deliverer was is not stated; various suppositions have been made on the matter. Some think of J.'s son, Joash; others of the second successor Jeroboam II (v.), to whom reference would be made by chronological anticipation; others of the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III (805-782 B.C.), who by his victorious campaigns against Damascus relieved Israel from Aramean pressure. It seems more likely that those words allude to a recovery begun in the last years of King J. himself, and then continued successfully by his successor Joash and even more by Jeroboam II. A recovery made possible by the Assyrian king's action against Damascus.
Bibliography
Gaetano Stano