IOSA BETH (IOSABA)

IOSA BETH (IOSABA). — Ioram (v.), king of Judah, and sister of Ochozia; she was the wife of the high priest Ioiada (v. cf. 2 Chron. 22:11). This is the only instance in the Bible of a royal princess who became the spouse of a high priest. She deserves GIOAS (v.), son of Ochozia, from the fury of Athalia, who, after the death of this king, slaughtered all the descendants of the royal line (842–836 B.C.). The child, raised in hiding, was kept in the Temple under her care and that of her husband Ioiada, and when he reached the age of seven, he was acclaimed king by the nation (2 Kings 11:1–4; 2 Chron. 22:10–12). It does not appear that Iosa Beth’s mother was the aforementioned Queen Athalia, as supposed by Flavius Josephus (Antiquitates Judaicae, IX, 7, 1): she was probably a daughter of King Ioram by another wife.