IOSEDEC (Hebr. Jēhōšādhāq and Jōšādhāq, “Jahweh is just”). — Father of the high priest Gesù (Agg. 1:1, 12, 14; 2:3, 5; Zach. 6:11; Eccl. 49:14).
From I Par. 5:41, where it is said that I. “went into exile when the Lord deported Judah and Jerusalem,” one might deduce that I. was the last high priest of the ancient Temple. But from II Reg. 25:16 (cf. Ier. 52:24) it emerges that this office was still held by his father Saraia, who was in fact deported in 587–586. Therefore, in all probability, I. was deported together with his father to Babylon. His designation as high priest has a genealogical and ideal significance. Indeed, both the passages cited and Esè. 3:2, 8; 5:2; Neh. 12:26 speak of I. almost exclusively as the father of the high priest Gesù, who played a notable role at the time of the reconstruction of Jerusalem. Angelo Penna