JOSEDEC (Hebrew Yêhôsôdâhq = Yôsôdâhq = "Yahweh is just"). — Father of the high priest Jeshua (Agg. 1:1, 12, 14; 2:3, 5; Zach. 6:11; Eccli. 49:14).
From 1 Chron. 5:41, where it is said that J. "went into exile when the Lord deported Judah and Jerusalem," one might deduce that J. was the last high priest of the ancient Temple. But from 2 Kings 25:18 (cf. Jer. 52:24) it appears that this office was still held by his father Seraiah, who was precisely deported in 587–586. Therefore, with every probability J. was deported to Babylon together with his father. His qualification as high priest has a genealogical and ideal value. Indeed, both the cited passages and Ezra 3:2, 8; 5:2; Neh. 12:26 speak of J. almost exclusively as the father of the high priest Jeshua, who was of notable importance at the time of the rebuilding of Jerusalem.