Jozachar is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Jozachar was a servant in the court of King Joash of Judah, and he is remembered in Scripture as one of the two men who conspired against their own king and put him to death. His appearance in the biblical record is brief but sobering: he is named only once, in 2 Kings 12:21, as one of the assassins of the king he served. The source note confirms that Jozachar was one of the servants who conspired against and assassinated Joash.
The setting is the aftermath of a long and complicated reign. Joash had been crowned as a boy, had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord under the guidance of the priest Jehoiada, and had overseen the repair of the temple. But later in life he turned aside, and when Zechariah the son of Jehoiada confronted the people’s unfaithfulness, Joash ordered him stoned. It was after this moral collapse that his own servants turned on him. The text of 2 Kings 12:21 records plainly that “Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died.” They struck him down, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.
Scripture tells us nothing further about Jozachar—not his motives, not his fate, not his family beyond the name of his father, Shimeath. He appears on the page only as a name attached to a violent act. Yet that single verse preserves him in the biblical record, a participant in the downfall of a king whose story had begun with such promise.
The Name
The name Jozachar is a Hebrew name, and its meaning is not clearly recoverable with certainty. It appears to be a compound form built from elements related to the Hebrew root for “remember” (zakhar) and a shortened form of the divine name, which would yield something like “the LORD has remembered.” However, the exact vocalization and derivation are debated among scholars, and some propose alternative readings or connections to other roots. Because the meaning is not firmly established, it is best to say so plainly rather than to assert a definition the text does not securely provide. What we can say is that the name belongs to the same general family of Hebrew names that confess the LORD’s remembrance and faithfulness—even though the man who bore it is remembered in Scripture for a deed of treachery rather than faith.
A Closing Thought
Jozachar’s story is a reminder that proximity to holy things is not the same as a holy heart. He served in a king’s court, in a nation that had known revival and temple repair, yet he lifted his hand against the Lord’s anointed. His name, however faintly, may echo “the LORD remembers”—and God did remember. He remembered Joash’s betrayal of Zechariah, and He remembered the servants who shed their king’s blood. Nothing done in secret is truly hidden from God. But even here there is mercy: the same God who remembers our sins also remembers His covenant, and calls us to turn to Him while there is time.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 2 Kings 12:21 — For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.