BAR 29:03, May/Jun 2003
Ashyahu: Hes Josiah
Who is Ashyahu, the king mentioned on the Three Shekels ostracon? There is no monarch with that name in the Bible, either as ruler of the southern kingdom of Judah or as ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel. Some scholars have suggested that the name Ashyahu is a form of the name Yoash or Yehoashthe three forms combine two elements, ash, meaning has given, and yah, a shortened form of the Israelite God Yahweh (scholars call the name of the deity in a persons name the theophoric element). All three names mean God has given. Ashyahu, these scholars suggest, simply switches the two elements found in Yoash and Yehoasha common phenomenon in ancient Israelite names.
We know of two Biblical kings named Yoash or Yehoash (usually spelled Johash and Jehoash in English Bibles). Yehoashthe same king who is supposedly mentioned in the controversial inscription discussed in this issueruled Judah about 835801 B.C.E., and Yoash ruled Israel about 802787 B.C.E. If the Ashyahu of the ostracon is one of these two kings, then the ostracon dates to the late ninth or early eighth century B.C.E. But I believe Ashyahu actually refers to a laterand more importantBiblical king: Josiah.