It’s difficult to find any other word than tragic to describe the life of King Jehoahaz of Judah.
The only bright spot in his life seems to be that he was born to Josiah, the great king of Judah who brought religious reform to Judah during the dark days immediately before the Babylonian exile.
But even his father’s connection was still marked by sorrow, for it was Josiah’s tragic death in battle that led to Jehoahaz’s ascension to the throne.
After Josiah died trying to stop Pharaoh Neco of Egypt from advancing to help the Assyrians, the people of the land—probably meaning the clan leaders—took Jehoahaz and made him king.
Jehoahaz only reigned for three months, though, because Pharaoh Neco dethroned the new king and took him away to Egypt, where he eventually died. Then the Egyptians installed one of Jehoahaz’s brothers as king instead and imposed a heavy tax on the people (2 Kings 23).
Jehoahaz was one of the last of the descendants of David to rule over Judah. Only three other kings ruled after him, and after that the Babylonians invaded the land, exiling most of the nobles to Babylon (2 Kings 23–24).