מלכים ב, פרק י״ג, פסוק א׳

A shift in leadership in Samaria marks a new stage in the monarchy, initiating a four-generation dynasty descending from Jehu. This continuous line of succession serves as a direct fulfillment of a promise made by God, guaranteeing that Jehu's descendants would sit on the throne of Israel for four generations [אברבנאל].

However, the exact timing of Jehoahaz's rise to power presents a chronological puzzle. Earlier records indicate that Jehoash, the king of Judah, began his rule in the seventh year of Jehu's reign, and that Jehu himself ruled for twenty-eight years. A simple calculation suggests that Jehu's death and his son's subsequent coronation should have occurred in the twenty-first year of Jehoash's rule. Yet, the transition is recorded as happening in Jehoash's twenty-third year.

The primary approach among commentators is that biblical timelines often count partial years as if they were whole. When Jehoash is said to have taken the throne in Jehu's seventh year, it actually refers to the very beginning of that year. Likewise, the twenty-third year marks the start of that specific year. Therefore, even though the count reaches twenty-three, only twenty-one full years had actually passed. By the same logic, the seventeen years recorded for Jehoahaz's own reign were also made up of these partial years [מצודת דוד].

Alternatively, another perspective resolves this mathematical gap without relying on the concept of partial years. This view factors in the six years during which Jehoash was kept in hiding before he was officially crowned. Because Jehu was already ruling during that hidden period, the beginning of Jehoash's twenty-third year aligns perfectly with the end of Jehu's reign and the moment his son took power [רלב״ג].