2. A son of Zephaniiih (Zee 6'") living at Jerus. in the time of Zechariah. The text of tnis passage appears to have been tampered with and to need radical correction. See Wellh., Now., and G. A. Smith, ad loc. A. S. Peake.
JOSIAS (B 'Iu<re/ai, B''A -<r(o5).— JosiAH king of Jndah. 1 Es !'•'• "• »•=»• »>• «• »• «-", Bar l*.
JOSIPHI AH (nispV ' J' a<lds,' Ezr S'O).— The father of one of Ezra's companions. The name of the son is not given in ^l T, which reads ' and of the sons of Shelpiiith, the son of Josiphiah ' ; but the text may be tiorrected by the help of LXX (dir6 vlCm Raarl A ; 1 Es 8" iK rCir vlCiv Bai/( A, Bands B, BoKaids Luc), and we should read 'and of the sons of Bani, Shelomitli,' etc., *j; having fallen out after 'i^-}\. See GENEALOOy.
JOT.— Tindale rendered the /(Sro U of Mt 6" 'one iott' (perhajis under the influence of the Vul^. ivtn unum), and his rendering was accepted by all subsequent translators (Cov., Cran., ' iott' ; Gen., Khem., Bisb., AV 'ioto'; RV 'jot,' which is the mod. spelling in AV also). The (u^o is the smallest letter in the Gr. alphabet ; but the cor- responding letter in Ileb. (" yod) is more distinctly the smallest, so that nn arg\iment i« found in this verse in favour of Aramaic aa our lyord's tongue. (See aho Tittlk). After Tind. 'jot' was used to denote any minute thing, and Shaks. uses it even of a drop of bl<K)d, Merck, of Ven. IV. i. 302— ' Thta boud doth i^va thc« here do Jot of blood.*
Wyclirs tr" (I3S0) is, 'oon i, that is last Uttre.' The (Jerm. tr» is still (Stuttgart Bible Soc. ed. 180S) that of Luther, ' der kloinsto Huclistabo ' ; but \Veiz8Jicker lias ' ein Jota' ; and the I'V. trans- lators give ' un (seiil) iota.' J. Uastinos.
JOTBAH (ri^; 'pleasantnees').— Named only in
2 K 21'", where we are told that king Ainon"-i mother was 'Meshullcmclh, the daughter of Uiiruz of Jotbah.' It was probably in Judah, but the site is unknown.
JOTBATHAH {.-ipjo;, Jotbath in AV of Dt 10', wliere the Targ. ha.s the same form. LXX has in Nu ^ercjidOa corrected to 'Et^/3- in B, 'lera^dfloi' A ; in Dt Ta.(Sdeii B, 'Itrd^- A, "IW^J- F; Vulg. Jeta- bntha). — A station in the journeyin'rs of the Israelites mentioned only in Nu 33*"-, Dt 10', and described as ' a land of brooks of waters.' Its position is unknown, but cf. § iv. of art. ExoDUS (I'lOUTE OF). Whether it should be identified with Jotbah, or with 'Iwrd/S?;, the seat of a bishopric in the 0th cent. (cf. Kel.and, Pal. p. 533) whose site is unknown, is doubtful. A. T. Cuapman.
JOTHAM (cnv ' J" is perfect,' or possibly ' solitary one,' 'loiOd/i). — 1. The youngest son of Gideon (Jg 5)5. 7. 21. 87) 'fijg citizens of Shechem were met in a.ssembly to make Abimelech kin", when Jotham suddenly ajipeared on a spur of Gerizim, and de- livered in their hearing a parable ^ritli a pointed application. The parable is not consistently a|i|ilied ; the author had several points in his mind, sudi as these : (") the contrast (tliough tliis is not fully worked out) between Gideon's refusal of the kingship (8*^'-) and the arrogant claim of the worthless son of his concubine. The other sons had qualities which might have given them the right to rule ; it was left to the mean and useless ' liramble' to claim the rank of king (cf. 2 K 14'). (b) A warning to the Shecheniites of the dangerous character of their upstart chief. Not only was his protection worthless if they trusted him, but he would bring destruction on them if they did not. (r) A rebuke of the Shechemites for tneir base ingratitude towards the house of Gideon. The application of the fable is most inconsistent at vv.'°-". The point in v." is the relation between the Shechemites and Abimelech, but in v." be- tween the Shechemites and the family of Gideon. Such inconsistencies are not uncommon in fables of this kind ; they are found in the parables of the NT. There is no need, therefore, to suppose that Jotham's parable was borrowed from some earlier popular collection, where it had quite a different moral. Jotham's ' curse ' was accomplished when Abimelech burnt down the tower of shechem and met with a violent death himself (w.**- " [!{■"]).
It is worth noticing that there is notliing liis- tinctively religious in Jotham's parable. Judg- ment is pa.s.sed upon Abimelech and the Shechem- ites on purely moral grounds ; and the consequences of their deeds are predicted, not in the form of a prophecj' or a message from God, but by the moral sense of a private individual.
2. King of Judah, son of Uzriah and Jerushah (2 K lo''-'^, 2 Ch 27''"). He is .said to have reigned 16 years in Jerusalem (751-7.35) ; but during the
frcater part of his ' reign ' he was regent in the ifetinie of his father (2 K 15», 2 Ch 26"). He was sole king from about 737 to 735. The historians rejiresent his character in a favourable light. In 2 k it is recorded that be built the upper gate of the temple. The formidable combination of N. Israel and Syria began to show the first signs of hostility agamst Judah in this reign. According to2Ch, Jotham waged a successful war against the Ammimitea. The great prophets Hosea, laaiah, and Micab prophesied in his Jays.