Moms in the Bible - Jedidah

Chapter 10 – Jedidah

Jedidah, mother of King Josiah, is mentioned in only one verse in the Bible so a few suppositions have to be made based on the history presented in 2nd Kings. First of all, her husband, the father of Josiah, was only king for two years before his officials conspired against him and he was assassinated. The Bible tells us that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father before him.

So here we have Josiah, who at age eight is thrust upon the throne. His father and grandfather had forsaken the ways of the Lord and did not walk in the way of the Lord, but the first thing we learn about this young king is that “he did right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.” I suspect that Jedidah was a godly woman who brought her son up with holy authority.

Jedidah, now a single widowed mom, albeit a queen, is not mentioned again. I can only hope that she lived long enough to see her son renew the covenant with the Lord. He cleaned out the temple of pagan articles, stopped the pagan practices, and burned down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes. And he stopped the practice of human sacrifice. Don’t you think Jedidah must have been a pretty significant influence when he was young? I do. By the way, her name means “darling of Jehovah”.

Next Saturday – Jochebed