1. The original name of JOSHUA, the son of Nun (Deut. 32:44).
2. Son of Azaziah and a chief of the tribe of Ephraim (1 Chron. 27:20).
3. Son of Elah and the last king of Israel. He conspired against Pekah and slew him, and reigned in his stead, “in the twentieth year of Jotham.” (But Jotham reigned only 16 years, and the above probably means that Pekah was slain in the twentieth year after Jotham became king.) There was then anarchy for about 9 years, thought to be noticed in Hosea 10; and Hoshea began to reign B.C. 730, the twelfth year of Ahaz, which agrees with 2 Kings 17:1. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but was not so bad as the kings that had preceded him. He sought an alliance with the king of Egypt against the king of Assyria, who imprisoned him in bonds. Three years later Samaria was attacked, and after three years it was taken, and the people carried away; but the fate of Hoshea is not revealed (2 Kings 15:30; 17:1-6; 28:1,9,19).
4. A chief of the people who sealed the covenant. Neh. 10:23.