The name Jozadak, a variant of Jehozadak, signifies “the Lord is righteous” or “Jehovah is righteous.” It identifies a man whose life is preserved in the scriptural record as a vital link in the priesthood, representing the righteousness of the Almighty that sustains the office of the intercessor even during the dark years of captivity.
Who Was Jozadak, the High Priest? Found in 1 Chronicles 6:14–15 and Ezra 3:2, Jozadak was a high priest of the line of Eleazar and Phinehas. He was the son of Seraiah, the high priest who was taken captive and executed by the King of Babylon when Jerusalem fell. The record in Chronicles specifically notes that it was Jozadak who went into captivity when the Lord carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
The preservation of Jozadak’s name in the chronicles serves as a testament to the Lord’s faithfulness to the priesthood, even when the nation was in exile and the temple lay in ruins. Although the physical exercise of his office was interrupted by the Babylonian conquest, his lineage remained the standard of legitimacy for the service of the house of the Lord. As the father of Jeshua, who would later lead the returning remnant to rebuild the altar and the temple, Jozadak stands as the vital bridge between the pre-exilic priesthood and the restoration that followed. His life is a witness to the enduring nature of the Lord’s covenant; though his people were scattered and his sanctuary destroyed, the righteousness of the Lord—as declared by his name—remained unchanged, ensuring that the path for the restoration of worship was prepared through his seed.