Text: 2 Chronicles 24:15
OT Text Referred to: Genesis 25:8
Subject: Death Formula: Old and Full of Years
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Echo
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: The Chronicler describes Jehoiada's death with the formulaic phrase "old and full of years" (זָקֵן וּשְׂבַע יָמִים, zaqen us'va' yamim), echoing the same expression used for Abraham in Genesis 25:8 (שָׂבֵעַ, save'a, "contented/full"). This death formula is reserved in Scripture for figures of exceptional faithfulness — Abraham, Isaac (Gen 35:29), David (1 Chr 29:28), and Jehoiada — signaling divine favor and a life brought to satisfying completion. The Chronicler's deliberate use of patriarchal language for Jehoiada elevates this priest-reformer to Abrahamic stature, reinforced by his unprecedented honor of burial among the kings (2 Chr 24:16), implying that covenant faithfulness in any era merits the same divine approbation given to the fathers.