Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 24:8
Jehoiachin [was] eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name [was] Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
8 17. Reign of Jehoiachin. Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Plunder and captives carried away: Zedekiah made king of Judah (2Ch 36:9-10)
8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old ] The Chronicler says eight. The letter which is required to make the difference is the smallest in the Hebrew alphabet, and may easily have fallen out by a slip of the copyist. That ‘eighteen’ is the correct number may be concluded because (see verse 15) Jehoiachin had wives, which would hardly be the case at eight. To the ‘three months’ of the king’s reign here set down, the Chronicler adds ‘and ten days’, probably having before him a precise record. Though after the last reign we come no more upon quotations from the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah. Jehoiachin is called Jeconiah in Jer 24:1, and Coniah in Jer 22:24; Jer 22:28. For the double form compare Oshea and Jehoshua (Num 13:16).
Elnathan of Jerusalem ] Almost certainly the same person who is called ‘Elnathan the son of Achbor’ (Jer 26:22) and who was sent by Jehoiakim with a party of men into Egypt to fetch thence Urijah the prophet, whom Jehoiakim caused to be put to death. The name also occurs among the princes in the account of Jeremiah’s roll (Jer 36:12; Jer 36:25). He was one of those who made intercession with the king not to burn it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
His mothers name – On the position of the queen mother see 1Ki 15:10 note. Nehushtas rank and dignity are strongly marked by the distinct and express mention which is made of her in almost every place where her sons history is touched (2Ki 24:12; compare Jer 22:26; Jer 29:2).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old] He is called Jeconiah, 1Ch 3:16, and Coniah, Jer 22:24. In 2Ch 36:9, be is said to be only eight years of age, but this must be a mistake; for we find that, having reigned only three months, he was carried captive to Babylon, and there he had wives; and it is very improbable that a child between eight and nine years of age could have wives; and of such a tender age, it can scarcely be said that, as a king, he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. The place in Chronicles must be corrupted.
That he was a grievous offender against God, we learn from Jer 22:24, which the reader may consult; and in the man’s punishment, see his crimes.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign.
Object. He was then but eight years old, 2Ch 36:9.
Answ. 1. Both are true; in his eighth year he began to reign with his father, who made him king with him, as divers other kings of Israel and Judah had done in the like times of trouble; and in his eighteenth year he reigned alone.
2. He is called a son of eight years when he began to reign, 2Ch 36:9, because this was the eighth year, not of his age, but of the Babylonish captivity, or bondage; under which both he and his father had been just so long; for it began in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, as it is affirmed Jer 25:1, and continued all his reign, which lasted eleven years, 2Ki 23:36; and so the first year of Jehoiachin was precisely the eighth year of that captivity. And this is certain, that the years of kings mentioned in Scripture are not always accounted from the beginning of their age, but from some other remarkable time or thing: thus Saul, when at mans estate, is called the son of one year, 1Sa 13:1, of which See Poole “1Sa 13:1” and Ahaziah (whose father lived only forty years, 2Ch 21:20) is called a son of forty and two years when he began to reign, 2Ch 22:2, because that was the forty and second year of the reign of Omris family, as most think. And therefore it cannot seem strange if the years of this king be computed, not from his birth but from the beginning of so great and famous a change of the Jewish affairs, as this captivity made; this being the usual way of the Romans and Greeks, and other more ancient and eastern nations, to compute the times from the great changes and revolutions happening among them. And that this was the practice of the Jews in the computation of these very times, is evident from the use of it in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, Eze 1:2, which was the fifth year of Jehoiachins captivity; and Eze 33:21, in the twelfth year of our captivity; and Eze 40:1, in the twenty-fifth year of our captivity.
3. To all this might be added, that some here acknowledge an error of the scribe, and affirm, that in the first and best copies, in 2Ch 36:9, it was not eight, but eighteen; which they gather from hence, because those two ancient and venerable translators, the Syriac and Arabic, read there, as it is here, was eighteen years old; which, they say, they would never have presumed to do, if they had not so read it in those Hebrew copies, out of which they drew their translation, or in some of them.
He reigned in Jerusalem three months, and ten days, which are added, 2Ch 36:9. But such small sums are frequently omitted in great numbers. See Poole “Gen 15:13“; See Poole “1Ki 16:8“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. Jehoiachinthat is,”God-appointed,” contracted into Jeconiah and Coniah(Jer 22:24).
eighteen years old when hebegan to reignAt the age of eight his father took him intopartnership in the government (2Ch36:9). He began to reign alone at eighteen.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign,…. In 2Ch 36:9 he is said to be but eight years old; which may be reconciled by observing, that he might be made and declared king by his father, in the first year of his reign, who reigned eleven years, so that he was eight years old when he began to reign with him, and eighteen when he began to reign alone q. Dr. Lightfoot r gives another solution of this difficulty, that properly speaking he was eighteen years old when he began to reign, but, in an improper sense, the son of eight years, or the eighth year, as the Hebrew phrase is; that is, he fell in the lot of the eighth year of the captivity of Judah, which was in the latter end of the third, or the beginning of the fourth of his father’s reign, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar’s, and it was now in the eighth of Nebuchadnezzar that he was king, see
2Ki 24:12, but very probably in 2Ch 36:9 there is a mistake in the copyist of eight for eighteen, since in the Arabic and Syriac versions it is there eighteen, as here:
he reigned in Jerusalem three months; the ten days besides are here omitted for shortness, 2Ch 36:9
and his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem; a person no doubt well known in those times.
q So in Seder Olam Rabba, c. 25. r Works, vol. 1. p. 122.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(cf. 2Ch 36:9 and 2Ch 36:10). Jehoiachin, or (Eze 1:2), i.e., he whom Jehovah fortifies, called in 1Ch 3:16-17, and Jer 27:20; Jer 28:4, etc., and in Jer 22:24, Jer 22:28; Jer 37:1, probably according to the popular twisting and contraction of the name Jehoiachin, was eighteen years old when he ascended the throne (the eight years of the Chronicles are a slip of the pen), and reigned three months, or, according to the more precise statement of the Chronicles, three months and ten days, in the spirit of his father. Ezekiel (Eze 19:5-7) describes him not only as a young lion, who learned to prey and devoured men, like Jehoahaz, but also affirms of him that he knew their (the deceased men’s) widows, i.e., ravished them, and destroyed their cities-that is to say, he did not confine his deeds of violence to individuals, but extended them to all that was left behind by those whom he had murdered, viz., to their families and possessions; and nothing is affirmed in Jer 22:24 and Jer 22:28 respecting his character at variance with this. His mother Nehushta was a daughter of Elnathan, a ruler of the people, or prince, from Jerusalem (Jer 26:22; Jer 36:12, Jer 36:25).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Jehoiachin Carried Captive to Babylon. | B. C. 599. |
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. 12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. 14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
This should have been the history of king Jehoiachin’s reign, but, alas! it is only the history of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, as it is called, Ezek. i. 2. He came to the crown, not to have the honour of wearing it, but the shame of losing it. Ideo tantum venerat, ut exiret–He came in only to go out.
I. His reign was short and inconsiderable. He reigned but three months, and then was removed and carried captive to Babylon, as his father, it is likely, would have been if he had lived but so much longer. What an unhappy young prince was this, that was thrust into a falling house, a sinking throne! What an unnatural father had he, who begat him to suffer for him, and by his own sin and folly had left himself nothing to bequeath to his son but his own miseries! Yet this young prince reigned long enough to show that he justly smarted for his fathers’ sins, for he trod in their steps (v. 9): He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as they had done; he did nothing to cut off the entail of the curse, to discharge the incumbrances of his crown, and therefore (transit cum onere–the incumbrance descends with the crown) with his own iniquity that of his fathers shall come into the account.
II. The calamities that came upon him, and his family, and people, in the very beginning of his reign, were very grievous. 1. Jerusalem was besieged by the king of Babylon, 2Ki 24:10; 2Ki 24:11. He had sent his forces to ravage the country, v. 2. Now he came himself, and laid siege to the city. Now the word of God was fulfilled (Deut. xxviii. 49, c.), The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, of fierce countenance, that shall first eat of the fruit of thy land and then besiege thee in all thy gates. 2. Jehoiachin immediately surrendered at discretion. As soon as he heard the king of Babylon had come in person against the city, his name having at this time become very formidable, he beat a parley and went out to him, <i>v. 12. Had he made his peace with God, and taken the method that Hezekiah did in the like case, he needed not to have feared the king of Babylon, but might have held out with courage, honour, and success (one should have chased a thousand); but, wanting the faith and piety of an Israelite, he had not the resolution of a man, of a soldier, of a prince. He and his royal family, his mother and wives, his servants and princes, delivered themselves up prisoners of war; this was the consequence of their being servants of sin. 3. Nebuchadnezzar rifled the treasuries both of the church and of the state, and carried away the silver and gold of both, v. 13. Now the word of God by Isaiah was fulfilled (ch. xx. 17), All that is in thy house shall be carried to Babylon. Even the vessels of the temple which Solomon had made, and laid up in store to be used as the old ones were worn out, he cut off from the temple, and began to cut them in pieces, but, upon second thoughts, reserved them for his own use, for we find Belshazzar drinking wine in them, Dan 5:2; Dan 5:3. 4. He carried away a great part of Jerusalem into captivity, to weaken it, that he might effectually secure to himself the dominion of it and prevent its revolt, and to enrich himself with the wealth or service of those he took away. There had been some carried away eight years before this, in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar and the third of Jehoiakim, among whom were Daniel and his fellows. See Dan 1:1; Dan 1:6. They had approved themselves so well that this politic prince coveted more of them. Now he carried off, (1.) The young king himself and his family (v. 15), and we find (ch. xxv. 27-29) that for thirty-seven years he continued a close prisoner. (2.) All the great men, the princes and officers, whose riches were kept for the owners thereof to their hurt (Eccl. v. 13), tempting the enemies to make a prey of them first. (3.) All the military men, the mighty men of valour (v. 14), the mighty of the land (v. 15), the men of might, even all that were strong and apt for war, v. 16. These could not defend themselves, and the conqueror would not leave them to defend their country, but took them away, to be employed in his service. (4.) All the craftsmen and smiths who made weapons of war; in taking them he did, in effect, disarm the city, according to the Philistines’ policy, 1 Sam. xiii. 19. In this captivity Ezekiel the prophet was carried away (Eze 1:1; Eze 1:2) and Mordecai, Esth. ii. 6. This Jehoiachin was also called Jeconiah (1 Chron. iii. 16), and in contempt (Jer. xxii. 24, where his captivity is foretold) Coniah.
III. The successor whom the king of Babylon appointed in the room of Jehoiachin. God had written him childless (Jer. xxii. 30) and therefore his uncle was entrusted with the government. The king of Babylon made Mattaniah king, the son of Josiah; and to remind him, and let all the world know, that he was his creature, he changed his name and called him Zedekiah, v. 17. God had sometimes charged it upon his people, They have set up kings, but not by me (Hos. viii. 4), and now, to punish them for that, the king of Babylon shall have the setting up of their kings. Those are justly deprived of their liberty that use it, and insist upon it, against God’s authority. This Zedekiah was the last of the kings of Judah. The name which the king of Babylon gave him signifies The justice of the Lord, and was a presage of the glorifying of God’s justice in his ruin. 1. See how impious this Zedekiah was. Though the judgments of God upon his three immediate predecessors might have been a warning to him not to tread in their steps, yet he did that which was evil, like all the rest, v. 19. 2. See how impolitic he was. As his predecessor lost his courage, so he his wisdom, with his religion, for he rebelled against the king of Babylon (v. 20), whose tributary he was, and so provoked him whom he was utterly unable to contend with, and who, if he had continued true to him, would have protected him. This was the most foolish thing he could do, and hastened the ruin of his kingdom. This came to pass through the anger of the Lord, that he might cast them out from his presence. Note, When those that are entrusted with the counsels of a nation act unwisely, and against their true interest, we ought to take notice of the displeasure of God in it. It is for the sins of a people that God removes the speech of the trusty and takes away the understanding of the aged, and hides from their eyes the things that belong to the public peace. Whom God will destroy he infatuates.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Jehoiachin and Zedekiah Commentary on 2Ki 24:8-18 AND 2Ch 36:9-11
With the death of Jehoiakim the people of Jerusalem made their own selection of his successor. They chose Jehoiakim’s young son, Jehoiachin, who is also called Jeconiah and simply Coniah in other places. He was the latest generation from David to occupy Judah’s throne, until Jesus Christ. There is a discrepancy between Kings and Chronicles concerning Jehoiachin’s age. The scribes either added a point in their writing erroneously or left it out so that it cannot now be certainly known whether he was eight or eighteen years of age. In either case he does not seem to have had children yet, for none are mentioned. The fact that wives are mentioned could merely refer to the king’s harem, to which each successor to the throne had right. The prominence of his mother is not decisive either, for she might have been his companion at either age.
Jehoiachin reigned only about three months, evidently while Jerusalem was still under siege to Nebuchadnezzar following the capture of his father. At the capitulation of the. city Jehoiachin and his mother surrendered themselves to the Babylonians, along with his officers and other members of his court. This occurred in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon.
There followed a second deportation to Babylon, along with more of the treasures of the city and temple. The golden vessels of the temple were cut up, and destroyed before they were carried away. Nebuchadnezzar sought out the princes, mighty men, and ten thousand of the talented men of craft and carried them away captive to Babylon. The land was left bereft of its craftsmen and smiths, leaving only the poorest sort of the people in the land. To these captives he also added seven thousand more who were able bodied and likely to form a body of fighting men, along with another thousand craftsmen he rounded up. Nebuchadnezzer’s intent was to render Judah incapable of again rebelling against him. For Judah’s last king he chose twenty-one year old Mattaniah, who was the full brother of Jehoahaz, the first of Josiah’s sons to be elevated to the throne by the people, after their father’s death at Megiddo. This young man had been only ten years old at that time. Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah. He was to rule eleven years and bring the kingdom to its utter ruin and judgment.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
IV. THE REIGN AND DEPORTATION OF JEHOIACHIN 24:817
TRANSLATION
(8) Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months In Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. (9) And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD according to all which his fathers had done. (10) At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem; and the city came under siege. (11) And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants set siege against it. (12) And Jehoiachin king of Judah went out unto the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his princes and his officers; and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. (13) And he brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the house of the king; and he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the Temple of the LORD as the LORD had spoken. (14) And he took captive all Jerusalem and all the princes and the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none was left except the poor of the people of the land. (15) And he took away Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king, the wives of the king, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. (16) And all the men of might seven thousand, the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all the mighty men who were warriors; and the king of Babylon brought them captive to Babylon. (17) And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his uncle king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.
Eighteenth King of Judah
JEHOIACHIN BEN JEHOIAKIM
597 B.C.
(Yabweb will establish)
2Ki. 24:8-17
Contemporary Prophets
Jeremiah, Ezekiel; Daniel
Mother: Nehushta
Appraisal: Bad
Write this man down childless, a man who will not prosper in his days, Jer. 22:30
COMMENTS
Some confusion exists as to the age of Jehoiachin when he became king, but the figure eighteen must surely be correct.[674] His reign lasted three months, or to be more precise, three months and ten days (2Ch. 36:9). Jehoiachins mother Nehushta was of the powerful family of Elnathan, one of the chief princes under Jehoiakim (Jer. 26:22; Jer. 36:12; Jer. 36:25). Nehushta was probably the ruling spirit of the time during her sons short reign[675] (2Ki. 24:8).
[674] 2Ch. 36:9 gives his age as eight. In Hebrew the number eighteen is written with two words, the word for eight and the word for ten. In the process of copying the manuscript of Chronicles, some scribe must have accidentally omitted the word for ten.
[675] Nehushta is mentioned in Jer. 22:26; Jer. 29:2.
In spite of his brief reign, the author of Kings declares that Jehoiachin did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord. As in the case of similar evaluations of short-reigned kings, this statement probably means the Jehoiachin made no attempt at a religious reformation, but allowed the idolatries and superstitions which had prevailed under Jehoiakim and Jehoahaz to continue. Jeremiah called this king a despised broken idol and a vessel wherein is no pleasure (Jer. 22:28).
During most of the short reign of Jehoiachin, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar were encamped about the walls of Jerusalem.[676] The Great King himself was temporarily detained in a siege at Tyre, and so sent his servants to deal with Jerusalem (2Ki. 24:10). While the siege conducted by his generals was still going on, Nebuchadnezzar himself appeared on the scene, probably bringing with him additional forces (2Ki. 24:11). The Holy City was well fortified and could have withstood several months of siege. But Jehoiachin realized that further resistance would only bring upon his people incalculable hardship. Perhaps he hoped that if he surrendered Nebuchadnezzar would allow him to retain his throne as a vassal king. Whatever his motives, Jehoiachin and the leading citizens of Jerusalem walked through the gates of the city and surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar on March 16, 597 B.C., the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar[677] (2Ki. 24:12). This is the first instance in Kings of dating in terms of a foreign king. The Biblical record of Jehoiachins surrender to Nebuchadnezzar is substantiated and supplemented by the Babylonian Chronicle.[678]
[676] The precise day on which the Chaldean forces arrived at Jerusalem cannot be determined. But the Babylonian Chronicle indicates that the siege began sometime after December 18, 598 B.C.
[677] The author here (as later in 2Ki. 25:8) uses the non-accession year method of computing the regnal years of Nebuchadnezzar. In this system, the first year of Nebuchadnezzar was only a few months long, from September 7, 605 till New Years (March-April) of 604 B.C. According to this system of counting, the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar began in the spring of 598 B.C. Jehoiachin surrendered on Adar 2 (the second day of the twelfth month) of that eighth year. Jer. 52:28 uses the standard Babylonian system of countingwhere the months up until the first New Years were not countedand places this deportation in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar.
[678] See ANET, p. 564.
In addition to the royal captives, Nebuchadnezzar carried off from Jerusalem additional treasure from the Temple and palace.[679] These treasuries had been exhausted in the days of Hezekiah when the Assyrian Sennacherib demanded heavy tribute (2Ki. 18:15). But fresh accumulations had been made during the long reigns of Manasseh and Josiah. The vessels of gold made originally by Solomon were cut in pieces, i.e., had the gold stripped from them. These vessels would include articles of furniture, like the altar of incense and the table of showbread which were covered with golden plates, and other articles made wholly of the precious metal such as the lamp-stand, tongs, spoons, etc. This confiscation of the wealth of the nation had been prophesied by a long line of prophets.[680]
[679] According to Dan. 1:1, he had carried away some of the sacred Temple vessels in 605 B.C.
[680] 2Ki. 20:17; Isa. 39:6; Jer. 15:13; Jer. 17:3 etc.
The statement that Nebuchadnezzar carried away all Jerusalem like so many other universal statements in the Bible is not intended to be taken literally. All Jerusalem means all that was important in the population of the citythe upper classes. This included the princes or nobles of the city, the professional soldiers and the skilled craftsmen[681] (2Ki. 24:14). Most prominent among the captives was Jehoiachin and his mother and wives and officers. All the mighty of the land, i.e., all the prominent citizens, were taken away to Babylon (2Ki. 24:15). The professional soldiers taken captive numbered some seven thousand, the skilled workmen another thousand and other ranking citizens two thousand making a total of ten thousand captives (2Ki. 24:16; cf. 2Ki. 24:14).
[681] There are still princes in Jerusalem under the last king (Jer. 38:4; Jer. 38:25; Jer. 38:27), and courtiers of rank (Jer. 38:7), and captains of forces (Jer. 40:7) and men of war (Jer. 52:7).
After the deportation of Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Mattaniah as king of Judah. Mattaniah was the third son of Josiah[682] to reign on the throne of David. The Great King demanded that his new vassal change his name. Mattaniah (Gift of Yahweh) chose the throne name of Zedekiah (Righteousness of Yahweh). This last king of Judah certainly made no attempt to live up to his new name; he made no effort to establish the righteousness of Yahweh in the land.
[682] 2Ki. 24:18 makes it clear that Mattaniah-Zedekiah was a son of Josiah (Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, was the wife of Josiah and mother of Jehoahaz). See also 1Ch. 3:15. The Hebrew text of 2Ch. 36:10 calls Zedekiah the brother of Jehoiachin. Brother is used here in the general sense of relative.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
THE REIGN OF JEHOIACHIN. BEGINNING OF THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
(2Ki. 24:8-16).
(8) Jehoiachin.Jah will confirm. Four or five different forms of this name occur in the documents. Eze. 1:2 gives the contraction Joiachin. In Jeremiah we find a popular transposition of the two elements, thus: Jechonjahu (once, viz., Jer. 24:1, Heb.), and usually the shorter form, Jechoniah (Jer. 27:20; Est. 2:6); which is further abridged into Coniah (Heb., Chonjahu) in Jer. 22:24; Jer. 22:28. Ewald thinks this last the original name; but Hengstenberg supposes that the prophet altered the name, so as to make of it a Jah will confirm without the will, in order to foreshadow the fate which awaited this king.
Nehushta.Referring, perhaps, to her complexion (as we say bronzed).
Elnathan.See Jer. 26:22; Jer. 36:12; Jer. 36:25; one of Jehoiakims princes.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
JEHOIACHIN’S REIGN, AND THE FIRST GREAT DEPORTATION OF EXILES TO BABYLON, 2Ki 24:8-17.
8. Three months The same length of time that his uncle Jehoahaz had reigned. 2Ki 23:21. Such an insignificant rule, and so associated as it was with Judah’s direst woe, made the prophet Jeremiah ignore it as any thing worthy to be called a sitting on the throne of David. Jer 36:30. Jehoiachin was noted more for his being thirty-seven years in a Babylonian prison. 2Ki 25:27. But though his reign at Jerusalem was so short and unfortunate, he was looked upon by the exiles as the last lawful successor to the throne of David; and notwithstanding the appointment of Zedekiah, Jehoiachin remained the representative king of Judah, and in the preservation of his life through thirty-seven years of imprisonment, and his elevation to kingly honours in the court of Babylon, (2Ki 25:27,) the theocratic historian discerned the purpose of Jehovah to perpetuate the throne of David.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Reign Of Jehoiachin King Of Judah 597 BC ( 2Ki 24:8-17 ).
In typical fashion the prophetic author of Kings has not told us in detail about the closing years of Jehoiakim’s life, except in so far as it can be concluded from 2Ki 24:2, for as his death approached Judah was not only under constant attack by marauding bands, but by Nebuchadnezzar’s main forces under his generals, which had arrived outside the walls of Jerusalem, with the result that large numbers of Judeans were being besieged in Jerusalem by an even larger ‘band of Chaldeans’. A number of other cities of Judah were also no doubt under siege. Thus after the initial manoeuvrings described in 2Ki 24:2 YHWH’s wrath has come upon Judah to the uttermost. It was in such circumstances that Jehoiakim died in a way that is not described, but seemingly violently and without decent burial, and his son Jehoiachin came to the throne. Jehoiachin bravely maintained the resistance for a short while (‘three months’), but on the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar outside Jerusalem in person he surrendered himself and the city to him. Judah’s short period of independence was over, and it was all YHWH’s doing (2Ki 24:2-3).
This surrender of Jerusalem is described by the Babylonian Chronicle as follows:
“In the seventh year (598 BC), in the month of Kislev (November/December), the Babylonian king mustered his troops and, having marched to the land of Hatti, besieged the (main) city of Judah, and on the second day of the month Adar (16th March 597 BC) took the city, and captured the king. He appointed therein a king of his own choice (Zedekiah), received its heavy tribute, and despatched them (Jehoiachin and the tribute) to Babylon.”
But it was not to be the end for Jehoiachin, for although he was carried off to Babylon, he remained the recognised ‘king of Judah’ even there, and details of the daily rations allocated to ‘Ya’u kinu, king of the land of Yahudu’ and his sons, have been discovered in Babylon. He would eventually be released from prison by Amel-Marduk (Evil-Merodach) and be restored to honour ‘above the kings who were with him in Babylon’, sitting continually at the table of the king of Babylon as the king’s pensioner (2Ki 25:29-30). In spite of all YHWH had not forgotten His promises to the son of David, and hope for the future had dawned. But before that Judah had to sink into the depths of despair.
Analysis.
a
b And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his father had done (2Ki 24:9).
c At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged (2Ki 24:10).
d And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it (2Ki 24:11).
e And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers, and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign (2Ki 24:12).
d And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of YHWH, as YHWH had said (2Ki 24:13).
c And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths, none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land (2Ki 24:14).
b And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon (2Ki 24:15-16).
a And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king instead of him, and changed his name to Zedekiah (2Ki 24:17).
Note that in ‘a’ Jehoiachin became king, and in the parallel he was replaced by Zedekiah. In ‘b’ he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, and in the parallel he was as a result carried away to Babylon along with the cream of the people. In ‘c’ Nebuchadnezzar’s generals besieged Jerusalem, and in the parallel they carried away ‘all Jerusalem’ into exile. In ‘d’ Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived and in the parallel he carried away all the treasures of the house of YHWH. Centrally in ‘e’ Jehoiachin and all his house surrendered to the king of Babylon.
2Ki 24:8
‘Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months, and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.’
In some ways Jehoiachin patterned Jehoahaz earlier (2Ki 23:31-34). Both came to the throne after their fathers had offended against a great power, and both were carried off as hostages within three months, Jehoahaz to Egypt and Jehoiachin to Babylon. Jehoiachin was also known as Jeconiah (1Ch 3:16-17; Est 2:6; Jer 24:1; Jer 27:20; Jer 28:4; Jer 29:2), and as Coniah (Jer 22:24; Jer 22:28; Jer 37:1). The name appears as Ykyn on contemporary jar handles. He began his reign at eighteen years old, with Jerusalem surrounded by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar, and within three months he surrendered when Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived. (It may be that he had become co-regent with his father at eight years old – 2Ch 36:9 – with the Chronicler there deliberately seeking to parallel him with Josiah). It is significant that his mother was a ‘local’. This might suggest that there had no longer been outlying cities whose favour had to be won. Judah was now of limited extent.
2Ki 24:9
‘And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his father had done.’
On coming to the throne Jehoiachin made no attempt to reverse the idolatries of his father. He continued with Jehoiakim’s idolatrous worship. Thus he found no favour with YHWH.
2Ki 24:10
‘At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.’
The arrival of ‘the servants of Nebuchadnezzar’, prior to the coming of the Great King himself, must have occurred prior to Jehoiachin’s ascension to the throne, while Jehoiakim was still reigning. It was in fact possibly Jehoiakim’s attempt to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar’s generals that resulted in his ignominious death, and that caused Jehoiachin not to be willing to do so until Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived.
2Ki 24:11
‘And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.’
The arrival of Nebuchadnezzar himself would have caused a great stir, and it is probable that, in view of the fact that he would learn that Jehoiakim who had instigated the rebellion was dead, he on arrival offered terms to the city. These terms included the surrender of the royal house who would be transported to Babylon, along with many of the great men of the land, and the seizing of all the palace and Temple treasures, together with what remained of the golden vessels in the Temple. But it would mean that the punitive war was at an end.
2Ki 24:12
‘And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers, and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.’
The terms were accepted and Jehoiachin, the queen mother, his courtiers, his princes and his military officers all went out and surrendered to ‘the king of Babylon’ in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. They knew, of course, that this could only result in their transportation. That was part of the agreement.
This is the first occasion in Kings when an incident has been dated by reference to something external to Israel and Judah ‘in the eighth year of his (Nebuchadnezzar’s) reign’. It was a clear indication by the author that Judah was living on borrowed time. As far as he was concerned Nebuchadnezzar now ruled over Judah with YHWH’s authority. (Jeremiah has ‘the seventh year of his reign’ – Jer 52:28. Jeremiah was omitting the accession year).
2Ki 24:13
‘And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of YHWH, as YHWH had said.’
Nebuchadnezzar then cut up and removed from the Temple all that remained of the golden vessels which Solomon had made which were in the Temple of YHWH, together with all the treasures that remained in both the palace and the Temple. These would not be overlarge. We must remember that Jehoiakim had had to tax the ordinary people in order to pay tribute to Egypt, and that tribute had had to be paid to Babylon since then. The Babylonian Chronicle’s description of it as ‘heavy tribute’ was probably exaggerated. Jeremiah makes clear that some vessels remained in the Temple, together with certain other items (Jer 27:18-20). They would follow later (2Ki 25:13-17).
‘All the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king’s house.’ This has been a regular refrain throughout Kings (2Ki 12:18; 2Ki 14:14; 2Ki 16:8 ; 2Ki 18:15; 1Ki 14:26; 1Ki 15:18) as the author has demonstrated that disobedience to YHWH could only result in Judah regularly losing all that it had. There could be no continuing prosperity without obedience. Here the vessels of Solomon are mentioned along with the treasures in order to connect back to the original record of Solomon’s enriching of the Temple. These vessels had been continually spared as having great sentimental value, but now even they had been taken. Together with 2Ki 25:13-17 it was stressing that all that Solomon had built up had finally gone. Nothing was left.
2Ki 24:14
‘And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten groups (ten alephim) of captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths, none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.’
Furthermore he carried off all the most important people in Jerusalem, including the civil servants, together with all the princes of the tribes. These comprised between them two recognisable units (alephim). Together with them were all the professional warriors comprising seven military units (alephim), and all the craftsmen and smiths who together comprised their own single unit (an eleph), being all members of the one guild. That made ten differing units (alephim) of people in all. Jer 52:28 tells us that in all they amounted to three thousand and twenty three heads of families (‘Jews’). Alternately the three thousand and twenty three ‘Jews’ may refer to ‘all Jerusalem and all the princes, — and all the craftsmen and smiths’ with the ‘mighty men of valour’ being mercenaries and not Jews, and therefore not included in Jeremiah’s figure. Only ‘the poorest sort of the people of the land’ were left behind. Judah was being stripped of its leaders and its fighting potential.
‘All Jerusalem’, when compared with the other groups, probably has in mind all the important people in Jerusalem, those who were seen as being typical Jerusalemites. These would include the civil servants, courtiers, chief priests, and many others, but not necessarily ‘everyone’. After all Zedekiah was excluded from the definition, and the ‘poorest sort of people’ would be ignored. Only a ‘residue of people’ would be left. The result would be that Zedekiah would have to build up a new civil service and re-inhabit Jerusalem as best he could, calling on experienced leaders from other major cities.
2Ki 24:15-16
‘And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.’
So Jehoiachin himself, the queen mother, all the king’s wives, his courtiers and officers, and the chief men of the land were all taken into captivity together with seven ‘thousand’ (seven military units) of warriors, and a recognised unit of craftsmen and smiths who crafted Judah’s armaments who would all be members of a guild. All were brought captive to Babylon, and among them was the young prophet Ezekiel. The comparatively small numbers, compared with what Judah had once been, bring out how low they had fallen.
2Ki 24:17
‘And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king instead of him, and changed his name to Zedekiah.’
The king of Babylon then appointed as king Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah, (a son of Josiah), and renamed him Zedekiah, a change of name which indicated his vassalship. He remained behind to cope with what was left of Judah.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Reign of Jehoiachin
v. 8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. v. 9. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.
v. 10. At that time, v. 11. And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against the city, v. 12. And Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, v. 13. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, v. 14. And he carried away all Jerusalem, v. 15. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, v. 16. And all the men of might,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
This may be really considered the close of the kingdom of Israel and Judah. For though there was a nominal king after Jehoiachim, yet as the king of Babylon made him king, he might be considered more as the creature of the king of Babylon, than possessing any kingly power. Here therefore we have the conquest of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people. Besides the multitude which the conqueror carried away to Babylon, we find from other parts of scripture an account of several remarkable characters. Ezekiel was among the captives. Eze 1:1-2 . Mordecai was also in the number. See Est 2:6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 24:8 Jehoiachin [was] eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name [was] Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
Ver. 8. Jehoiakin was eighteen years old, ] sc., When he began to reign alone. See 2Ch 36:9 . Mutavit Iudaea dominos, non miserias. This king is also called Jechonias, Mat 1:11 and Coniah – that is, prepared, sc., for destruction; Jer 22:24 the name of God – whom he had forsaken – being defalked. a
a [Withdrawn; i.e., Je (Jehovah) left out of his name Jeconiah.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jehoiachin. Called also Coniah and Jeconiah (Jer 22:24; Jer 24:1).
eighteen. This was his age. In 2Ch 36:9 he is said to be eight. See note there.
three months. Is put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Part), for three months and ten days. Compare 2Ch 36:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jehoiachin
(Jehovah will establish)
(2Ki 24:8-17)
Contemporary Prophets: Jeremiah; Zephaniah; Ezekiel.
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.-Job 12:18
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he I began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mothers name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done (2Ki 24:8, 9). 2Ch 36:9 makes him eight years old at the beginning of his reign, instead of eighteen, as here: so in LXX and Vulg. But some Hebrew MSS., Syriac, and Arabic, read eighteen in Chronicles; so eight must be an error of transcription. All the internal evidence is in favor of eighteen. See Jer 22:28-30; Eze 19:7.
His character was no different from that of his two predecessors. It is the same sad, unvarying record: He did that which was evil. How the godly must have longed .for that King mentioned by Isaiah, who should reign in righteousness! They little knew, or even suspected, perhaps, all that their nation would have to suffer, and the long, weary centuries-aye, millenniums-that would have to wear themselves away before that day of righteousness and peace should come. But there was something about even this wicked king that could give them hope-his name, Jehovah will establish. They might not know the time; the fact they were assured of. And so they could with patience wait for it.
Nehushta, his mothers name, means copper. It refers to anything of copper, whether a copper coin, or a copper mirror or fetters: and both she and her son, with all his family and retinue, were carried captive to Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his [Nebuchadnezzars] reign. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the kings house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the kings mother, and the kings wives (wives, confirming the reading eighteen against eight}, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was all as the Lord said through His prophet Jeremiah (Jer 20:5). Heaven and earth will pass away and perish, but not one word of God.
The temple was despoiled of its remaining treasures. A few years before the king of Babylon had carried away the solid and smaller vessels (2Ch 36:7). On this occasion he (lit.) cut the gold off the larger plated vessels-the ark, the altar of incense, the show-bread table, etc. There is no contradiction here, or any where in Scripture, for the Scripture cannot be broken. The kings mother would be the queen mother mentioned in Jer 13:18.
The Babylonian captivity dates from Jehoiachins reign. He never returned from his captivity. There he spent thirty-six years in prison until the death of Nebuchadnezzar in his eighty-third, or eighty-fourth year, after a reign of forty-three years. His son Evil-merodach succeeded him on the throne. This son had once been himself shut up in prison by his father, where he probably made the acquaintance of the royal Hebrew captive. He was not like the ungrateful butler who, when out of prison, forgat Joseph; he remembered his old prison companion. And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, and spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; and changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. And for his diet there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life (Jer 52:31-34).
He was not the first king of Davids house to be held a prisoner there. Some time before, his fathers great-grandfather, Manasseh, was brought a prisoner, and there, in his affliction he sought and found the Lord. Whether Jehoiachin ever did so, we cannot say. His name (as Jechonias) is the last of the kings of Judah, mentioned in the list of Matthew, chap. 1. The next is Jesus who is called Christ, anointed King, not of Israel or the Jews only, but of the nations also (Rev 15:3, marg.)
Jeremiah said of Jehoiakim, (Jehoiachins father) He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David (Jer 36:30). The word sit here means to firmly sit,or dwell; and Jehoiachins short three months reign was not that surely. And Zedekiah, Jehoiachins successor, was Jehoiakims brother, not his son.
Though, like his father, he did evil in the sight of the Lord Jehoiachin appears to have been a favorite with the populace. Is this man Coniah13 a despised broken idol? (or, vase) ironically inquired the prophet. But he immediately adds, Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure?-which is really what he was in Gods eyes. Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they knew not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah(Jer 22:28-30). Childless here does not mean without descendants (for the prophecy itself mentions his seed) but no direct lineal heir to the throne (Fausset). Mat 1:12 shows conclusively that he had descendants (Jechonias begat Salathiel), as does also 1Ch 3:17 (The sons of Jeconiah; Assir, etc.). The prophecy probably refers to his uncles succeeding him to the throne instead of his son Assir-his first-born, probably; or it may have been a prophecy of Assirs premature death; and this may be why Assir is not mentioned in the genealogy in Matthew. Anyway, God made no mistake. He speaks, and it is done; He commands, and it stands fast. And the word of our God shall stand forever.
13 In 1 Clnon. 3:17 Jehoiachin is given as Jeconiah, of which Coniah is an abbreviation.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
eighteen
Cf. 2Ch 36:9; 1Co 10:8. (See Scofield “1Co 10:8”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Jehoiachin: 1Ch 3:16, Jer 24:1, Jeconiah, Jer 22:24, Jer 22:28, Jer 37:1, Coniah, Mat 1:11, Mat 1:12, Jechonias
eighteen years: In the parallel place, he is said to be only eight years old; but this must be a mistake, for we find that having reigned only three months, he was carried captive to Babylon, and there had wives; and had he been of such a tender age, it could scarcely have been said that, as a king, “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” 2Ch 36:9
Reciprocal: 2Ki 24:15 – he carried Jer 36:12 – Elnathan Eze 14:20 – Daniel
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 24:8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign In 2Ch 36:9, it is said that he was eight years old when he began to reign. But as both the Syriac and Arabic versions in that place read eighteen, it seems most reasonable to believe that the transcriber of the book of Chronicles made a mistake, and wrote eight for eighteen. Poole, however, and many other commentators, suppose that both places are correct, and that in his eighth year he began to reign with his father, who made him king with him, as divers other kings of Israel and Judah had acted in times of trouble; and that in his eighteenth year he reigned alone. Jehoiachins succeeding his father in the throne of Judah may seem to disagree with the threat which the prophet denounces against his father, Jer 36:30, He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David; but as Jehoiachins reign lasted little more than three months, during which time he was absolutely subject to the Chaldeans, a reign of so short continuance, and of so small authority, may well be looked upon as nothing: see Eze 19:6, &c.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 24:8-17. Jehoiachin and the First Captivity of Judah.The name of this king is also given as Coniah (Jer 22:24) and Jeconiah (Jer 29:2). Evidently Babylons vengeance for his fathers treachery fell on him.
2Ki 24:8. Eighteen years old: 2Ch 36:9 has eight, an obvious error, for Jehoaichin was evidently grown up (Jer 22:28). The Captivity dates from his reign, and he is considered the last of the kings of Judah. Only the most desirable of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (2Ki 24:16) were made captive. The rest were left under the kings uncle, Mattaniah, whose name was changed to Zedekiah (righteousness of Yahweh), as was customary in the case of vassal monarchs (2Ki 23:34).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
G. Jehoiachin’s Evil Reign 24:8-17
Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin, whose other names were Jeconiah and Coniah, succeeded him on the throne but only reigned for three months (598-597 B.C.). When Nebuchadnezzar’s troops were besieging Jerusalem, the Babylonian king personally visited Judah’s capital, and Jehoiachin surrendered to him (2Ki 24:12). The invasion fulfilled the Lord’s warning to Solomon about apostasy in 1Ki 9:6-9. A large deportation of Judah’s population followed in 597 B.C. None of Jehoiachin’s sons ruled Judah, as Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer 22:30). Rather, Nebuchadnezzar set up Jehoiakim’s younger brother, Mattaniah, on the throne as his puppet, and exercised his sovereign prerogative by changing his name to Zedekiah (2Ki 24:17). The Jewish people, however, seem to have continued to regard Jehoiachin as the rightful heir to David’s throne until his death. [Note: William Albright, "Seal of Eliakim," Journal of Biblical Literature 51 (1932):91-92. Cf. 25:27-30.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
JEHOIACHIN
B.C. 597
2Ki 24:8-16
B.C. 597
“There are times when ancient truths become modern falsehoods, when the signs of Gods dispensations are made so clear by the course of natural events as to supersede the revelations of even their most sacred past.”
– STANLEY, “Lectures,” 2:521
JEHOIACHIN-“Jehovah maketh steadfast”-who is also called Jeconiah, and-perhaps with intentional slight-Coniah, succeeded, at the age of eighteen, to the miserable and distracted heritage of the throne of Judah. The “eight years old” of the Chronicler must be a clerical error, for he had a harem. He only reigned for three months; and the historian pronounces over him, as over all the four kings of the House of Josiah, the stereotyped condemnation of evil-doing. Was there anything in the manner in which Josiah had trained his family which could account for their unsatisfactoriness? In Jehoiachins case we do not know what his transgressions were, but perhaps his mothers influence rendered him as little favorable to the prophetic party as his brother Jehoiakim had been. For the Gebirah was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. Her name means apparently “Brass,” and nothing can be deduced from it; but her father Elnathan was (as we have seen) the envoy who, by order of Jehoiakim, had dragged back from Egypt the martyr-prophet Urijah. {Jer 26:22} Brief as was his reign of three months and ten days {2Ch 36:9}-a hundred days, like that of his unhappy uncle Jehoahaz-he is largely alluded to by the contemporary prophets. Indignant at the sins and apostasies of Judah, and convinced that her retribution was nigh at hand, Jeremiah took with him an earthen pot to the Valley of Hinnom, and there shivered it to pieces at Tophet in the presence of certain elders of the people and of the priests, explaining that his symbolic action indicated the destruction of Jerusalem. On hearing the tenor of these prophecies, the priest Pashur, who was officer of the Temple, smote Jeremiah in the face, and put him in the stocks in a prominent place by the Temple gate. Jeremiah in return prophesied that Pashur and all his family should be carried into captivity, so that his name should be changed from Pashur to Magor-Missabib, “Terror on every side.” Against the king himself he pronounced the doom: “As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet will I pluck thee thence; and I will give thee into the hands of them that seek thy life even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar. And I will hurl thee, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country; and there shall ye die. Is this man Coniah a despised broken piece of work? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they hurled, he and his seed, and cast into a land which they know not? O land, land, land! hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, or ruling any more in Judah.”
Yet there must have been something in Jeconiah which impressed favorably the minds of men. Brief as was his reign, his memory was never forgotten. We learn from the Mishna that one of the gates of Jerusalem-probably that by which he left the city-forever bore his name. Josephus says that his captivity was annually commemorated. Jeremiah writes in the Lamentations:-
“Our pursuers are swifter than the eagles of heaven: they have pursued us upon the mountains, they have laid wait for us in the wilderness. The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.”
Ezekiel compares him to a young lion:-
“He went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey. And he knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. And they put him in ward in hooks, and brought him to the King of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.”
A prince of whom a contemporary prophet could thus write was obviously no fainant. Indeed, the energetic measures which Nebuchadrezzar adopted against him may have been due to the fact that he had endeavored to rouse his discouraged people. But what could he do against such a power as that of the Chaldaeans? Nebuchadrezzar sent his generals against Jerusalem; and when it was ripe for capture, advanced in person to take possession of it. Resistance had become hopeless; there lay no chance in anything but that complete submission which might possibly avert the worst effects of the destruction of the city. Accordingly, Jeconiah, accompanied by his mother, his court, his princes, and his officers, went out in procession, and threw themselves on the mercy of the King of Babylon. Nebuchadrezzar was far less brutal than the Sargons and Assurbanipals of Assyria; but Judah had twice revolted, and the defection of Tyre showed him that the affairs of Palestine could no longer be neglected. He thoroughly despoiled the Temple and the palace, and carried the spoils to Babylon, as Isaiah had forewarned Hezekiah should be the case. That he might further weaken and humiliate the city, he stripped it of its king, its royal house, its court, its nobles, its soldiers, even its craftsmen and smiths, and carried ten thousand eight hundred and thirty-two captives to Babylon (Jos., “Antt.,” X 7. I), among whom was the prophet Ezekiel. He naturally spared Jeremiah, who regarded him as “the sword of Jehovah,” {Jer 47:6} and as “Jehovahs servant, to do His pleasure”. {Jer 25:9; Jer 27:6; Jer 43:10} On the whole, Nebuchadrezzar is not treated with abhorrence by the Jews. There was something in his character which inspired respect; and the Jews deal with him leniently, both in their records and generally in their traditions. “Nebuchadnezzar,” we read in the Talmud (“Taanith,” f. 18, 2), “was a worthy king, and deserved that a miracle should be performed through him.”
From the allusion of Ezekiel we might infer that Jehoiachin was violent and self-willed; but Josephus speaks of his kindness and gentleness. Was he, as Jeremiah had prophesied, literally “childless”? It is true that in 1Ch 3:17-18, eight sons are ascribed to him, and among them Shealtiel, in whom the royal line was continued. But it was far from certain that these sons were not the sons of his brother Neri, of the House of Nathan {Luk 3:27; Luk 3:31 Mat 1:12} and it seems that they were only adopted by the unhappy captive. The Book of Baruch describes him weeping by the Euphrates. But if we may trust the story of Susannah, his outward fortunes were peaceful, and he was allowed to live in his own house and gardens in peace and in a certain degree of splendor.