Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 36:11
Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
11 19 (= 1Es 1:46-56 ; cp. 2Ki 24:18 to 2Ki 25:21; Jer 37:1 to Jer 39:8; Jer 52:1-27). Reign of Zedekiah. Destruction of Jerusalem
11. in Jerusalem ] The Chronicler omits, as usual, his mother’s name. She was “Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah” (2Ki 24:18), and was mother of Jehoahaz also ( ibid. 2Ki 23:31). Jehoiakim was by a different mother ( ibid. 2Ki 23:36).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
11. ZedekiahNebuchadnezzarappointed him. His name, originally Mattaniah, was, according to thecustom of Oriental conquerors, changed into Zedekiah. Though the sonof Josiah (1Ch 3:15; Jer 1:2;Jer 1:3; Jer 37:1),he is called the brother of Jehoiachin (2Ch36:10), that is, according to the latitude of Hebrew style inwords expressing affinity, his relative or kinsman (see 2Ki 24:18;2Ki 25:1-21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[See comments on 2Ch 36:1]
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The reign of Zedekiah; the destruction of Jerusalem, and Judah carried away into exile. Cf. 2 Kings 24:18-25:21. – Zedekiah, made king at the age of twenty-one years, reigned eleven years, and filled up the measure of sins, so that the Lord was compelled to give the kingdom of Judah up to destruction by the Chaldeans. To that Zedekiah brought it by the two main sins of his evil reign, – namely, by not humbling himself before the prophet Jeremiah, from the mouth of Jahve (2Ch 36:12); and by rebelling against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had caused him to swear by God, and by so hardening his neck (being stiff-necked), and making stout his heart, that he did not return to Jahve the God of Israel. Zedekiah’s stiffness of neck and hardness of heart showed itself in his refusing to hearken to the words which Jeremiah spoke to him from the mouth of God, and his breaking the oath he had sworn to Nebuchadnezzar by God. The words, “he humbled himself not before Jeremiah,” recall Jer 37:2, and the events narrated in Jer 37 and 38, and 21:4-22:9, which show how the chief of the people ill-treated the prophet because of his prophecies, while Zedekiah was too weak and languid to protect him against them. The rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, to whom he had sworn a vassal’s oath of fidelity, is mentioned in 2Ki 24:20, and Eze 17:13. also, as a great crime on the part of Zedekiah and the chief of the people; see the commentary on both passages. In consequence of this rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar marched against Judah with a powerful army; and after the capture of the fenced cities of the land, he advanced to the siege of Jerusalem, which ended in its capture and destruction, 2Ki 25:1-10. Without further noticing these results of this breach of faith, the author of the Chronicle proceeds to depict the sins of the king and of the people. In the first place, he again brings forward, in 2Ch 36:13, the stiffness of neck and obduracy of the king, which manifested itself in the acts just mentioned: he made hard his neck, etc. Bertheau would interpret the words , according to Deu 2:30, thus: “Then did God make him stiff-necked and hardened his heart; so that he did not return to Jahve the God of Israel, notwithstanding the exhortations of the prophets.” But although hardening is not seldom represented as inflicted by God, there is here no ground for supposing that with the subject is changed, while the bringing forward of the hardening as an act of God does not at all suit the context. And, moreover, , making hard the neck, is nowhere ascribed to God, it is only said of men; cf. 2Ki 17:14; Deu 10:16; Jer 19:15, etc. To God only or is attributed, Exo 7:3; Deu 2:30.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD. 13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel. 14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. 15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. 19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. 20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: 21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
We have here an account of the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. Abraham, God’s friend, was called out of that country, from Ur of the Chaldees, when God took him into covenant and communion with himself; and now his degenerate seed were carried into that country again, to signify that they had forfeited all that kindness wherewith they had been regarded for the father’s sake, and the benefit of that covenant into which he was called; all was now undone again. Here we have,
I. The sins that brought this desolation.
1. Zedekiah, the king in whose days it came, brought it upon himself by his own folly; for he conducted himself very ill both towards God and towards the king of Babylon. (1.) If he had but made God his friend, that would have prevented the ruin. Jeremiah brought him messages from God, which, if he had given due regard to them, might have secured a lengthening of his tranquillity; but it is here charged upon him that he humbled not himself before Jeremiah, v. 12. It was expected that this mighty prince, high as he was, should humble himself before a poor prophet, when he spoke from the mouth of the Lord, should submit to his admonitions and be amended by them, to his counsels and be ruled by them, should lay himself under the commanding power of the word of God in his mouth; and, because he would not thus make himself a servant to God, he was made a slave to his enemies. God will find some way or other to humble those that will not humble themselves. Jeremiah, as a prophet, was set over the nations and kingdoms (Jer. i. 10), and, as mean a figure as he made, whoever would not humble themselves before him found that it was at their peril. (2.) If he had but been true to his covenant with the king of Babylon, that would have prevented his ruin; but he rebelled against him, though he had sworn to be his faithful tributary, and perfidiously violated his engagements to him, v. 13. It was this that provoked the king of Babylon to deal so severely with him as he did. All nations looked upon an oath as a sacred thing, and on those that durst break through the obligations of it as the worst of men, abandoned of God and to be abhorred by all mankind. If therefore Zedekiah falsify his oath, when, lo, he has given his hand, he shall not escape, Ezek. xvii. 18. Though Nebuchadnezzar was a heathen, an enemy, yet if, having sworn to him, he be false to him, he shall know there is a God to whom vengeance belongs. The thing that ruined Zedekiah was not only that he turned not to the Lord God of Israel, but that he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning to him, that is, he as obstinately resolved not to return to him, would not lay his neck under God’s yoke nor his heart under the impressions of his word, and so, in effect, he would not be healed, he would not live.
2. The great sin that brought this destruction was idolatry. The priests and people went after the abominations of the heathen, forsook the pure worship of God for the lewd and filthy rites of the Pagan superstition, and so polluted the house of the Lord, v. 14. The priests, the chief of the priests, who should have opposed idolatry, were ring-leaders in it. That place is not far from ruin in which religion is already ruined.
3. The great aggravation of their sin, and that which filled the measure of it, was the abuse they gave to God’s prophets, who were sent to call them to repentance, 2Ch 36:15; 2Ch 36:16. Here we have, (1.) God’s tender compassion towards them in sending prophets to them. Because he was the God of their fathers, in covenant with them, and whom they worshipped (though this degenerate race forsook him), therefore he sent to them by his messengers, to convince them of their sin and warn them of the ruin they would bring upon themselves by it, rising up betimes and sending, which denotes not only that he did it with the greatest care and concern imaginable, as men rise betimes to set their servants to work when their heart is upon their business, but that, upon their first deviation from God to idols, if they took but one step that way, God immediately sent to them by his messengers to reprove them for it. He gave them early timely notice both of their duty and danger. Let this quicken us to seek God early, that he rises betimes to send to us. The prophets that were sent rose betimes to speak to them, were diligent and faithful in their office, lost no time, slipped no opportunity of dealing with them; and therefore God is said to rise betimes. The more pains ministers take in their work the more will the people have to answer for if it be all in vain. The reason given why God by his prophets did thus strive with them is because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling-lace, and would by these means have prevented their ruin. Note, The methods God takes to reclaim sinners by his word, by ministers, by conscience, by providences, are all instances of his compassion towards them and his unwillingness that any should perish. (2.) Their base and disingenuous carriage towards God (v. 16): They mocked the messengers of God (which was a high affront to him that sent them), despised his word in their mouths, and not only so, but misused the prophets, treating them as their enemies. The ill usage they gave Jeremiah who lived at this time, and which we read much of in the book of his prophecy, is an instance of this. This was an evidence of an implacable enmity to God, and an invincible resolution to go on in their sins. This brought wrath upon them without remedy, for it was sinning against the remedy. Nothing is more provoking to God than abuses given to his faithful ministers; for what is done against them he takes as done against himself. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Persecution was the sin that brought upon Jerusalem its final destruction by the Romans. See Matt. xxiii. 34-37. Those that mock at God’s faithful ministers, and do all they can to render them despicable or odious, that vex and misuse them, to discourage them and to keep others from hearkening to them, should be reminded that a wrong done to an ambassador is construed as done to the prince that sends him, and that the day is coming when they will find it would have been better for them if they had been thrown into the sea with a mill-stone about their necks; for hell is deeper and more dreadful.
II. The desolation itself, and some few of the particular so fit, which we had more largely 2 Kings xxv. 1. Multitudes were put to the sword, even in the house of their sanctuary (v. 17), whither they fled for refuge, hoping that the holiness of the place would be their protection. But how could they expect to find it so when they themselves had polluted it with their abominations? v. 14. Those that cast off the dominion of their religion forfeit all the benefit and comfort of it. The Chaldeans not only paid no reverence to the sanctuary, but showed no natural pity either to the tender sex or to venerable age. They forsook God, who had compassion on them (v. 15), and would have none of him; justly therefore are they given up into the hands of cruel men, for they had no compassion on young man or maiden. 2. All the remaining vessels of the temple, great and small, and all the treasures, sacred and secular, the treasures of God’s house and of the king and his princes, were seized, and brought to Babylon, v. 18. 3. The temple was burnt, the walls of Jerusalem were demolished, the houses (called here the palaces, as Ps. xlviii. 3, so stately, rich, and sumptuous were they) laid in ashes, and all the furniture, called here the goodly vessels thereof, destroyed, v. 19. Let us see where what woeful havock sin makes, and, as we value the comfort and continuance of our estates, keep that worm from the root of them. 4. The remainder of the people that escaped the sword were carried captives to Babylon (v. 20), impoverished, enslaved, insulted, and exposed to all the miseries, not only of a strange and barbarous land, but of an enemy’s land, where those that hated them bore rule over them. They were servants to those monarchs, and no doubt were ruled with rigour so long as that monarchy lasted. Now they sat down by the rivers of Babylon, with the streams of which they mingled their tears, Ps. cxxxvii. 1. And though there, it should seem, they were cured of idolatry, yet, as appears by the prophet Ezekiel, they were not cured of mocking the prophets. 5. The land lay desolate while they were captives in Babylon, v. 21. That fruitful land, the glory of all lands, was now turned into a desert, not tilled, nor husbanded. The pastures were not clothed as they used to be with flocks, nor the valleys with corn, but all lay neglected. Now this may be considered, (1.) As the just punishment of their former abuse of it. They had served Baal with its fruits; cursed therefore is the ground for their sakes. Now the land enjoyed her sabbaths; (v. 21), as God had threatened by Moses, Lev. xxvi. 34, and the reason there given (v. 35) is, “Because it did not rest on your sabbaths; you profaned the sabbath-day, did not observe the sabbatical year.” They many a time ploughed and sowed their land in the seventh year, when it should have rested, and now it lay unploughed and unsown for ten times seven years. Note, God will be no loser in his glory at last by the disobedience of men: if the tribute be not paid, he will distrain and recover it, as he speaks, Hos. ii. 9. If they would not let the land rest, God would make it rest whether they would or no. Some think they had neglected the observance of seventy sabbatical years in all, and just so many, by way of reprisal, the land now enjoyed; or, if those that had been neglected were fewer, it was fit that the law should be satisfied with interest. We find that one of the quarrels God had with them at this time was for not observing another law which related to the seventh year, and that was the release of servants; see Jer. xxxiv. 13, c. (2.) Yet we may consider it as giving some encouragement to their hopes that they should, in due time, return to it again. Had others come and taken possession of it, they might have despaired of ever recovering it but, while it lay desolate, it did, as it were, lie waiting for them again, and refuse to acknowledge any other owners.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
21. THE REIGN OF ZEDEKIAH (2Ch. 36:11-17)
TEXT
2Ch. 36:11. Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: 12. and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of Jehovah. 13. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning unto Jehovah, the God of Israel. 14. Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. 15. And Jehovah, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place: 16. but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or virgin, old man or hoary-headed: he gave them all into his hand.
PARAPHRASE
2Ch. 36:11. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king and he reigned eleven years, in Jerusalem. 12. His reign, too, was evil so far as the Lord was concerned, for he refused to take the counsel of Jeremiah the prophet, who gave him messages from the Lord. 13. He rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man so far as obeying the Lord God of Israel was concerned, for he refused to follow him. 14. All the important people of the nation, including the High Priests, worshiped the heathen idols of the surrounding nations, thus polluting the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. 15. Jehovah the God of their fathers sent his prophets again and again to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and on his Temple. 16. But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words, scoffing at the prophets until the anger of the Lord could no longer be restrained, and there was no longer any remedy.
17. Then the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them and killed their young men, even going after them right into the Temple, and had no pity upon them, killing even young girls and old men. The Lord used the king of Babylon to destroy them completely.
COMMENTARY
Jehoiachins brother, Zedekiah, was put on the throne in Judah. Whatever he did was subject to Babylonian approval. The twenty-one year old king was to reign over Judah for the last eleven years of her history prior to the Babylonian captivity. Even though the time of judgment was so near, Zedekiah made no real effort to do Jehovahs will. Jeremiah worked with the king. He tried to strengthen him in the Lord, but Zedekiahs goodness was anemic. Idolatries increased in Jerusalem and Judah. Gods Temple was desecrated even by the priests who should have consecrated it. Prophets, such as Jeremiah, were ridiculed and thrown into dungeons and cisterns. All hope was gone. There was no remedy (2Ch. 36:16).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
ZEDEKIAH AND THE FINAL CATASTROPHE (2Ch. 36:11-21). (Comp. 2Ki. 24:18 to 2Ki. 25:21; Jeremiah 39, 52; Jeremiah 3 Esdr. 1:44-55.)
(11) Zedekiah was one and twenty.So 2Ki. 24:18, adding his mothers name (Hamutal, who was also mother of Jehoahaz).
Before Jeremian . . . mouth of the Lord.Not in Kings. (Comp. Jeremiah 21, Jer. 22:1-10, Jeremiah 27, 28, 32-34, 37, 38)
Two special sins of Zedekiah are mentioned in this and the next verseviz., his disregard of Jeremiahs counsel, and his perjury to Nebuchadnezzar.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Zedekiah’s Reign and the end of Judah
v. 11. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. v. 12. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, his God, v. 13. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God, v. 14. Moreover, all the chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen, v. 15. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, v. 16. But they mocked the messengers of God, v. 17. Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, v. 18. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, v. 19. And they burned the house of God, v. 20. And them that had escaped from the sword, v. 21. to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; v. 22. Now, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, v. 23. Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and He hath charged me to build Him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Here we arrive to the sad page of Judah’s history. To enter into a full detail of this history of the church we must connect with it the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. The character of Zedekiah, and his court, and servants, is there more fully exhibited in the preaching of the mournful prophet, and the sad treatment he met with from all parties. To this therefore I refer. And it will be highly profitable for the Reader, in order to have a clear apprehension of the ministry of the several prophets, to remember, according to the prefaces of their writings, with which, for the most part, they open their commission, at what period of the several kings they ministered. But as I have already marked this in a distinct page in the very commencement of this Commentary, where the names of all the books of the Old Testament are set down according to the order in which they are supposed to have been written, I think it unnecessary to make any further observations upon them in this place. The history of Judah as a kingdom is now closed, and the Babylonish captivity begins.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 36:11 Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
Ver. 11-13. See Trapp on “ 2Ki 24:10 “ See Trapp on “ 2Ki 24:11 “ See Trapp on “ 2Ki 24:17 “ See Trapp on “ 2Ki 24:18 “ See Trapp on “ 2Ki 24:19 “ See Trapp on “ 2Ki 24:20 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2 Chronicles
THE FALL OF JUDAH
2Ch 36:11 – 2Ch 36:21
Bigness is not greatness, nor littleness smallness. Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Judah was, in his eyes, one of the least important of his many victories, but it is the only one of them which survives in the world’s memory and keeps his name as a household word. The Jews were a mere handful, and their country a narrow strip of land between the desert and the sea; but little Judaea, like little Greece, has taught the world. The tragedy of its fall has importance quite disproportioned to its apparent magnitude. Our passage brings together Judah’s sin and Judah’s punishment, and we shall best gather the lessons of its fall by following the order of the text.
Consider the sin. There is nothing more remarkable than the tone in which the chronicler, like all the Old Testament writers, deals with the national sin. Patriotic historians make it a point of pride and duty to gloss over their country’s faults, but these singular narrators paint them as strongly as they can. Their love of their country impels them to ‘make known to Israel its transgression and to Judah its sin.’ There are tears in their eyes, as who can doubt? But there is no faltering in their voices as they speak. A higher feeling than misguided ‘patriotism’ moves them. Loyalty to Israel’s God forces them to deal honestly with Israel’s sin. That is the highest kind of love of country, and might well be commended to loudmouthed ‘patriot’s in modern lands.
Look at the piled-up clauses of the long indictment of Judah in 2Ch 36:12 – 2Ch 36:16 . Slow, passionless, unsparing, the catalogue enumerates the whole black list. It is like the long-drawn blast of the angel of judgment’s trumpet. Any trace of heated emotion would have weakened the impression. The nation’s sin was so crimson as to need no heightening of colour. With like judicial calmness, with like completeness, omitting nothing, does ‘the book,’ which will one day be opened, set down every man’s deeds, and he will be ‘judged according to the things that are written in this book.’ Some of us will find our page sad reading.
But the points brought out in this indictment are instructive. Judah’s idolatry and ‘trespass after all the abominations of the heathen’ is, of course, prominent, but the spirit which led to their idolatry, rather than the idolatry itself, is dwelt on. Zedekiah’s doing ‘evil in the sight of the Lord’ is regarded as aggravated by his not humbling himself before Jeremiah, and the head and front of his offending is that ‘he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord.’ Similarly, the people’s sin reaches its climax in their ‘mocking’ and ‘scoffing’ at the prophets and ‘despising’ God’s words by them. So then, an evil life has its roots in an alienated heart, and the source of all sin is an obstinate self-will. That is the sulphur-spring from which nothing but unwholesome streams can flow, and the greatest of all sins is refusing to hear God’s voice when He speaks to us.
Further, this indictment brings out the patient love of God seeking, in spite of all their deafness, to find a way to the sinners’ ears and hearts. In a bold transference to Him of men’s ways, He is said to have ‘risen early’ to send the prophets. Surely that means earnest effort. The depths of God’s heart are disclosed when we are bidden to think of His compassion as the motive for the prophet’s messages and threatenings. What a wonderful and heart-melting revelation of God’s placableness, wistful hoping against hope, and reluctance to abandon the most indurated sinner, is given in that centuries-long conflict of the patient God with treacherous Israel! That divine charity suffered long and was kind, endured all things and hoped all things.
Consider the punishment. The tragic details of the punishment are enumerated with the same completeness and suppression of emotion as those of the sin. The fact that all these were divine judgments brings the chronicler to the Psalmist’s attitude. ‘I was dumb, I opened not my mouth because Thou didst it.’ Sorrow and pity have their place, but the awed recognition of God’s hand outstretched in righteous retribution must come first. Modern sentimentalists, who are so tenderhearted as to be shocked at the Christian teachings of judgment, might learn a lesson here.
The first point to note is that a time arrives when even God can hope for no amendment and is driven to change His methods. His patience is not exhausted, but man’s obstinacy makes another treatment inevitable. God lavished benefits and pleadings for long years in vain, till He saw that there was ‘no remedy.’ Only then did He, as if reluctantly forced, do ‘His work, His strange work.’ Behold, therefore, the ‘goodness and severity’ of God, goodness in His long delay, severity in the final blow, and learn that His purpose is the same though His methods are opposite.
To the chronicler God is the true Actor in human affairs. Nebuchadnezzar thought of his conquest as won by his own arm. Secular historians treat the fall of Zedekiah as simply the result of the political conditions of the time, and sometimes seem to think that it could not be a divine judgment because it was brought about by natural causes. But this old chronicler sees deeper, and to him, as to us, if we are wise, ‘the history of the world is the judgment of the world.’ The Nebuchadnezzars are God’s axes with which He hews down fruitless trees. They are responsible for their acts, but they are His instruments, and it is His hand that wields them.
The iron band that binds sin and suffering is disclosed in Judah’s fall. We cannot allege that the same close connection between godlessness and national disaster is exemplified now as it was in Israel. Nor can we contend that for individuals suffering is always the fruit of sin. But it is still true that ‘righteousness exalteth a nation,’ and that ‘by the soul only are the nations great,’ in the true sense of the word. To depart from God is always ‘a bitter and an evil thing’ for communities and individuals, however sweet draughts of outward prosperity may for a time mask the bitterness. Not armies nor fleets, not ships, colonies and commerce, not millionaires and trusts, not politicians and diplomatists, but the fear of the Lord and the keeping of His commandments, are the true life of a nation. If Christian men lived up to the ideal set them by Jesus, ‘Ye are the salt of the land,’ and sought more earnestly and wisely to leaven their nation, they would be doing more than any others to guarantee its perpetual prosperity.
The closing words of this chapter, not included in the passage, are significant. They are the first words of the Book of Ezra. Whoever put them here perhaps wished to show a far-off dawn following the stormy sunset. He opens a ‘door of hope’ in ‘the valley of trouble.’ It is an Old Testament version of ‘God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew.’ It throws a beam of light on the black last page of the chronicle, and reveals that God’s chastisement was in love, that it was meant for discipline, not for destruction, that it was educational, and that the rod was burned when the lesson had been learned. It was learned, for the Captivity cured the nation of hankering after idolatry, and whatever defects it brought back from Babylon, it brought back a passionate abhorrence of all the gods of the nations.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
2Ch 36:11-16
2Ch 36:11-16
ZEDEKIAH (598-587 B.C.);
ZEDEKIAH’S WICKEDNESS REACHES A POINT OF NO RETURN
“Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of Jehovah. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart, against turning unto Jehovah, the God of Israel. Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And Jehovah, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”
This is only a tiny summary of the wickedness of Israel during the reign of Zedekiah. Jeremiah reveals much of that wickedness. Also, Ezekiel describes the pollution of the temple, discussed in the Commentary on Ezekiel. Zedekiah thought he found in the words of God’s prophets. Also, Second Kings, chapter 25, gives additional details.
E.M. Zerr:
2Ch 36:11. This verse is a general statement of the entire reign of Zedekiah. Some of the details of the reign will be given in the following verses. Other details are recorded in the writings of Ezekiel, scattered through several chapters of his book. From these different sources it can be seen that the 11 years of the reign of Zedekiah were filled with evil. He was rebellious and proud, and unmindful of his obligation to the king of Babylon.
2Ch 36:12. The conduct of Zedekiah was evil in the sight of the Lord. That is what counts, whether man approves or not. Humility is placed opposite of evil, and it should be so placed. Pride is manifested in more than one way. If a man refuses to cease his evil ways, the Lord considers it to be an evidence of pride. That is especially true if he has been admonished and offered instruction. This wicked man had just such opportunities in the service of Jeremiah the prophet. In Jeremiah 21 is the record of the circumstance when Zedekiah sent to the prophet for information. It was given him, and he was admonished to submit to the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. He was further told that resistance would be in vain and that it would be better for him personally to cease his evil ways. But the admonition was spurned and he thought he could evade the doom that God had decreed against him and the nation for their disobedience.
2Ch 36:13. In rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar, he not only wags disobeying the word of God as spoken by the prophet, but broke his own word of oath with the Babylonian king. Stiffened his neck is a figure of speech found frequently in the Bible, meaning to become stubborn and unyielding to the law. The expression is used in this place with special reference to the obligation to Nebuchadnezzar, who was his superior at that time, having become so by the operations of war, and with the approval of God. Hardened his heart is another figure of speech, similar to the one just considered, and used with special application to his personal attitude to God. The thought is, that even though he might feel at liberty to oppose Nebuchadnezzar, he being a heathen king, yet he should have been considerate of his personal duty to the true God.
2Ch 36:14. Although the Babylonians had put the king and his country under their rule, they had been lenient enough to leave the temple for their use. They could have continued in a partial observance of the services at least, in the holy building. But instead of doing so, this wicked king had even encouraged the priests and people in their heathen practices. They had carried their transgressions to the extent of polluting the temple that God had accepted and declared to be holy to him.
2Ch 36:15. God is ever compassionate and desirous of sparing his people all the sorrow possible. The nation as a whole was bound to go into captivity to fulfill the divine decree, which was destined to rid it of its great national sin of idolatry. But that would not prevent giving personal favors to those who were righteous as individuals, or who would become so upon being admonished. This is another place where I will insist that the student read the comments at 2Ki 22:17. In keeping with these principles, God continued to warn and admonish his people through his messengers. This is from the Hebrew word MALAK and Strong defines it, “from an unused root meaning to dispatch as a deputy; a messenger; specifically of God, i. e. an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher).” So the word has a wide extent of meaning, but retains throughout the common idea of a special communication from one person to another. And this varied meaning of the word again reminds us of Heb 1:1.” Betimes means to be prompt in whatever matter is on hands. It would apply not only to the promptness of God in recognizing the need for a message, and for making ready a messenger for the purpose, but also that the messenger would be prompt in attending to his duty.
2Ch 36:16. They mocked the messengers, which means they derided or ridiculed them. They despised the words of God sent by the messengers, which denotes that they belittled them. This attitude was persisted in so long that the wrath of God was aroused against them, to the extent that the nation got beyond remedy. (2Ki 22:17.)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Defeat and Exile
2Ch 36:11-23
It is expressly stated in Eze 17:13 that Nebuchadnezzar administered to Zedekiah an oath of fealty in the presence of Jehovah. Hence by his rebellion, he not only broke his promise to the king of Babylon, but profaned the name of God. It is in reference to this profanation of his oath that Zedekiah is addressed in Eze 21:25, r.v., as thou deadly wounded wicked one whose day is come.
It also appears from Eze 8:1 that toward the close of this reign idolatrous rites of various kinds intruded upon the sacred precincts of the Temple. Hebrew women bewailed Tammuz; elders burned incense to the forms of beasts portrayed on the walls; and men, turning their backs on the sanctuary, worshiped the sun. There was no remedy but exile.
It had been distinctly predicted that if the Hebrew people disobeyed, their land should become a desolation, and their cities a waste, until the soil had enjoyed the rest which they had failed to give it. Compare Lev 25:4 with 26:34, 35. There was a point beyond which the divine judgment would not go. God loved the people whom he chastened; and since He hates putting away, the recreant nation, at the instigation of Cyrus, had one further opportunity of fulfilling their great mission to mankind.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
am 3405-3416, bc 599-588
one and twenty: 2Ki 24:18-20, Jer 52:1-3
Reciprocal: 2Ki 24:17 – the king 1Ch 3:14 – Josiah Ecc 10:16 – when Isa 3:4 – children Jer 1:3 – unto the end Jer 27:12 – Zedekiah Jer 32:1 – in the Jer 34:2 – Go
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4. Zedekiah 36:11-21
In Zedekiah’s reign, Judah bottomed out spiritually. The king refused to humble himself before either Yahweh or Nebuchadnezzar, even though God repeatedly sent messages and messengers urging him to do so. Hardness of heart now characterized the Davidic king as it had characterized the pharaoh of the Exodus. God humbled this king against his will as He had previously humbled that pharaoh.
The last verses of this section are very sermonic (2Ch 36:14-21). Yet the Chronicler did not set them off as a sermon but caused them to flow out of what he had said about Zedekiah. The writer gave reasons for the conquest of Jerusalem and the exile of the Israelites. The burning of the temple symbolized the end of God’s glory and presence among His people in the land that He had given them to occupy.
"What constitutes the greatest evil for the Chronicler-and it is a theme that is taken up elsewhere in the Bible-is not wrongdoing in and of itself, but wrongdoing in defiance of the clear knowledge of what is right (Mar 12:1-2; Luk 16:31; Isa 1:2 f.)." [Note: McConville, p. 268.]
"The real tragedy of the exile was not the removal of the people nor even the utter destruction of the city and the temple. It was the departure of their God from their midst, an absence symbolized in one of Ezekiel’s visions by the movement of the Shekinah from the temple to the summit of the Mount of Olives (Eze 11:23)." [Note: Merrill, Kingdom of . . ., p. 470.]
God had descended on the temple in a cloud at its dedication (2Ch 7:1). Now He left it in smoke. Had the Chronicler ended here, there would have been little hope for the future. He justified God’s treatment of His vice-regent amply. The returned exiles could not accuse Yahweh of being unfair or impatient. Rather, His grace stands out, though it had now run out.
"The fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. meant the loss of the three major mainstays of Israelite life: temple, monarchy, and land." [Note: C. Hassell Bullock, "The Priestly Era in the Light of Prophetic Thought," in Israel’s Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, p. 71.]