2 Kings 24 commentary

If Jehoiakim had served the Lord, he had not been servant to Nebuchadnezzar. If he had been content with his servitude, and true to his word, his condition had been no worse; but, rebelling against Babylon, he plunged himself into more trouble. See what need nations have to lament the sins of their fathers, lest they smart for them. Threatenings will be fulfilled as certainly as promises, if the sinner's repentance prevent not. (2Ki 24:8-20)

Jehoiachin reigned but three months, yet long enough to show that he justly smarted for his fathers' sins, for he trod in their steps. His uncle was intrusted with the government. This Zedekiah was the last of the kings of Judah. Though the judgments of God upon the three kings before him might have warned him, he did that which was evil, like them. When those intrusted with the counsels of a nation act unwisely, and against their true interest, we ought to notice the displeasure of God in it. It is for the sins of a people that God hides from them the things that belong to the public peace. And in fulfilling the secret purposes of his justice, the Lord needs only leave men to the blindness of their own minds, or to the lusts of their own hearts. The gradual approach of Divine judgments affords sinners space for repentance, and believers leisure to prepare for meeting the calamity, while it shows the obstinacy of those who will not forsake their sins.

CHAPTER 24

2Ki 24:1-7. Jehoiakim Procures His Own Ruin.

1-2. Nebuchadnezzar--the son of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Chaldee monarchy. This invasion took place in the fourth year of Jehoiakim's, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (Jr 25:1; compare Jr 46:2). The young king of Assyria being probably detained at home on account of his father's demise, despatched, along with the Chaldean troops on his border, an army composed of the tributary nations that were contiguous to Judea, to chastise Jehoiakim's revolt from his yoke. But this hostile band was only an instrument in executing the divine judgment (2Ki 24:2) denounced by the prophets against Judah for the sins of the people; and hence, though marching by the orders of the Assyrian monarch, they are described as sent by the Lord (2Ki 24:3).

4. the Lord would not pardon--(see on 2Ki 23:26; Jr 15:1).

6. Jehoiakim slept with his fathers--This phraseology can mean nothing more than that he died; for he was not buried with his royal ancestors; and whether he fell in battle, or his body was subjected to posthumous insults, he was, according to the prediction (Jr 22:19), not honored with the rites of sepulture (Jr 36:30).

Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead--The very brief reign of this prince, which lasted only three months, during which he was a humble vassal of the Assyrians, is scarcely deserving to be taken into account, and therefore is in no way contradictory to the prophetic menace denounced against his father (Jr 36:30).

7. the king of Egypt--that is, Pharaoh-nechoh.

2Ki 24:8, 9. Jehoiachin Succeeds Him.

8. Jehoiachin--that is, "God-appointed," contracted into Jeconiah and Coniah (Jr 22:24).

eighteen years old when he began to reign--At the age of eight his father took him into partnership in the government (2Ch 36:9). He began to reign alone at eighteen.

9. he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord--Untaught by experience, and deaf to the prophetic warnings, he pursued the evil courses which had brought so many disasters upon the royal family as well as the people of Judah. This bad character is figuratively but strongly depicted (Eze 19:5-7).

2Ki 24:10-16. Jerusalem Taken.

10-13. At that time--within three months after his accession to the throne. It was the spring of the year (2Ch 36:10); so early did he indicate a feeling hostile to the interests of his Assyrian liege lord, by forming a league with Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar sent his generals to besiege Jerusalem, as Jeremiah had foretold (Jr 22:28; 34:20), and soon after he followed in person. Convinced of the hopelessness of making any effectual resistance, Jehoiachin, going to the camp of the besiegers, surrendered (2Ki 24:12), in the expectation, probably, of being allowed to retain his throne as a vassal of the Assyrian empire. But Nebuchadnezzar's clemency towards the kings of Judah was now exhausted, so that Jehoiachin was sent as a captive to Babylon, according to Jeremiah's prediction (Jr 22:24), accompanied by the queen mother (the same who had held that dignity under Jehoahaz) (2Ki 23:31), his generals, and officers. This happened in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, computing from the time when he was associated with his father in the government. Those that were left consisted chiefly of the poorer sort of people and the unskilled workmen. The palace and the temple were ransacked. The smaller golden vessels had been taken on the first capture of Jerusalem and placed by Nebuchadnezzar in the temple of his god as tokens of victory. They were used by Belshazzar at his impious feast [Da 5:2], for the purpose of rewarding his army with these trophies, among which were probably the golden candlesticks, the ark, &c. (compare 2Ch 36:7; Da 1:2). Now the gold plating was torn off all the larger temple furniture.

17-19. the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his father's brother, king in his stead--Adhering to his former policy of maintaining a show of monarchy, Nebuchadnezzar appointed the third and youngest son of Josiah (1Ch 3:15), full brother of Jehoahaz, and uncle of the captive Jehoiachin. But, according to the custom of conquerors, who changed the names of the great men they took captives in war, in token of their supremacy, he gave him the new name of

Zedekiah--that is, "The righteous of God." This being a purely Hebrew name, it seems that he allowed the puppet king to choose his own name, which was confirmed. His heart towards God was the same as that of Jehoiakim, impenitent and heedless of God's word.

20. through the anger of the Lord ... he cast them out from his presence--that is, in the course of God's righteous providence, his policy as king would prove ruinous to his country.

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon--instigated by ambassadors from the neighboring states who came to congratulate him on his ascension to the throne (compare Jr 17:3, with Jr 28:1), and at the same time get him to join them in a common league to throw off the Assyrian yoke. Though warned by Jeremiah against this step, the infatuated and perjured (Eze 17:13) Zedekiah persisted in his revolt.

Nebuchadnezzar - This man, so famous in the writings of the prophets, was son of Nabopolassar. He was sent by his father against the rulers of several provinces that had revolted; and he took Carchemish, and all that belonged to the Egyptians, from the Euphrates to the Nile. Jehoiakim, who was tributary to Nechoh king of Egypt, he attacked and reduced; and obliged to become tributary to Babylon. At the end of three years he revolted; and then a mixed army, of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, was sent against him, who ravaged the country, and took three thousand and twenty-three prisoners, whom they brought to Babylon, Jer 52:28.

According to the word of the Lord - See what Huldah predicted, 2Kgs 22:16, and see chap. 14, 15, and 16 of Jeremiah.

Jehoiachin his son - As this man reigned only three months and was a mere vassal to the Babylonians, his reign is scarcely to be reckoned; and therefore Jeremiah says of Jehoiakim, He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David, Jer 36:30, for at that time it belonged to the king of Babylon, and Jehoiachin was a mere viceroy or governor. Jehoiachin is called Jechonias in Mat 1:11.

The king of Egypt came not again - He was so crushed by the Babylonians that he was obliged to confine himself within the limits of his own states, and could no more attempt any conquests. The text tells us how much he had lost by the Babylonians. See on 2Kgs 24:1 (note).

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old - He is called Jeconiah, 1Chr 3:16, and Coniah, Jer 22:24. In 2Chr 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.

Jehoiachin - went out - He saw that it was useless to attempt to defend himself any longer; and he therefore surrendered himself, hoping to obtain better terms.

He carried out thence all the treasures - It has been remarked that Nebuchadnezzar spoiled the temple three times. -

1. He took away the greater part of those treasures when he took Jerusalem under Jehoiakim: and the vessels that he took then he placed in the temple of his god, Dan 1:2. And these were the vessels which Belshazzar profaned, Dan 5:2; and which Cyrus restored to Ezra, when he went up to Jerusalem, Ezr 1:2. It was at this time that he took Daniel and his companions.

2. He took the remaining part of those vessels, and broke them or cut them in pieces, when he came the second tine against Jerusalem under Jeconiah; as is mentioned here, 2Kgs 24:13.

3. He pillaged the temple, took away all the brass, the brazen pillars, brazen vessels, and vessels of gold and silver, which he found there when he besieged Jerusalem under Zedekiah, 2Kgs 25:13-17.

He carried away all Jerusalem - That is, all the chief men, the nobles, and artificers. Among these there were of mighty men seven thousand; of craftsmen and smiths, one thousand.

Made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead - He was the son of Josiah, and brother to Jehoiakim.

Changed his name to Zedekiah - See the note on 2Kgs 23:34.

He did - evil - How astonishing is this! not one of them takes warning by the judgments of God, which fell on their sinful predecessors.

Zedekiah rebelled - This was in the eighth year of his reign: and he is strongly reproved for having violated the oath he took to the king of Babylon: see 2Chr 36:13. This was the filling up of the measure of iniquity; and now the wrath of God descends upon this devoted king, city, and people, to the uttermost. See the catastrophe in the next chapter.

Bands - For Nebuchadnezzar's army was made up of several nations, who were willing to fight under the banner of such a puissant and victorious emperor.

The sins - Properly and directly for their own sins, and occasionally for the sins of Manasseh, which had never been charged upon them, if they had not made them their own by their repetition of them.

With his fathers - But it is not said, he was buried with them. No doubt the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled, that he should not be lamented as his father was, but buried with the burial of an ass.

Came not - In this king's days. He could not now come to protect the king of Judah, being scarce able to defend his own kingdom.

To reign - 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 times of trouble; and in his eighteenth year he reigned alone.

Went out - Yielded up himself and the city into his hands; and this by the counsel of Jeremiah, and to his own good. His reign - Of Nebuchadnezzar's reign; as appears by comparing this with chap.25:8, and because Jehoiachin reigned not half a year. 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. But wanting the faith and piety of an Israelite, he had not the resolution of a man.

Vessels - The most and choicest of them, by comparing this with chap.25:14,15. Solomon made - Though the city and temple had been rifled more than once both by the kings of Egypt and Israel, and by the wicked kings of Judah; yet these golden vessels were preserved from them, either by the case of the priests, who hid them; or by the clemency of the conquerors, or by the special providence of God, disposing their hearts to leave them. Or, if they had been taken away by any of these kings, they might afterwards be recovered good, at the cost of the kings of Judah.

All - Not simply all, but the best and most considerable part, as the following words explain it. Captives - Which are more particularly reckoned up, ver.16, where there are seven thousand mighty men, and a thousand smiths; and those mentioned ver.15, make up the other two thousand. Craftsmen and smiths - Who might furnish them with new arms, and thereby give him fresh trouble.

Zedekiah - That he might admonish him of (what this name signifies) the justice of God, which had so severely punished Jehoiakim for his rebellion; and would no less certainly overtake him, if he should be guilty of the same perfidiousness.

Came to pass - Thus the peoples sins were the true cause why God gave them wicked kings, whom he suffered to do wickedly, that they might bring the long - deserved, and threatened punishments upon themselves and their people.

IN his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up , and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him .

i. e. In Iehoiakim's Reign, in the end of his third Year, Dan. 1. 1. or, the beginning of his Fourth, Ier. 25. 1.

The son of Nabopolassar, who quite subdued the Assyrian, first his Lord, and then his Competitor, and made himself Absolute Monarch of all those parts of the World.

To wit, against Iehoiakim, as the Friend and Confederate of Pharaoh, whose Forces he had lately Conquered. Ier. 46. 2.

By the instigation of the Egyptian, who threatned him if he did not Rebel, and promised him his utmost Assistance if he did.

Marginal references: 2▪ [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]

2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Caldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon , and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

For Nebuchadnezzar's Army was made up of several Nations, who were willing to Fight under the Banner of such a Puissant and Victorious Emperor.

Marginal references: Chap. [illegible: 1 word] and 23. [illegible: 1 word]; Heb. by the hand o[illegible: 1+ letters].

3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD, came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh , according to all that he did.

Properly and directly for their own sins, and occasionally for the sins of Manasseh, which had never been charged upon them, if they had not made them their own by their impenitency for them, and repetition of them.

Marginal references: Chap. [illegible: 1 word] and 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1 word].

4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed, (for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood) which the LORD would not pardon.

To wit, of those Prophets and Saints, who either reproved, or would not comply with his Idolatrous Worship.

Marginal references: Chap. [illegible: 1 word]; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] God [illegible: 1 word] not [illegible: 1 word]; or, [illegible: 1+ letters]e [illegible: 1+ letters] rable▪ [illegible: 1 word].

6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

Called also Iechoniah, 1 Chron. 3. 16. (as Iehojakim also was, by comparing this with Matt. 1. 11.) and in way of contempt, Choniah, Ier. 22. 24.

7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land : for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt.

To wit, in this Kings days; nor until Zedekiah's time, Ier. 37. 6, 7. nor to any purpose. He could not now come out to Protect the King of Iudah, being scarce able to defend his own Kingdom.

Marginal references: Jer. 4[illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1+ letters]

8 ¶ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reigh , and he reigned in Jerusalem three months : and his mothers name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

Object. He was then but Eight years old, 2 Chron. 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 Iudah 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, 2 Chron. 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 Iehojakim, as it is affirmed, Ier. 25. 1. and continued all his Reign, which lasted Eleven Years, Chap. 23. 36. and so the First Year of Iehojakim 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 Man's Estate, is called, the son of one year, 1 Sam. 13. 1. of which see my notes there; and Ahaziah, (whose Father lived onely Forty Years, 2 Chron. 21. 20.) is called a son of forty and two years when he began to reign, 2 Chron. 22. 2. because that was the Forty and second Year of the Reign of Omri's Family, as most think. And therefore it cannot seem strange, if the Years of this King be computed, not from liis Birth, but from the beginning of so great and famous a Change of the Iewish 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 hapning among them. And that this was the practise of the Iews in the Computation of these very times, is evident from the use of it in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, Chap. 1. 2. which was the fifth year of Iehojakim's captivity; and Chap. 33. 21. in the Twelfth year of our Captivity; and Chap. 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 2 Chron. 36. 9. it was not eight, but eighteen; which they gather from hence, because those two Ancient and Venerable Translators, the Syriack and Arabick, 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.

And ten days, which are added, 2 Chron. 36. 9. But such small sums are frequently omitted in great Numbers. See on Gen. 15. 13. 1 King. 16. 8.

10 ¶ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

m Either, 1. Because the people had made Iehojachin King without his consent. Or, 2. Because he had some notice, or at least a suspition of his intentions to Rebel against him, and to joyn with Egypt against him, as Zedekiah his Successor did. But whatsoever was the Second and Immediate cause of it, the chief Cause was. God's commandment, or the direction of his Providence, as it was said ver. 3.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 1. 1.; [illegible: 1 word]. came [illegible: 1 word].

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 .

i. e. Yeilded up himself and the City into his hands; and this by the counsel of Ieremiah, and to his own good.

i. e. Of Nebuchadnezzar's Reign; as appears by comparing this with Chap. 25. 8. and because Iehojachin Reigned not half a year.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]

13 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.

i. e. The most and choicest of them, by comparing this with ch. 25. 14, 15.

So he expresseth it, either First, Because these Vessels were made by the godly Kings of Iudah, instead of those which Solomon made, and so they go by his name; as the Ship of the Argona[illegible: 1+ letters]ts was still reputed the same Ship, though it was from time to time recruited with new materials, until nothing of the old was left. Or, Secondly, Because though the City and Temple had been risted more than once both by the Kings of Egypt and Israel, and by the wicked Kings of Iudah▪ yet these golden Vessels were preserved from them, either by the care of the Priests, who hid them out of the way; or by the clemency of the Conquerors, and the reverence which they bare to such sacred Instruments; or by the special providence of God, disposing their hearts to leave them. Or, if they had been taken away by any of these Kings, they might afterwards be recovered by the intreaty, or at the cost of the godly Kings of Iudah.

p Or rather, took away, as this word elsewhere signifies; or cut off, to wit, from the Temple. For why should they cut in pieces those Vessels which might conveniently be carried away? And that they were not cut in pieces, but reserved whole, is manifest from Ezra 1. 7. and Dan. 5. 2, 3.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 17. [illegible: 1 word].

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 crastsmen and smiths [illegible: 1+ letters]: none remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

i. e. The Inhabitants of Ierusalem; not simply all, but the best and most considerable part, as the following words explain and restrain it.

Which are more particularly reckoned up, v. 16. where there are 7000 mighty men, and a thousand Smiths; and those mentioned v. 15. make up the other 2000. [illegible: 1+ letters] Which might furnish them with new Arms, and thereby give him fresh trouble.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 24. 1.

17 ¶ And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his fathers brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah .

That he might admonish h[illegible: 1+ letters]m of (what this Name signifies) the justice of God, which had so severely Punished Iehojakim for his Rebellion; and would no less certainly overtake him, if he should be guilty of the same Rebellion and Perfidiousness, of which his Predecessor was guilty.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 37. 1.; 1 Chron. 3. [illegible: 1 word]

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 .

Thus the Peoples Sins were the true Cause why God gave them wicked Kings, whom he suffered to do wickedly, that they might bring the long-deserved, and threatned Punishments upon Themselves and their People.

2Ki 24:1 “In his days Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babel, came up; and Jehoiakim became subject to him three years, then he revolted from him again.” נבכדנאצּר, Nebuchadnezzar, or נבוּכדראצּר, Nebuchadrezzar (Jer 21:2, Jer 21:7; Jer 22:25, etc.), Ναβουχοδονόσορ (lxx), Ναβουχοδονόσορος (Beros. in Jos. c. Ap. i. 20, 21), Ναβοκοδρόσορος (Strabo, xv. 1, 6), upon the Persian arrow-headed inscriptions at Bisutun Nabhukudracara (according to Oppert, composed of the name of God, Nabhu (Nebo), the Arabic kadr, power, and zar or sar, prince), and in still other forms (for the different forms of the name see M. v. Niebuhr’s Gesch. pp. 41, 42). He was the son of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Chaldaean monarchy, and reigned, according to Berosus (Jos. l.c.), Alex. Polyh. (Eusebii Chr. arm. i. pp. 44, 45), and the Canon of Ptol., forty-three years, from 605 to 562 b.c. With regard to his first campaign against Jerusalem, it is stated in 2Ch 36:6, that “against him (Jehoiakim) came up Nebuchadnezzar, and bound him with brass chains, to carry him (להוליכו) to Babylon;” and in Dan 1:1-2, that “in the year three of the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and besieged it; and the Lord gave Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, into his hand, and a portion of the holy vessels, and he brought them (the vessels) into the land of Shinar, into the house of his god,” etc. Bertheau (on Chr.) admits that all three passages relate to Nebuchadnezzar’s first expedition against Jehoiakim and the first taking of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon, and rejects the alteration of להוליכו, “to lead him to Babylon” (Chr.), into ἀπήγαγεν αὐτὸν (lxx), for which Thenius decides in his prejudice in favour of the lxx. He has also correctly observed, that the chronicler intentionally selected the infinitive with ל, because he did not intend to speak of the actual transportation of Jehoiakim to Babylon. The words of our text, “Jehoiakim became servant (עבד) to him,” i.e., subject to him, simply affirm that he became tributary, not that he was led away. And in the book of Daniel also there is nothing about the leading away of Jehoiakim to Babylon. Whilst, therefore, the three accounts agree in the main with one another, and supply one another’s deficiencies, so that we learn that Jehoiakim was taken prisoner at the capture of Jerusalem and put in chains to be led away, but that, inasmuch as he submitted to Nebuchadnezzar and vowed fidelity, he was not taken away, but left upon the throne as vassal of the king of Babylon; the statement in the book of Daniel concerning the time when this event occurred, which is neither contained in our account nor in the Chronicles, presents a difficulty when compared with Jer 25 and Jer 46:2, and different attempts, some of them very constrained, have been made to remove it. According to Jer 46:2, Nebuchadnezzar smote Necho the king of Egypt at Carchemish, on the Euphrates, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. This year is not only called the first year of Nebuchadnezzar in Jer 25:1, but is represented by the prophet as the turning-point of the kingdom of Judah by the announcement that the Lord would bring His servant Nebuchadnezzar upon Judah and its inhabitants, and also upon all the nations dwelling round about, that he would devastate Judah, and that these nations would serve the king of Babylon seventy years (Jer 25:9-11). Consequently not only the defeat of Necho at Carchemish, but also the coming of Nebuchadnezzar to Judah, fell in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and not in the third. To remove this discrepancy, some have proposed that the time mentioned, “in the fourth year of Jehoiakim” (Jer 46:2), should be understood as relating, not to the year of the battle at Carchemish, but to the time of the prophecy of Jeremiah against Egypt contained in Jer 46, and that Jer 25 should also be explained as follows, that in this chapter the prophet is not announcing the first capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, but is proclaiming a year after this the destruction of Jerusalem and the devastation of the whole land, or a total judgment upon Jerusalem and the rest of the nations mentioned there (M. v. Nieb. Gesch. pp. 86, 87, 371). But this explanation is founded upon the erroneous assumption, that Jer 46:3-12 does not contain a prediction of the catastrophe awaiting Egypt, but a picture of what has already taken place there; and it is only in a very forced manner that it can be brought into harmony with the contents of Jer 25.Still less tenable is the view of Hofman, renewed by Zündel (Krit. Unterss. üb. d. Abfassungszeit des B. Daniel, p. 25), that Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim, and that it was not till the following, or fourth year, that he defeated the Egyptian army at Carchemish, because so long as Pharaoh Necho stood with his army by or in Carchemish, on the Euphrates, Nebuchadnezzar could not possibly attempt to pass it so as to effect a march upon Jerusalem.

We must rather take “the year three of the reign of Jehoiakim” (Dan 1:1) as the extreme terminus a quo of Nebuchadnezzar’s coming, i.e., must understand the statement thus: that in the year referred to Nebuchadnezzar commenced the expedition against Judah, and smote Necho at Carchemish at the commencement of the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jer 46:2), and then, following up this victory, took Jerusalem in the same year, and made Jehoiakim tributary, and at the same time carried off to Babylon a portion of the sacred vessels, and some young men of royal blood as hostages, one of whom was Daniel (2Ch 36:7; Dan 1:2.). The fast mentioned in Jer 36:9, which took place in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, cannot be adduced in disproof of this; for extraordinary fast-days were not only appointed for the purpose of averting great threatening dangers, but also after severe calamities which had fallen upon the land or people, to expiate His wrath by humiliation before God, and to invoke the divine compassion to remove the judgment that had fallen upon them. The objection, that the godless king would hardly have thought of renewing the remembrance of a divine judgment by a day of repentance and prayer, but would rather have desired to avoid everything that could make the people despair, falls to the ground, with the erroneous assumption upon which it is founded, that by the fast-day Jehoiakim simply intended to renew the remembrance of the judgment which had burst upon Jerusalem, whereas he rather desired by outward humiliation before God to secure the help of God to enable him to throw off the Chaldaean yoke, and arouse in the people a religious enthusiasm for war against their oppressors. - Further information concerning this first expedition of Nebuchadnezzar is supplied by the account of Berosus, which Josephus (Ant. x. 11, and c. Ap. i. 19) has preserved from the third book of his Chaldaean history, namely, that when Nabopolassar received intelligence of the revolt of the satrap whom he had placed over Egypt, Coele-Syria, and Phoenicia, because he was no longer able on account of age to bear the hardships of war, he placed a portion of his army in the hands of his youthful son Nebuchadnezzar and sent him against the satrap. Nebuchadnezzar defeated him in battle, and established his power over that country again. In the meantime Nabopolassar fell sick and died in Babylon; and as soon as the tidings reached Nebuchadnezzar, he hastened through the desert to Babylon with a small number of attendants, and directed his army to follow slowly after regulating the affairs of Egypt and the rest of the country, and to bring with it the prisoners from the Jews, Syrians, Phoenicians, and Egyptian tribes, and with the heavily-armed troops. So much, at any rate, is evident from this account, after deducting the motive assigned for the war, which is given from a Chaldaean point of view, and may be taken as a historical fact, that even before his father’s death Nebuchadnezzar had not only smitten the Egyptians, but had also conquered Judah and penetrated to the borders of Egypt. And there is no discrepancy between the statement of Berosus, that Nebuchadnezzar was not yet king, and the fact that in the biblical books he is called king proleptically, because he marched against Judah with kingly authority.

2Ki 24:2

To punish Jehoiakim’s rebellion, Jehovah sent hosts of Chaldaeans, Aramaeans, Moabites, and Ammonites against him and against Judah to destroy it (להאבידו). Nebuchadnezzar was probably too much occupied with other matters relating to his kingdom, during the earliest years of his reign after his father’s death, to be able to proceed at once against Jehoiakim and punish him for his revolt.Compare the remarks of M. v. Niebuhr on this point (Gesch. pp. 208,209) and his summary at p. 209: “Nebuchadnezzar had enough to do in Babylon and the eastern half of his kingdom, to complete the organization of the new kingdom, to make the military roads to the western half of the kingdom along the narrow valley of the Euphrates and through the desert, and also to fortify them and provide them with watering stations and every other requisite, to repair the damages of the Scythian hordes and the long contest with Nineveh, to restore the shattered authority, and to bring Arabs and mountain-tribes to order. All this was more important than a somewhat more rapid termination of the Egyptian war and the pacification of Syria.”

He may also have thought it a matter of too little importance for him to go himself, as there was not much reason to be afraid of Egypt since its first defeat (cf. M. v. Niebuhr, p. 375). He therefore merely sent such troops against him as were in the neighbourhood of Judah at the time. The tribes mentioned along with the Chaldaeans were probably all subject to Nebuchadnezzar, so that they attacked Judah at his command in combination with the Chaldaean tribes left upon the frontier. How much they effected is not distinctly stated; but it is evident that they were not able to take Jerusalem, from the fact that after the death of Jehoiakim his son was able to ascend the throne (2Ki 24:6). - The sending of these troops is ascribed to Jehovah, who, as the supreme controller of the fate of the covenant-nation, punished Jehoiakim for his rebellion. For, after the Lord had given Judah into the hands of the Chaldaeans as a punishment for its apostasy from Him, all revolt from them was rebellion against the Lord. “According to the word of Jehovah, which He spake by His servants the prophets,” viz., Isaiah, Micah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and others.

2Ki 24:3-5 יי על־פּי אך: “only according to the mouth (command) of Jehovah did this take place against Judah,” i.e., for no other reason than because the Lord had determined to put away Judah from before His face because of Manasseh’s sins (cf. 2Ki 21:12-16, and 2Ki 23:27). “And Jehovah would not forgive,” even if the greatest intercessors, Moses and Samuel, had come before Him (Jer 15:1.), because the measure of the sins was full, so that God was obliged to punish according to His holy righteousness. We must repeat בּ from the preceding words before הנּקי דּם.

2Ki 24:6-7 “Jehoiakim lay down to (fell asleep with) his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his stead.” That this statement is not in contradiction to the prophecies of Jer 22:19 : “Jehoiakim shall be buried like an ass, carried away and cast out far away from the gates of Jerusalem,” and Jer 36:30 : “no son of his shall sit upon the throne of David, and his body shall lie exposed to the heat by day and to the cold by night,” is now generally admitted, as it has already been by J. D. Michaelis and Winer. But the solution proposed by Michaelis, Winer, and M. v. Niebuhr (Gesch. p. 376) is not sufficient, namely, that at the conquest of Jerusalem, which took place three months after the death of Jehoiakim, his bones were taken out of the grave, either by the victors out of revenge for his rebellion, or by the fury of the people, and cast out before the city gate; for Jeremiah expressly predicts that he shall have no funeral and no burial whatever. We must therefore assume that he was slain in a battle fought with the troops sent against him, and was not buried at all; an assumption which is not at variance with the words, “he laid himself down to his fathers,”' since this formula does not necessarily indicate a peaceful death by sickness, but is also applied to king Ahab, who was slain in battle (1Ki 22:40, cf. 2Ki 22:20).The supposition of Ewald (Gesch. iii. p. 733), that Jehoiakim was enticed out of the capital by a stratagem of the enemy, and taken prisoner, and because he made a furious resistance was hurried off in a scuffle and mercilessly slaughtered, is at variance with the fact that, according to v. 10, it was not till after his death that the army of the enemy advanced to the front of Jerusalem and commenced the siege.  - And even though his son Jehoiachin ascended the throne after his father’s death and maintained his position for three months against the Chaldaeans, until at length he fell into their hands and was carried away alive to Babylon, the prophet might very truly describe this short reign as not sitting upon the throne of David (cf. Graf on Jer 22:19). - To the death of Jehoiakim there is appended the notice in 2Ki 24:7, that the king of Egypt did not go out of his own land any more, because the king of Babylon had taken away everything that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. The purpose of this notice is to indicate, on the one hand, what attitude Necho, whose march to the Euphrates was previously mentioned, had assumed on the conquest of Judah by the Chaldaeans, and on the other hand, that under these circumstances a successful resistance to the Chaldaeans on the part of Judah was not for a moment to be thought of.

2Ki 24:8-9 (cf. 2Ch 36:9 and 2Ch 36:10). Jehoiachin, יהויכין or יויכין (Eze 1:2), i.e., he whom Jehovah fortifies, called יכניהוּ in 1Ch 3:16-17, and Jer 27:20; Jer 28:4, etc., and כּניהוּ 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).

2Ki 24:10 “At that time,” i.e., when Jehoiachin had come to the throne, or, according to 2Ch 36:10, “at the turn of the year,” i.e., in the spring (see at 1Ki 20:22), the servants (generals) of Nebuchadnezzar marched against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. The Keri עלוּ is substantially correct, but is an unnecessary alteration of the Chethîb עלה, since the verb when it precedes the subject is not unfrequently used in the singular, though before a plural subject (cf. Ewald, §316, a.). The נב עבדי are different from the גדוּדים of 2Ki 24:2. As the troops sent against Jehoiakim had not been able to conquer Judah, especially Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar sent his generals with an army against Jerusalem, to besiege the city and take it.

2Ki 24:11

During the siege he came himself to punish Jehoiakim’s revolt in the person of his successor.

2Ki 24:12

Then Jehoiachin went out to the king of Babylon to yield himself up to him, because he perceived the impossibility of holding the city any longer against the besiegers, and probably hoped to secure the favour of Nebuchadnezzar, and perhaps to retain the throne as his vassal by a voluntary submission. Nebuchadnezzar, however, did not show favour any more, as he had done to Jehoiakim at the first taking of Jerusalem, but treated Jehoiachin as a rebel, made him prisoner, and led him away to Babylon, along with his mother, his wives (2Ki 24:15), his princes and his chamberlains, as Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer 22:24.), in the eighth year of his (Nebuchadnezzar’s) reign. The reference to the king’s mother in 2Ki 24:12 and 2Ki 24:15 is not to be explained on the ground that she still acted as guardian over the king, who was not yet of age (J. D. Mich.), but from the influential position which she occupied in the kingdom as הגּבירה (Jer 29:2 : see at 1Ki 14:21). The eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar is reckoned from the time when his father had transferred to him the chief command over the army to make war upon Necho, according to which his first year coincides with the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jer 25:1). As Nebuchadnezzar acted as king, so far as the Jews were concerned, from that time forward, although he conducted the war by command of his father, this is always reckoned as the point of time at which his reign commenced, both in our books and also in Jeremiah (cf. 2Ki 25:8; Jer 32:1). According to this calculation, his reign lasted forty-four years, viz., the eight years of Jehoiakim and the thirty-six years of Jehoiachin’s imprisonment, as is evident from 2Ki 25:27.

2Ki 24:13

Nebuchadnezzar thereupon, that is to say, when he had forced his way into the city, plundered the treasures of the temple and palace, and broke the gold off the vessels which Solomon had made in the temple of Jehovah. קצּץ, to cut off, break off, as in 2Ki 16:17, i.e., to bear off the gold plates. Nebuchadnezzar had already taken a portion of the golden vessels of the temple away with him at the first taking of Jerusalem in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and had placed them in the temple of his god at Babylon (2Ch 36:7; Dan 1:2). They were no doubt the smaller vessels of solid gold-basins, scoops, goblets, knives, tongs, etc., - which Cyrus delivered up again to the Jews on their return to their native land (Ezr 1:7.). This time he took the gold off the larger vessels, which were simply plated with that metal, such as the altar of burnt-offering, the table of shew-bread and ark of the covenant, and carried it away as booty, so that on the third conquest of Jerusalem, in the time of Zedekiah, beside a few gold and silver basins and scoops (2Ki 25:15) there were only the large brazen vessels of the court remaining (2Ki 25:13-17; Jer 27:18.). The words, “as Jehovah had spoken,” refer to 2Ki 20:17 and Isa 39:6, and to the sayings of other prophets, such as Jer 15:13; Jer 17:3, etc.

2Ki 24:14-16

Beside these treasures, he carried away captive to Babylon the cream of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, not only the most affluent, but, as is evident from Jer 24:1-10, the best portion in a moral respect. In 2Ki 24:14 the number of those who were carried off is simply given in a general form, according to its sum-total, as 10,000; and then in 2Ki 24:15, 2Ki 24:16 the details are more minutely specified. “All Jerusalem” is the whole of the population of Jerusalem, which is first of all divided into two leading classes, and then more precisely defined by the clause, “nothing was left except the common people,” and reduced to the cream of the citizens. The king, queen-mother, and king’s wives being passed over and mentioned for the first time in the special list in 2Ki 24:15, there are noticed here כּל־השּׂרים and החיל גּבּורי כּל, who form the first of the leading classes. By the שׂרים are meant, according to 2Ki 24:15, the סריסים, chamberlains, i.e., the officials of the king’s court in general, and by הארץ אוּלי (“the mighty of the land”) all the heads of the tribes and families of the nation that were found in Jerusalem; and under the last the priests and prophets, who were also carried away according to Jer 29:1, with Ezekiel among them (Eze 1:1), are included as the spiritual heads of the people. The החיל גּבּורי are called החיל אנשׁי in 2Ki 24:16; their number was 7000. The persons intended are not warriors, but men of property, as in 2Ki 15:20. The second class of those who ere carried away consisted of כּל־החרשׁ, all the workers in stone, metal, and wood, that is to say, masons, smiths, and carpenters; and המּסגּר, the locksmiths, including probably not actual locksmiths only, but makers of weapons also. There is no need for any serious refutation of the marvellous explanation given of מסגּר by Hitzig (on Jer 24:1), who derives it from מס and גּר, and supposes it to be an epithet applied to the remnant of the Canaanites, who had been made into tributary labourers, although it has been adopted by Thenius and Graf, who make them into artisans of the foreign socagers. עם־הארץ דּלּת = דלּת־הארץ (2Ki 25:12), the poor people of the land, i.e., the lower portion of the population of Jerusalem, from whom Nebuchadnezzar did not fear any rebellion, because they possessed nothing (Jer 39:10), i.e., neither property (money nor other possessions), nor strength and ability to organize a revolt. The antithesis to these formed by the מלחמה עשׂי מ גּבּורים, the strong or powerful men, who were in a condition to originate and carry on a war; for this category includes all who were carried away, not merely the thousand workmen, but also the seven thousand החיל אנשׁי, and the king’s officers and the chiefs of the nation, whose number amounted to two thousand, since the total number of the exiles was then thousand. There is no special allusion to warriors or military, because in the struggle for the rescue of the capital and the kingdom from destruction every man who could bear arms performed military service, so that the distinction between warriors and non-warriors was swept away, and the actual warriors are swallowed up in the ten thousand. Babel is the country of Babylonia, or rather the Babylonian empire.

2Ki 24:17

Over the lower classes of the people who had been left behind Nebuchadnezzar placed the paternal uncle of the king, who had been led away, viz., Mattaniah, and made him king under the name of Zedekiah. He was the youngest son of Josiah (Jer 1:3; Jer 37:1); was only ten years old when his father died, and twenty-one years old when he ascended the throne; and as the uncle of Jehoiachin, who being only a youth of eighteen could not have a son capable of reigning, had the first claim to the throne. Instead of דּדו, his uncle, we have in 2Ch 36:10 אהיו, his brother, i.e., his nearest relation. On the change in the name see at 2Ki 23:34. The name צדקיּהוּ, i.e., he who has Jehovah’s righteousness, was probably chosen by Mattaniah in the hope that through him or in his reign the Lord would create the righteousness promised to His people.  (Note: To this section the historical appendix to the book of Jeremiah (Jer 52) furnishes a parallel, which agrees with it for the most part word for word, omitting only the short account of the murder of Gedaliah and of the flight of the people to Egypt (2Ki 25:22-26), and adding instead a computation of the number of the people who were led away to Babel by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:28-30). Apart from the less important variations, which have arisen in part simply from copyists’ errors, we have in Jer 52:18, and especially in Jer 52:21 and Jer 52:22, by no means unimportant notices concerning the vessels of the temple, especially concerning the ornaments of the brazen pillars, which do not occur anywhere in our books. It is evident from this that our text was not derived from Jer (Hävernick), and that Jer was not borrowed from our books of Kings and appended to the book of Jeremiah’s prophecies (Ros., Maur., Ew., Graf). On the contrary, the two accounts are simply brief extracts from one common and more elaborate history of the later times of the kingdom of Judah, possibly composed by Jeremiah or Baruch, analogous to the two extracts from the history of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18-20 and Isa 36-39. - More minute accounts of this space of time are given in the historical portions of the prophecies of Jeremiah (Jer 39-44), which form an explanatory commentary to the section before us.)

2Ki 24:18-19 Length and spirit of Zedekiah’s reign (cf. Jer 52:1-3, and 2Ch 36:11-13). - Zedekiah’s mother Hamital, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, was also the mother of Jehoahaz (2Ki 23:31); consequently he was his own brother and the half-brother of Jehoiakim, whose mother was named Zebidah (2Ki 23:36). His reign lasted eleven years, and in its attitude towards the Lord exactly resembled that of his brother Jehoiakim, except that Zedekiah does not appear to have possessed so much energy for that which was evil. According to Jer 38:5 and Jer 38:24., he was weak in character, and completely governed by the great men of his kingdom, having no power or courage whatever to offer resistance. but, like them, he did not hearken to the words of the Lord through Jeremiah (Jer 37:2), or, as it is expressed in 2Ch 36:12, “he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spake to him out of the mouth of the Lord.”

2Ki 24:20 “For because of the wrath of the Lord it happened concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” The subject to היתה is to be taken from what precedes, viz., Zedekiah’s doing evil, or that such a God-resisting man as Zedekiah became king. “Not that it was of God that Zedekiah was wicked, but that Zedekiah, a man (if we believe Brentius, in loc.) simple, dependent upon counsellors, yet at the same time despising the word of God and impenitent (2Ch 36:12-13), became king, so as to be the cause of Jerusalem’s destruction” (Seb. Schm.). On וגו השׁליכו עד cf. 2Ki 24:3, and 2Ki 17:18, 2Ki 17:23. “And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babel,” who, according to 2Ch 36:13, had made him swear by God, to whom he was bound by oath to render fealty. This breach of covenant and frivolous violation of his oath Ezekiel also condemns in sharp words (Eze 17:13.), as a grievous sin against the Lord. Zedekiah also appears from the very first to have had no intention of keeping the oath of fealty which he took to the king of Babel with very great uprightness. For only a short time after he was installed as king he despatched an embassy to Babel (Jer 29:3), which, judging from the contents of the letter to the exiles that Jeremiah gave to the ambassadors to take with them, can hardly have been sent with any other object that to obtain from the king of Babel the return of those who had been carried away. Then in the fourth year of his reign he himself made a journey to Babel (Jer 51:59), evidently to investigate the circumstances upon the spot, and to ensure the king of Babel of his fidelity. And in the fifth month of the same year, probably after his return from Babel, ambassadors of the Moabites, Ammonites, Tyrians, and Sidonians came to Jerusalem to make an alliance with him for throwing off the Chaldaean yoke (Jer 27:3). Zedekiah also had recourse to Egypt, where the enterprising Pharaoh Hophra (Apries) had ascended the throne; and then, in spite of the warnings of Jeremiah, trusting to the help of Egypt, revolted from the king of Babel, probably at a time when Nebuchadnezzar (according to the combinations of M. v. Nieb., which are open to question however) was engaged in a war with Media.

Jehoiakim Subdued by Nebuchadnezzar. (b. c. 599.)

1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord , which he spake by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon. 5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.

We have here the first mention of a name which makes a great figure both in the histories and in the prophecies of the Old Testament; it is that of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (v. 1), that head of gold. He was a potent prince, and one that was the terror of the mighty in the land of the living; and yet his name would not have been known in sacred writ if he had not been employed in the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews.

I. He made Jehoiakim his tributary and kept him in subjection three years, v. 1. Nebuchadnezzar began his reign in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. In his eighth year he made him his prisoner, but restored him upon his promise of faithfulness to him. That promise he kept about three years, but then rebelled, probably in hopes of assistance from the king of Egypt. If Jehoiakim had served his God as he should have done, he would not have been servant to the king of Babylon; but God would thus make him know the difference between his service and the service of the kings of the countries, 2 Chron. xii. 8. If he had been content with his servitude, and true to his word, his condition would have been no worse; but, rebelling against the king of Babylon, he plunged himself into more trouble.

II. When he rebelled Nebuchadnezzar sent his forces against him to destroy his country, bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, who were all now in the service and pay of the king of Babylon (v. 2), and withal retained, and now showed, their ancient enmity to the Israel of God. Yet no mention is here made of their commission from the king of Babylon, but only of that from the King of kings: The Lord sent against him all these bands; and again (v. 3), Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, else the commandment of Nebuchadnezzar could not have brought it. Many are serving God's purposes who are not aware of it. Two things God intended in suffering Judah to be thus harassed:—1. The punishment of the sins of Manasseh, which God now visited upon the third and fourth generation. So long he waited before he visited them, to see if the nation would repent; but they continued impenitent, notwithstanding Josiah's endeavours to reform them, and ready to relapse, upon the first turn, into their former idolatries. Now that the old bond was put in suit they were called up upon the former judgment; that was revived which God had laid up in store, and sealed among his treasures (Deut. xxxii. 34; Job xiv. 17), and in remembrance of that he removed Judah out of his sight, and let the world know that time will not wear out the guilt of sin and that reprieves are not pardons. All that Manasseh did was called to mind, but especially the innocent blood that he shed, much of which, we may suppose, was the blood of God's witnesses and worshippers, which the Lord would not pardon. Is there then any unpardonable sin but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost? This is meant of the remitting of the temporal punishment. Though Manasseh repented, and we have reason to think even the persecutions and murders he was guilty of were pardoned, so that he was delivered from the wrath to come; yet, as they were national sins, they lay still charged upon the land, crying for national judgments. Perhaps some were now living who were aiding and abetting; and the present king was guilty of innocent blood, as appears Jer. xxii. 17. See what a provoking sin murder is, how loud it cries, and how long. See what need nations have to lament the sins of their fathers, lest they smart for them. God intended hereby the accomplishment of the prophecies; it was according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servants the prophets. Rather shall Judah be removed out of his sight, nay, rather shall heaven and earth pass away, than any word of God fall to the ground. Threatenings will be fulfilled as certainly as promises, if the sinner's repentance prevent not.

III. The king of Egypt was likewise subdued by the king of Babylon, and a great part of his country taken from him, v. 7. It was but lately that he had oppressed Israel, ch. xxiii. 33. Now he is himself brought down and disabled to attempt any thing for the recovery of his losses or the assistance of his allies. He dares not come any more out of his land. Afterwards he attempted to give Zedekiah some relief, but was obliged to retire, Jer. xxxvii. 7.

IV. Jehoiakim, seeing his country laid waste and himself ready to fall into the enemy's hand, as it should seem, died of a broken heart, in the midst of his days (v. 6). So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers; but it is not said that he was buried with them, for no doubt the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled, that he should not be lamented, as his father was, but buried with the burial of an ass (Jer. xxii. 18, 19), and his dead body cast out, Jer. xxxvi. 30.

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, v. 10, 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, 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. v. 2, 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. i. 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 (Ezek. i. 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.