2 Kings 24 is the twenty-fourthchapter of the second part of theBooks of Kings in theHebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in theOld Testament of theChristianBible.[1][2] The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE.[3] This chapter records the events during the reigns ofJehoiakim,Jehoiachin andZedekiah,kings of Judah.[4]
There is also a translation intoKoine Greek known as theSeptuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version includeCodex Vaticanus (B;B; 4th century) andCodex Alexandrinus (A;A; 5th century).[6][a]
With the placement of Jehoiakim as the puppet king in 609 BCE, Judah was firmly in Egypt's hand. When the Egyptian army ofNecho II and his Assyrian allies were defeated by theBabylonian army ofNebuchadnezzar II and his allies—theMedes,Persians, andScythians—in theBattle of Carchemish (605 BCE),[11][12][13] Jehoiakim switched to be Babylonian vassal.[14] In 601 BCE, a battle nearPelusium between Egypt and Babylonia resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, forcing Nebuchadnezzar to return to Babylon to rebuild his army, but Jehoiakim apparently considered this as a Babylonian defeat, so he revolted against Babylonia and returned under the Egypt's wing.[15] During 601-598 BCE Nebuchadnezzar dispatched 'raiding parties from various surrounding nations to harass Judah', until he mustered strong enough army to attack Jerusalem (cf.Jeremiah 35:1,11;Zephaniah 2:8–10; Babylonian Chronicles,ANET 564),[16] while Egypt could not protect Judah anymore (verse 7).[14] In late 598 BCE, the Babylonian army laidsiege to Jerusalem for three months. Jehoiakim apparently died before the siege ended.[17] TheBook of Chronicles recorded that "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ... bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon."[18] Jeremiah prophesied that he died without proper funeral, describing the people of Judah "shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, his glory!' He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:18–19) "and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night" (Jeremiah 36:30).[19]Josephus wrote that Nebuchadnezzar slew Jehoiakim along with high-ranking officers and then commanded Jehoiakim's body "to be thrown before the walls, without any burial."[20]
And the Lord sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servants the prophets.[25]
Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,[27]
"Surely at the commandment of the Lord": literally, "only upon the mouth ofYHWH"; the GreekSeptuagint and Syriac versions read "wrath" instead of "mouth".[28]
And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.[31]
The regnal account of Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah) consists of an introductory regnal form (verses 8–9) and a two-part narrative describing the brief three months reign and his exile to Babylon. The first part is marked by the 'syntactically independent introductory temporal formula' ofwaw-consecutive verbal form, "in that time" (verse 10) regarding the siege of Jerusalem (verses 10–13), whereas the second one (verses 14–17) starts with a 'converted perfect verbal form', "and he exiled". There is no concluding regnal formula, because Jehoiachin's account did not end with his death.[34] The record in2 Kings 25:27-30 describes his release from the prison during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar's son,Evil-Merodach, stating that he was still alive the writing of the book of Kings was concluded.[34]
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.[35]
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.[38]
"Eighth year": based on the ascension method of counting the regnal year in Judah, considering the time Nebuchadnezzar took control of the army prior to his father's death as year 1, whereas the Babylonian Chronicle records this as the seventh year (from the time Nebuchadnezzar's accession to the throne) which is also used inJeremiah 52:28.[37]
And he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.[39]
"The mighty of the land": TheTargum translates it as "the magnates of the land".[28]
And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.[40]
"Mattaniah/Zedekiah: The youngest son of kingJosiah (Jeremiah 1:3;Jeremiah 37:1) who was 10 years old when his father died, and 21 years old when he ascended the throne (verse 18).[41] AsJehoiachin, who was eighteen at that time (verse 8) and could not have a son capable of reigning, Mattaniah as Jehoiachin's uncle had the first claim to the throne.[41]
"His father's brother": the "paternal uncle" (of KingJehoiachin) from Hebrewדֹד֖וֹ,dodow.[42]
The regnal account of Zedekiah consists of an introductory regnal part (verses 18–20) and the main part in2 Kings 25:1–30, without the typical concluding part, because there was no king to succeeded him on the throne after Jerusalem was destroyed.[43]
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.[44]
Zedekiah: was the throne name of "Mattaniah", the younger brother of Jehoahaz from the same father and mother (cf.2 Kings 23:31) and the uncle ofJehoiachin.[14] Despite receiving advice fromJeremiah (Jeremiah 37:17–21;38:14–28), Zedekiah chose to revolt against Babylon (cf. 2 Kings 24:20 andEzekiel 17) and this caused the destruction of Jerusalem.[14]
Libnah: inShephelah. Taking Hamutal as his wife may indicate Josiah's effort to strengthen this southwestern border area of Judah to resist Egypt.[45]
For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.
And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.[46]
"Zedekiah rebelled": as he sent a messenger to ask help fromPharaohHophra (Apries), king ofEgypt (Ezekiel 17:15; cf.Jeremiah 37:5;Jeremiah 44:30), spurred by the eagerness of the neighboring nations (Edom, Ammon, Moab, Tyre and Sidon) to throw off the yoke of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:3) and the false prophecy of Hananiah (Jeremiah 28), despite the advice of Jeremiah to submit to Babylon.[28]
Thiele, Edwin R. (1951).The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings: A Reconstruction of the Chronology of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Codex Sinaiticus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.