The Reign Of Jehoahaz King of Judah (609 BC) - (2 Kings 23:31-35).
Jehoahaz, who was Josiah's fourth son, was given the unenviable task of replacing Josiah, knowing full well that the wrath of Egypt would inevitably fall on Judah as a result of Josiah's action against Pharaoh, and sure enough within three months, having himself approached Pharaoh Necoh at Riblah, he found himself in bonds and carried off to Egypt as a royal hostage, with the land of Judah being put to harsh tribute. And yet even in that short time he had revealed that he would not be following in his father's footsteps, for he is recorded as having ‘done evil in the eyes of YHWH even as his fathers had done'. In other words on the death of Josiah Baalism immediately re-established itself in Judah, with Jehoahaz' support.
One of the problems with kings having multiple wives was that they did not have a close rapport with their sons, and the result was that the major influence in their bringing up was in the hands of their mothers and their advisers (note the constant importance of the queen mother in the narrative). This would partly explain why Josiah's godliness had not been passed on to his sons, and why on his death his sons reverted back to Baalism. Such kings did not choose their wives because of their spiritual status, but because of their political influence.
Jehoahaz may well have been chosen by the people of the land (2 Kings 23:30) over his brothers because they recognised his potential to be king, and because they were hoping through him to establish their independence. He may have been seen as anti-Egyptian. Or it may simply be that they saw him as the best candidate for negotiating with Egypt. Alternatively it may have been that he was the only one willing to offer himself to be the scapegoat in view of the inevitable reprisals of Egypt. Whichever way it was he would know that he had little option, when he was summoned to Riblah by Pharaoh Necoh (or went there of his own volition seeking peace terms) but to attend and accept his fate. What had happened to Josiah had already brought home the folly of armed resistance against such a powerful foe. Once there he was put in chains and carried off to Egypt as a royal hostage, where he remained until he died. (see here Ezekiel's vivid picture in Ezekiel 19:3-4; and compare Jeremiah 22:10-12). There is no closing formula to his reign because he did not die in office. He just disappeared from the scene. And in the author's eyes it was because he ‘did evil in the sight of YHWH'.
Analysis.
a Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, and he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his fathers had done, and Pharaoh Necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and put the land to a tribute of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold (2 Kings 23:31-33).
b And Pharaoh Necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim, but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there (2 Kings 23:34).
a And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it to Pharaoh Necoh.'
Note that in ‘a' the land of Judah was put to tribute, and in the parallel the tribute was paid. Centrally in ‘b' Eliakim was made king with the throne name of Jehoiakim.
‘Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.'
Jehoahaz was twenty three years old when he began to reign. Jehoahaz was his throne name. His birth name was Shallum (Jeremiah 22:11). The three months of his reign is confirmed by the Babylonian Chronicle which states that Pharaoh Necho's campaign in the north lasted from the month Tammuz to the month Elal (roughly July to September). It was at that point, once he had consolidated his position, that Pharaoh summoned Jehoahaz to Riblah. Jehoahaz' marriage to the daughter of an influential inhabitant of Libnah was probably intended to help to cement Libnah's association with Judah (compare 2 Kings 8:22).
‘And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his fathers had done.
Even though his reign was short it was apparently sufficiently long to indicate the direction of his intentions. Josiah's death, which they had no doubt hoped for, would have been a signal to the would be worshippers of Baal and Asherah that they could now make some attempt to restore Baalism, and it would appear that Jehoahaz raised no objection, and possibly even connived in it. It is clear from this that Josiah's faith and obedience was not seen as reflected in the attitude of his sons. This may well have been because his multiple marriages resulted in the sons being more influenced by their less godly mothers.
‘And Pharaoh Necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and put the land to a tribute of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.'
The prophetic author therefore saw what happened to Jehoahaz as part of YHWH's punishment on him for his apostasy, for when he was summoned to Riblah to meet with Pharaoh Necoh he was put in chains and carried off as a hostage to Egypt, no doubt as a guarantee of Judah's good behaviour, and as a lesson to Judah as to what happened to those who opposed Pharaoh. As the appointee chosen by Judah he was not to be allowed to reign. (He may well have been the only son of Josiah who had been brave enough to accept the throne, knowing precisely what would happen). For a poetic description of this incident see Ezekiel 19:3-4. Pharaoh then put the land of Judah to a tribute of a hundred talents of silver, and one talent of gold, a considerable sum for a small country to have to find, although possibly not large enough to be seen as excessively punitive.
Pharaoh Necoh had previously at last joined up with the remnants of the Assyrian forces and had stayed the advances of Nebuchadnezzar. Now he had established himself at Riblah and saw himself as overlord of the area south of the Euphrates, including Carchemish, Aram, Hamath and Palestine, and it was as such that he no doubt summoned Jehoahaz to present himself before him and exacted tribute on Judah. Alternatively Jehoahaz may have decided that his wisest move in view of what his father had done, was to seek peace terms with Egypt and have gone voluntarily. If so, as far as he was concerned, it was a misjudgment, for he became a permanent hostage from then on.
This Egyptian dominance of the area would in fact continue for some years, but it would end when Nebuchadnezzar advanced once more and Egypt was crushingly defeated by his forces at Carchemish, and then again at Hamath, thus having to fall back to its own borders where it did succeed in stemming the Babylonian advance.
Riblah was in the district of Hamath on the River Orontes in Aram. It commanded the main route from Egypt to the Euphrates, and was easily defended, which is why Pharaoh Necoh, (and Nebuchadnezzar after him), chose it as his headquarters. The neighbouring valleys and forests provided ample supplies for his troops.
‘And Pharaoh Necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim, but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there.'
Pharaoh Necoh meanwhile made Eliakim, an older half-brother of Jehoahaz and a son of Josiah, king in his father's place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim (the name of YHWH replacing El in Eliakim). This change of name may have been intended to indicate that Jehoiakim was now Pharaoh's vassal, and that Pharaoh was his god. The introduction of the name of YHWH may have been cynical, indicating that YHWH should be seen as submissive to Osiris and Horus (Pharaoh being seen as the personification of Horus and destined to be Osiris) or it may have been a genuine attempt to win over the people of Judah, and to give them the (false) impression of a kind of independence.
2Ki 2 Kings 23:35
‘And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it to Pharaoh Necoh.'
Jehoiakim then set about gathering the tribute required by the Pharaoh by means of levying taxation on the people of the land ‘according to the commandment of Pharaoh'. The phrase is significant. It was no longer YHWH's commandments that were being observed in Judah, but Pharaoh's. As a result each man in Judah was assessed, and was then called on to contribute in accordance with his ability to pay. It would appear from this that while the Temple had been restored it had few treasures in it of which it could be stripped. Such poverty, the author wants us to know, was the consequence of its history (it is in total contrast to the wealth of Solomon with which the book began).
Throughout the book of Kings the prophetic author has constantly and deliberately emphasised the source from which tribute was paid. Initially and regularly it was paid from the Temple and palace treasuries (2 Kings 12:18; 2 Kings 16:8; 1 Kings 14:26; 1 Kings 15:18) then by stripping the Temple of its gold (2 Kings 18:16). Now it was down to everyone making a contribution. The royal treasuries were finally empty. This was the consequence of disobedience to YHWH.