The Reign Of Jehoiachin King Of Judah 597 BC (2 Kings 24:8-17).
In typical fashion the prophetic author of Kings has not told us in detail about the closing years of Jehoiakim's life, except in so far as it can be concluded from 2 Kings 24:2, for as his death approached Judah was not only under constant attack by marauding bands, but by Nebuchadnezzar's main forces under his generals, which had arrived outside the walls of Jerusalem, with the result that large numbers of Judeans were being besieged in Jerusalem by an even larger ‘band of Chaldeans'. A number of other cities of Judah were also no doubt under siege. Thus after the initial manoeuvrings described in 2 Kings 24:2 YHWH's wrath has come upon Judah to the uttermost. It was in such circumstances that Jehoiakim died in a way that is not described, but seemingly violently and without decent burial, and his son Jehoiachin came to the throne. Jehoiachin bravely maintained the resistance for a short while (‘three months'), but on the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar outside Jerusalem in person he surrendered himself and the city to him. Judah's short period of independence was over, and it was all YHWH's doing (2 Kings 24:2-3).
This surrender of Jerusalem is described by the Babylonian Chronicle as follows:
“In the seventh year (598 BC), in the month of Kislev (November/December), the Babylonian king mustered his troops and, having marched to the land of Hatti, besieged the (main) city of Judah, and on the second day of the month Adar (16th March 597 BC) took the city, and captured the king. He appointed therein a king of his own choice (Zedekiah), received its heavy tribute, and despatched them (Jehoiachin and the tribute) to Babylon.”
But it was not to be the end for Jehoiachin, for although he was carried off to Babylon, he remained the recognised ‘king of Judah' even there, and details of the daily rations allocated to ‘Ya'u kinu, king of the land of Yahudu' and his sons, have been discovered in Babylon. He would eventually be released from prison by Amel-Marduk (Evil-Merodach) and be restored to honour ‘above the kings who were with him in Babylon', sitting continually at the table of the king of Babylon as the king's pensioner (2 Kings 25:29-30). In spite of all YHWH had not forgotten His promises to the son of David, and hope for the future had dawned. But before that Judah had to sink into the depths of despair.
Analysis.
a 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 (2 Kings 24:8).
b And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his father had done (2 Kings 24:9).
c At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged (2 Kings 24:10).
d And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it (2 Kings 24:11).
e And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers, and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign (2 Kings 24:12).
d And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of YHWH, as YHWH had said (2 Kings 24:13).
c And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths, none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land (2 Kings 24:14).
b And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:15-16).
a And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king instead of him, and changed his name to Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17).
Note that in ‘a' Jehoiachin became king, and in the parallel he was replaced by Zedekiah. In ‘b' he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, and in the parallel he was as a result carried away to Babylon along with the cream of the people. In ‘c' Nebuchadnezzar's generals besieged Jerusalem, and in the parallel they carried away ‘all Jerusalem' into exile. In ‘d' Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived and in the parallel he carried away all the treasures of the house of YHWH. Centrally in ‘e' Jehoiachin and all his house surrendered to the king of Babylon.
‘Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months, and his mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.'
In some ways Jehoiachin patterned Jehoahaz earlier (2 Kings 23:31-34). Both came to the throne after their fathers had offended against a great power, and both were carried off as hostages within three months, Jehoahaz to Egypt and Jehoiachin to Babylon. Jehoiachin was also known as Jeconiah (1 Chronicles 3:16-17; Esther 2:6; Jeremiah 24:1; Jeremiah 27:20; Jeremiah 28:4; Jeremiah 29:2), and as Coniah (Jeremiah 22:24; Jeremiah 22:28; Jeremiah 37:1). The name appears as Ykyn on contemporary jar handles. He began his reign at eighteen years old, with Jerusalem surrounded by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar, and within three months he surrendered when Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived. (It may be that he had become co-regent with his father at eight years old - 2 Chronicles 36:9 - with the Chronicler there deliberately seeking to parallel him with Josiah). It is significant that his mother was a ‘local'. This might suggest that there had no longer been outlying cities whose favour had to be won. Judah was now of limited extent.
‘And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his father had done.'
On coming to the throne Jehoiachin made no attempt to reverse the idolatries of his father. He continued with Jehoiakim's idolatrous worship. Thus he found no favour with YHWH.
‘At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.'
The arrival of ‘the servants of Nebuchadnezzar', prior to the coming of the Great King himself, must have occurred prior to Jehoiachin's ascension to the throne, while Jehoiakim was still reigning. It was in fact possibly Jehoiakim's attempt to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar's generals that resulted in his ignominious death, and that caused Jehoiachin not to be willing to do so until Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived.
‘And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.'
The arrival of Nebuchadnezzar himself would have caused a great stir, and it is probable that, in view of the fact that he would learn that Jehoiakim who had instigated the rebellion was dead, he on arrival offered terms to the city. These terms included the surrender of the royal house who would be transported to Babylon, along with many of the great men of the land, and the seizing of all the palace and Temple treasures, together with what remained of the golden vessels in the Temple. But it would mean that the punitive war was at an end.
‘And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers, and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.'
The terms were accepted and Jehoiachin, the queen mother, his courtiers, his princes and his military officers all went out and surrendered to ‘the king of Babylon' in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. They knew, of course, that this could only result in their transportation. That was part of the agreement.
This is the first occasion in Kings when an incident has been dated by reference to something external to Israel and Judah ‘in the eighth year of his (Nebuchadnezzar's) reign'. It was a clear indication by the author that Judah was living on borrowed time. As far as he was concerned Nebuchadnezzar now ruled over Judah with YHWH's authority. (Jeremiah has ‘the seventh year of his reign' - Jeremiah 52:28. Jeremiah was omitting the accession year).
‘And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of YHWH, as YHWH had said.'
Nebuchadnezzar then cut up and removed from the Temple all that remained of the golden vessels which Solomon had made which were in the Temple of YHWH, together with all the treasures that remained in both the palace and the Temple. These would not be overlarge. We must remember that Jehoiakim had had to tax the ordinary people in order to pay tribute to Egypt, and that tribute had had to be paid to Babylon since then. The Babylonian Chronicle's description of it as ‘heavy tribute' was probably exaggerated. Jeremiah makes clear that some vessels remained in the Temple, together with certain other items (Jeremiah 27:18-20). They would follow later (2 Kings 25:13-17).
‘All the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king's house.' This has been a regular refrain throughout Kings (2 Kings 12:18; 2 Kings 14:14; 2Ki 16:8; 2 Kings 18:15; 1 Kings 14:26; 1 Kings 15:18) as the author has demonstrated that disobedience to YHWH could only result in Judah regularly losing all that it had. There could be no continuing prosperity without obedience. Here the vessels of Solomon are mentioned along with the treasures in order to connect back to the original record of Solomon's enriching of the Temple. These vessels had been continually spared as having great sentimental value, but now even they had been taken. Together with 2 Kings 25:13-17 it was stressing that all that Solomon had built up had finally gone. Nothing was left.
‘And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten groups (ten alephim) of captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths, none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.'
Furthermore he carried off all the most important people in Jerusalem, including the civil servants, together with all the princes of the tribes. These comprised between them two recognisable units (alephim). Together with them were all the professional warriors comprising seven military units (alephim), and all the craftsmen and smiths who together comprised their own single unit (an eleph), being all members of the one guild. That made ten differing units (alephim) of people in all. Jeremiah 52:28 tells us that in all they amounted to three thousand and twenty three heads of families (‘Jews'). Alternately the three thousand and twenty three ‘Jews' may refer to ‘all Jerusalem and all the princes, -- and all the craftsmen and smiths' with the ‘mighty men of valour' being mercenaries and not Jews, and therefore not included in Jeremiah's figure. Only ‘the poorest sort of the people of the land' were left behind. Judah was being stripped of its leaders and its fighting potential.
‘All Jerusalem', when compared with the other groups, probably has in mind all the important people in Jerusalem, those who were seen as being typical Jerusalemites. These would include the civil servants, courtiers, chief priests, and many others, but not necessarily ‘everyone'. After all Zedekiah was excluded from the definition, and the ‘poorest sort of people' would be ignored. Only a ‘residue of people' would be left. The result would be that Zedekiah would have to build up a new civil service and re-inhabit Jerusalem as best he could, calling on experienced leaders from other major cities.
‘And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.'
So Jehoiachin himself, the queen mother, all the king's wives, his courtiers and officers, and the chief men of the land were all taken into captivity together with seven ‘thousand' (seven military units) of warriors, and a recognised unit of craftsmen and smiths who crafted Judah's armaments who would all be members of a guild. All were brought captive to Babylon, and among them was the young prophet Ezekiel. The comparatively small numbers, compared with what Judah had once been, bring out how low they had fallen.
‘And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king instead of him, and changed his name to Zedekiah.'
The king of Babylon then appointed as king Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah, (a son of Josiah), and renamed him Zedekiah, a change of name which indicated his vassalship. He remained behind to cope with what was left of Judah.