“And he took of the royal seed and made a treaty (covenant) with him. He also brought him under an oath and took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his treaty (covenant) it might stand.”.
Nebuchadnezzar replaced Jehoiachin with his half-brother Mattaniah, and gave him a new name, Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17), a sign of allegiance and vassalhood. Then he bound him by a solemn treaty and an oath of loyalty, and removing to Babylon all ‘the mighty' of the land (2 Kings 24:16), left him weak and totally dependent. It was his policy so to weaken his subjects that they could not rebel. Thus they would be loyal and would survive and prosper at their own level, and so be able to pay more tribute.