2 Kings
2 Kings 24
1In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, 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 Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3Surely at the commandment of Yahweh this came on Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, 4and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh would not pardon. 5Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 6So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
7The king of Egypt didn’t come out of his land any more; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that belonged to the king of Egypt.
8Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, according to all that his father had done. 10At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12and 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 captured him in the eighth year of his reign. 13He carried out from there all the treasures of Yahweh’s house, 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 Yahweh’s temple, as Yahweh had said. 14He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. No one remained, except the poorest people of the land. 15He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16All the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20For through the anger of Yahweh, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence.
Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 50 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry2
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
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 (Kg2 24:1), that head of gold. He was a potent prince, and one that was the…
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, Eze 1:2. He came to the crown, not to have the honour of wearing it, but the shame of losing it. Ideo tantum…
John Gill18
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up,.... Against Jerusalem; this was in the latter end of the third, or the beginning of the fourth of Jehoiakim's reign, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 25:1, when Jehoiakim was taken, but restored…
And the Lord sent against him,.... By Nebuchadnezzar, against whom he rebelled: bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon; who were all subject to the king of Babylon, or were voluntary…
Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight,.... It was the sure and certain decree of God they should be carried captive, and therefore he stirred up the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar, and gave him orders to go…
Adam Clarke11
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
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…
According to the word of the Lord - See what Huldah predicted, Kg2 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…
Keil & Delitzsch10
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
"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)…
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…
(cf. Ch2 36:9 and Ch2 36:10). Jehoiachin, יהויכין or יויכין (Eze 1:2), i.e., he whom Jehovah fortifies, called יכניהוּ in Ch1 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…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown9
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
the Lord would not pardon--(see on Kg2 23:26; Jer 15:1).
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…
the king of Egypt--that is, Pharaoh-nechoh.
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