Two Kings Twenty Four

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

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2 Kings 24:1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.

Nebuchadnezzar. This was the first of three incursions of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:1, 11; 25:1). He was evidently co-regent of Babylon at this time, leading its army while his father Nabopolassar was seriously ill at home. The latter died during the time Nebuchadnezzar was taking the land of Judah from the Egyptians, whom he had defeated several years earlier at Carchemish in northern Syria. The prophet Daniel was evidently among those carried away to Babylon during the reign of Jehoiakim (Daniel 1:1-3).

2 Kings 24:2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, 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 the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

2 Kings 24:3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;

2 Kings 24:4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.

2 Kings 24:5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

2 Kings 24:6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

Jehoiakim slept. The death of Jehoiakim, although not specifically described, was apparently violent and degrading. He was carried to Babylon, “bound in fetters” (2 Chronicles 36:6). The prophet Jeremiah said: “He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:19).

2 Kings 24:7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.

2 Kings 24:8 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.

eighteen years old. See footnote on 2 Chronicles 36:9.

2 Kings 24:9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

2 Kings 24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

2 Kings 24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.

2 Kings 24:12 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.

Jehoiachin. Both Jehoahaz, who ruled only three months and Jehoiakim, who ruled eleven years (2 Kings 23:31, 36), were wicked sons of good King Josiah. Jehoiachin, who was Josiah's grandson, was also an evil king, though not as much so as the others were (see note on 2 Kings 25:27). He ruled only three months before being taken captive to Babylon. Another wicked son of Josiah, Zedekiah, ruled eleven years, and he was to be Judah's last king of the Davidic line. Jeremiah had prophesied concerning both Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin (also called Jechoniah and Coniah) that their lines would end (Jeremiah 36:30, 22:28-30). Nevertheless God's promise to David would still be fulfilled, through another branch of David's descendants (Jeremiah 33:17; Luke 1:31-33; 3:23-31).

2 Kings 24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, 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 the LORD, as the LORD had said.

2 Kings 24:14 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 smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

carried away all Jerusalem. The Babylonian captivity and exile fulfilled many prophecies (e.g., Isaiah 39:6; Micah 4:10).

2 Kings 24:15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

carried away Jehoiachin. A Babylonian tablet actually names Jehoiachin as one of the Judaeans carried to Babylon.

2 Kings 24:16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

2 Kings 24:17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

his father's brother. Zedekiah was thus the third son of Josiah, as well as the last in the line of Solomon to occupy the throne of Judah.

2 Kings 24:18 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.

2 Kings 24:19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

2 Kings 24:20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.