Annotations Upon the Historical Books Part 2, 2 Kings · Chapter 24
CHAP. XXIV.
Verſ. 1. IN his dayes Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, &c.] About three years it is evident that Jehoiakim did peaceably enjoy the throne of Judah, whereon Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt had ſet him: for it was the third yeare of Jehoiakim ere the Babylonians came up againſt him, Dan. 1.1. In the third yeare of Jehoiakim king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, &c. and the better to prevent all changes, and to ſettle the kingdome in his line, according to the accuſtomed policie practiſed by his forefathers, in the ſecond yeare of his reigne he made his ſonne Jehoiachin or Jeconiah king with him, when the boy was but eight years old, 2. Chron. 36.9. of which ſee the note, verſ. 8. but after he had three years peaceably enjoyed his kingdome, paying tribute to the king of Egypt, in his fourth yeare Jeremiah prophecied that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ſhould invade the land, and that both they and all the neighbouring nations about them, ſhould become his ſervants, Jer. 25.1.11. which accordingly came to paſſe; for immediately after this, Nebuchadnezzar the ſecond entred Judea with a ſtrong army, beſieged and forced Jeruſalem, and having Jehoiakim in his power, did at firſt intend to carry him to Babylon, 2. Chron. 36.6. but was at laſt intreated to leave him as his vaſſall, taking with him for pledges, Daniel, being but yet a child, with Ananias, Miſael, and Azarias, with a great deal of the Temples treaſures: nor need we ſtumble at it, that this is ſaid to have been done in the third yeare of Jehoiakim, Dan. 1.1. whereas the fourth yeare of Jehoiakim is accounted the firſt of Nebuchadnezzar, Jer. 25.1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth yeare of Jehoiakim the ſonne of Joſiah king of Judah, that was the firſt yeare of Nebuchad-rezzar king of Babylon: ſince firſt, the firſt yeare of Nebuchadnezzar might well concurre with the end of the third, and the beginning of the fourth yeare of Jehoiakim; and again, ſecondly, perhaps as ſome hold, Nebuchadnezzar the ſecond came firſt againſt Judea, whileſt his father was yet living, in the third yeare of Jehoiakim, and prevailed againſt Jehoiakim; but returning ſoon upon the report of Necho the king of Egypts preparations againſt him, and eſpecially upon the news of his fathers death, that he might prevent all commotions at home, in the fourth yeare of Jehoiakim (having firſt vanquiſhed the forces of the Egyptians about the banks of Euphrates, Jer. 46.1, 2. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles, againſt Egypt, againſt the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Charchemiſh, which Nebuchad-rezzar king of Babylon ſmote in the fourth yeare of Jehoiakim the ſonne of Joſiah king of Judah) he ſoon brought Jehoiakim to acknowledge himſelf his vaſſal and tributary, and ſo as it is ſaid here Jehoiakim became his ſervant three years, to wit, the fifth, ſixth, and ſeventh years of his reigne; the Egyptian king could not like of this, and therefore it ſeems began to think of reſtoring Jehoahaz (now priſoner in Egypt) and ſetting him up as a domeſticall enemy againſt his ungratefull brother: the rumour whereof when it came to Judea (though Jeremiah prophecied that it ſhould prove idle, Jer, 22.11, 12. Thus ſaith the Lord touching Shallum the ſonne of Joſiah king of Judah, which reigned in ſtead of Joſiah, which went forth out of this place, He ſhall not return thither any more. But he ſhall die in the place whither they have led him captive,) did much perplex them, being now in danger both of the Egyptians, if they kept faith with the Babylonians, and of the Babylonians, if they ſhould revolt again to the Egyptians (and this I conceive might be the cauſe of the faſt, kept in the fifth yeare of Jehoiakims reigne, in the ninth monethmonth, Jer. 36, 9. At which time Baruch, ſent by Jeremiah, did publickly reade the roll of Jeremiahs propheſie before all the people, which being by the Princes carried to Jehoiakim, he having heard part of it, cut it in pieces with a penknife, and caſt it into the fire) but at length, to wit, in the eighth yeare of his reigne, which was the fourth of Nebuchadnezzar, hearing of many glorious rumours of the Egyptians preparations againſt the Babylonians, emboldned hereby, he renounced his ſubjection to the Babylonian, as is expreſſed here, that he turned, and rebelled againſt him, and ſo ſided with the Egyptians again.
Verſ. 2. And the Lord ſent against him bands of the Chaldees, &c.] That is, Nebuchadnezzar (not without the ſpeciall counſel of God) came up againſt him, and that as Joſephus ſaith from that ſiege of Tyre, whereof the Prophet ſpeaks, Ezek. 26.7. For thus ſaith the Lord God, Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchad-rezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the North, with chariots, and with horſes, and companies, and much people: and bringing thence with him ſome part of his army, conſiſting of companies, and bands of ſeverall nations, he entred Jeruſalem, and laid hold on Jehoiakim, and being enraged againſt him for his perfidiouſneſſe in revolting from him, cauſed him to be ſlain, and caſt out into the fields without Jeruſalem, to be devoured by birds and beaſts; for ſo Jeremy had propheſied it ſhould be, Jer. 22.18, 19. Therefore thus ſaith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the ſonne of Joſiah king of Judah, They ſhall not lament for him, ſaying, Ah my brother, or ah ſiſter, They ſhall not lament for him ſaying, Ah Lord, or ah his glory. He ſhall be buried with the buriall of an aſſe, drawn and caſt forth beyond the gates of Jeruſalem: and 36.30. Therefore thus ſaith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah, He ſhall have none to ſit upon the throne of David, and his dead body ſhall be caſt forth in the dayes to the heat, and in the night to the froſt. This was the eleventh yeare of Jehoiakim, and ſo the ſeventh yeare of Nebuchadnezzar, three years after Jehoiakims revolt (for either the ſiege of Tyre, or ſome other occaſions had hitherto detained Nebuchadnezzar, from coming againſt him) and hence it is, we reade of three thouſand and three and twenty Jews, carried away by him in the ſeventh yeare of his reigne, Jer. 52.28. This is the people whom Nebuchad-rezzar carried away captive in the ſeventh yeare, three thouſand and three and twenty Jews.
Verſ. 3. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his ſight, for the ſinnes of Manaſſeh, &c.] See the note, chap. 23.26.
Verſ. 6. So Jehoiakim ſlept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his ſonne reigned in his ſtead.] For when Nebuchadnezzar had ſlain Jehoiakim, as is before noted, and was returned again into his own countrey, it ſeems the people made this Jehoiachin king in his ſtead, who is alſo called Jeconiah, 1. Chron. 3.16. and Coniah by way of contempt, Jer. 22.24. In the genealogie of Chriſt, Matth. 1.11. Jehoiakim the ſonne of Joſiah, ſeems to be quite left, at leaſt in our moſt uſuall tranſlations; for though in ſome few copies it is thus ſet down, and Joſias begat Jakim, and Jakim begat Jechonias; yet generally in all other copies it runnes thus, And Joſias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon; and after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel: and for the reſolving of this doubt, many ſeverall anſwers are given by Expoſitours; but the moſt ſatisfying one I conceive is this; to wit, that Jehoiakim the father was called Jeconiah, as well as Jehoiachin the ſonne; and ſo whereas Mat. 1.11. it is ſaid that Joſias begat Jechonias and his brethren, that is meant of Jehoiakim the ſonne of Joſias, who had many brethren; whereas Jehoiachin had none: and then that which follows verſ. 12. and after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; that is meant of Jehoiachin the ſonne of Jehoiakim, and ſo the ſeverall generations of theſe kings are fully expreſſed.
Verſ. 7. And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land, &c.] To wit, againſt Jeruſalem: indeed in the latter end of Zedekiahs reigne (Jeruſalem being then beſieged) the king of Egypt came up to help him againſt the Babylonians, Jer. 37.5. Then Pharaohs army came forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans that beſieged Jeruſalem, heard tydings of them, they departed from Jeruſalem: but this here is ſpoken of his coming to ſubdue the Jewes to reduce them again under his ſubjection: this Jehoiakim thought he would have done, when he heard ſuch glorious rumours of the great preparations he made againſt Nebuchadnezzer, and thereupon had revolted from the Babylonian; and for this very cauſe it is here expreſſed that he came not, and that the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt; to ſhew upon what vain grounds Jehoiakim had truſted in Egypt, and ſo thereby had brought all this miſery both on himſelf and on his kingdome.
Verſ. 8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reigne.] To wit, when he began to reigne alone after his fathers death; for in his fathers life time he was crowned king ten years before this, when he was yet but eight years old, 2. Chron. 36.9. Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reigne, &c.
And he reigned in Jeruſalem three moneths.] In 2. Chron. 36.9. it is three moneths and ten dayes; but the odd dayes, as uſually elſewhere in the Scripture, are here omitted. Indeed there in the Chronicles verſ. 10. it followes that when the yeare was expired, king Nebuchadnezzer ſent and brought him to Babylon, whereby ſome may conceive, that it was a twelvemoneth ere Nebuchadnezzer took him away; and why then ſhould it be ſaid, that he reigned but three moneths: but that which is ſaid there is ſpoken of the yeare abſolutely conſidered, and not of the yeare of Jehoiachins reigne; when the yeare was expired, that is, at the ſpring or beginning of a new yeare, king Nebuchadnezzer ſent and brought him to Babylon: which was when he had reigned about three moneths, as is here ſaid: ſo that that place in the Chronicles is parallel with that, 2. Sam, 11.1. and it came to paſſe that after the yeare was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battel, that David ſent Joab, &c.
Verſ. 9. And he did that which was evil in the ſight of the Lord, &c.] For which cauſe he was threatened by the prophet Jeremiah, that he ſhould die childleſſe, and ſhould be carried with his mother and others into Babylon, Jeremiah 22.21.30.
Verſ. 10. At that time the ſervants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up againſt Jeruſalem, &c.] It is not expreſſed whether this Jehoiachin were made king by Nebuchadnezzar when he took Jeruſalem, and ſlew his father; or whether he was made king by the people, when Nebuchadnezzar had left the citie: if he were ſet in the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, it may well be (as Joſephus ſaith) that Nebuchadnezzar bethinking himſelf how dangerous it was to leave him in the throne whoſe father he had ſlain, and caſt out unburied, he changed his purpoſe preſently, and ſent his captains with an army againſt Jeruſalem; to whom himſelf in perſon came within a while after, as intending to depoſe him, and to ſet up another king in his room.
Verſ. 12. And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, &c.] That is, he yielded up both him and his to Nebuchadnezzar, as the prophet Jeremiah had adviſed him.
And the king of Babylon took him in the eighth yeare of his reigne.] That is, in the eight yeare of Nebuchadnezzars reigne.
Verſ. 13. And he carried out thence all the treaſures of the houſe of the Lord, and the treaſures of the kings houſe, &c.] And thus was that accompliſhed which God had threatened, when Hezekiah ſhewed his treaſures to the king of Babylons Embaſſadours, Iſaiah 39.6. Behold, the dayes come, that all that is in thine houſe, and that which thy father's have laid up in ſtore untill this day, ſhall be carried to Babylon; nothing ſhall be left: yet this particle all ſo often mentioned here and in the following verſe, all the treaſures, &c. muſt be underſtood with ſome limitation, as namely, that he carryed away all in a manner, or all that he pleaſed; for that he carryed not all away now when he carried away Jechoniah, is evident, Jer. 27.18. &c. where there is mention made of veſſels that remained in the houſe of the Lord, and in the houſe of the king of Judah even after this, in the dayes of Zedekiah the ſucceeding king; which after this were carried away as is related in the following chapter, verſ. 13.14. &c.
And cut in pieces all the veſſels of gold which Solomon king of Iſrael had made, &c.] Ezra 1.7. it is ſaid, that Cyrus the king brought forth the veſſels of the houſe of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jeruſalem, &c. but for the reſolving of this doubt, ſee the note on that place.
Verſ. 14. And he carryed away all Jeruſalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thouſand captives, &c.] To wit, out of the whole kingdome; of which ſeven thouſand were carried out of Jeruſalem, that were men of might, and a thouſand crafts-men and ſmiths, verſ. 16. the reſt were carried from other places of the land: and at this time it was that Ezekiel was carried away captive, Ezek. 1.1, 2. In the fifth day of the monethmonth (which was the fifth yeare of king Jehoiachins captivity.
Verſ. 15. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the kings mother, &c.] Yet he had no cauſe to repent that he had hearkened to Jeremiah in yielding up himſelf to Nebuchadnezzar; for it fared better with him, then with thoſe that ſtayed behind: yea in the thirty ſeventh yeare of his captivity he was greatly honoured by Evilmerodach the ſonne of Nebuchadnezzar; ſee ch. 25. ver. 27. In the ſeven and thirtieth yeare of the captivity of Jehoiachin, &c. Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the yeare that he began to reigne, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of priſon, and he ſpake kindly to him, and ſet his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him, &c.
Verſ. 16. And all the men of might, even ſeven thouſand, &c.] See the note above on verſ. 14.
Verſ. 17. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his fathers brother king in his ſtead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.] So Pharaoh Necho gave Eliakim a new name when he made him king in ſtead of his brother, chap. 23.34. and Daniel and his companions had new names given them, Dan. 1.6, 7. whereby it may appear that by impoſing new names the conquerour ſhewed his power over them; and cauſed them to acknowledge as it were, that they were his ſervants: indeed this new name of Zedekiah, which ſignifies the juſtice of God, was very proper for this new king, to put him in mind to be juſt in keeping the covenant he had made with the king of Babylon, and that God would be juſt in puniſhing him if he proved perfidious, but that Nebuchadnezzar intended any ſuch thing by giving him this new name, we cannot ſay.
Verſ. 18. And his mothers name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.] So that he was the brother of Jehoahaz (the firſt of Joſiahs ſonnes that was king of Judah, and was afterwards by Pharaoh Necho carried into Egypt) both by father and mother: for this Hamutal was alſo the mother of Jehoahaz, chapter 23.31.
Verſ. 19. And he did that which was evil in the ſight of the Lord, &c.] In 2. Chron. 36.12. this is added in particular, that he humbled not himſelf before Jeremiah the prophet, ſpeaking from the mouth of the Lord.
Verſ. 20. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, &c.] About the beginning of Zedekiahs reigne, the people began to inſult over Jeremiah, ſeeing Jehoiachin carried captive into Babylon, that had yielded to Nebuchadnezzar upon his perſwaſion; whereupon the Prophet under the type of good and bad figges, foreſhewed that it ſhould be better with thoſe in the captivity, then thoſe that were left behind, Jerem. 24. After that in the fourth yeare, Zedekiah went to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, at which time the Prophet gave Sheraiah a prince that went with him a book, wherein was written all the evil that ſhould fall upon Babylon, willing him to read it to the Jews, and then to bind it to a ſtone, and throw it into Euphrates, in token of the perpetuall ſinking of Babylon, Jerem. 51.59, 64. at his return as we ſee in the 27. and 28. chapters of Jeremiah, all the bordering princes ſent meſſengers to Zedekiah, perſwading him as it ſeems, to revolt from Nebuchadnezzar; but Jeremiah did earneſtly diſſwade both him and them, ſending to each of thoſe princes yokes in token of the Babylonian yoke, whereunto the Lord would have them ſubmit, and aſſuring them, that if they would not ſtoop to his yoke, they ſhould all periſh by ſword, fire, and peſtilence: at which time alſo Hananiah having broken Jeremiahs woodden yoke, and vaunting that in like manner within two years Nebuchadnezzars yoke ſhould be broken, and Jeconiah with all the veſſels and riches of the Temple, ſhould be brought again to Jeruſalem; Jeremiah foretold of an iron yoke, and to aſſure the people that Hananiah had prophecyed falſely, he foretold his death, which that yeare accordingly in the ſecond monethmonth ſeized upon him▪ yet at length in the eighth yeare of his reigne, Zedekiah practiſed more ſeriouſly with his neighbours, and in confidence of great aids promiſed from Egypt, he rebelled againſt Nebuchadnezzar, though he had formerly taken an oath to be faithfull to him, 2. Chron. 36.13. And he alſo rebelled againſt king Nebuchadnezzar.