2 Kings 24


2 Kings 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reigns of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, kings of Judah.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 20 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Old Testament references

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    Analysis

A parallel pattern of sequence is observed in the final sections of 2 Kings between 2 Kings 11-20 and 2 Kings 21–25, as follows:
2 Kings 23–24 contain a 'neat scheme' within the chaos at the end of the kingdom of Judah:
2 Kings 23:31-24:22 Kings 24:8-25:1
Jehoahaz reigned for three monthsJehoiachin reigned for three months
Jehoahaz was imprisoned by Pharaoh NechoJehoiachin was imprisoned by Nebuchadnezzar
Necho placed Eliakim on throne and changed his name to JehoiakimNebuchadnezzar placed Mattaniah on throne and changed his name to Zedekiah
Necho took Jehoahaz to Egypt; Jehoahaz died in EgyptNebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon; Jehoiachin was eventually elevated in Babylon

Judah overrun by enemies (24:1–7)

With the placement of Jehoiakim as the puppet king in 609 BCE, Judah was firmly in Egypt's hand. When the Egyptian army of Necho II and his Assyrian allies were defeated by the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar II and his allies—the Medes, Persians, and Scythians—in the Battle of Carchemish, Jehoiakim switched to be Babylonian vassal. In 601 BCE, a battle near Pelusium between Egypt and Babylonia resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, forcing Nebuchadnezzar to return to Babylon to rebuild his army, but Jehoiakim apparently considered this as a Babylonian defeat, so he revolted against Babylonia and returned under the Egypt's wing. During 601-598 BCE Nebuchadnezzar dispatched 'raiding parties from various surrounding nations to harass Judah', until he mustered strong enough army to attack Jerusalem, while Egypt could not protect Judah anymore. In late 598 BCE, the Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem for three months. Jehoiakim apparently died before the siege ended. The Book of Chronicles recorded that "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon... bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon." Jeremiah prophesied that he died without proper funeral, describing the people of Judah "shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, his glory!' He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem" "and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night". Josephus wrote that Nebuchadnezzar slew Jehoiakim along with high-ranking officers and then commanded Jehoiakim's body "to be thrown before the walls, without any burial."

Verse 1

  • "In his days": that is, 605 BCE, toward the end of the third year and the beginning of the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign. The New King James Version's editors calculate the exiles' "seventy years of service" to the king of Babylon from this date.

    Verse 2

  • "Bands": or "troops"

    Verse 3

  • "Surely at the commandment of the Lord": literally, "only upon the mouth of YHWH"; the Greek Septuagint and Syriac versions read "wrath" instead of "mouth".

    Verse 6

  • "Slept": rendered as "rested" or "lay down".

    Verse 7

  • "Brook of Egypt": mostly identified with Wadi El-Arish an epiphemeral river pouring at the Mediterranean sea near the city of Arish.

    Jehoiachin, king of Judah (24:8–16)

The regnal account of Jehoiachin consists of an introductory regnal form and a two-part narrative describing the brief three months reign and his exile to Babylon. The first part is marked by the 'syntactically independent introductory temporal formula' of waw-consecutive verbal form, "in that time" regarding the siege of Jerusalem, whereas the second one starts with a 'converted perfect verbal form', "and he exiled". There is no concluding regnal formula, because Jehoiachin's account did not end with his death. The record in 2 Kings 25:27-30 describes his release from the prison during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar's son, Evil-Merodach, stating that he was still alive the writing of the book of Kings was concluded.

Verse 8

  • Cross reference: 2 Chronicles 36:9
  • "Jehoiachin" the son of Jehoiakim. His existence was attested by tablets found near the Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon, such as the Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets, dated to c. 592 BCE, mentioning his name in cuneiform and his five sons as recipients of food rations in Babylon. "Jehoiachin" is the throne name of Jeconiah as written in Jeremiah 24:1; 28:4; 29:2, which has the abbreviated form "Coniah" in Jeremiah 22:24, 28; 37:1.

    Verse 12

  • "Eighth year": based on the ascension method of counting the regnal year in Judah, considering the time Nebuchadnezzar took control of the army prior to his father's death as year 1, whereas the Babylonian Chronicle records this as the seventh year which is also used in.

    Verse 15

  • "The mighty of the land": The Targum translates it as "the magnates of the land".

    Verse 17

  • "Mattaniah/Zedekiah: The youngest son of king Josiah who was 10 years old when his father died, and 21 years old when he ascended the throne. As Jehoiachin, who was eighteen at that time and could not have a son capable of reigning, Mattaniah as Jehoiachin's uncle had the first claim to the throne.
  • "His father's brother": the "paternal uncle" from Hebrew דֹד֖וֹ, dodow.

    Zedekiah, king of Judah (24:17–20)

The regnal account of Zedekiah consists of an introductory regnal part and the main part in 2 Kings 25:1–30, without the typical concluding part, because there was no king to succeeded him on the throne after Jerusalem was destroyed.

Verse 18

  • Zedekiah: was the throne name of "Mattaniah", the younger brother of Jehoahaz from the same father and mother and the uncle of Jehoiachin. Despite receiving advice from Jeremiah, Zedekiah chose to revolt against Babylon and this caused the destruction of Jerusalem.
  • Libnah: in Shephelah. Taking Hamutal as his wife may indicate Josiah's effort to strengthen this southwestern border area of Judah to resist Egypt.

    Verse 20

  • "Zedekiah rebelled": as he sent a messenger to ask help from Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, spurred by the eagerness of the neighboring nations to throw off the yoke of Babylon and the false prophecy of Hananiah, despite the advice of Jeremiah to submit to Babylon.

    Illustration