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King Jehoiakim of Judah

(2 Chronicles 36.5-8)

36 (A) Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled 11 years from Jerusalem. His mother Zebidah was the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37 Jehoiakim disobeyed the Lord by following the example of his ancestors.

24 (B) During Jehoiakim's rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia[a] invaded and took control of Judah. Jehoiakim obeyed Nebuchadnezzar for three years, but then he rebelled.

At that time, the Lord started sending troops to rob and destroy towns in Judah. Some of these troops were from Babylonia, and others were from Syria, Moab, and Ammon. The Lord had sent his servants the prophets to warn Judah about this, and now he was making it happen. The country of Judah was going to be wiped out, because Manasseh had sinned and caused many innocent people to die. The Lord would not forgive this.

Everything else Jehoiakim did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king.

King Nebuchadnezzar defeated King Neco of Egypt and took control of his land from the Egyptian Gorge all the way north to the Euphrates River. So Neco never invaded Judah again.[b]

Footnotes

  1. 24.1 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia: Ruled Babylonia 605–562 b.c.
  2. 24.7 again: Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptian army in 605 b.c. at the town of Carchemish. But a few years later, he was forced to retreat all the way back to Babylonia, which allowed Jehoiakim to rebel (see verse 1).

Jehoiakim King of Judah(A)

36 Jehoiakim(B) was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37 And he did evil(C) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.

24 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar(D) king of Babylon invaded(E) the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.(F) The Lord sent Babylonian,[a](G) Aramean,(H) Moabite and Ammonite raiders(I) against him to destroy(J) Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets.(K) Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command,(L) in order to remove them from his presence(M) because of the sins of Manasseh(N) and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood.(O) For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.(P)

As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign,(Q) and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Jehoiakim rested(R) with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin(S) his son succeeded him as king.

The king of Egypt(T) did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon(U) had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 24:2 Or Chaldean