Bible Commentaries
2 Chronicles 36

Verse 1

the People of the land = the commonalty. Compare 2Ch 33:35 . Not lawfully, for Jehoahaz was not the eldest son.

Verse 2

Jerusalem. The Septuagint adds here, probably owing to the Homoeoteleuton in the word Jerusalem; "Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Amital, daughter of Jeremiah of Lobnah: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done: and Pharaohneckhao bound him in Deblatha, in the land of Aimath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem".

Verse 4

Egypt. The Septuagint adds: "Egypt, and he died there: and they had given the silver and the gold to Pharaoh: at that time the land began to be taxed to give the money at the command of Pharaoh; and every one, as he could, kept demanding the silver and the gold of the People of the land, to give it to Pharaoh-neckhao".

Verse 5

evil . Heb ra'a' . App-44 .

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 . The Septuagint adds here: "according to all that his fathers did. In his days came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon into the land, and he served him three years, and then revolted from him. And the LORD sent against them the Chaldeans, and bands of Syrians, and bands of Moabites, and the sons of Amnion and Samaria; but after this, they rebelled according to the word of the LORD, by the hand of his servants the prophets. However, the anger of - the LORD was upon Judah, to remove him from His did, and for the innocent blood which Jehoiakim had shed; and he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; yet the LORD refused to utterly destroy them".

Verse 6

came up. See App-53 .

Nebuchadnezzar. The son of Nabopolassar.

fetters. Hebrew brasses, or bronzes (Dual). Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), for the two chains or fetters made of brass.

to carry him to Babylon. There were four deportations: (1) Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:11 ), no date given, but apparently 580-570 BC; (2) Jehoiakim (2 Chronicles 36:6 , Daniel in this; Daniel 1:1 ), 496 BC; (3) Jehoiachin (2 Chronicles 36:10 , 2 Kings 24:14 , Mordecai in this, Esther 2:5 , Esther 2:6 ), 489 B.C.; (4) Zedekiah (2 Chronicles 36:20 ; 2 Kings 25:0 , Nehemiah in this), 477 B.C. From this last are reckoned the seventy years of 2 Chronicles 36:21 .Jeremiah 25:9 , Jeremiah 25:11 , Jeremiah 25:12 .

Verse 8

found in him = found upon him. On this is grounded the belief that he was tattooed with idolatrous marks or signs forbidden by Leviticus 19:28 . Compare Revelation 13:16 , Revelation 13:17 ; Revelation 14:9 , Revelation 14:11 ; Revelation 16:2 ; Revelation 19:20 ; Revelation 20:4 .

book. See App-47 .

Verse 9

Jahoiachin. Called also Jeconiah (1 Chronicles 3:16 ) and Coniah (Jeremiah 22:24 , Jeremiah 22:28 ). Compare 2 Kings 24:8 . The "Je" (= Jehovah) being cut off from his name.

eight years. Some codices, with Septuagint and Syriac, read "eight", but 2 Kings 24:8 reads "eighteen". The "eighteen" must include his co-regency, the "eight" to his reigning alone. This practice was common in Israel and Judah as well as in ancient contemporary kingdoms.

Verse 10

sent. N. B., not "came".

brought him = had him brought.

Zedekiah. Originally Mattaniah. Compare 2 Kings 24:17 , &c.

his brother: i.e. his next of kin. In this case his uncle (2 Kings 24:17 . 1 Chronicles 3:15 ).

Verse 12

humbled not himself, &c. Compare Jeremiah 34:8 ; Jeremiah 37:2 , and Jeremiah 38:17 , &c.

mouth. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6 , for what is spoken by it.

Verse 13

made him swear. Ezekiel refers to this (Ezekiel 17:11-20 ).

Verse 14

transgressed very much = abounded in treachery. Hebrew "multiplied to transgress transgression". Figure of speech Polyptoton , for emphasis. Hebrew. ma'al. App-44 .

heathen = nations.

hallowed. See note on Exodus 3:5 .

Verse 15

rising up betimes. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .

Verse 16

they mocked = they kept mocking. Compare Matthew 23:37 . Especially Urijah (Jeremiah 26:20-23 ) and Jeremiah 37:0 and Jeremiah 38:0 .

God. Hebrew. Elohim. (with Art.) = the [true] God. App-4 .

no remedy. These words, occurring as they do on the last page of the Hebrew Bible, led to the conversion of the late Joseph Rabinovitch, of Kischeneff.

Verse 17

He brought. To leave us in no doubt as to the real cause. Compare Judges 1:8 , and see App-53 .

their sanctuary. No longer Jehovah's. Compare and contrast "My Father's house" (John 2:16 ) and "your house" (Matthew 23:38 ). The former at the beginning of His ministry; the latter at the close.

all = the whole that came into her hand.

Verse 20

servants. Compare Jeremiah 27:6 , Jeremiah 27:7 . Daniel 1:0 . This was foretold in 2 Kings 20:17 , 2 Kings 20:18 . Isaiah 39:7 .

the kingdom of Persia. See the Chronological Structure of Ezra-Nehemiah (p. 618), and notes there.

Verse 21

fulfil. fulfil. At beginning and end of verse in Hebrew Note the emphasis by the Figure of speech Epanadiplosis. App-6 .

Jeremiah. Compare Jeremiah 25:9 , Jeremiah 25:12 ; Jeremiah 29:10 .

as long as = all the days. Thus completing a period of seventy years. This was foretold also (Leviticus 23:32 ; Leviticus 26:34 , Leviticus 26:35 ).

threescore and ten years. See special note on 2 Chronicles 36:21 , below.

THE "SERVITUDE", THE "CAPTIVITY", AND THE "DESOLATIONS". Three Periods of seventy years are assigned to these three respectively, and it is necessary that they should be differentiated.

i. The "servitude" began in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar, when the "kingdom" passed under Chaldean rule for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:1 ). This period closed with the capture of Babylon by Darius the Median (Astyages), and the "Decree" of Cyrus to rebuild the Temple. It lasted from 496-426 B.C. ii. The "captivity" commenced, and is dated by Ezekiel from the carrying away to Babylon of JECHONIAH, in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:8-16 ). This was in 489 B.C. Consequently, when the "servitude" ended in 426 B. C, the "captivity" had lasted for sixty-three (9 x 7) years.

Seven years later Cyrus died, in 419 B.C. That year (419) is further notable for:. 1. The appointment of Neherniah as Governor of Jerusalem by Cambysses (Nehemiah 5:14 ). 2. The completion of "the wall" in fifty-two days (Nehemiah 6:15 ); and. 3. The fact it marks the end of the fifth of the "seven sevens" of Daniel 9:25 . (See App-60 .) The "captivity" lasting from 489 to 419 B.C.

iii. The "desolations "commenced with the beginning of the third and last siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 479 B. C, and cover a period of "seventy years", ending in the second year of Darius Hystaspis: i.e. in 409 B.C. This "threescore and ten years" which is referred to here (2 Chronicles 36:21 ), is the fulfillment of Leviticus 26:32-35 , and has reference to "the land". It is this period of which Daniel says he "understood by books", as being the number of the years that Jehovah "would accomplish in the Desolations of Jerusalem" (Daniel 9:2 ). The Darius here (Daniel 9:1 ) is evidently Cyrus , the son of Astyages (see notes on p. 618, and App-57 ); and as the first year of his reign was 426 B. C, it follows that seventeen years had, then, yet to run before the "Desolations" of the land were ended, in 409 B.C. Hence, Daniel's prayer, that follows, resulted in the giving to him the famous prophecy of the "seventy sevens" of years contained in Daniel 9:20-27 .

Verse 22

the first year of Cyrus. See note on Ezra 1:1 .

spirit. Hebrew. ruach.

Verse 23

God of heaven. First occurrence of this expression. Now used because His People was Lo Ammi (= "not My People"), and He (Jehovah) had withdrawn from their midst. It is the title peculiar to the times of the Gentiles, while God acts from heaven, and not from between the cherubim as Jehovah the God of Israel, or as "the Lord of all the earth" (His millennial title). See the other occurrences (twenty in all = 3x6, App-10 ): Ezra 1:2 ; Ezra 5:11 , Ezra 5:12 ; Ezra 6:9 , Ezra 6:10 ; Ezra 6:7 . Ezra 6:12 , Ezra 6:21 , Ezr 6:23 .Nehemiah 1:4 , Nehemiah 1:5 ; Nehemiah 2:4 , Nehemiah 2:20 . Psalms 136:26 . Daniel 2:18 , Daniel 2:19 , Daniel 2:37 , Daniel 2:44 .Jonah 1:9 . Revelation 11:13 ; Revelation 16:11 .

He hath charged me. Compare Isaiah 44:28 ; Isaiah 45:13 .