Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 24

Introduction

Second Kings Chapter 24

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 and Nebuchadrezzar are the same person. We remember, that Jehoiachim is the same as Eliakim. Jehoiakim had submitted to king Nechoh in the last lesson. It appears, that had lasted about three years, and now, the king of Babylon will have Jehoiakim serve him three years. At the end of the three years, Jehoiakim rebels.

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."

With Judah weakened, every little country around took their turn attacking them. All of these attacks were punishment from the LORD; for their unfaithfulness to Him. Huldah had prophesied this recently to Josiah, but Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Micah, and Zephaniah had all prophesied the same thing.

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;"

There really were not many treasures to take. The true reason for the troubles, was that God’s wrath was poured out upon them for their sins. It was not just Manasseh, but he certainly would have been enough all by himself, he was so evil. His son Amon was just as evil as he was. The sons of Josiah even went back to the evil ways, when they became king.

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."

The main innocent blood that Manasseh shed, was Isaiah’s. He persecuted many other righteous, as well. He, also, allowed children to be sacrificed to Moloch. This was too much for the LORD to 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?"

One of the terrible things he did, was execute Urijah. There are many of the things he did, written in the book of Jeremiah. The 26th chapter of Jeremiah has a great deal of the prophecy Jeremiah made to him from God.

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

Jehoiachin is known by Jechonias, Jechoniah, Jeconiah, and Coniah. He was captured and spent 36 years in Babylon.

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."

Egypt could not attack or help Judah, because they were having trouble with Babylon themselves. The first time the king of Egypt came to attack Judah, they were very successful. The next time they ventured out, the Babylonians attacked them, and they lost much of the territory they had gotten the first time. Now, they have decided it is better to stay home.

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."

In the 36th chapter of 2 Chronicles, it speaks of him as being only 8 years old, but the 18 years old here is, probably, correct. His mother was the daughter of Elthanthan, who was a prominent prince in the reign of Jehoiachim. Whether he was 8, or 18, his mother might have greatly influenced him.

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."

It appears, from this, that he made no attempt to restore the worship of the LORD. Of course, he was not in office in Jerusalem very long. He seemed to just follow along with the evil, that was already going on.

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."

As far as Nebuchadnezzar was concerned, this siege of Jerusalem was not of a great consequence, so his main army was engaged in another war. He sent his servants to take care of this. It appears, that Jerusalem did not put up much resistance.

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."

This is speaking of the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzer’s reign. It seemed, that Jehoiachin, and his mother, and his servants went out and surrendered to the troops of Babylon. He would be released from captivity in Babylon after 36 years.

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."

The treasure had been taken before. It seems, they had either accumulated more, or some of the things had been overlooked on the other times. We know that the king of Judah had taken the things out and sent them before. Now, the Babylonians had come into Jerusalem and even gone into the temple, and taken what they wanted. They had no regard for the temple or what it contained. That is easily seen, by them cutting the vessels of gold.

2 Kings 20:17 "Behold, the days come, that all that [is] in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD."

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."

This is just the first siege. These ten thousand were chosen for their abilities. They would be useful slaves to the king of Babylon. The poor people are, probably, speaking of the farmers and herdsmen. There were a few princes left and a few of the upperclass, but the majority were those who worked at menial labor.

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."

The fact that the king had wives make us believe that he was definitely 18, when he took office as king. It would be highly unlikely that a boy of 8 would have wives. There does not seem to be a massacre of people in this first siege and capture of the people.

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."

The military men and the craftsmen would be used in the army of Babylon. In fact, all of these captives would be workers, and not put into prison. They were taken strictly for their usefulness to Babylon. At least, they would not die.

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."

Mattaniah, the uncle of the king of Babylon, was like a puppet king. He was under direct orders from Babylon. "Mattaniah" means gift of Jehovah. "Zedekiah" means righteousness of Jehovah. The strange thing is, that this uncle of the king of Babylon was, also, the son of Josiah.

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."

For this 11 years that he reigned, there was no war with Babylon. He was full brother with Jehoahaz, and half-brother with Jehhoiakim. The people in Jerusalem would accept him, because he was in the lineage to be king. The Babylonians wanted him, because he was related to their king, and they felt they could control him. His youth would be on their side, also.

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

It seemed, that Zedekiah just allowed the heathen worship to continue, that had begun, again, in his brothers reign. He did not seem to aggressively pursue it, or stop it. He was more a puppet king. He was king in name only.

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."

This rebellion against Babylon {which God put in their hearts to do} will bring on the war, that will totally destroy Jerusalem and Judah. By this time, Zedekiah is about 30, and he is feeling more like a king. We find him trying to get help from Egypt to fight Babylon. Of course, this is part of God’s plan for the wrath of God to come on Judah. Many times, God uses wars to punish people.

2 Kings 24 Questions

1. Who did Jehoiachim become servant to for three years?

2. What is another name for Jehoiachim?

3. At the end of three years, what does Jehoiachim do?

4. Why were all of these bands of the little countries around Judah coming against them?

5. At the commandment of the _________ came this upon Judah.

6. Who had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood?

7. Who was the main innocent blood he killed?

8. Who did they sacrifice to Moloch?

9. Who was one person that Jehoiachim, killed?

10. What are some other names for Jehoiachin?

11. Why could Egypt not attack, or help, Judah?

12. How old was Jehoiachin, when he became king?

13. What kind of king was he?

14. Who was king of Babylon at this time?

15. Who attacked Jerusalem from Babylon?

16. What did they take from the temple?

17. Who did Babylon take captive?

18. What settles the fact, that the king of Judah was 18, and not 8?

19. Why did Babylon pick the particular captives they took?

20. Who did Nebuchadnezzer make king of Judah?

21. What did he change his name to?

22. What does "Mattaniah" mean?

23. What does "Zedekiah" mean?

24. What was strange about who he was related to?

25. How long did he reign?

26. Who was his mother?

27. What kind of a king was he?

28. Who really caused the war on Judah?

Verse 1

2Ki 24:1