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2 Chronicles 36

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Jehoahaz Reign and Egyptian Control 1–4

1
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem. ​
2
Joahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3
And the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and fined the land a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ​
4
And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt. ​

Jehoiakim Rebels Against Babylon 5–8

5
Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God. ​
6
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
7
Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of Jehovah to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. ​
8
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

Jehoiachin and the Second Deportation 9–10

9
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. ​
10
And at the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of Jehovah, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem. ​

Zedekiah's Rule and the Final Judgment 11–21

11
Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem:
12
and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of Jehovah. ​
13
And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning unto Jehovah, the God of Israel. ​
14
Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. ​
15
And Jehovah, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place: ​
16
but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, till there was no remedy. ​
17
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or virgin, old man or hoary-headed: he gave them all into his hand. ​
18
And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.
19
And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. ​
20
And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21
to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: for as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. ​

The Edict of Cyrus and Restoration 22–23

22
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, andput italso in writing, saying, ​
23
Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all his people, Jehovah his God be with him, and let him go up. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Chronicles 36

Verse 1

the people of the land took Jehoahaz — They passed over Eliakim, who was two years older (2 Kgs 23:31, 36), and made Jehoahaz king. He is the 'Shallum the son of Josiah' of Jer 22:11, 'which reigned instead of Josiah his father'. The two sons had different mothers, Hamutal and Zebudah. His name means 'the LORD seizes'.

Verse 3

condemned the land in an hundred talents — 'Put him down' is sur, to remove: Pharaoh took the throne from him and bound him at Riblah (2 Kgs 23:33). 'Condemned' is anash, to fine, and the fine fell on the land, a hundred talents of silver and one of gold. Of Jehoahaz the LORD said he would 'see this land no more' (Jer 22:11–12).

Verse 4

turned his name to Jehoiakim — Eliakim means 'God will raise' and Jehoiakim 'the LORD will raise': the same meaning with the divine name in place of El. Babylon later did the same, changing Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:17). Jehoahaz was carried to Egypt, 'and died there' (2 Kgs 23:34), as Jer 22:10–12 had said.

Verse 5

he did that which was evil — Jeremiah's word came 'in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim' (Jer 26:1). When his roll was read to the king, he 'cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire' (Jer 36:23). Of his end the LORD said, 'He shall be buried with the burial of an ass' (Jer 22:19).

Verse 7

carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD — Daniel dates this to 'the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim' (Dan 1:1): Nebuchadnezzar took 'part of the vessels' to 'the house of his god' in Shinar (Dan 1:2). Belshazzar later drank from them (Dan 5:2–4), and Cyrus brought them out again (Ezra 1:7).

Verse 9

Jehoiachin was eight years old — He is also Coniah in Jer 37:1 and Jechonias in Matthew, who 'begat Salathiel' after the carrying away to Babylon (Matt 1:11–12). Ezekiel dates his visions by 'the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity' (Ezek 1:2).

Verse 10

when the year was expired — Teshuvah is the return of the year, spring, 'the time when kings go forth to battle' (2 Sam 11:1). Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon with the 'goodly vessels' and set up his father's brother Mattaniah, renamed Zedekiah (2 Kgs 24:17). 'Brother' here means kinsman.

Verse 12

humbled not himself — Kana', to be brought low. Zedekiah is set beside Amon, who 'humbled not himself before the LORD' (2 Chr 33:23), and against Manasseh, who 'humbled himself greatly' (33:12), and Josiah, 'thou didst humble thyself before God' (34:27). The word he refused came 'from the mouth of the LORD'.

Verse 13

stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart — The oath was sworn 'by God', and the LORD calls it his own: 'mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken' (Ezek 17:19). 'Stiffened his neck' is the stiffneck of 2 Chr 30:8, 'be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were'; 'hardened' is amats, to make strong.

Verse 14

transgressed very much — Ma'al is breach of faith, the verb of Saul's 'transgression which he committed against the LORD' (1 Chr 10:13), Uzziah's (2 Chr 26:16) and Ahaz's (28:19). Here the chief of the priests and the people commit it, and the house 'which he had hallowed' is polluted, as Ezekiel saw 'great abominations' done at the sanctuary (Ezek 8:6).

Verse 15

rising up betimes, and sending — Shakam is to start early in the morning, and the LORD sent his prophets 'rising early and sending them' (Jer 25:4; cf. Jer 7:13; 35:15). 'Compassion' is chamal, the same word v.17 denies of the king of the Chaldees, who 'had no compassion'. His compassion reaches 'his dwelling place' too.

Verse 16

no remedy — Marpe is healing, the word of Prov 29:1: 'being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy'. Three verbs mark the refusal: the messengers were mocked, the words despised, the prophets misused. In Hezekiah's day the posts were met the same way, 'they laughed them to scorn', yet 'divers' humbled themselves (30:10–11).

Verse 17

the king of the Chaldees — The LORD 'brought upon them' this king and 'gave them all into his hand'. Abraham's family had come from 'Ur of the Chaldees' (Gen 11:31). Moses had named 'a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young' (Deut 28:50); Lam 2:21 sees 'the young and the old' fallen.

Verse 19

burnt the house of God — Jeremiah records the same: 'burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem' (Jer 52:13), and the army 'brake down all the walls' (52:14). The 'goodly vessels' not already taken (vv.7, 10) are destroyed. Ps 79:1 laments, 'thy holy temple have they defiled'.

Verse 21

until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths — 'Enjoyed' is ratsah, to be pleased with, the verb of Lev 26:34 and 26:43, 'shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate'. The seventy years are those of Jer 25:11–12 and 29:10, which Daniel 'understood by books' (Dan 9:2). The land 'kept sabbath' (shabat) while desolate.

Verse 22

the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus — Ur, to rouse, the verb of Ezra 1:5, 'whose spirit God had raised', and of Hag 1:14, where the LORD stirs Zerubbabel and Joshua. It is used also of Pul, stirred against Israel (1 Chr 5:26). Isaiah had named Cyrus beforehand, 'He is my shepherd' (Isa 44:28), and Ezra 1:1 repeats this verse.

Verse 23

let him go up — The book ends on the verb alah, 'go up', and Ezra 1:3 carries the sentence on: 'let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel'. Cyrus names 'the LORD God of heaven' as giver of 'all the kingdoms of the earth', as Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2:37).