Bible Commentaries

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.

Ver. 1. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.] Son of Nabopolassar who founded the Babylonian monarchy.

Came up,] sc., After that he had beaten the king of Egypt’s forces at Charchemish. [Jeremiah 46:2]

Then he turned and rebelled against him.] Defectione tam turpi quam exitiosa. The king of Egypt by fair promises prevailed with him to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, as also by threats, that otherwise he would restore Jehoahaz now prisoner in Egypt; which yet Jeremiah assured him should never be. [Jeremiah 22:11-12]

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.

Ver. 2. And the Lord sent against him bands.] Latrunculos the Vulgate renders it. Soldiers that fight in an evil cause are no better than robbers and spoilers. Josephus saith that Nebuchadnezzar, bringing from that siege of Tyre [Ezekiel 26:7] some part of his army, entered therewith Jerusalem, slew Jehoiakim, and cast him out unburied, according to Jeremiah 22:18-19, carrying away three thousand and three and twenty Jews. [Jeremiah 52:28] And here began the seventy years’ captivity: now was Daniel and his companions brought to Babylon, [Daniel 1:3-7] according to Isaiah 39:7.

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;

Ver. 3. Surely at the commandment of the Lord.] Heb., At the mouth, i.e., Ex praestituto. God’s holy hand is in all the miseries that befall his people. [Amos 3:6]

For the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did.] Or, For the like sins to those which Manasseh had done, as Tremellius rendereth it, Traiectio, as in Genesis 5:29, 18:31.

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.

Ver. 4. And also for the innocent blood.] Of this crying sin Jehoahaz also and Jehoiakim were deeply guilty. [Jeremiah 22:17 Ezekiel 19:1-14]

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?

Ver. 5. Now the rest of the acts.] See 1 Kings 15:23.

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

Ver. 6. So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers.] Respectu habito ad communem naturae legem; Jehoiakim died, being slain in Jerusalem, and as "an ass cast forth beyond the gates"; [Jeremiah 22:18-19] or else, going captive to Babylon, he died by the way, ingloria vita recessit, without burial or mourning. [2 Chronicles 36:6] He is also cut out of the roll of the kings of Judah. [Matthew 1:11]

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.

Ver. 7. For the king of Babylon had taken.] About this time died Nabopolassar the father of Nebuchadnezzar: whereupon he, committing the care of his captives to his friends in the army, hastened to Babylon, where, taking upon him the empire, he distributed the captives by colonies into fit places in the country of Babylon, as saith Berosus. ^(a)

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.

Ver. 8. Jehoiakin was eighteen years old,] sc., When he began to reign alone. See 2 Chronicles 36:9. Mutavit Iudaea dominos, non miserias. This king is also called Jechonias, [Matthew 1:11] and Coniah - that is, prepared, sc., for destruction; [Jeremiah 22:24] the name of God - whom he had forsaken - being defalked. ^(a)

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.

Ver. 9. And he did.] See 1 Kings 11:16.

2 Kings 24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

Ver. 10. At that time.] About the spring. [2 Chronicles 36:10] Much about the same time was Cyrus born for a scourge to Babylon, ^(a) but for a relief to God’s poor prisoners of hope there; according as Isaiah had foretold, [Isaiah 47:1-2; Isaiah 13:16] and the psalmist. [Psalms 137:8-9] See Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1-4.

2 Kings 24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.

Ver. 11. And his servants did besiege it.] Till their king came himself in person, and entered the city, as Sulpitius hath it: but whereas he addeth, that at this time, urbem murosque ac templum solo stravit, this is utterly false; for Jehoiachin, by yielding up the city, as Jeremiah had advised him, preserved it; wherein he did the part of a good king, saith Josephus.

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.

Ver. 12. And the king of Babylon took him.] Suscepit eum; gratiose scilicet; he gave him quarter for his life, and in the end, for a reward of his obedience and piety towards his country, he was much advanced by Evilmerodaeh, Nebuchadnezsar’s successor. [2 Kings 25:27]

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.

Ver. 13. All the treasures.] That is, All that he met with, or thought meet. See 2 Kings 25:13-15.

And cut in pieces all.] Yet not all neither. See Ezra 1:7.

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.

Ver. 14. And he carried away all Jerusalem,] i.e., The greater and better part of the people: among the rest, Mordecai the Benjamite the son of Jair, [Esther 2:5-6] and Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, [Ezekiel 1:2-3] who therefore calls it his "captivity" or deportation. [Ezekiel 40:1]

And all the craftsmen and smiths.] The like craft useth the devil, when he endeavoureth to take out of the way such as are zealous and active, valiant for God’s truth, and violent for his kingdom. ^(a)

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.

Ver. 15. These carried he into captivity into Babylon.] Where it fared better with them than with those that were left behind. {Jeremiah 24:4-5, &c.} To these the prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter, if Apocryphal Baruch may be believed. {/APC Bar 6:1}

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.

Ver. 16. Craftsmen, &c.] Eighteen thousand in all; this was the second captivity.

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.

Ver. 17. And the king of Babylon had made Mattaniah.] His name signifieth God’s gift, the same as Nathanael, Theodore, Diodate. Good Josiah gave all his children good names but they proved all stark naught.

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.

Ver. 18. And he reigned eleven years.] But had small joy of his kingdom; so had King John of England.

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

Ver. 19. And he did that which was evil.] Breaking covenant both with God, [Jeremiah 34:17] and with men. [Ezekiel 17:18-19]

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.

Ver. 20. For through the anger of the Lord.] Who hardened Zedekiah’s heart, that he "humbled not himself before Jeremiah," &c. [2 Chronicles 36:12]