Nebuchadnezzar Invades
Study note
During Jehoiakim's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Judah. Jehoiakim served Babylon for three years but then rebelled. God sent raiding bands from Babylon, Syria, Moab, and Ammon against Judah. The author explains that this happened because of God's judgment, particularly for the sins of Manasseh and the innocent blood he had shed. When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became king. Egypt no longer had any power in the region because Babylon had taken everything from the Euphrates to the border of Egypt.
1 During Jehoiakim's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the country. Jehoiakim submitted and served him for three years, but then he turned and rebelled. In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 The Lord sent raiding parties of Babylonians, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Judah to destroy it. This was exactly what the Lord had warned through his prophets. 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.
3 These events happened to Judah because the Lord had ordered it. He wanted to remove them from his sight because of all the sins Manasseh had committed. 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;
4 Manasseh had also spilled so much innocent blood. He filled Jerusalem with it. The Lord would not forgive that. And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.
5 The rest of what Jehoiakim did is recorded in the official history of Judah's kings. 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?
6 When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became the next king. So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
7 The king of Egypt never left his own borders again. The king of Babylon had taken over every territory that used to belong to Egypt. He held everything from the Egyptian border stream all the way to the Euphrates River. 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.
The First Deportation to Babylon
Study note
Jehoiachin was only eighteen and ruled for just three months. When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, Jehoiachin surrendered to save the city from destruction. Nebuchadnezzar carried off all the treasures from the temple and palace, cut up the gold articles Solomon had made, and deported the king, his mother, his wives, and his officials. He also deported ten thousand captives -- all the soldiers, craftsmen, and skilled workers, leaving only the poorest people behind. This deportation in 597 BC included the prophet Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar installed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah as king and changed his name to Zedekiah.
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen when he became king. He ruled from Jerusalem for just three months. His mother was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. 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.
9 He did what the Lord considered evil, following the example his father had set. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
10 While Jehoiachin was king, troops from Babylon came to Jerusalem. They trapped the city. At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
11 King Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived while his troops were still surrounding the city. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
12 King Jehoiachin -- along with his mother, servants, officials, and officers -- walked out and surrendered to the Babylonian king. Nebuchadnezzar took him prisoner. This was in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. 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.
13 Nebuchadnezzar emptied every treasure from the Lord's temple and the royal palace. He cut up all the gold items Solomon had made for the temple, just as the Lord had predicted would happen. 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.
14 He took all of Jerusalem away. He took the leaders, the soldiers, the craftsmen, and metalworkers. Ten thousand were marched off. Only the poorest people stayed behind. 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.
15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin away to Babylon as a prisoner. He also took the king's mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading people of the land into exile. 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.
16 He also took away seven thousand trained soldiers and a thousand craftsmen and metalworkers. They were all strong and ready for battle. 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.
17 Babylon's king put Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah on the throne. He gave him a new name: Zedekiah. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah: Judah's Last King
Study note
Zedekiah was twenty-one when he became king and ruled for eleven years. He did evil in God's sight. Because of the Lord's anger against Jerusalem and Judah, God eventually cast them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, setting the stage for the final destruction of Jerusalem.
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one when he became king. He ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 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.
19 He did what the Lord considered evil, just as Jehoiakim had done. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
20 All of this happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord's anger. Finally, he cast them out of his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon. 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.