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From: 2 Kings 24:8-17

Jehoiakim, king of Judah (608-598)

[8] Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned
three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of
Elnathan of Jerusalem. [9] And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that his father had done.

[10] At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to
Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. [11] And Nebuchadnezzar king of Baby-
lon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it; [12] and Jehoiachin
the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself, and his mo-
ther, and his servants, and his princes, and his palace officials. The king of Ba-
bylon took his prisoner in the eighth year of his reign, [13] and carried off 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 in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon
king of Israel had made, as the Lord had foretold. [14] He carried away all Jeru-
salem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand cap-
tives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, except the poorest
people of the land. [15] And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; the king’s
mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land, he took
into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. [16] And the king of Babylon brought
captive to Babylon all the men of valour, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and
the smiths, one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war. [17] And the king of
Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his stead, and changed
his name to Zedekiah.

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Commentary:

24:8-17. Although repelled by Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar controls the entire region
north of the “Brook of Egypt” (v. 7), and in 597 BC his army lays siege to Jerusa-
lem. The death of King Jehoiakim and the succession of his son Jehoiachin do
not change the situation. Within three months the new king surrenders and is
led captive to Babylon (vv. 12-16) in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar reign.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.