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2 Kings 24

Chapter 24 in 30 seconds

Judah's last kings are puppets of Egypt and Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon comes, and young King Jehoiachin surrenders after three months. He is taken to Babylon with the craftsmen, the soldiers and the temple treasures, and his uncle Zedekiah is made king.

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In this chapterField Notes · ArchaeologyThe Babylonian Chronicle · after verse 17

Babylon Controls Jehoiakim

¹During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

2KI 24:1[ARCHAEOLOGY]Nebuchadnezzar II is named on thousands of bricks and records from Babylon, see The Babylonian Chronicle Field Notes page
2KI 24:1[FULFILLS]God would raise up the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to punish Judah ← HAB 1:5-6

²And Yahweh sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that Yahweh had spoken through His servants the prophets. ³Surely this happened to Judah at Yahweh’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done, ⁴and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh was unwilling to forgive.

⁵As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah// 2 Chronicles 36:9–10

⁶And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.

2KI 24:6[ARCHAEOLOGY]King Jehoiachin is named on ration tablets from Babylon, see The Jehoiachin Ration Tablets Field Notes page

⁷Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

⁸Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. ⁹And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh, just as his father had done.

2KI 24:8[TEXT]18 OR 8? Most Hebrew copies of 2 Chronicles 36:9 say eight. Some copies say eighteen, like this verse, and this Bible follows them there too.

The Captivity of Jerusalem// Lamentations 1:1–22

¹⁰At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. ¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it. ¹²Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon.

2KI 24:10[ARCHAEOLOGY]Babylonian Chronicle of Nebuchadnezzar

So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive. ¹³As Yahweh had declared, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off all the treasures from the house of Yahweh and the royal palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh. ¹⁴He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.

2KI 24:13[FULFILLS]Isaiah told Hezekiah his descendants would be carried to Babylon as eunuchs ← 2KI 20:16-18
2KI 24:14[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → MT 1:11
2KI 24:14[FULFILLS]Pashhur the priest and all his household would go into Babylonian captivity and die there ← JER 20:4-6MEDIUM

¹⁵Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶The king of Babylon also brought into exile to Babylon all seven thousand men of valor and a thousand craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for battle.

2KI 24:15[FULFILLS]Coniah and his mother would be hurled into a foreign land and die there ← JER 22:24-26

¹⁷Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Field Notes · Archaeology

The Babylonian Chronicle

2 Kings 24:1 to 17 · 2 Chronicles 36:9 to 10 · Jeremiah 46:2

The Babylonian Chronicle tablet for 605 to 594 BC, British Museum. The lines about Jerusalem are on the back. Photo Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, CC BY SA 4.0.

WHAT IT IS: A clay tablet from Babylon's own yearly records of the first years of Nebuchadnezzar II. It tells about his wars from 605 to 594 BC.
HOW OLD IT IS: It was copied from Babylon's records kept at the time.
WHERE AND WHEN FOUND: The British Museum bought it from a dealer in 1896. Nobody knows exactly where it was dug up. D. J. Wiseman published it in 1956.
WHAT IT SAYS: In his seventh year, the king of Babylon marched to the land of Hatti and camped against the city of Judah. On the second day of the month Adar he seized the city and captured the king. He appointed a king of his own choice and took heavy tribute to Babylon.
AN EXACT DATE: The second of Adar in Nebuchadnezzar's seventh year was March 15 or 16, 597 BC. It is one of the most exact dates in all of Bible history. The Bible says Jehoiachin gave himself up after three months as king, and Zedekiah was put in his place, 24:8 to 17.
THE LAND OF HATTI: Babylon called all the land west of the Euphrates River, Syria and Israel included, the land of Hatti, after the old Hittite kingdom.
A WHOLE SERIES: This tablet is one of a set of chronicles that list each year's main events in short, plain lines. Others in the set tell of the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC and of Cyrus taking Babylon in 539 BC.
DANIEL'S DAY: In 605 BC, the year of Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar became king. Daniel 1:1 to 6 says that about this time Daniel and other young men of Judah were first taken to Babylon.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: The tablet does not name Jehoiachin or Zedekiah. But it tells the same event as 2 Kings 24:10 to 17, from Babylon's side. The same tablet records the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, Jeremiah 46:2.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah// 2 Chronicles 36:11–14; Jeremiah 52:1–3

¹⁸Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

¹⁹And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of Yahweh, just as Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For because of the anger of Yahweh, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence.

And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.

2KI 24:20[FULFILLS]The king who broke his oath to Babylon would die in Babylon ← EZK 17:16

2 Kings 24

Babylon Controls Jehoiakim

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah// 2 Chronicles 36:9–10

The Captivity of Jerusalem// Lamentations 1:1–22

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah// 2 Chronicles 36:11–14; Jeremiah 52:1–3

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