2 Kings 24

2 Kings 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE.[3] This chapter records the events during the reigns of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, kings of Judah.[4]

2 Kings 24
The pages containing the Books of Kings (1 & 2 Kings) Leningrad Codex (1008 CE).
BookSecond Book of Kings
Hebrew Bible partNevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part4
CategoryFormer Prophets
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part12

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 20 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[5]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).[6][lower-alpha 1]

Old Testament references

Analysis

A parallel pattern of sequence is observed in the final sections of 2 Kings between 2 Kings 11-20 and 2 Kings 21-25, as follows:[9]

A. Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, kills royal seed (2 Kings 11:1)
B. Joash reigns (2 Kings 11–12)
C. Quick sequence of kings of Israel and Judah (2 Kings 13–16)
D. Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17)
E. Revival of Judah under Hezekiah (2 Kings 18–20)
A'. Manasseh, a king like Ahab, promotes idolatry and kills the innocence (2 Kings 21)
B'. Josiah reigns (2 Kings 22–23)
C'. Quick succession of kings of Judah (2 Kings 24)
D'. Fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25)
E'. Elevation of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 25:27–30)

2 Kings 23–24 contain a 'neat scheme' within the chaos at the end of the kingdom of Judah:[10]

2 Kings 23:31-24:2 2 Kings 24:8-25:1
Jehoahaz reigned for three monthsJehoiachin reigned for three months
Jehoahaz was imprisoned by Pharaoh NechoJehoiachin was imprisoned by Nebuchadnezzar
Necho placed Eliakim on throne and changed his name to JehoiakimNebuchadnezzar placed Mattaniah on throne and changed his name to Zedekiah
Necho took Jehoahaz to Egypt; Jehoahaz died in EgyptNebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon; Jehoiachin was eventually elevated in Babylon

Judah overrun by enemies (24:1–7)

With the placement of Jehoiakim as the puppet king in 609 BCE, Judah was firmly in Egypt's hand. When the Egyptian army of Necho II and his Assyrian allies were defeated by the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar II and his allies -- the Medes, Persians, and Scythians -- in the Battle of Carchemish (605 BCE),[11][12][13] Jehoiakim switched to be Babylonian vassal.[14] In 601 BCE, a battle near Pelusium between Egypt and Babylonia resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, forcing Nebuchadnezzar to return to Babylon to rebuild his army, but Jehoiakim apparently considered this as a Babylonian defeat, so he revolted against Babylonia and returned under the Egypt's wing.[15] During 601-598 BCE Nebuchadnezzar dispatched 'raiding parties from various surrounding nations to harass Judah', until he mustered strong enough army to attack Jerusalem (cf. Jeremiah 35:1, 11; Zephaniah 2:8-10; Babylonian Chronicles, ANET 564),[16] while Egypt could not protect Judah anymore (verse 7).[14] In late 598 BCE, the Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem for three months. Jehoiakim apparently died before the siege ended.[17] The Book of Chronicles recorded that "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ... bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon."[18] Jeremiah prophesied that he died without proper funeral, describing the people of Judah "shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, his glory!' He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:18–19) "and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night" (Jeremiah 36:30).[19] Josephus wrote that Nebuchadnezzar slew Jehoiakim along with high-ranking officers and then commanded Jehoiakim's body "to be thrown before the walls, without any burial."[20]

Verse 7
And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.[21]

Jehoiachin, King of Judah (24:8–16)

The regnal account of Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah) consists of an introductory regnal form (verses 8-9) and a two-part narrative describing the brief three months reign and his exile to Babylon. The first part is marked by the 'syntactically independent introductory temporal formula' of waw-consecutive verbal form, "in that time" (verse 10) regarding the siege of Jerusalem (verses 10-13), whereas the second one (verses 14-17) starts with a 'converted perfect verbal form', "and he exiled". There is no concluding regnal formula, because Jehoiachin's account did not end with his death.[24] The record in 2 Kings 25:27-30 describes his release from the prison during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar's son, Evil-Merodach, stating that he was still alive the writing of the book of Kings was concluded.[24]

Verse 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.[25]
  • "Jehoiachin" the son of Jehoiakim. His existence was attested by tablets found near the Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon (now in Iraq), such as the Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets, dated to c. 592 BCE, mentioning his name in cuneiform (Akkadian: 𒅀𒀪𒌑𒆠𒉡, "Ia-'-ú-kinu") and his five sons as recipients of food rations in Babylon.[26] "Jehoiachin" is the throne name of Jeconiah as written in Jeremiah 24:1; 28:4; 29:2, which has the abbreviated form "Coniah" in Jeremiah 22:24, 28, 37:1.[27]

Verse 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.[28]
  • "Eighth year": based on the ascension method of counting the regnal year in Judah, considering the time Nebuchadnezzar took control of the army prior to his father's death as year 1, whereas the Babylonian Chronicle records this as the seventh year (from the time Nebuchadnezzar's accession to the throne) which is also used in Jeremiah 52:28.[27]

Zedekiah ben Josiah king of Judah (24:17–20)

The regnal account of Zedekiah consists of an introductory regnal part (verses 18–20) and the main part in 2 Kings 25:1–30, without the typical concluding part, because there was no king to succeeded him on the throne after Jerusalem was destroyed.[29]

Verse 31
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.[30]
  • Zedekiah: was the throne name of "Mattaniah", the younger brother of Jehoahaz from the same father and mother (cf. 2 Kings 23:31) and the uncle of Jehoiachin.[14] Despite receiving advice from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:17–21; 38:14–28), Zedekiah chose to revolt against Babylon (cf. 2 Kings 24:20 and Ezekiel 17) and this caused the destruction of Jerusalem.[14]
  • Libnah: in Shephelah. Taking Hamutal as his wife may indicate Josiah's effort to strengthen this southwestern border area of Judah to resist Egypt).[31]

Illustration
  • The king of Babylon made Zedekiah king of Judah.

See also

Notes
  1. The whole book of 2 Kings is missing from the extant Codex Sinaiticus.[7]

References
  1. Halley 1965, p. 211.
  2. Collins 2014, p. 288.
  3. McKane 1993, p. 324.
  4. Sweeney 2007, pp. 452–466.
  5. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35-37.
  6. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73-74.
  7.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Codex Sinaiticus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  8. 2 Kings 24, Berean Study Bible
  9. Leithart 2006, p. 266.
  10. Leithart 2006, p. 273.
  11. Horn, Siegfried H (1967). "The Babylonian Chronicle and the Ancient Calendar of the Kingdom of Judah". Andrews University Seminary Studies (5/1967): 20. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  12. Wiseman, D. J. (1956). Chronicles of Chaldaean Kings (626-556 B.C.). British Museum: British Museum Publications, Ltd. p. 99.
  13. British Museum. "Cuneiform tablet with part of the Babylonian Chronicle (605-594 BC)". britishmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  14. Dietrich 2007, p. 264.
  15. Sweeney 2007, p. 455.
  16. Sweeney 2007, p. 453.
  17. Cohn-Sherbok, Dan (1996) The Hebrew Bible, Continuum International, page x. ISBN 0-304-33703-X
  18. 2 Chronicles 36:6
  19. The Nelson Study Bible 1997, p. 1263–1265.
  20. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book X, chapter 6, part 3.
  21. 2 Kings 24:7 ESV
  22. M. Patrick Graham; William P. Brown; Jeffrey K. Kuan (1 November 1993). History and Interpretation: Essays in Honour of John H. Hayes. A&C Black. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-567-26995-9.
  23. Sweeney 2007, p. 456.
  24. Sweeney 2007, p. 457.
  25. 2 Kings 24:8 KJV
  26. James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969) 308.
  27. Sweeney 2007, p. 459.
  28. 2 Kings 24:12
  29. Sweeney 2007, p. 462.
  30. 2 Kings 24:18 KJV
  31. Sweeney 2007, p. 451.

Sources
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