A verse by verse commentary on 2 Chronicles 36 dealing with Jehoahaz King of Judah, Jehoiakim King of Judah, Jehoiachin King of Judah, Zedekiah King of Judah and The Fall of Jerusalem.

1. 2 CHRO ICLES 36 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of
Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place
of his father.
BAR ES, "The narrative runs parallel with 2 Kings (marginal reference) as far as
2Ch_36:13. The writer then emits the events following, and substitutes a sketch in which
the moral and didactic element preponderates over the historical.
CLARKE, "Took Jehoahaz - It seems that after Necho had discomfited Josiah, he
proceeded immediately against Charchemish, and in the interim, Josiah dying of his
wounds, the people made his son king.
GILL 1-13, "Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,....
Of whose reign, and of the three following, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, and
the account of them, from hence to the end of 2Ch_36:13, what needs explanation or
reconciliation; see Gill on 2Ki_23:31, 2Ki_23:32, 2Ki_23:33, 2Ki_23:34, 2Ki_23:35,
2Ki_23:36, 2Ki_23:37, 2Ki_24:5, 2Ki_24:6, 2Ki_24:8, 2Ki_24:10, 2Ki_24:17, 2Ki_
24:18
HE RY 1-10, "The destruction of Judah and Jerusalem is here coming on by
degrees. God so ordered it to show that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners, but had
rather they would turn and live, and therefore gives them both time and inducement to
repent and waits to be gracious. The history of these reigns was more largely recorded in
the last three chapters of the second of Kings. 1. Jehoahaz was set up by the people
(2Ch_36:1), but in one quarter of a year was deposed by Pharaoh-necho, and carried a
prisoner to Egypt, and the land fined for setting him up, 2Ch_36:2-4. Of this young
prince we hear no more. Had he trodden in the steps of his father's piety he might have
reigned long and prospered; but we are told in the Kings that he did evil in the sight of
the Lord, and therefore his triumphing was short and his joy but for a moment. 2.
Jehoiakim was set up by the king of Egypt, an old enemy to their land, gave what king he
pleased to the kingdom and what name he pleased to the king! 2Ch_36:4. He made
Eliakim king, and called him Jehoiakim, in token of his authority over him. Jehoiakim
did that which was evil (2Ch_36:5), nay, we read of the abominations which he did
(2Ch_36:8); he was very wild and wicked. Idolatries generally go under the name of

2. abominations. We hear no more of the king of Egypt, but the king of Babylon came up
against him (2Ch_36:6), seized him, and bound him with a design to carry him to
Babylon; but, it seems, he either changed his mind, and suffered him to reign as his
vassal, or death released the prisoner before he was carried away. However the best and
most valuable vessels of the temple were now carried away and made use of in
Nebuchadnezzar's temple in Babylon (2Ch_36:7); for, we may suppose, no temple in the
world was so richly furnished as that of Jerusalem. The sin of Judah was that they had
brought the idols of the heathen into God's temple; and now their punishment was that
the vessels of the temple were carried away to the service of the gods of the nations. If
men will profane God's institutions by their sins, it is just with God to suffer them to be
profaned by their enemies. These were the vessels which the false prophets flattered the
people with hopes of the return of, Jer_27:16. But Jeremiah told them that the rest
should go after them (Jer_27:21, Jer_27:22), and they did so. But, as the carrying away
of these vessels to Babylon began the calamity of Jerusalem, so Belshazzar's daring
profanation of them there filled the measure of the iniquity of Babylon; for, when he
drank wine in them to the honour of his gods, the handwriting on the wall presented him
with his doom, Dan_5:3, etc. In the reference to the book of the Kings concerning this
Jehoiakim mention is made of that which was found in him (2Ch_36:8), which seems to
be meant of the treachery that was found in him towards the king of Babylon; but some
of the Jewish writers understand it of certain private marks or signatures found in his
dead body, in honour of his idol, such cuttings as God had forbidden, Lev_19:28. 3.
Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, attempted to reign in his stead, and
reigned long enough to show his evil inclination; but, after three months and ten days,
the king of Babylon sent and fetched him away captive, with more of the goodly vessels
of the temple. He is here said to be eight years old, but in Kings he is said to be eighteen
when he began to reign, so that this seems to be a mistake of the transcriber, unless we
suppose that his father took him at eight years old to join with him in the government, as
some think.
JAMISO , "2Ch_36:1-4. Jehoahaz, succeeding, is deposed by Pharaoh.
the people of the land took Jehoahaz — Immediately after Josiah’s overthrow
and death, the people raised to the throne Shallum (1Ch_3:15), afterwards called
Jehoahaz, in preference to his older brother Eliakim, from whom they expected little
good. Jehoahaz is said (2Ki_23:30) to have received at Jerusalem the royal anointing - a
ceremony not usually deemed necessary, in circumstances of regular and undisputed
succession. But, in the case of Jehoahaz, it seems to have been resorted to in order to
impart greater validity to the act of popular election; and, it may be, to render it less
likely to be disturbed by Necho, who, like all Egyptians, would associate the idea of
sanctity with the regal anointing. He was the youngest son of Josiah, but the popular
favorite, probably on account of his martial spirit (Eze_19:3) and determined opposition
to the aggressive views of Egypt. At his accession the land was free from idolatry; but
this prince, instead of following the footsteps of his excellent father, adopted the
criminal policy of his apostatizing predecessors. Through his influence, directly or
indirectly used, idolatry rapidly increased (see 2Ki_23:32).
K&D 1-4, "The reign of Jehoahaz. Cf. 2Ki_23:30-35. - After Josiah's death, the
people of the land raised his son Jehoahaz (Joahaz), who was then twenty-three years
old, to the throne; but he had been king in Jerusalem only three months when the
Egyptian king (Necho) deposed him, imposed upon the land a fine of 100 talents of

3. silver and one talent of gold, made his brother Eliakim king under the name Jehoiakim,
and carried Jehoahaz, who had been taken prisoner, away captive to Egypt. For further
information as to the capture and carrying away of Jehoahaz, and the appointment of
Eliakim to be king, see on 2Ki_23:31-35.
BE SO , ". The people of the land took Jehoahaz, &c. — The principal contents of
this chapter are explained in the notes on 2 Kings 23:31, and 24., and 25., to which
the reader is referred. What is peculiar to this chapter shall be noticed here.
ELLICOTT, "THE REIG OF JEHOAHAZ (2 Chronicles 36:1-4). (Comp. 2 Kings
23:30-35; 3 Esdr. 1:32-36.)
(1) Then.—And.
The people of the land took Jehoahaz.—Comp. 2 Chronicles 26:1; 2 Chronicles
33:25. Jehoahaz or Shallum was not the firstborn (1 Chron. iii 15). See otes on 2
Kings 23:30, with which this verse agrees.
GUZIK, "A. The last four kings of Judah.
1. (2 Chronicles 36:1-4) The short reign of King Jehoahaz.
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in
his father’s place in Jerusalem. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he
became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ow the king of Egypt
deposed him at Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred
talents of silver and a talent of gold. Then the king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s
brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to
Jehoiakim. And echo took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him off to Egypt.
a. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and
made him king in his father’s place: “The regular succession to the throne of Judah
ceased with the lamented Josiah. Jehoahaz was not the eldest son of the late king.
Johanan and Jehoiakim were both older than he (1 Chronicles 3:15). He was made
king by popular choice: it was the preference of the multitude, not the appointment
of God.” (Knapp)
i. “It seems that after echo had discomfited Josiah, he proceeded immediately
against Charchemish, and in the interim, Josiah dying of his wounds, the people
made his son king.” (Clarke)
ii. “His name is omitted from among those of our Lord’s ancestors in Matthew 1. . . .
which may imply that God did not recognize Jehoahaz, the people’s choice, as being
in a true sense the successor.” (Knapp)

4. iii. 2 Kings 23:32 tells us, he did evil in the sight of the LORD. The reforms of King
Josiah were wonderful, but they were not a long-lasting revival. His own son
Jehoahaz did not follow in his godly ways.
iv. “Jehoahaz (‘Yahweh has seized’) was probably a throne name, for his personal
name as Shallum (Jeremiah 22:11; 1 Chronicles 3:15). The practice of
primogeniture was overridden in view of his older brother (Eliakim) showing anti-
Egyptian tendencies.” (Wiseman)
b. echo took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him off to Egypt: After the defeat of
King Josiah in battle, Pharaoh was able to dominate Judah and make it effectively a
vassal kingdom and a buffer against the growing Babylonian Empire. He imposed
on the land a tribute and put on the throne of Judah a puppet king, a brother of
Jehoahaz (Eliakim, renamed Jehoiakim).
2. (2 Chronicles 36:5-8) The reign and captivity of Jehoiakim.
PULPIT, "One short chapter now brings to a conclusion the work, in so many
aspects remarkable, called 'The Chronicles.' And thirteen verses sum the contents of
the four last pre-Captivity kings of the line of Judah. The words of Keil, in opening
this last chapter in his commentary, are not unworthy of note. He says, "As the
kingdom of Judah after Josiah's death advanced with swift steps to its destruction
by the Chaldeans, so the author of the Chronicle goes quickly over the reigns of the
last kings of Judah, who by their godless con-duet hastened the ruin of the kingdom.
As to the four kings remaining, who reigned between Josiah's death and the
destruction of Jerusalem, he gives, besides their ages at their respective accessions,
only a short characterization of their conduct towards God, and a statement of the
main events which, step by step, brought about the ruin of the king and the burning
of Jerusalem and the temple."
This chapter, then, contains, first, very brief accounts of the four reigns of Jehoahaz
(2 Chronicles 36:1-4), Eliakim or Jehoiakim (2 Chronicles 36:4-8), Jehoiachin (2
Chronicles 36:9, 2 Chronicles 36:10), and Zedekiah (2 Chronicles 36:10-13); next,
general remarks on the iniquity that heralded the destruction of the nation and the
punishment of it by the Chaldean captivity (2 Chronicles 36:14-17); thirdly, the
methods of that destruction and captivity (2 Chronicles 36:17-21); and lastly, the
restoring proclamation of Cyrus King of Persia.
2 Chronicles 36:1
The people of the land took Jehoahaz (see parallel, 2 Kings 23:30). The form of
expression may indicate the hearty zeal of the nation for this chosen son of Josiah,
who seems to have been not the eldest. In the next verse, as Revised Version, he is
called Joahaz. In 1 Chronicles 3:15, as in the affecting passage Jeremiah 22:10-12,
his name appears as Shallum. His mother's name was Hamutal, while the name of

5. the mother of his immediate sue-cessor was Zebudah (2 Kings 23:31 and 2 Kings
23:36).
HAWKER, "The very short reign of Jehoahaz furnished but little subject of
observation. The time was now hastening when Judah, like Israel, should cease to be a
kingdom. Here is the Egyptian king triumphing over Judah, putting down one king and
setting up another, and changing his name at his pleasure. Is this God’s Judah? alas!
what hath sin wrought! Here Jeremiah’s account appears to have been marked with
truth when he said, The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron. Jer_17:1.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
2 Jehoahaz[a] was twenty-three years old when he
became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three
months.
JAMISO , "he reigned three months in Jerusalem — His possession of
sovereign power was of but very brief duration; for Necho determined to follow up the
advantage he had gained in Judah; and, deeming it expedient to have a king of his own
nomination on the throne of that country, he deposed the popularly elected monarch
and placed his brother Eliakim or Jehoiakim on the throne, whom he anticipated to be a
mere obsequious vassal. The course of events seems to have been this: on receiving
intelligence after the battle of the accession of Jehoahaz to the throne, and perhaps also
in consequence of the complaint which Eliakim brought before him in regard to this
matter, Necho set out with a part of his forces to Jerusalem, while the remainder of his
troops pursued their way at leisure towards Riblah, laid a tribute on the country, raised
Eliakim (Jehoiakim) as his vassal to the throne, and on his departure brought Jehoahaz
captive with him to Riblah. The old expositors mostly assumed that Necho, after the
battle of Megiddo, marched directly against Carchemish, and then on his return came to
Jerusalem. The improbability, indeed the impossibility, of his doing so appears from
this: Carchemish was from four hundred to five hundred miles from Megiddo, so that
within “three months” an army could not possibly make its way thither, conquer the
fenced city of Carchemish, and then march back a still greater distance to Jerusalem,
and take that city [Keil].

6. PULPIT, "Put him down; Hebrew, ‫הוּ‬ ֵ‫ִיר‬‫ס‬ְ‫י‬ַ‫ו‬ ; i.e. deposed him (Revised Version). At
Jerusalem. In something more than three months Pharaoh- echo seems to have
been returning, and in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The parallel (2 Kings
23:31) tells us that he put Jahoahaz "in bands" at "Riblath in the land of Hamath"
(Ezekiel 19:4). And condemned the land; i.e. inflicted a fine on the land; Hebrew,
‫ֲנשׁ‬‫ע‬ַ‫יּ‬ַ‫ו‬ . From this time nothing further is heard of Jehoahaz or Shallum.
3 The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem
and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents
[b] of silver and a talent[c] of gold.
CLARKE, "The king of Egypt put him down - He now considered Judah to be
conquered, and tributary to him and because the people had set up Jehoahaz without his
consent, he dethroned him, and put his brother in his place, perhaps for no other reason
but to show his supremacy. For other particulars, see the notes on 2Ki_23:31-35 (note).
JAMISO , "an hundred talents of silver — about $170,000.
and a talent of gold — about $25,000; total amount of tribute, $195,000.
ELLICOTT, "(3) And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem.—Rather,
removed him. 3 Esdr. adds “from reigning,” which is almost demanded by the
context. The LXX. follows the reading of 2 Kings 23:33 : “And Pharaoh-necho
bound him in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, from reigning (i.e., so that he reigned
not) in Jerusalem “; but the Syriac and Vulg. support the existing Hebrew text. The
LXX. begins the verse thus: “And he did the evil before the Lord, according to all
that his fathers had done; “and adds, after the clause about the fine, “and the king
took him away to Egypt.”
Condemned the land in.—Fined the land.—So Kings: “laid a fine upon the land.”
Riblah was in Syria, on the river Orontes. echo may have ordered or enticed
Jehoahaz to meet him there.

7. 4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of
Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and
changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But echo
took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him
off to Egypt.
JAMISO , "carried him — Jehoahaz.
to Egypt — There he died (Jer_22:10-12).
K&D, "
COFFMA , "Joahaz mentioned in 2 Chronicles 36:4 is only the abbreviated name
of the deposed king Jehoahaz. At this point, eco was master of Judah and
Jerusalem, and God's people were merely vassals of Egypt.
ELLICOTT, "(4) And the king of Egypt made Eliakim.—The verse agrees with 2
Kings 23:34.
Carried him to Egypt.—Made him come. Kings, “and he came to Egypt, and died
there.” Comp. Jeremiah 22:10-12. The LXX. adds: and the silver and the gold he
gave to the Pharaoh. Then the land began to be assessed, in order to give the money
into the mouth of Pharaoh. And each according to ability used to demand the silver
and the gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh-necho.”
PULPIT, "Eliakim. The meaning of the word is "God sets up;" the meaning of
Jehoiakim is "Jehovah sets up." An Egyptian king knew and recognized the word
"God," but possibly meant to taunt the "Jehovah" of the Jew
Jehoiakim King of Judah

8. 5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he
became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven
years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.
JAMISO , "2Ch_36:5-8. Jehoiakim, reigning ill, is carred into Babylon.
Jehoiakim ... did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord — He followed
the course of his idolatrous predecessors; and the people, to a great extent, disinclined to
the reforming policy of his father, eagerly availed themselves of the vicious license which
his lax administration restored. His character is portrayed with a masterly hand in the
prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer_22:13-19). As the deputy of the king of Egypt, he departed
further than his predecessor from the principles of Josiah’s government; and, in trying
to meet the insatiable cupidity of his master by grinding exactions from his subjects, he
recklessly plunged into all evil.
K&D, "The reign of Jehoiakim. Cf. 2 Kings 23:36-24:7. - Jehoiakim was at his accession
twenty-five years of age, reigned eleven years, and did that which was evil in the eyes of
Jahve his God.
ELLICOTT, "THE REIG OF JEHOIAKIM (2 Chronicles 36:5-8). (Comp. 2
Kings 23:36 to 2 Kings 24:7; 2 Kings 3 Esdr. 1:37-41; Jeremiah 25:26)
(5) Jehoiakim . . . in Jerusalem.—2 Kings 23:36, adding the mother’s name. here. So
LXX.
And he did . . . the Lord.—2 Kings 23:37, which adds “according to all that his
fathers had done.” So LXX.
ebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.— abium-kudurri-uçur (“ ebo guard the crown!
“) son of abopalassar, who had founded this dynasty by successful revolt against
Assyria. His extant inscriptions chiefly relate to palace and temple building.
Schrader gives a short inscription from a brick now in the Zürich Museum. “ abû-
Kudurri-uçur, king of Babylon, restorer of Esagili and Ezida [two famous temples],
son of abû-abala-uçur, King of Babylon am I.” o really historical inscription is
known except a fragment relating to his Egyptian campaign in his 37th year (568
B.C. ), and an illegible one on the rocks of ahr-el-Kelb near Beirut. The LXX. here
interpolates the account of Jehoiakim’s three years of vassalage, and his revolt
against ebuchadnezzar, and the other events and reflections contained in 2 Kings

9. 24:1-4. The LXX. makes Jehoiakim, instead of Manasseh, “fill Jerusalem with
innocent blood,” contrary to the Hebrew text.
And bound him in fetters.—Two bronze (chains), as in 2 Chronicles 33:11.
To carry him to Babylon.—To make him go. It is not said that this intention was
carried out. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 33:11, “and carried him to Babylon.”)
ebuchadnezzar, who, according to Jeremiah 46:2, had defeated echo in a great
battle at Carchemish, in the 4th year of Jehoiakim, appears to have left the king of
Judah to reign as a vassal-king, after inflicting upon him a severe humiliation. (The
LXX., 3 Esdr., Vulg., and Arabic, but not the Syriac, read: “and carried him to
Babylon.”) Thenius says this must be the right reading, and then denies its claim to
credibility. He further asserts that, “in order to allow ample scope for the fulfilment
of the prophecy of Jeremiah” (see ote on 2 Chronicles 36:8), the chronicler has
represented Jehoiakim as carried alive to Babylon in the last year of his reign. This
statement rests not upon objective historical grounds, but upon subjective
prejudices against the chronicler.
Daniel 1:1, by a transcriber’s error, puts this first capture of Jerusalem by
ebuchadnezzar in the third year of Jehoiakim; whereas ebuchadnezzar only
became king in the fourth of Jehoiakim. (2 Kings 25:8; Jeremiah 25:1.)
GUZIK, "2. (2 Chronicles 36:5-8) The reign and captivity of Jehoiakim.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven
years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
ebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in bronze
fetters to carry him off to Babylon. ebuchadnezzar also carried off some of the
articles from the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at
Babylon. ow the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations which he did, and
what was found against him, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of
Israel and Judah. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
a. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king: Jehoiakim was
nothing more than a puppet king presiding over a vassal kingdom under the
Egyptians. He imposed heavy taxes on the people and paid the money to the
Egyptians, as required (2 Kings 23:35).
i. “ echoh had placed him there as a viceroy, simply to raise and collect his taxes.”
(Clarke)
ii. “Yet at the same time Jehoiakim was wasting resources on the construction of a
new palace by forced labour (Jeremiah 22:13-19).” (Wiseman)
b. He did evil in the sight of the LORD: Jehoiakim, like his brother Jehoahaz, did
not follow the godly example of his father Josiah.

10. i. Jeremiah 36:22-24 describes the great ungodliness of Jehoiakim - how he even
burned a scroll of God’s word. In response to this, Jeremiah received this message
from God: And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, “Thus says the LORD:
‘You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of
Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease
from here?”‘ Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah:
‘He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast
out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.’” (Jeremiah 36:29-30)
ii. “To all his former evils he added this, that he slew Urijah the prophet (Jeremiah
26:20; Jer_26:23).” (Trapp)
c. ebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up: ebuchadnezzar, king of the
Babylonian Empire, was concerned with Judah because of its strategic position in
relation to the empires of Egypt and Assyria. Therefore it was important to him to
conquer Judah and make it a subject kingdom (his vassal), securely loyal to
Babylon.
i. ebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem because the Pharaoh of Egypt invaded
Babylon. In response the young prince ebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at
Charchemish, and then he pursued their fleeing army all the way down to the Sinai.
Along the way (or on the way back), he subdued Jerusalem, who had been loyal to
the Pharaoh of Egypt.
ii. This happened in 605 B.C. and it was the first (but not the last) encounter
between ebuchadnezzar and Jehoiakim. There would be two later invasions (597
and 587 B.C.).
iii. This specific attack is documented by the Babylonian Chronicles, a collection of
tablets discovered as early as 1887, held in the British Museum. In them,
ebuchadnezzar’s 605 B.C. presence in Judah is documented and clarified. When
the Babylonian chronicles were finally published in 1956, they gave us first-rate,
detailed political and military information about the first 10 years of
ebuchadnezzar’s reign. L.W. King prepared these tablets in 1919; he then died,
and they were neglected for four decades.
iv. Excavations also document the victory of ebuchadnezzar over the Egyptians at
Carchemish in May or June of 605 B.C. Archaeologists found evidences of battle,
vast quantities of arrowheads, layers of ash, and a shield of a Greek mercenary
fighting for the Egyptians.
v. This campaign of ebuchadnezzar was interrupted suddenly when he heard of
his father’s death and raced back to Babylon to secure his succession to the throne.
He traveled about 500 miles in two weeks - remarkable speed for travel in that day.
ebuchadnezzar only had the time to take a few choice captives (such as Daniel), a
few treasures and a promise of submission from Jehoiakim.

11. d. Bound him in bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon: According to 2 Kings
24:1-7 this happed because Jehoiakim rebelled against ebuchadnezzar. God did
not bless this rebellion because though Jehoiakim was a patriot of the kingdom of
Judah, but not a man submitted to God. These sins were among those things that
were found against him.
i. 2 Chronicles 36:6 tells us that ebuchadnezzar intended to take Jehoiakim to
Babylon, bound in bronze fetters. Yet Jeremiah 22:19 tells us that he would be
disgracefully buried outside of Jerusalem.
ii. “The closing formulae make no reference to the burial of Jehoiakim, whose death
occurred about December 598 before the first capture of Jerusalem by
ebuchadnezzar. 2 Chronicles 36:7 implies that he was taken to Babylon, but
Jeremiah 22:19 tells how he was thrown unmourned outside Jerusalem, perhaps by
a pro-Babylonian group who gave him the unceremonial burial of ‘an ass’.”
(Wiseman)
iii. “2 Chronicles 36:6 states that ebuchadnezzar ‘bound him in fetters, to carry
him to Babylon.’ It does not say he was taken there. He may have been released
after promising subjection to his conqueror.” (Knapp)
6 ebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him
and bound him with bronze shackles to take him
to Babylon.
CLARKE, "Came up Nebuchadnezzar - See the notes on 2Ki_24:1.
Archbishop Usher believes that Jehoiakim remained three years after this tributary to
the Chaldeans, and that it is from this period that the seventy years’ captivity, predicted
by Jeremiah, is to be reckoned.
JAMISO , "Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon — This
refers to the first expedition of Nebuchadnezzar against Palestine, in the lifetime of his
father Nabopolassar, who, being old and infirm, adopted his son as joint sovereign and
dispatched him, with the command of his army, against the Egyptian invaders of his
empire. Nebuchadnezzar defeated them at Carchemish, drove them out of Asia, and

12. reduced all the provinces west of the Euphrates to obedience - among the rest the
kingdom of Jehoiakim, who became a vassal of the Assyrian empire (2Ki_24:1).
Jehoiakim at the end of three years threw off the yoke, being probably instigated to
revolt by the solicitations of the king of Egypt, who planned a new expedition against
Carchemish. But he was completely vanquished by the Babylonian king, who stripped
him of all his possessions between the Euphrates and the Nile (2Ki_24:7). Then
marching against the Egyptian’s ally in Judah, he took Jerusalem, carried away a portion
of the sacred vessels of the temple, perhaps in lieu of the unpaid tribute, and deposited
them in the temple of his god, Belus, at Babylon (Dan_1:2; Dan_5:2). Though Jehoiakim
had been taken prisoner (and it was designed at first to transport him in chains to
Babylon), he was allowed to remain in his tributary kingdom. But having given not long
after some new offense, Jerusalem was besieged by a host of Assyrian dependents. In a
sally against them Jehoiakim was killed (see on 2Ki_24:2-7; also Jer_22:18, Jer_22:19;
Jer_36:30).
K&D, "The reign of Jehoiakim. Cf. 2 Kings 23:36-24:7. - Jehoiakim was at his
accession twenty-five years of age, reigned eleven years, and did that which was evil in
the eyes of Jahve his God.
2Ch_36:6-8
“Against him came Nebuchadnezzar (in inscriptions, Nabucudurriusur, i.e., Nebo
coronam servat; see on Dan. S. 56) the king of Babylon, and bound him with brazen
double fetters to carry him to Babylon.” This campaign, Nebuchadnezzar's first against
Judah, is spoken of also in 2 Kings 24 and Dan_1:1-2. The capture of Jerusalem, at
which Jehoiakim was put in fetters, occurred, as we learn from Dan_1:1, col. c. Jer_46:2
and Jer_36:7, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, i.e., in the year 606 b.c.; and with
it commence the seventy years of the Chaldean servitude of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar did
not carry out his purpose of deporting the captured king Jehoiakim to Babylon, but
allowed him to continue to reign at Jerusalem as his servant (vassal). To alter the infin.
‫ּו‬‫כ‬‫י‬ ִ‫ּול‬‫ה‬ ְ‫ל‬ into the perf., or to translate as the perf., is quite arbitrary, as is also the
supplying of the words, “and he carried him away to Babylon.” That the author of the
Chronicle does not mention the actual carrying away, but rather assumes the contrary,
namely, that Jehoiakim continued to reign in Jerusalem until his death, as well known,
is manifest from the way in which, in 2Ch_36:8, he records his son's accession to the
throne. He uses the same formula which he has used in the case of all the kings whom at
their death their sons succeeded, according to established custom. Had Nebuchadnezzar
dethroned Jehoiakim, as Necho deposed Jehoahaz, the author of the Chronicle would
not have left the installation of Jehoiachin by the Chaldean king unmentioned. For the
defence of this view against opposing opinions, see the commentary on 2Ki_24:1 and
Dan_1:1; and in regard to 2Ch_36:7, see on Dan_1:2. The Chronicle narrates nothing
further as to Jehoiakim's reign, but refers, 2Ch_36:8, for his other deeds, and especially
his abominations, to the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, whence the most
important things have been excerpted and incorporated in 2Ki_24:1-4. ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ ‫יו‬ ָ‫ּות‬‫ב‬ ֲ‫ּוע‬
Bertheau interprets of images which he caused to be prepared, and ‫יו‬ ָ‫ל‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫צ‬ ְ‫מ‬ִ ַ‫ה‬ of his evil
deeds; but in both he is incorrect. The passages which Bertheau cites for his
interpretation of the first words, Jer_7:9. and Eze_8:17, prove the contrary; for
Jeremiah mentions as ‫ּות‬‫ב‬ ֲ‫ּוע‬ of the people, murder, adultery, false swearing, offering

13. incense to Baal, and going after other gods; and Ezekiel, loc. cit., uses ‫ּות‬‫ב‬ ֵ‫ּוע‬ ‫ּות‬‫שׂ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ of the
idolatry of the people indeed, but not of the making of images - only of the worship of
idols, the practice of idol-worship. The abominations, consequently, which Jehoiakim
committed are both his evil deeds and crimes, e.g., the shedding of innocent blood (2Ki_
24:4), as well as the idolatry which he had practised. ‫יו‬ ָ‫ל‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫צ‬ ְ‫מ‬ִ ַ‫,ה‬ “what was found upon
him,” is a comprehensive designation of his whole moral and religious conduct and
attitude; cf. 2Ch_19:3. Jehoiakim's revolt from Nebuchadnezzar after three years'
servitude (2Ki_24:1) is passed over by the author of the Chronicle, because the
punishment of this crime influenced the fate of the kingdom of Judah only after his
death. The punishment fell upon Jehoiachin; for the detachments of Arameans,
Moabites, and Ammonites, which were sent by Nebuchadnezzar to punish the rebels, did
not accomplish much.
BE SO , "2 Chronicles 36:6. And bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon —
But he did not carry him thither, for ebuchadnezzar altered his mind, and
permitted him to reign at Jerusalem as his tributary, though he carried away, as it
follows, some of the vessels of the temple, and also certain principal persons, as we
read in the first of Daniel.
PULPIT, "Against him came up ebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. Our mere
allusions in this and the following verse to ebuchadnezzar's relations to Jehoiakim
and Judah are strange in comparison with the graphic account furnished by the
parallel (2 Kings 24:1-6). The name is the same with abokodrosoros, is written in
the Assyrian monuments ebu-kuduri-utzur, and meaning, " ebo (Isaiah 46:1),
protector from ill," or "protects the crown." In Jeremiah (Jeremiah 49:28) we have
the name written ebuchadrezzar, as also in Ezekiel. ebuchadnezzar, second King
of Babylon, was the son of abopolassar, who took ineveh B.C. 625, and reigned
above forty years. Though we are here told he bound Jehoiakim in chains, to take
him to Babylon, for some reason or other he did not carry out this intention, and
Jehoiakim was put to death at Jerusalem (Jeremiah 12:1-17 :18, 19; Jeremiah 36:30;
Ezekiel 19:8, Ezekiel 19:9). The expedition of ebuchadnezzar was B.C. 605-4
(Daniel 1:1; Jeremiah 25:1), and during it, his father dying, he succeeded to the
throne.
7 ebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles
from the temple of the Lord and put them in his
temple[d] there.

14. BAR ES, "In his temple - Compare “the house of his god” Dan_1:2.
Nebuchadnezzars inscriptions show him to have been the special votary of Merodach,
the Babylonian Mars. His temple, which the Greeks called the temple of Behus, was one
of the most magnificent buildings in Babylon. Its ruins still remain in the vast mound,
called Babil, which is the loftiest and most imposing of the “heaps” that mark the site of
the ancient city.
ELLICOTT, "(7) ebuchadnezzar also carried.—And of the vessels of the house . . .
did ebuchadnezzar bring. ot mentioned in Kings, but confirmed by Daniel 1:2.
In his temple.—The temple of “Mercdach, my Lord” (Bilu, i.e., Bel), whom his
inscriptions so frequently mention. The great temple of Belus (Bel Merodach),
which ebuchadnezzar built, was one of the wonders of the world to Herodotus
(Herod, i. 181 seq.)
PULPIT, "(Comp. Daniel 2:2.) The temple here called his temple was, no doubt, the
temple of Belus, or in the vernacular "Merodach," the Babylonian god of war. This
rifling of the sacred vessels of Jerusalem's temple for Babylon's temple was the
significant beginning of the end for Judah now at last, after many a warning.
8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the
detestable things he did and all that was found
against him, are written in the book of the kings
of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son
succeeded him as king.
BAR ES, "His abominations which he did - See Jer_7:9, Jer_7:30-31; Jer_
19:3-13; Jer_25:1 etc.; Jehoiakim appears to have restored all the idolatries which Josiah
his father had swept away.

15. BE SO , "2 Chronicles 36:8. That which was found in him — That crime of
rebellion against the king of Babylon, which for a time he kept in his own breast,
but when he saw fit, discovered it and was convicted of it.
ELLICOTT, "(8) ow the rest of the acts.—(Comp. 2 Kings 24:5.)
And his abominations which he did.—His crimes against God and man, i.e.,
probably acts of idolatry and tyranny. (Comp. Jeremiah 25:6; Jeremiah 7:5-11;
Jeremiah 22:13-19; covetousness, shedding innocent blood, &c. charged against
him.)
That which was found in him.—2 Chronicles 19:3. His general character and
conduct.
As in the case of Anion (2 Chronicles 33:25), the last particulars about Jehoiakim
are omitted in this flying notice of his reign, which was only memorable because of
the invasion of ebuchadnezzar. The LXX., however, gives instead of this verse 2
Kings 24:5-6, interpolating in the latter “and was buried with his fathers in the
garden of Uzza” ( ἐν γανοζαῆ or γανοζάν; see 2 Kings 21:26). Thenius says “these
words certainly (!) stood in the original text,” but were omitted by the chronicler
and the editor of Kings, because they conflict with the prophecy of Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 22:18-19, Jeremiah 36:30)—which is apparently the reason why he is so
sure of their genuineness.
JEHOIACHI (2 Chronicles 36:9-10). (Comp. 2 Kings 24:8-17; 3 Esdr. 1:41-44;
Jeremiah 22:24-30; Ezekiel 19:5-9.)
PULPIT, "The rest of the acts of Jehoiakim. As our compiler has literally told us
none at all, we need but note his expression here as a convenient formula, indicating
his own intentional brevity, and the fact that he was privy to all in the original
sources, which he nevertheless now omitted; yet see Jeremiah 7:9; Jeremiah 19:13,
etc. The telling expression, what was found in him, is too readily to be filled up from
the parallel, in its Jeremiah 19:3, Jeremiah 19:4. Jehoiachin his son. In 1 Chronicles
3:16 he is called Jeconiah, and in Jeremiah 22:24 he is called Coniah
Jehoiachin King of Judah

16. 9 Jehoiachin was eighteen[e] years old when he
became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three
months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the
Lord.
BAR ES, "Eight years old - Rather, eighteen (see the marginal reference).
Jehoiachin had several wives and (apparently) at least one child Jer_22:28, when, three
months later, he was carried captive to Babylon.
CLARKE, "Jehoiachin was eight - See on 2Ki_24:6-15 (note).
JAMISO , "Jehoiachin was eight years old — called also Jeconiah or Coniah
(Jer_22:24) - “eight” should have been “eighteen,” as appears from 2Ki_24:8, and also
from the full development of his ungodly principles and habits (see Eze_19:5-7). His
reign being of so short duration cannot be considered at variance with the prophetic
denunciation against his father (Jer_36:30). But his appointment by the people gave
umbrage to Nebuchadnezzar, who, “when the year was expired” (2Ch_36:10) - that is, in
the spring when campaigns usually began - came in person against Jerusalem, captured
the city, and sent Jehoiachin in chains to Babylon, removing at the same time all the
nobles and most skillful artisans, and pillaging all the remaining treasures both of the
temple and palace (see on 2Ki_24:8-17).
K&D 9-10, "The reign of Jehoiachin. Cf. 2Ki_24:8-17. - Jehoiachin's age at his
accession is here given as eight years, while in 2Ki_24:8 it is eighteen. It is so also in the
lxx and Vulg.; but a few Hebr. codd., Syr., and Arab., and many manuscripts of the lxx,
have eighteen years in the Chronicle also. The number eight is clearly an orthographical
error, as Thenius also acknowledges. Bertheau, on the contrary, regards the eight of our
text as the original, and the number eighteen in 2 Kings as an alteration occasioned by
the idea that eighteen years appeared a more fitting age for a king than eight years, and
gives as his reason, “that the king's mother is named along with him, and manifestly
with design, 2Ki_24:12, 2Ki_24:15, and Jer_22:26, whence we must conclude that she
had the guardianship of the young king.” A perfectly worthless reason. In the books of
Kings the name of the mother is given in the case of all the kings after their accession has
been mentioned, without any reference to the age of the kings, because the queen-
mother occupied a conspicuous position in the kingdom. It is so in the case of Jehoiakim
and Jehoiachin, 2Ki_23:36 and 2Ki_24:8. On account of her high position, the queen-
mother is mentioned in 2Ki_24:12 and 2Ki_24:15, and in Jeremiah, among those who

17. submitted to Nebuchadnezzar and were carried away to Babylon. The correctness of the
number eighteen is, however, placed beyond doubt by Eze_19:5-9, where the prophet
portrays Jehoiachin as a young lion, which devoured men, and knew widows, and
wasted cities. The knowing of widows cannot apply to a boy of eight, but might well be
said of a young man of eighteen. Jehoiachin ruled only three months and ten days in
Jerusalem, and did evil in the eyes of Jahve. At the turn of the year, i.e., in spring, when
campaigns were usually opened (cf. 1Ki_20:22; 2Sa_11:1), Nebuchadnezzar sent his
generals (2Ki_24:10), and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house
of Jahve, and made his (father's) brother Zedekiah king in Judah. In these few words the
end of Jehoiachin's short reign is recorded. From 2Ki_24:10-16 we learn more as to this
second campaign of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem, and its issues for Judah; see the
commentary on that passage. Zidkiyah (Zedekiah) was, according to 2Ki_24:17, not a
brother, but ‫ּוד‬ , uncle or father's brother, of Jehoiachin, and was called Mattaniah, a son
of Josiah and Hamutal, like Jehoahaz (2Ki_24:18, cf. 2Ki_23:31), and is consequently
his full brother, and a step-brother of Jehoiakim. At his appointment to the kingdom by
Nebuchadnezzar he received the name Zidkiyah (Zedekiah). ‫יו‬ ִ‫ה‬ፎ, in 2Ch_36:10, is
accordingly to be taken in its wider signification of blood-relation.
BE SO , "2 Chronicles 36:9. Jehoiachin was eight years old — See the note on 2
Kings 24:8, in which it is said that he was eighteen years old when he began to reign,
which is probably the right reading.
ELLICOTT, "(9) Jehoiachin was eight years old.—2 Kings 24:8 has correctly
“eighteen;” and so some MSS., LXX. (Alex.), Syriac, Arabic. What the prophet
Ezekiel says of him could not apply to a boy of eight. (The difference turns on the
omission of the smallest Hebrew letter, namely, yod, which as a numeral represents
ten.)
Three months and ten days.—Kings, “three months;” Syriac and Arabic here have
“one hundred days,” i.e., three months and ten days. Thenius thinks the ten days
were added, in order that the catastrophe of Jehoiachin’s reign might fall on a tenth
day of the month, like the investment of Jerusalem and the fall of the city under
Zedekiah (2 Chronicles 25:1; 2 Chronicles 25:8).
He did that which was evil.—2 Kings 24:9. (See also the above-cited passages of
Jeremiah and Ezekiel.) According to the latter prophet, Jehoiachin “devoured men,
and forced widows, and wasted cities.”
GUZIK, "3. (2 Chronicles 36:9-10) The reign of Jehoiachin and his recall to
Babylon.
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem
three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. At the turn of
the year King ebuchadnezzar summoned him and took him to Babylon, with the

18. costly articles from the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s
brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
a. Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king: 2 Kings 24:8 tells us that
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king. The difference between
these two accounts is probably due to the error of a copyist in Chronicles.
i. “2 Chronicles 36:9 makes him eight years old at the beginning of his reign . . . But
some Hebrew MSS., Syriac, and Arabic, read ‘eighteen’ in Chronicles’ so ‘eight’
must be an error of transcription.” (Knapp)
ii. Jehoiachin “Was probably the throne-name of Jeconiah, abbreviated also to
Coniah.” (Wiseman)
b. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD: He carried on in the tradition of the
wicked kings of Judah.
i. “Jeremiah said of Jehoiakim, (Jehoiachin’s father) ‘He shall have none to sit upon
the throne of David’ (Jeremiah 26:30). The word ‘sit’ here means to ‘firmly sit,’ or
‘dwell’; and Jehoiachin’s short three months’ reign was not that surely. And
Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s successor, was Jehoiakim’s brother, not his son.” (Knapp)
ii. “That he was a grievous offender against God, we learn from Jeremiah 22:24,
which the reader may consult; and in the man’s punishment, see his crimes.”
(Clarke)
c. King ebuchadnezzar summoned him and took him to Babylon: The previous
king of Judah (Jehoiakim) led a rebellion against ebuchadnezzar. ow the king of
Babylon came with his armies against Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin hoped to appease
ebuchadnezzar by submitting himself, his family, and his leaders to the
Babylonian king. God allowed Jehoiachin to be taken as a bound captive back to
Babylon.
i. “His presence in Babylon is attested by tablets listing oil and barley supplies to
him, his family and five sons in 592-569 B.C. and naming him as ‘Yaukin king of the
Judeans.’” (Wiseman)
d. With costly articles from the house of the LORD: On this second attack against
Jerusalem, ebuchadnezzar took whatever valuables remained in the temple or in
the royal palaces of Jerusalem.
i. “The fall of Jerusalem didn’t come about in one cataclysmic battle; it occurred in
stages.” (Dilday)
· ebuchadnezzar’s initial subjugation of the city about 605 B.C.
· Destruction from ebuchadnezzar’s marauding bands, 601 to 598 B.C.

19. · The siege and fall of Jerusalem under ebuchadnezzar’s main army on 16
March, 597 B.C.
· ebuchadnezzar returns to completely destroy and depopulate Jerusalem in
the summer of 586 B.C.
10 In the spring, King ebuchadnezzar sent for
him and brought him to Babylon, together with
articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and
he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,[f] Zedekiah, king
over Judah and Jerusalem.
BAR ES, "When the year was expired - literally, as in the margin, i. e. at the
return of the season for military expeditions. The expedition against Jehoiakim took
place probably late in the autumn of one year, that against Jehoiachin early in the spring
of the next.
Strictly speaking, Zedekiah was uncle to Jehoiachin, being the youngest of the sons of
Josiah (marginal note and reference). He was nearly of the same age with Jehoiachin,
and is called here his “brother” (compare Gen_14:14).
CLARKE, "Made Zedekiah - king - His name was at first Mattaniah, but the king
of Babylon changed it to Zedekiah. See 2Ki_24:17 (note), and the notes there.
BE SO , "2 Chronicles 36:10. When the year was expired — Hebrew, At the
return of the year. At the beginning of the next year, according to the sacred
account of the Hebrews, at the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to
battle, as is elsewhere said, when ebuchadnezzar, among others, went forth to
settle and enlarge his conquests. His brother — Largely so called, for this was his
uncle, or his father’s brother, being the son of Josiah.

20. ELLICOTT, "(10) And when the year was expired.—See margin. “At the return of
the year” means in spring, when kings usually went forth to war. (2 Samuel 11:1; 1
Kings 20:22.) Kings gives a full account of the siege and surrender of Jerusalem, and
the deportation to Babylon of the king and all his princes and men of war, by “the
servants of ebuchadnezzar.”
With the goodly vessels.—2 Chronicles 32:27. “Some of the vessels” had already
been carried off (2 Chronicles 36:7). (See 2 Kings 24:13 and Jeremiah 27:18-22.)
Zedekiah his brother.—Zedekiah was uncle of Jehoiachin, being a son of Josiah,
and brother of Jehoiakim. Perhaps “brother” is equivalent to “kinsman” here, as
elsewhere. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 3:15, where Zedekiah appears as a son of Josiah;
and 2 Kings 24:17.) The versions read “his father’s brother”—a correction. Thenius
thinks the word for “uncle” had become illegible in the MS. here used by the
chronicler.
PULPIT, "When the year was expired; i.e. at the beginning of the new year, in
spring (2 Chronicles 24:23). It appears, from 2 Kings 25:27-30, that the captivity of
Jehoia-chin, which thus began, lasted thirty-seven years, till b.c. 561, past the end of
ebuchadnezzar's reign, and that he was thenceforward kindly treated by Evil-
Merodach. Compare particularly with this verse the parallel in its 2 Kings 25:10-16.
Zedekiah his brother; i.e. not adopting the very generic usage of the terms of
relationship, so common in Old Testament language, his uncle. His mother
(Hamutal, 2 Kings 25:18 of parallel) was the same with the mother of Jehoahaz. Ten
years old evidently when Jehoiakim began his reign, he must have been thirteen
years younger than his whole brother Je-hoahaz. Zedekiah's name was before Mat-
taniah. The account of Zedekiah in the parallel (which see) is very much more full.
Zedekiah King of Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he
became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven
years.
HE RY 11-13, "We have here an account of the destruction of the kingdom of Judah

21. and the city of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. Abraham, God's friend, was called out of
that country, from Ur of the Chaldees, when God took him into covenant and
communion with himself; and now his degenerate seed were carried into that country
again, to signify that they had forfeited all that kindness wherewith they had been
regarded for the father's sake, and the benefit of that covenant into which he was called;
all was now undone again. Here we have,
I. The sins that brought this desolation.
1. Zedekiah, the king in whose days it came, brought it upon himself by his own folly;
for he conducted himself very ill both towards God and towards the king of Babylon. (1.)
If he had but made God his friend, that would have prevented the ruin. Jeremiah
brought him messages from God, which, if he had given due regard to them, might have
secured a lengthening of his tranquillity; but it is here charged upon him that he
humbled not himself before Jeremiah, 2Ch_36:12. It was expected that this mighty
prince, high as he was, should humble himself before a poor prophet, when he spoke
from the mouth of the Lord, should submit to his admonitions and be amended by them,
to his counsels and be ruled by them, should lay himself under the commanding power
of the word of God in his mouth; and, because he would not thus make himself a servant
to God, he was made a slave to his enemies. God will find some way or other to humble
those that will not humble themselves. Jeremiah, as a prophet, was set over the nations
and kingdoms (Jer_1:10), and, as mean a figure as he made, whoever would not humble
themselves before him found that it was at their peril. (2.) If he had but been true to his
covenant with the king of Babylon, that would have prevented his ruin; but he rebelled
against him, though he had sworn to be his faithful tributary, and perfidiously violated
his engagements to him, 2Ch_36:13. It was this that provoked the king of Babylon to
deal so severely with him as he did. All nations looked upon an oath as a sacred thing,
and on those that durst break through the obligations of it as the worst of men,
abandoned of God and to be abhorred by all mankind. If therefore Zedekiah falsify his
oath, when, lo, he has given his hand, he shall not escape, Eze_17:18. Though
Nebuchadnezzar was a heathen, an enemy, yet if, having sworn to him, he be false to
him, he shall know there is a God to whom vengeance belongs. The thing that ruined
Zedekiah was not only that he turned not to the Lord God of Israel, but that he stiffened
his neck and hardened his heart from turning to him, that is, he as obstinately resolved
not to return to him, would not lay his neck under God's yoke nor his heart under the
impressions of his word, and so, in effect, he would not be healed, he would not live.
JAMISO , "2Ch_36:11-21. Zedekiah’s reign.
Zedekiah — Nebuchadnezzar appointed him. His name, originally Mattaniah, was,
according to the custom of Oriental conquerors, changed into Zedekiah. Though the son
of Josiah (1Ch_3:15; Jer_1:2, Jer_1:3; Jer_37:1), he is called the brother of Jehoiachin
(2Ch_36:10), that is, according to the latitude of Hebrew style in words expressing
affinity, his relative or kinsman (see 2Ki_24:18; 2Ki_25:1-21).
K&D 11-13, "The reign of Zedekiah; the destruction of Jerusalem, and Judah
carried away into exile. Cf. 2 Kings 24:18-25:21. - Zedekiah, made king at the age of
twenty-one years, reigned eleven years, and filled up the measure of sins, so that the
Lord was compelled to give the kingdom of Judah up to destruction by the Chaldeans.
To that Zedekiah brought it by the two main sins of his evil reign, - namely, by not
humbling himself before the prophet Jeremiah, from the mouth of Jahve (2Ch_36:12);

22. and by rebelling against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had caused him to swear by God,
and by so hardening his neck (being stiff-necked), and making stout his heart, that he
did not return to Jahve the God of Israel. Zedekiah's stiffness of neck and hardness of
heart showed itself in his refusing to hearken to the words which Jeremiah spoke to him
from the mouth of God, and his breaking the oath he had sworn to Nebuchadnezzar by
God. The words, “he humbled himself not before Jeremiah,” recall Jer_37:2, and the
events narrated in Jer 37 and 38, and 21:4-22:9, which show how the chief of the people
ill-treated the prophet because of his prophecies, while Zedekiah was too weak and
languid to protect him against them. The rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, to whom he
had sworn a vassal's oath of fidelity, is mentioned in 2Ki_24:20, and Eze_17:13. also, as
a great crime on the part of Zedekiah and the chief of the people; see the commentary on
both passages. In consequence of this rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar marched against Judah
with a powerful army; and after the capture of the fenced cities of the land, he advanced
to the siege of Jerusalem, which ended in its capture and destruction, 2Ki_25:1-10.
Without further noticing these results of this breach of faith, the author of the Chronicle
proceeds to depict the sins of the king and of the people. In the first place, he again
brings forward, in 2Ch_36:13, the stiffness of neck and obduracy of the king, which
manifested itself in the acts just mentioned: he made hard his neck, etc. Bertheau would
interpret the words ‫וגו‬ ‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫ק‬ֶ ַ‫,ו‬ according to Deu_2:30, thus: “Then did God make him stiff-
necked and hardened his heart; so that he did not return to Jahve the God of Israel,
notwithstanding the exhortations of the prophets.” But although hardening is not
seldom represented as inflicted by God, there is here no ground for supposing that with
‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫ק‬ֶ ַ‫ו‬ the subject is changed, while the bringing forward of the hardening as an act of God
does not at all suit the context. And, moreover, ‫ף‬ ֶ‫ּר‬‫ע‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ק‬ ִ‫,ה‬ making hard the neck, is
nowhere ascribed to God, it is only said of men; cf. 2Ki_17:14; Deu_10:16; Jer_19:15,
etc. To God only ‫ב‬ ֵ‫ת־ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ק‬ ִ‫ה‬ or ַ‫ת־רוּח‬ ֶ‫א‬ is attributed, Exo_7:3; Deu_2:30.
COFFMA , "This is only a tiny summary of the wickedness of Israel during the
reign of Zedekiah. Jeremiah reveals much of that wickedness. (See pp. 237,381,
414,423, 431,432, 449,553-559 in our Commentary on Jeremiah. Also, Ezekiel
describes the pollution of the temple, discussed in pp. 87-97 of our Commentary on
Ezekiel; also see p. 123 (in that commentary) for the "Contradiction" Zedekiah
thought he found in the words of God's prophets. Also, Second Kings, chapter 25,
gives additional details.)
ELLICOTT, "ZEDEKIAH A D THE FI AL CATASTROPHE (2 Chronicles
36:11-21). (Comp. 2 Kings 24:18 to 2 Kings 25:21; Jeremiah 39, 52; Jeremiah 3
Esdr. 1:44-55.)
(11) Zedekiah was one and twenty.—So 2 Kings 24:18, adding his mother’s name
(Hamutal, who was also mother of Jehoahaz).
Before Jeremian . . . mouth of the Lord.— ot in Kings. (Comp. Jeremiah 21,
Jeremiah 22:1-10, Jeremiah 27, 28, 32-34, 37, 38)

23. Two special sins of Zedekiah are mentioned in this and the next verse—viz., his
disregard of Jeremiah’s counsel, and his perjury to ebuchadnezzar.
GUZIK, "4. (2 Chronicles 36:11-14) The reign of Zedekiah and his rebellion against
Babylon.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven
years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not
humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the
LORD. And he also rebelled against King ebuchadnezzar, who had made him
swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against
turning to the LORD God of Israel. Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the
people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the
nations, and defiled the house of the LORD which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
a. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king: Since ebuchadnezzar
had completely humbled Judah, he put a king on the throne whom he thought
would submit to Babylon. He chose this uncle of Jehoiachin, who was also a brother
to Jehoiakim.
i. “This king (597-587 B.C.) inherited a much reduced Judah, for the egeb was lost
(Jeremiah 13:18-19) and the land weakened by the loss of its experienced personnel.
There were both a pro-Egyptian element and false prophets among the survivors
(Jeremiah 28-29; Jeremiah 38:5).” (Wiseman)
ii. 2 Kings 24:17 tells us that the name of Zedekiah was originally Mattaniah. The
name Zedekiah means, The Lord is Righteous. The righteous judgment of God
would soon be seen against Judah.
b. He did evil in the sight of the LORD: His evil was especially shown in that he did
not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet. Instead of listening to Jeremiah or
other messengers of God they instead mocked and disregarded the message.
i. “Zedekiah first disregarded Jeremiah’s messages (Jeremiah 34:1-10); he came in
time to direct his inquiries to this same prophet (Jeremiah 21); and he finally pled
with him for help (Jeremiah 37). But at no point did he sincerely submit to the
requirements of the Lord that Jeremiah transmitted to him.” (Payne)
c. He also rebelled against King ebuchadnezzar: Jeremiah tells us that there were
many false prophets in those days who preached a message of victory and triumph
to Zedekiah, and he believed them instead of Jeremiah and other godly prophets
like him. Therefore, he rebelled against King ebuchadnezzar.
i. For example, Jeremiah 32:1-5 tells us that Jeremiah clearly told Zedekiah that he
would not succeed in his rebellion against Babylon. Zedekiah arrested Jeremiah and
imprisoned him for this, but the prophet steadfastly stayed faithful to the message

24. God gave him.
ii. “Through acts of infidelity toward his imperial master, he unwisely touched off
the final revolt that brought down the vengeance of the Babylonians on Judah and
Jerusalem; and thus both the state and the city were destroyed.” (Payne)
d. Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and
more: These last kings of Judah were all wicked and deserving of judgment; but
they were not alone in their sin and rejection of God. The leaders, the priests, and
the people also transgressed more and more, pushing both God and
ebuchadnezzar to the limit.
PULPIT, "Zedekiah; or the fall of Judah.
I. A EXAMPLE OF I SE SATE WICKED ESS. (2 Chronicles 36:11-16.)
1. On the part of the king. Seemingly the third (1 Chronicles 3:15), but in reality the
fourth, son of Josiah (cf. 2 Kings 23:31, 2 Kings 23:36), and the full brother of
Jehoahaz, or Shallum (2 Kings 23:31; 2 Kings 24:18). but the half-brother of
Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:36), Mattanias, or Jehovah s gift, as he was originally called,
ascended the throne of Judah in his twenty-first year, by the favour of
ebuchadnezzar his overlord (2 Chronicles 36:10). With his superior's consent, like
Jehoiakim, he adopted of his own accord, or had chosen for him by others (Cheyne),
a special throne-name. Zedekiah, Zidkiah, meaning "Jehovah is righteous," or
"Justice of Jehovah," had been the name of a former sovereign of Ascalon, whom
Sennacherib had subdued; and whatever may have been the object of Mattanias or
his princes in selecting this as the designation of Judah's last king, it is hardly
possible not to be struck with its singular propriety. To a people who were
frequently instructed by "signs" it was a double symbol—first by way of contrast of
the utter corruption of the nation, both prince and people; and second by way of
prediction of coming doom for the kingdom. So far as the king was concerned, it
was a grim satire on holy things to designate a creature like him Zedekiah. If his
person and character were remarkable for anything, it was for the absence of
righteousness.
2. On the part of the people. Hardly second to their monarch were the priests, the
princes, and the people.
(a) an image of Asherah;
(b) totemistic animal-emblems on the wall of a temple-chamber;
(c) weeping for 'Tammuz dearly wounded;'
II. A I STA CE OF DIVI E RETRIBUTIO . (Verses 17-21.) The moral and

25. spiritual corruption of the community in Zedekiah's time was so great that nothing
remained but to pour out upon them the vials of long-threatened wrath
(Deuteronomy 28:21, Deuteronomy 28:36, Deuteronomy 28:52; Deuteronomy 31:16-
21; Jeremiah 5:19; Jeremiah 32:28-36). In the expressive language of the
Chronicler, "there was no remedy," "no healing," more; nothing but fire and
sword. After defeating Pharaoh-Hophra, or causing him to retreat, ebuchadnezzar
returned to his head-quarters at Riblah, on the east bank of the Orontes, thirty-five
miles northeast of Baalbec, and despatched his captains, ergal-sharezer, Samgar-
nebo, Sar-sechim, Rab-saris, Rab-mag, and others to resume the siege of Jerusalem,
which, however, triumphantly withstood their assaults until the beginning of the
eleventh year, when the supply of provisions began to fail (Jeremiah 52:6). On the
ninth day of the fourth month, i.e. in July, B.C. 586, "there was no bread for the
people of the land." The starving defenders of the city could no longer hold out. The
horrors of the situation may be gathered from Lamentations 2:19; Lamentations
4:3-10; Ezekiel 5:10; Baruch 2:3. The besiegers eventually effected a breach in the
north wall, and poured in like a destroying flood. Then ensued:
1. Merciless carnage. The Chaldean soldiers butchered all and sundry, young and
old, lad and maiden, not even sparing such as had taken refuge in the temple (verse
17). The massacre was wholesale, truculent, and pitiless, eclipsed in horror only by
that which took place when Jerusalem was captured by Titus (Josephus, 'Wars' 6.9.
4).
2. Ruthless sacrilege. They completely despoiled the temple of its sacred vessels,
great and small, as well as pillaged the royal palaces, carrying off their treasures
(verse 18). Among the articles removed from the temple were the brazen and golden
utensils of service, the two pillars, the brazen sea, and the vases which Solomon had
made (2 Kings 25:13-17; Jeremiah 52:17-23).
3. Wholesale destruction. "They burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall
of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces" (verse 19); which was pure vandalism. This
appears to have been done not on the night of the city's capture (tenth day of tenth
month), but seven months after, on the tenth day of the fifth month, i.e. in February,
B.C. 587 (Jeremiah 52:12), and to have been carried out by one of
ebuchadnezzar's generals, ebuzar-adan, captain of the king's guards, or "chief of
the executioners" (cf. Genesis 39:1), despatched from Riblah for the purpose. What
happened in the interval is narrated in 2 Kings (2 Kings 25:4-7) and Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 52:7-11), viz. the capture, near Jericho, of Zedekiah with his court and
his forces, who had escaped when the city was taken, and their journey north to
Riblah, the head-quarters of ebuchadnezzar, where, after judgment held (2 Kings
25:6), Zedekiah's sons and the princes of Judah were slain, and Zedekiah himself
blinded according to an inhuman practice of the time, and cast into bonds
preparatory to being deported to Babylon. In Babylon he was cast into prison until
the day of his death (Jeremiah 52:11); according to tradition, his work in prison was
that of grinding in a mill like an ordinary slave (Ewald, 'History of Israel,' 4.273,
note 5).

26. 4. Pitiless expatriation. Those that had escaped the sword were driven off, like gangs
of slaves, to become exiles in a strange land, and servants to the kings of Babylon,
"until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths," viz. for three score and ten years (verses
20, 21). Such transplantations of conquered populations were common in the
ancient Orient. "Sargon transported the Samaritans to Gozan and Media;
Sennacherib carried off two hundred thousand Jews from Judaea; Esarhaddon
placed Elamites, Susianians, and Babylonians in Samaria. Darius Hystaspis brought
the nation of the Paeonians from Europe into Asia Minor, removed the Barcaeans to
Bactria, and the Eretrians to Ardericca near Susa"
MACLARE , "THE FALL OF JUDAH
Bigness is not greatness, nor littleness smallness. Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Judah
was, in his eyes, one of the least important of his many victories, but it is the only one of
them which survives in the world’s memory and keeps his name as a household word.
The Jews were a mere handful, and their country a narrow strip of land between the
desert and the sea; but little Judaea, like little Greece, has taught the world. The tragedy
of its fall has importance quite disproportioned to its apparent magnitude. Our passage
brings together Judah’s sin and Judah’s punishment, and we shall best gather the
lessons of its fall by following the order of the text.
Consider the sin. There is nothing more remarkable than the tone in which the
chronicler, like all the Old Testament writers, deals with the national sin. Patriotic
historians make it a point of pride and duty to gloss over their country’s faults, but these
singular narrators paint them as strongly as they can. Their love of their country impels
them to ‘make known to Israel its transgression and to Judah its sin.’ There are tears in
their eyes, as who can doubt? But there is no faltering in their voices as they speak. A
higher feeling than misguided ‘patriotism’ moves them. Loyalty to Israel’s God forces
them to deal honestly with Israel’s sin. That is the highest kind of love of country, and
might well be commended to loudmouthed ‘patriot’s in modern lands.
Look at the piled-up clauses of the long indictment of Judah in 2Ch_36:12-16. Slow,
passionless, unsparing, the catalogue enumerates the whole black list. It is like the long-
drawn blast of the angel of judgment’s trumpet. Any trace of heated emotion would have
weakened the impression. The nation’s sin was so crimson as to need no heightening of
colour. With like judicial calmness, with like completeness, omitting nothing, does ‘the
book,’ which will one day be opened, set down every man’s deeds, and he will be ‘judged
according to the things that are written in this book.’ Some of us will find our page sad
reading.
But the points brought out in this indictment are instructive. Judah’s idolatry and
‘trespass after all the abominations of the heathen’ is, of course, prominent, but the
spirit which led to their idolatry, rather than the idolatry itself, is dwelt on. Zedekiah’s
doing ‘evil in the sight of the Lord’ is regarded as aggravated by his not humbling himself
before Jeremiah, and the head and front of his offending is that ‘he stiffened his neck
and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord.’ Similarly, the people’s sin reaches
its climax in their ‘mocking’ and ‘scoffing’ at the prophets and ‘despising’ God’s words by
them. So then, an evil life has its roots in an alienated heart, and the source of all sin is
an obstinate self-will. That is the sulphur-spring from which nothing but unwholesome
streams can flow, and the greatest of all sins is refusing to hear God’s voice when He

27. speaks to us.
Further, this indictment brings out the patient love of God seeking, in spite of all their
deafness, to find a way to the sinners’ ears and hearts. In a bold transference to Him of
men’s ways, He is said to have ‘risen early’ to send the prophets. Surely that means
earnest effort. The depths of God’s heart are disclosed when we are bidden to think of
His compassion as the motive for the prophet’s messages and threatenings. What a
wonderful and heart-melting revelation of God’s placableness, wistful hoping against
hope, and reluctance to abandon the most indurated sinner, is given in that centuries-
long conflict of the patient God with treacherous Israel! That divine charity suffered long
and was kind, endured all things and hoped all things.
Consider the punishment. The tragic details of the punishment are enumerated with the
same completeness and suppression of emotion as those of the sin. The fact that all these
were divine judgments brings the chronicler to the Psalmist’s attitude. ‘I was dumb, I
opened not my mouth because Thou didst it.’ Sorrow and pity have their place, but the
awed recognition of God’s hand outstretched in righteous retribution must come first.
Modern sentimentalists, who are so tenderhearted as to be shocked at the Christian
teachings of judgment, might learn a lesson here.
The first point to note is that a time arrives when even God can hope for no amendment
and is driven to change His methods. His patience is not exhausted, but man’s obstinacy
makes another treatment inevitable. God lavished benefits and pleadings for long years
in vain, till He saw that there was ‘no remedy.’ Only then did He, as if reluctantly forced,
do ‘His work, His strange work.’ Behold, therefore, the ‘goodness and severity’ of God,
goodness in His long delay, severity in the final blow, and learn that His purpose is the
same though His methods are opposite.
To the chronicler God is the true Actor in human affairs. Nebuchadnezzar thought of his
conquest as won by his own arm. Secular historians treat the fall of Zedekiah as simply
the result of the political conditions of the time, and sometimes seem to think that it
could not be a divine judgment because it was brought about by natural causes. But this
old chronicler sees deeper, and to him, as to us, if we are wise, ‘the history of the world is
the judgment of the world.’ The Nebuchadnezzars are God’s axes with which He hews
down fruitless trees. They are responsible for their acts, but they are His instruments,
and it is His hand that wields them.
The iron band that binds sin and suffering is disclosed in Judah’s fall. We cannot allege
that the same close connection between godlessness and national disaster is exemplified
now as it was in Israel. Nor can we contend that for individuals suffering is always the
fruit of sin. But it is still true that ‘righteousness exalteth a nation,’ and that ‘by the soul
only are the nations great,’ in the true sense of the word. To depart from God is always ‘a
bitter and an evil thing’ for communities and individuals, however sweet draughts of
outward prosperity may for a time mask the bitterness. Not armies nor fleets, not ships,
colonies and commerce, not millionaires and trusts, not politicians and diplomatists, but
the fear of the Lord and the keeping of His commandments, are the true life of a nation.
If Christian men lived up to the ideal set them by Jesus, ‘Ye are the salt of the land,’ and
sought more earnestly and wisely to leaven their nation, they would be doing more than
any others to guarantee its perpetual prosperity.
The closing words of this chapter, not included in the passage, are significant. They are
the first words of the Book of Ezra. Whoever put them here perhaps wished to show a
far-off dawn following the stormy sunset. He opens a ‘door of hope’ in ‘the valley of
trouble.’ It is an Old Testament version of ‘God hath not cast away His people whom He

28. foreknew.’ It throws a beam of light on the black last page of the chronicle, and reveals
that God’s chastisement was in love, that it was meant for discipline, not for destruction,
that it was educational, and that the rod was burned when the lesson had been learned.
It was learned, for the Captivity cured the nation of hankering after idolatry, and
whatever defects it brought back from Babylon, it brought back a passionate abhorrence
of all the gods of the nations.
12 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and
did not humble himself before Jeremiah the
prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord.
BAR ES, "On Zedekiah’s character, see 2Ki_24:19 note.
CLARKE, "Did that which was evil - Was there ever such a set of weak,
infatuated men as the Jewish kings in general? They had the fullest evidence that they
were only deputies to God Almighty, and that they could not expect to retain the throne
any longer than they were faithful to their Lord; and yet with all this conviction they
lived wickedly, and endeavored to establish idolatry in the place of the worship of their
Maker! After bearing with them long, the Divine mercy gave them up, as their case was
utterly hopeless. They sinned till there was no remedy.
BE SO , "2 Chronicles 36:12. And humbled not himself — By repentance for his
past errors and obedience to God’s express commands, which he would not yield to,
through the pride of his heart, as is intimated by this phrase, and expressed
Jeremiah 38:19.
PULPIT, "Humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet. Very numerous
passages in the Book of Jeremiah (21-51.) illustrate both this clause and generally
the feeble character and uncertain career of Zedekiah.

29. 13 He also rebelled against King ebuchadnezzar,
who had made him take an oath in God’s name.
He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart
and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.
BAR ES, "The oath of allegiance was taken when he was first installed in his
kingdom. On Zedekiah’s sin in breaking his oath, see Eze_17:18-20; Eze_21:25.
JAMISO , "who had made him swear by God — Zedekiah received his crown
on the express condition of taking a solemn oath of fealty to the king of Babylon (Eze_
17:13); so that his revolt by joining in a league with Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt,
involved the crime of perjury. His own pride and obdurate impiety, the incurable
idolatry of the nation, and their reckless disregard of prophetic warnings, brought down
on his already sadly reduced kingdom the long threatened judgments of God.
Nebuchadnezzar, the executioner of the divine vengeance, commenced a third siege of
Jerusalem, which, after holding out for a year and a half, was taken in the eleventh year
of the reign of Zedekiah. It resulted in the burning of the temple, with, most probably,
the ark, and in the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah (see on 2Ki_25:1-7; see Eze_
12:13; Eze_17:16).
BE SO , "2 Chronicles 36:13. Who had made him swear by God — Who had
required him to swear fealty and constant obedience to him, by the true God, whom
he called upon to be a witness against him if he broke his oath. So his rebellion was
aggravated with perjury and horrid contempt of God. But he stiffened his neck, and
hardened his heart — He added obstinacy and incorrigibleness to his sins.
ELLICOTT, "(13) And he also rebelled.—2 Kings 24:20.
Who had made him swear by God.—When ebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah
vassal-king of Judah, he would naturally make him swear fealty to himself by the
God of his fathers. The fact is not specially recorded in Kings; but the prophet
Ezekiel makes it the point of a prophecy against the king and his grandees (Ezekiel
17:11-21; comp, especially 2 Chronicles 36:17, “mine oath that he hath despised.”)
But (and) stiffened his neck and hardened his heart.—(Comp. the like expression in
Deuteronomy 2:30; 2 Kings 17:14; Jeremiah 19:15.) Zedekiah was not personally
unfavourable to the prophet Jeremiah, and consulted him more than once; but he
was too weak and timorous to stand by the prophetic counsel, in defiance of his
princes who were intriguing with Egypt.

30. PULPIT, "He also rebelled against … ebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear
by God (Elohim). The criticism of the Prophet Ezekiel upon this oath-violation on
the part of Zedekiah is to be found Ezekiel 17:12-20; Ezekiel 21:25. Unto the Lord
God of Israel. ote here the resorting on the part of the Jew to the name, Jehovah.
It is not this name that is used at the commencement of the verse.
14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and
the people became more and more unfaithful,
following all the detestable practices of the nations
and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had
consecrated in Jerusalem.
BAR ES, "Polluted the house of the Lord - Toward the close of Zedekiah’s reign
idolatrous rites of several different kinds were intruded into the sacred precincts of the
temple (compare Eze_8:10-16).
GILL, "Moreover, the chief of the priests, and of the people, transgressed
very much after all the abominations of the Heathens,.... The priests, and even
the chief of them, who should have instructed the people in the duties of religion, and
retained them in the pure worship of God, these were the ringleaders of idolatry, who led
the people to commit all the idolatries of the Heathens round about them; and of the
people, all ranks and degrees of them were corrupted with them; this was their case in
several of the preceding reigns, and now a little before the destruction of them:
and polluted the house of the Lord, which he had hallowed in Jerusalem; the
temple dedicated to his worship there; this they defiled, by setting up idols in it.
HE RY 14-16, "2. The great sin that brought this destruction was idolatry. The
priests and people went after the abominations of the heathen, forsook the pure worship
of God for the lewd and filthy rites of the Pagan superstition, and so polluted the house
of the Lord, 2Ch_36:14. The priests, the chief of the priests, who should have opposed
idolatry, were ring-leaders in it. That place is not far from ruin in which religion is

31. already ruined.
3. The great aggravation of their sin, and that which filled the measure of it, was the
abuse they gave to God's prophets, who were sent to call them to repentance, 2Ch_36:15,
2Ch_36:16. Here we have, (1.) God's tender compassion towards them in sending
prophets to them. Because he was the God of their fathers, in covenant with them, and
whom they worshipped (though this degenerate race forsook him), therefore he sent to
them by his messengers, to convince them of their sin and warn them of the ruin they
would bring upon themselves by it, rising up betimes and sending, which denotes not
only that he did it with the greatest care and concern imaginable, as men rise betimes to
set their servants to work when their heart is upon their business, but that, upon their
first deviation from God to idols, if they took but one step that way, God immediately
sent to them by his messengers to reprove them for it. He gave them early timely notice
both of their duty and danger. Let this quicken us to seek God early, that he rises
betimes to send to us. The prophets that were sent rose betimes to speak to them, were
diligent and faithful in their office, lost no time, slipped no opportunity of dealing with
them; and therefore God is said to rise betimes. The more pains ministers take in their
work the more will the people have to answer for if it be all in vain. The reason given why
God by his prophets did thus strive with them is because he had compassion on his
people and on his dwelling-place, and would by these means have prevented their ruin.
Note, The methods God takes to reclaim sinners by his word, by ministers, by
conscience, by providences, are all instances of his compassion towards them and his
unwillingness that any should perish. (2.) Their base and disingenuous carriage towards
God (2Ch_36:16): They mocked the messengers of God (which was a high affront to him
that sent them), despised his word in their mouths, and not only so, but misused the
prophets, treating them as their enemies. The ill usage they gave Jeremiah who lived at
this time, and which we read much of in the book of his prophecy, is an instance of this.
This was an evidence of an implacable enmity to God, and an invincible resolution to go
on in their sins. This brought wrath upon them without remedy, for it was sinning
against the remedy. Nothing is more provoking to God than abuses given to his faithful
ministers; for what is done against them he takes as done against himself. Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? Persecution was the sin that brought upon Jerusalem its final
destruction by the Romans. See Mat_23:34-37. Those that mock at God's faithful
ministers, and do all they can to render them despicable or odious, that vex and misuse
them, to discourage them and to keep others from hearkening to them, should be
reminded that a wrong done to an ambassador is construed as done to the prince that
sends him, and that the day is coming when they will find it would have been better for
them if they had been thrown into the sea with a mill-stone about their necks; for hell is
deeper and more dreadful.
K&D 14-16, "“And all princes of the priests and the people increased faithless
transgressions, like to all the abominations of the heathen, and defiled the house of the
Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.” Bertheau would refer this censure of
their idolatry and the profanation of the temple to the guilt incurred by the whole
people, especially in the time of Manasseh, because, from all we know from the book of
Jeremiah, the reproach of idolatry did not at all, or at least did not specially, attach to
the princes of the priests and the people in the time of Zedekiah. But this reason is
neither tenable nor correct; for from Ezek 8 it is perfectly manifest that under Zedekiah,
not only the people, but also the priesthood, were deeply sunk in idolatry, and that even
the courts of the temple were defiled by it. And even though that idolatry did not take its

32. rise under Zedekiah, but had been much practised under Jehoiakim, and was merely a
revival and continuation of the idolatrous conduct of Manasseh and Amon, yet the
reference of our verse to the time of Manasseh is excluded by the context; for here only
that which was done under Zedekiah is spoken of, without any reference to earlier times.
Meanwhile God did not leave them without exhortation, warning, and threatening. -
2Ch_36:15. Jahve sent to them by His messengers, from early morning onwards
continually, for He spared His people and His dwelling-place; but they mocked the
messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets. ‫ד‬ַ‫י‬ ְ ‫ח‬ ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫,שׁ‬ to send a
message by any one, to make a sending. The object is to be supplied from the verb. ַ‫ּוח‬‫ל‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ְ‫ו‬
‫ם‬ ֵⅴ ְ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ה‬ exactly as in Jer_26:5; Jer_29:19. For He spared His people, etc., viz., by this, that
He, in long-suffering, again and again called upon the people by prophets to repent and
return, and was not willing at once to destroy His people and His holy place. ‫ים‬ ִ‫יב‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫מ‬ is
ᅋπ. λεγ., in Syr. it signifies subsannavit; the Hithp. also, ‫ים‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ ְ‫ע‬ ַ ִ‫מ‬ (from ‫ע‬ ַ‫ע‬ ָ ), occurs only
here as an intensive: to launch out in mockery. The distinction drawn between ‫ים‬ ִ‫כ‬ፎ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫מ‬
(messengers) and ‫ים‬ ִ‫יא‬ ִ‫ב‬ְ‫נ‬ (prophets) is rhetorical, for by the messengers of God it is
chiefly prophets who are meant; but the expression is not to be confined to prophets in
the narrower sense of the word, for it embraces all the men of God who, by word and
deed, censured and punished the godless conduct of the idolaters. The statement in
these two verses is certainly so very general, that it may apply to all the times of
gradually increasing defection of the people from the Lord their God; but the author of
the Chronicle had primarily in view only the time of Zedekiah, in which the defection
reached its highest point. It should scarcely be objected that in the time of Zedekiah only
Jeremiah is known as a prophet of the Lord, since Ezekiel lived and wrought among the
exiles. For, in the first place, it does not hence certainly follow that Jeremiah and Ezekiel
were the only prophets of that time; then, secondly, Jeremiah does not speak as an
individual prophet, but holds up to the people the witness of all the earlier prophets (cf.
e.g., 2Ch_26:4-5), so that by him all the former prophets of God spoke to the people;
and consequently the plural, His messengers, His prophets, is perfectly true even for the
time of Zedekiah, if we always keep in mind the rhetorical character of the style. ‫וגו‬ ‫ּות‬‫ל‬ ֲ‫ע‬
‫ד‬ ַ‫,ע‬ until the anger of Jahve rose upon His people, so that there was no healing
(deliverance) more.
BE SO , "2 Chronicles 36:14-15. The people transgressed very much — They
were universally corrupt, and therefore God justly brought upon them a general
destruction. Rising up betimes, and sending them — Sending them early and
diligently, as a careful householder, who rises betimes about his business. God sent
them many prophets and messages, some at the very beginning of their apostacy,
and others afterward, till the very day of their captivity.
ELLICOTT, "SI S OF THE RULI G CLASSES WHICH BROUGHT DOW
THE JUDGME T OF GOD (2 Chronicles 36:14-16). (Comp. with this passage 2
Kings 17:7-23.)
(14) The chiefs.—The princes.

33. Transgressed very much.—Committed manifold unfaithfulness.
After all the abominations . . .—See Ezekiel 8:5-18; where “the princes of the priests
and the people” are specially singled out in 2 Chronicles 36:11; 2 Chronicles 36:16.
The twenty-five men of the latter verse are the High Priest and the heads of the
twenty-four courses of priests. (Comp. also Jeremiah 32:32, sea).
His Messengers.—The prophets (2 Kings 17:13).
PULPIT, "This, with the following three verses, may be regarded as the formal and
final indictment of the people of Judah, and may be compared with that of Israel (2
Kings 17:6-23). All the chief of the priests (see 1 Chronicles 24:1, 1 Chronicles 24:3-
19). The heads of the twenty-four courses there spoken of, with the high priest
added, sum up the twenty-five men of Ezekiel 8:16, the entire of which chapter may
well be read with the present history, and its description of the culminating pitch of
wickedness of king, priests, and people.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent
word to them through his messengers again and
again, because he had pity on his people and on
his dwelling place.
GILL, "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers,....
The prophets of the Lord, to admonish them of their idolatries, and to reprove them for
them, to warn them of the wrath of God that would come upon them on that account,
unless they repented and reformed; these were at the beginning of their apostasy, and
were successively continued unto this time, as Ahijah, Elijah, and others, in the first
times of it; Amos, Isaiah, and others, in the middle of it; and Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and
Ezekiel, towards the close of it:
rising up betimes, and sending; which is either to be understood of the Lord, and as

34. expressive of his care and diligence, like the master of a family, solicitous for the good of
it; or of the messengers, the prophets, who made haste to go or send their prophecies
and instructions to reclaim the people; the phrase is often to be met with in the prophecy
of Jeremiah; see Gill on Jer_11:7,
because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwellingplace; being
unwilling they should come to ruin, and perish, and their city and temple be destroyed
where they dwelt.
ELLICOTT, "(15) Rising up betimes and sending.—i.e., constantly and earnestly.
Jeremiah 25:3-4 : “The Lord hath sent all his servants, the prophets, rising early
and sending them” (comp. also Jeremiah 26:5; Jeremiah 29:19; Jeremiah 35:14-15).
He had compassion on.—He spared, was forbearing with.
Dwelling place.—Mâcôn (2 Chronicles 30:27; Psalms 26:8; comp. Jeremiah 25:6).
GUZIK, "B. The fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile.
1. (2 Chronicles 36:15-17) The rejection of the message and the messengers.
And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising
up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His
dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and
scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till
there was no remedy.
a. The LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them: God, great in mercy to
His people, sent many warnings but these warning were rejected. The greatness of
His compassion towards His people is shown by the expression rising up early and
sending them.
i. “What a touching a graphic phrase! How did God yearn over that sinful and
rebellious city! Like a man who has had a sleepless night of anxiety for his friend or
child, and rises with the dawn to send a servant on a message of inquiry, or a
message of love. How eager is God for men’s salvation.” (Meyer)
b. They mocked . . . despised . . . scoffed: This tragic triple rejection of God’s
message and messengers sealed the doom of Judah. They rejected the message until
there was no remedy and nothing could turn back the judgment of God.
i. “Three complaints are made in particular, that they were unfaithful, defiled the
temple, and laughed at the prophets. All three are frequent themes throughout
Chronicles, and it is as if the entire message of Chronicles were being summed up.”
(Selman)

35. ii. “Till there was no remedy; because the people would not repent, and God would
not pardon them.” (Poole)
iii. “Men’s sins put thunderbolts into God’s hands.” (Trapp)
iv. “The cataclysm which has been threatened since Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:9; 2Ch_
28:13; 2Ch_28:25; 2Ch_29:8; 2Ch_29:10; 2Ch_30:8) has been held back only
because of the faith and repentance of individual leaders (cf. 2 Chronicles 29:10;
2Ch_30:8-9; 2Ch_32:25-26; 2Ch_33:6; 2Ch_34:21; 2Ch_34:25). ow there is no
remedy, a chilling phrase meaning literally ‘no healing’. It implies the cancellation
of God’s promise to heal his land and that therefore even prayer will be utterly
useless.” (Selman)
SIMEO , "FORBEARA CE OF GOD BROUGHT TO A CLOSE
2 Chronicles 36:15-16. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his
messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his
people, and on his dwelling-place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and
despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
against his people, till there was no remedy.
I speaking of the divine perfections, it is common to represent them all as infinite,
because they do not admit of any increase: but perhaps it would be more correct to
speak of them as limited, because they all so limit each other as to produce one
harmonious agency in all their operations; every perfection being exercised so far,
and so far only, as is consistent with the glory of the whole Deity. Justice, for
instance, never exerts itself to the disparagement of mercy; nor does mercy ever
triumph over the rights of justice: so neither does patience interpose for the
arresting of judgment, any longer than consists with the claims of holiness: as soon
as ever its protracted influence would reflect dishonour on God as the Moral
Governor of the universe, it recedes, and leaves the sword of vengeance to execute
its heavenly commission. The truth of this statement fully appears from the words
before us; from which we are naturally led to notice,
I. God’s patience exercised—
It was exercised to a most astonishing degree towards his people of old—
[The Scripture frequently speaks of God, not only as sending messengers to his
people, but as “rising early” and sending them. This intimates, that as soon as ever
they went astray, he commissioned his servants to reclaim them; yea, many hundred
years before the final execution of his judgments upon them, he forewarned them
how he would proceed, and cautioned them against driving him to such extremities
[ ote: Leviticus 26:14-39 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68.] — — — When these
warnings were disregarded, he sent them prophets, to bring these things to their

36. remembrance, and to plead with them in his name. Sometimes he raised up prophets
for particular occasions; at other times he continued them for many rears in their
office, in order by any means to turn the people from their sins. Full of “compassion
towards his people,” and averse to forsake the land which he had given them for a
“dwelling-place,” he bore with, all their frowardness and perverseness; “many a
time turning away his anger,” when he might justly have broken forth against them,
and made them monuments of his everlasting indignation [ ote: Psalms 78:38;
Psalms 106:13-48.].
But how did they requite his tender mercies? “They mocked his messengers (we are
told), and despised his words, and misused his prophets.” Even against Moses
himself did their resentment frequently burn, insomuch that on one occasion they
were ready to stone him [ ote: Exodus 17:4.]. Their prophets in every successive age
were treated with all manner of indignities, menaced, imprisoned, martyred,
according as the wrath of their rulers was permitted to prevail. “Which of the
prophets have not your fathers persecuted?” said St. Stephen [ ote: Acts 7:52.]; and
our blessed Lord, to comfort his disciples under the trials which they would meet
with, reminded them, that “so had the prophets been persecuted, who were before
them [ ote: Matthew 5:12.].”]
In like manner is it exercised in reference to us—
[God is yet sending his ambassadors to us, not merely to reprove and warn, or to
encourage us with a hope of temporal rewards, as he did to the Jews, but to offer us
redemption through the blood of his dear Son, and to beseech us to accept of
reconciliation with him [ ote: 2 Corinthians 5:18-20.] — — — And such is his
“compassion towards us,” that he cannot endure the thought of giving us up, as long
as a hope remains of converting us to himself [ ote: Ezekiel 33:11. Jeremiah 13:27.
Hosea 11:8.] — — —
And what return do we make to God? Do we not act precisely as the Jews before us
did? There is no faithful messenger that addresses us in Jehovah’s name, but we call
him an enthusiast: however temperate and kind, and reasonable his exhortations
may be [ ote: See particularly the temperate message sent by Hezekiah 2
Chronicles 30:6-10.], we mock and deride him as “a babbler [ ote: Acts 17:18.
Ezekiel 20:40.],” “a deceiver [ ote: John 7:12.],” and “a fellow that ought not to be
tolerated [ ote: Acts 22:22; Acts 24:5.].” Our blessed Lord himself; who “spake as
never man spake,” was accounted a madman and a demoniac [ ote: John 10:20.];
and every faithful servant of God, from his day even to the present hour, has been
made an object, though not of equal, yet certainly of similar, reproach. One would
suppose that men, with the sacred volume in their hands, seeing how the prophets
and Apostles were all treated, would avoid treading in the steps of former
persecutors: but the enmity of the human heart against God is the same as ever; and
the messages of God are therefore treated with the same contempt as ever. If there
be any difference as to the mode in which that enmity betrays itself, it is owing to the
excellence of our laws, and not to any superiority in us above the Jews. Our
dispositions are the same as theirs, and our abuse of God’s tender mercies is the

37. same.]
In the sequel of our text we see,
II. God’s patience exhausted—
He was at last constrained to execute upon them his threatened vengeance—
[After bearing with their frowardness many hundred years, his wrath against them
was kindled, and he gave them up into the hands of their enemies [ ote: ver. 17–
21.]. Every effort for their preservation had been tried in vain, and “no remedy now
remained:” the people therefore were sent into captivity; and both their city and
temple were destroyed.]
Thus also will he do with respect to us—
[If we go on incessantly “grieving the Holy Spirit,” we shall at last “quench” his
sacred motions [ ote: Ephesians 4:30. 1 Thessalonians 5:19]. There is a time beyond
which God will bear with us no longer [ ote: Matthew 23:37-38.]. There is a day of
grace wherein he will be found [ ote: Luke 19:41-44.]; an accepted time in which
salvation may be secured by us [ ote: 2 Corinthians 6:2. Isaiah 55:6.]. But there is a
time when he will say, “Let them alone [ ote: Hosea 4:17.];” “Let their eyes be
blinded and their hearts be hardened [ ote: Acts 28:25-27.]:” “I am weary with
repenting [ ote: Jeremiah 15:6.]:” and now, “though they cry I will not hear,
though they make many prayers I will not regard them [ ote: Proverbs 1:24-31.].”
Doubtless if a person were truly penitent, he would be heard and accepted at the last
hour: but it is God alone who can give repentance: and, if we continue obstinately to
resist his calls, he will cease to strive with us [ ote: Genesis 6:3.], and will give us
over to final impenitence [ ote: Psalms 81:11-12.]. This he has done in unnumbered
instances; and this he warns us to expect at his hands: “He that being often
reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy
[ ote: Proverbs 29:1.].”]
Address—
[God speaks to men by his word and ministers at this day, as truly as ever he did
either by Prophets or Apostles: and our word, as far as it is agreeable to the
Scriptures of Truth, is to be “received, not as the word of man, but of God [ ote: 1
Thessalonians 2:13.]:” and, if any man “despiseth it, he despiseth not man, but God
[ ote: 1 Thessalonians 4:8.].” Happy would it be if this matter were duly
considered: for certainly there are many, of a proud and contemptuous spirit, who
instead of “trembling at the word,” as they ought [ ote: Isaiah 66:2.], and
“humbling themselves before the ministers” of Jehovah [ ote: ver. 12.], make light
of all they hear [ ote: Matthew 22:5.], and turn it to derision [ ote: Jeremiah 20:7-
8.]. But to such God says, “Be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong
[ ote: Isaiah 28:22.].” There is great danger lest they “be holden with the cords of