2 Kings 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE LAST GREAT REFORMATION

2 Kings 21:1 to 2 Kings 23:27

Good King Hezekiah was followed on the throne by the most wicked king to ever rule Judah. All the religious gains effected by Hezekiah were soon lost, and the nation plunged anew into idolatry and all its attendant evils. Political independence, so bravely engineered by the father, was willingly surrendered by the son. Judah again fell into the orbit of Assyrian vassal kingdoms. For over half a century the abscess of sin festered in spite of the eleventh-hour effort of a chastened Manasseh to heal the wound. But with the assassination of Manasseh’s son Amon after a brief reign the stage was set for the last and greatest reformation in the history of Judah.

REVIEW OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

I. FACTS TO MASTER

A. Identify each of the following:

1. Manasseh

2. Baal

3. Asahiah

4. Amon

5. Asherah

6. Huldah

7. Josiah

8. Shaphan

9. Joshua 4. Moloch/Milcom

10. Hilkiah

11. Nathan-melech

12. Ashtoreth

13. Ahikam

14. Chemosh

15. Achbor

B. Identify each of the following places:

1. garden of Uzza

2. Topheth

3. Kidron

4. Valley of Hinnom

5. Bethel

6. Samaria

7. Geba

8. mount of corruption

9. Beersheba

C. How did each of the following figure in the events of this chapter?

1. line and plummet

2. unleavened bread

3. a dish

4. horses and chariots

5. a book

6. bones

7. ashes

8. Passover

9. powder

II. QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Manasseh was the wicked son of a righteous king; Josiah was the righteous son of a wicked king. What factors may account for this situation?

Manasseh reigned longer than any other king of Judah. Why did God permit such a wicked man to retain the throne for so long?

Was the decree pronounced against Judah and Jerusalem during the reign of Manasseh irrevocable?

How old is the tradition that Isaiah the prophet was slain by Manasseh? How would you assess the historicity of this tradition?

Manasseh repented of his wayward life toward the end of his reign. What success did he have in undoing his own life of sin? What lesson is there in this?

How can you account for Josiah’s righteousness at such a young age?

Josiah began his reforms in his eighth year, yet it was not until his eighteenth year that repair work on the Temple commenced. Why this delay?

What was the book found in the Temple in 621 B.C.? For what purpose was this book taken to Huldah?

Huldah is called a prophetess. What other Biblical women have this title?

What was Jeremiah’s relationship to the reform of Josiah?

Huldah predicted that Josiah would die in peace (2 Kings 22:20), but in fact he died in battle at Megiddo. How is this to be explained?

What was Josiah’s intention when he burned bones on altars throughout the land?

In what sense was the Passover celebrated in Josiah’s day unlike any Passover celebrated since the days of the Judges? (2 Kings 23:22)

Scripture states there was no king like Josiah before or after him (2 Kings 23:25). Virtually the same thing is said of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:5). How can the statement be true with regard to both kings?

A city gate of Jerusalem

Armed force in the day of the king

Drawings by Horace Knowles from the British and Foreign Bible Society

2 Kings 23:1-3

E. THE COVENANT RENEWED 23:1-3

**TRANSLATION

(1) And he sent and gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. (2) And the king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the Inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people both small and great; and he read in their presence all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. (3) And the king stood upon the platform, and made the covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all their heart and with all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant which was written in this book. And all the people stood in the covenant.

COMMENTS**

After receiving the word from Huldah that the threats in the recently discovered law-book would shortly be fulfilled, the first action of the king was to call a great assembly of the nation. The elders of the nation were officially summoned (2 Kings 23:1). However a great host of men of all classes of society also attended, including representatives of the priests and prophets. In the courts of the Temple the king read or caused to be read the book which had been discovered. AH the words of the book of the covenant were read to the assembly (2 Kings 23:2). The entire Pentateuch could scarcely be read through in less than ten hours. For this reason many scholars feel that the book which is referred to here is Deuteronomy. However, the reading of the entire Pentateuch cannot be ruled out entirely.

Standing upon the platform (not pillar as in KJV) the king made or renewed the old covenant with God which had been broken during the grossly wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon. He renewed this covenant before the Lord, i.e., the platform upon which he was standing was directly opposite the entrance to the Temple. The king pledged to obey from the heart the totality of the Law of Moses. To this commitment the representatives of the people gave their assent and thus became parties to the covenant (2 Kings 23:3).

2 Kings 23:4-23

F. THE REFORMATION INTENSIFIED 23:4-23

The author deals with the reformation launched by Josiah geographically rather than chronologically. He discusses (1) the cleansing of the Temple (2 Kings 23:4-7); (2) the reforms in Jerusalem and Judah (2 Kings 23:8-14); (3) the reforms in the territory which had formerly belonged to the kingdom of Israel in the North (2 Kings 23:15-20); and (4) the great passover celebration in which Jews and Israelites jointly shared in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:21-23).

1. THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE (2 Kings 23:4-7)

**TRANSLATION

(4) And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and those who kept the door to bring out from the Temple of the LORD all the vessels which had been made for Baal and for Asherah and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. (5) And he made to cease the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed that they might offer incense in the high places of the cities of Judah and the environs of Jerusalem; and them who offered incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the planets and to all the host of heaven. (6) And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD **outside Jerusalem unto the brook Kidron, and he burned it in the fields of Kidron, crushed it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the children of the people. (7) And he tore down the houses of the male Temple prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD where women would weave hangings for Asherah.

COMMENTS

The reformation began with the cleansing of the Temple. The high priest, the common priests and the Levites who kept watch at the other Temple gates were commissioned to remove from the house of God all vessels that had been made for and dedicated to Baal, Asherah and the host of heaven. The Hebrew term translated vessels is broad enough to include the entire paraphernalia of pagan worship including the two altars which had been set up in the inner and outer courts (cf. 2 Kings 21:5). The worship of Baal and Asherah was closely related from the earliest times in Canaan; the host of heaven cult may have been imported from Assyria.

In compliance with the law of Deu 7:25; Deuteronomy 12:3, Josiah burned this pagan paraphernalia. The burning took place in the fields of Kidron, i.e., in the upper part of the Kidron valley, to the northeast of Jerusalem, in order that not even the smoke should pollute the town. He then carried the ashes of this material to Bethel so as to remove them completely from the vicinity of the Holy City. The idolatrous impurities which had penetrated both kingdoms had to large measure originated in Bethel. Josiah reasoned that that which had proceeded from Bethel might well be returned to that spot (2 Kings 23:4).

Josiah also put down the pagan prieststhe kemarimwho had been imported during the reigns of Manasseh and Amon to burn incense throughout the land. From the very early times in Judah the people had illegally burned incense in high places; but here for the first time the author mentions the official sanction of and organization of this illicit worship. These priests must have been imported by Manasseh when he re-established the high places of Baal which his father Hezekiah had destroyed (cf. 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 21:21). The kemarim offered incense to Baal, the sun, the moon and the planets and other heavenly bodies (2 Kings 23:5).

The wooden symbol of the goddess which had been erected in the Temple of the Lord was brought out and burned. Manasseh had originally set up this idol (2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 21:7) and then, after his repentance, removed it (2 Chronicles 33:15). It had subsequently been replaced by his son Amon (2 Chronicles 33:22). Following the earlier example of Asa, Josiah took this abominable image to the brook Kidron where he burned the wooden parts to ashes and crushed the metal parts to a fine powder. This powder was then sprinkled on the graves of the common people who were buried in graves similar to those used today. Burial places were regarded as unclean and were thus fit receptacles for any kind of impurity (2 Kings 23:6).

Josiah tore down the houses of the male Temple prostitutes (lit., consecrated ones). Male prostitutes were an essential element in the worship of Astarte and accompanied that worship wherever it was introduced. The houses of these prostitutes were in close proximity to the house of the Lord, suggesting that the Temple was profaned by the foul lust of these consecrated ones. The women who wove hangings for Asherah are doubtless the priestesses of Asherah, themselves prostitutes. These curtains which were used in the shrines where the impure fertility rites were performed were of dainty fabrics of many colors (cf. Ezekiel 16:16).

2. THE REFORMS IN JUDAH AND JERUSALEM (2 Kings 23:8-14)

**TRANSLATION

(8) And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were in the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, and also that which was on the left-hand side of the gate of the city. (9) The priests of the high places did not go up unto the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate bread in the midst of their brethren. (10) And he defiled Topheth which was in the valley of the son of Hinnom that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Moloch. (11) And he removed from the entrance of the house of the LORD (beside the chamber of Nathan-melech the officer, in the outskirts), the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. (12) And the altars which were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz which the kings of Judah had made and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king tore down, and beat them down from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron. (13) And the king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem which were on the right of the mount of corruption which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon. (14) He broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.

COMMENTS**

In order to prevent further illicit worship at the outlying high places, Josiah summoned to Jerusalem the Levitical priests who had served at these shrines and forced them to remain there. Throughout Judah, from Geba a village near Bethel, to Beersheba in the south, Josiah defiled or desecrated the high places.[647] where these Levites had served. This action he hoped would render these shrines permanently unsuitable for religious services. The high-place type worship had even in vaded, so it seems, the city of Jerusalem. Altars and other religious paraphernalia had been set up in the large open buildings which were part of the gates of the city. Two city gates where this type of unauthorized ritual was performed are named: the gate of Joshua the governor and the gate known simply as the city gate (2 Kings 23:8).

[647] Hezekiah had removed the high places throughout his domain (2 Kings 18:4), but under his son Manasseh the worship at these high places arose anew.

Josiah did not permit the apostate Levitical priests who had been summoned to Jerusalem to approach the altar of the Lord or to have any part in the Temple ritual. Nevertheless, they were permitted to partake of the priestly revenues. They were allowed to eat of the unleavened bread which only the priest could touch, and probably the portions of the sacrificial animals which were designated for the priests[648] (2 Kings 23:9).

[648] See Leviticus 6:9-10; Leviticus 6:22.

Tophet was the name given to the place in the valley of Hinnom where sacrifices were offered to Moloch. The exact meaning of the word is unknown. The valley of Hinnom is that depression which sweeps around the more western of the two hills whereon Jerusalem was built. The sons of Hinnom are thought to have been Canaanites who occupied this valley in the days of Joshua. This spot, sacred to Moloch, was defiled by Josiah so that the abominations practiced there would forever have to cease (2 Kings 23:10).

One of the idolatries introduced during the Manasseh-Amon era was the worship of the sun. Sacred chariots and horses were stationed near one of the entrances of the Temple to be ready for use in pagan processions. The particular entrance of the Temple is more precisely identified as being the one by the chamber of Nathan-melech the officer (lit., eunuch). Various chambers surrounded the Temple area some of which were used for storage, and some for residences. In Josiah’s day, an important royal officer named Nathan-melech occupied one of these chambers. The sacred horses were removed, i.e., deprived of their functions; the wooden chariots were burned (2 Kings 23:11).

The location of the upper chambers of Ahaz is not certain, but most scholars think that they were within or in close proximity to the Temple.[649] Manasseh and Amon apparently had erected altars upon the roof of this structure. Roof-top altars seem to have been a new innovation particularly connected with the worship of the host of heaven. The altars which Manasseh had made and placed in the courts of the house of God were probably also connected with astral worship. These altars had been removed by Manasseh when he repented toward the end of his life, but they apparently had been replaced during the short reign of Amon. All of these astral altars Josiah completely destroyed, crushing them to dust and casting that dust into the brook Kidron (2 Kings 23:12).

[649] Owing to the fact that the pollutions mentioned immediately before and immediately after 2 Kings 23:12 are pollutions belonging to the Temple.

Josiah also destroyed the high places which Solomon had established in the vicinity of Jerusalem for the benefit of his pagan wives. The entire ridge of hills on the east of the city of Jerusalem came to be known as the mount of corruption because of the evil rites which Solomon had permitted to be practiced there. On the right hand, i.e., southern part of that hill, Solomon had erected shrines for three pagan deities: Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Milcom. The worship of Ashtoreth was prevalent throughout Phoenicia, but she was particularly venerated at Sidon, the seat of her worship. Chemosh is mentioned on the famous Moabite Stone as being the chief deity of Moab.[650] Milcom is one of the Israelite spellings for the name of the god Moloch. He seems to have been the only god revered by the Ammonites.[651] These ancient shrines Josiah defiled (2 Kings 23:13) by breaking the sacred pillars there in pieces, cutting down the Asherimthe wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah which were associated with Canaanite shrinesand by filling these areas with human bones. From the earliest times bones were considered unclean. These symbols of death would be a special defilement to shrines where the gods worshiped were deities of productivity and generation (2 Kings 23:14).

[650] The Moabite Stone is dedicated to Chemosh, and the inhabitants of Moab are referred to as the people of Chemosh.

[651] See 1 Kings 11:5; Jeremiah 49:3 compared with Jeremiah 48:7; Amos 1:15; and Zephaniah 1:5.

2. THE REFORMS IN THE NORTH (2 Kings 23:15-20)

**TRANSLATION

(15) Moreover the altar which was in Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down, and he burned the high place; he crushed to powder and burned the Asherah. (16) And Josiah turned and saw the graves which were there in the mount; and he sent and took the bones from the graves, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God had proclaimed who had proclaimed these things. (17) And he said, What marker is that which I see? And the men of the city said unto him, The grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar at Bethel. (18) And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they left his bones with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. (19) And also all the houses of the high places, which were in the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD, Josiah removed, and did to them according to all the deeds which he had done in Bethel. (20) And he slew all the priests of the high places which were there upon the altars, and he burned human bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

COMMENTS**

When Jeroboam set up his altar at Bethel, he in effect made that city a high place. The buildings connected with this high place were torn down by Josiah. It is not certain whether the Bethel temple was still being used in the days of Josiah or whether it had been abandoned. It is likely, however, that the mixed race which had been imported by the Assyrians to the former territory of Israel continued to worship at the spot. The pagan Asherah which was there Josiah crushed to powder and burned (2 Kings 23:15). From Israelite sepulchers excavated in the rocky sides of near-by hills, Josiah ordered human bones to be brought out and burned on the Bethel altar. By this action Josiah was unconsciously fulfilling the prophecy made by the unnamed man of God some three hundred years before (2 Kings 23:16; cf. 1 Kings 13:2).

The king then spotted a pillar or obelisk in the area of the tombs and inquired of the local inhabitants about the significance of this marker. He was told that this pillar marked the sepulcher of the man of God from Judah who had predicted the very things which Josiah had done to the altar (2 Kings 23:17). Upon being reminded of the message of that prophet, Josiah gave orders to leave that particular sepulcher and the bones of the two prophets buried therein undisturbed (2 Kings 23:18).

Josiah and his men roamed at will throughout the former territory of the Northern Kingdom[652] destroying and defiling the high places (2 Kings 23:19). This was the period of Assyrian decline, and the kings in Nineveh were no longer able to defend their outlying provinces. Taking advantage of this weakness, Josiah seems to have established his hegemony over the Assyrian provinces to the north of Judah. He seems to have been able to reunite under his own headship all the scattered portions of the old Israelite kingdom, except, perhaps, the Transjordan area. He levied taxes in Samaria as freely as in Judah (2 Chronicles 33:9). Throughout these territories Josiah slew the pagan priests of the high places and defiled the altars at these heathen shrines by burning human bones upon them just as he had done at Bethel (2 Kings 23:20).

[652] The Chronicler gives more details. Josiah carried out his destruction of the high places, the Asherah and the images in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali (2 Chronicles 34:6).

3. THE GREAT PASSOVER CELEBRATION (2 Kings 23:21-23)

**TRANSLATION

(21) And the king commanded all the people, saying, Prepare the Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in the book of this covenant. (22) Surely we have not done according to this book from the days of the Judges who judged Israel nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. (23) But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was conducted to the LORD in Jerusalem.

COMMENTS**

The account of Josiah’s Passover celebration is given in much more detail in the Book of Chronicles. The king ordered that all the regulations contained in the newly discovered book of the covenant should be observed (2 Kings 23:21). Since the ordinances for the observation of Passover are contained chiefly in Exodus (2 Kings 12:3-20; 2 Kings 13:5-10), it is reasonable to assume that the book of the covenant contained the book presently called Exodus.[653] Not since the days of the Judges had a pass-over been so numerously attended[654] and so meticulously observed (2 Kings 23:22; cf. 2 Chronicles 35:6).[655] This great observance occurred in the eighteenth year of Josiah, 621 B.C.the same year in which the lost law book was discovered in the Temple (2 Kings 23:23).

[653] Passover regulations are repeated but with much less fullness in Deuteronomy 16:1-8.

[654] The festival was attended not only by the Judaeans, but by many Israelites from among the ten tribes who still remained intermixed with the Assyrian colonists in the area of Samaria (2 Chronicles 35:17-18)

[655] Two other great passover observances are recorded since Israel left Sinai. See Joshua 5:10-11 and 2 Chronicles 30:13-26.

2 Kings 23:24-27

G. AN APPRAISAL OF THE JOSIANIC REFORMATION 23:24-27

**TRANSLATION

(24) Moreover those with familiar spirits, the wizards, the teraphim, the idols, and all the abominations. which were found in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem Josiah removed in order to fulfill the words of the Law which was written in the book which Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the LORD. (25) Like him there was not before him a king who turned unto the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might according to the Law of Moses; and after him one did not arise like him. (26) Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great anger with which He was angry against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. (27) And the LORD said, Also Judah I will remove from before My face like I removed Israel, and I will reject this city which I have chosen, viz., Jerusalem, along with the house of which I have said, My name shall be there.

COMMENTS**

Occult practices had flourished during the long reign of Manasseh. Josiah was determined to banish these devilish deeds from the land. Those with familiar spirits, i.e., mediums, and wizards who pretended to possess supernatural knowledge, were removed. The teraphim or household gods were destroyed whenever possible. Idols (gillulimshapeless, formless things) probably again refers to objects used in private, perhaps figures used as amulets. Private superstitious practicesabominationswere uncovered and banished. Josiah conscientiously tried to fulfill all of the precepts of the Law of Moses with regard to these matters (2 Kings 23:24). In his exact obedience to the Law, Josiah was without equal among the kings of Judah[656] (2 Kings 23:25).

[656] In 2 Kings 18:5 the writer makes a similar comment about Hezekiah. A close examination, however, indicates that Hezekiah is praised for his trust in God and Josiah for his obedience to the Lord.

In spite of Josiah’s valiant efforts to reform the nation, the anger of the Lord was not turned aside from Judah. The king meant well; but it was too late for the nation to repent sincerely and heartily. At best, the reformation only gained a temporary reprieve for Judah. The wicked practices introduced by Manasseh provoked the Lord to wrath, and the corruption of that sin had not been removed from the hearts of the people. God was not about to punish one generation for the sins of another. The sinister shadow of Manasseh still hovered over the hearts of the men of Judah in spite of all that Josiah had attempted to do (2 Kings 23:26).[657] Therefore, God determined to remove Judah from His sight just as He earlier had removed Israel. Jerusalem, the city chosen by God as the residence of His ark and His Temple, would be abandoned (2 Kings 23:27)[658]

[657] See especially Jeremiah 5.

[658] God chose Jerusalem when he led David to bring the ark there. He confirmed the choice of Jerusalem when at the Temple dedication fire came down and consumed the burnt offering and the glory of the Lord filled the house (2 Chronicles 7:1).

2 Kings 23:28-30

I. THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF JOSIAH 23:28-30

**TRANSLATION

(28) Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (29) In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up on behalf of the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to confront him, and he killed him in Megiddo when he had seen him. (30) And his servants brought him in a chariot as he was dying from Megiddo; and they brought him to Jerusalem and they buried him in his sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him king in place of his father.

COMMENTS**

Much more information about Josiah was contained in the prophetic annals of Judah (2 Kings 23:28). This king was remembered by his people for his goodness rather than his greatness. No mention is made of his might. The Chronicler mentions his kindness or his good deeds (2 Chronicles 35:26).

With the fall of Nineveh to the Medo-Babylonian coalition in 612 B.C., a refugee Assyrian government was established at Haran. In 610 B.C. Haran also fell to the Chaldean king Nabopolassar. Fearing that the international balance of power was about to be upset, Pharaoh Necho (609-593 B.C.) decided to intervene in the struggle on behalf of the tottering Assyrian kingdom. The King James and American Standard versions give the impression that Necho marched north to fight against the Assyrians. However a Babylonian text published by Wiseman in 1956 has made it clear that the purpose of Necho was to fight on behalf of the Assyrians.[659] The Hebrew preposition used in 2 Kings 23:29 can be translated either against or on behalf of.[660]Here is a case where the texts from antiquity have actually aided modern scholars in producing a more accurate translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Necho had to go through the narrow pass at Megiddo in northern Palestine. It is not entirely clear why Josiah decided to take his tiny army to Megiddo in an attempt to stop the advance of Necho. Probably he simply resented this Egyptian incursion into the territory which he had recently annexed.[661] Had he allowed Egyptian armies to march uncontested back and forth across his land, he would not long be able to maintain his independence. However, Necho tried to dissuade the Jewish king from this foolish confrontation. Necho assured Josiah that he had no quarrel with Judah. The Egyptian insisted that God had directed him to undertake this mission, and he warned that should Josiah persist in resisting his advance, he would be fighting against God. The Chronicler seems to concur that the action of Josiah was contrary to the will of God for he declares that Josiah hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God (2 Chronicles 35:22). The battle was joined and Josiah was mortally wounded (2 Kings 23:29).

[659] The relevant portions of this test have been translated in DOTT, p. 17. Older interpreters understood the king of Assyria in 2 Kings 23:29 to be Nabopolassar the father of Nebuchadnezzar who was then king of Babylon. On this interpretation, the Jews regarded Nabopolassar as the inheritor of the Assyrian empire, just as they later regarded the Persian kings (Ezra 6:22).

[660] Gray (OTL, p. 748) recognizes this possible translation, but still insists on the translation against. He then charges the author of Kings with failure to understand the political situation of that time.

[661] Others contend that Josiah opposed the Egyptians in support of the Chaldeans. See JNES, XII (1953), pp. 56-58.

When Josiah was wounded, his servants put him in his second chariot (2 Chronicles 35:24)a chariot of much lighter construction and drawn by fleeter horsesand hastened toward Jerusalem. The Chronicler implies that Josiah succumbed to his wound en route to the captial (2 Chronicles 35:23-24). He was buried in his sepulcher, i.e., the sepulcher of his fathers (2 Chronicles 35:24). Jeremiah seems to have led the nation in lamenting the death of this good king (2 Chronicles 35:25).[662] The people of the land, i.e., the landed gentry, then took Jehoahaz, otherwise named Shallum (1 Chronicles 3:15; Jeremiah 22:11), and made him king in place of his father (2 Kings 23:30). On what grounds the people preferred this son to his elder brother Eliakim is not known.[663] Commentators generally speculate that the elder son was pro-Egyptian and therefore was passed over in favor of the next oldest who was committed to an independent Judah. But if this be the case, why was Jehoahaz so willing to go to Riblah and meet with the Pharaoh? Rawlinson offers the hypothesis that Eliakim had accompanied his father to Megiddo and had been captured by Necho.[664]

[662] For many years the anniversary of the death of Josiah was marked by weeping and lamentation. Cf. Zechariah 12:11.

[663] Jehoahaz was twenty-three when he began to reign (2 Kings 23:31) and his brother, three months later, is said to have been twenty-five (2 Kings 23:36).

[664] Gray (OTL, p. 748) thinks the selection was made on the grounds that Jehoahaz was stronger in character than his older brother (actually, his half-brother).

2 Kings 23:31-35

II. THE REIGN AND REMOVAL OF JEHOAHAZ 23:31-35

**TRANSLATION

(31) Jehoahaz was twenty-three yean old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. (32) And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD according to all which his fathers had done. (33) And Pharaoh Necho restrained him in Riblah in the land of Hamath from reigning over Jerusalem, and appointed a tribute upon the land, a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. (34) And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father, and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. And he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt and he died there. (35) And the silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the silver according to the word of Pharaoh. Each man according to his assessment, he exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Necho.

COMMENTS**

Upon assuming the throne, Shallum adopted the name Jehoahaz. He reigned but three months in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:31). Even in this short reign, Jehoahaz showed himself to be an irreligious man. Ezekiel hints that he was also a persecutor (cf. Ezekiel 19:3). He did according to all that his fathers had done, i.e., he participated in idolatrous practices (2 Kings 23:32).[665] Jehoahaz was summoned by Necho to the Egyptian military headquarters at Riblah in the land of Hamath about two hundred miles north of Jerusalem. It is not certain why the new king left the safety of Jerusalem to comply with the wishes of Necho. But whatever his reasons for going, that trip to Riblah proved an ill-fated one for Jehoahaz. The Jewish king was deposed and his land was ordered to pay to Pharaoh a tribute of a hundred talents of silver ($200,000 BV) and a talent of gold[666] ($30,000 BV; 2 Kings 23:33).

[665] His sin may have been that he was too ready to go to Necho at Riblah.

[666] The tribute was very moderate compared to the three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold demanded by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14). Perhaps the Pharaoh was trying to be conciliatory toward Judah in anticipation of his confrontation with Babylon.

Sixteenth King of Judah JEMOAHAZ BEN JOSIAH 609 B.C. (Yabweb-seized)

2 Kings 23:30-34; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4

Contemporary Prophet Jeremiah

Mother: Hamutal

Appraisal: Bad

in the place inhere they led him captive there he will die and not see this land again. Jeremiah 22:12

Necho installed his own man, Eliakim, the older son of Josiah, on the throne. The Pharaoh required his vassal to take a new name as a symbol of submission and subjection, and yet Eliakim himself seems to have had the right to select what that new name might be. He chose the name Jehoiakim (Yahweh will set up) which is only slightly different in meaning from his given name of Eliakim (God will set up). The deposed King Jehoahaz was carried away by Necho to Egypt where he died (2 Kings 23:34). Jeremiah the prophet had clearly predicted this fate for Shallum-Jehoahaz (Jeremiah 22:10-12). The vassal King Jehoiakim was unable to meet Necho’s tribute demands from the national treasuries which apparently were exhausted. He was forced to impose a real estate tax upon the land owners in order to meet his obligations (2 Kings 23:35).

2 Kings 23:36-37

III. THE REIGN AND REBELLION OF JEHOIAKIM 23:36-24:7

**TRANSLATION

(36) Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. (37) And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD according to all which his fathers had done. (1) In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal three years; then he turned away and rebelled against him. (2) And the LORD sent against him bands of Chaldeans and bands of Arameans and bands of Moabites and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets. (3) Surely on account of the word of the LORD it came on Judah to remove them from before His face for the sins of Manasseh, according to all he had done. (4) And also for the blood of the innocent which he shed when he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not pardon this. (5) Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (6) And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers and Jehoiachin his son ruled in his place. (7) And the king of Egypt did not again go out from his land because the king of Babylon had taken the land from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all which had belonged to the king of Egypt.**

Seventeenth King of Judah JEHOIAKIM BENJOSIAH 609-597 B.C. (Yabweb will set up)

Contemporary Prophets Jeremiah; Uriah; Daniel

Mother: Zebudah

Appraisal: Bad

He will be buried with a donkey’s burial, dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 22:19

COMMENTS

Since Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, he was therefore older than his deposed half-brother.[667] He reigned eleven years over Judah, from 609-597 B.C.(2 Kings 23:36) Under Jehoiakim, all the idolatrous practices of the Manasseh era were reintroduced (2 Kings 23:37). In spite of the national poverty, this petty little king spent huge sums of money on himself. In one of Jeremiah’s blistering sermons he condemned Jehoiakim for building for himself a fancy new palace (Jeremiah 22:13-14). Jehoiakim was the villain of the closing years of Judah’s history. He was everything that is despicable in a national leader. He was a spendthrift, a bigot, an arrogant and irreverent tyrant who brooked no criticism, not even when that criticism came from a man of God. A prophet named Uriah was too bold in his denunciation of the king, and paid for his boldness with his life (Jeremiah 26:21). Jeremiah was in danger on more than one occasion during the reign of this king.

[667] The mother of Jehoahaz was Hamutal (2 Kings 23:31); the mother of Jehoiakim was Zebudah (2 Kings 23:36). Rumah, the hometown of Zebudah, was in the vicinity of Shechem.

Jehoiakim carefully watched the political developments on the Euphrates River to the north. From July 609 to June 605 B.C. the armies of the Babylonians and the Assyro-Egyptian coalition sparred. For the most part during those years the Babylonians were on the defensive. Finally, the Babylonian army under the brilliant young crown prince Nebuchadnezzar was able to launch a mighty offensive which was to have worldwide significance. The focus of the attack was the fortress of Carchemish on the Euphrates. Nebuchadnezzar won a crushing victory. The tattered Egyptian armies fled southward from Carchemish in disarray. Nebuchadnezzar was able to roam at will through Syria-Palestine, the Hatti-land as he calls it in his annals.

Shortly after Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar went up and besieged Jerusalem. According to one system of counting regnal years, this siege fell in the third year of King Jehoiakim (Daniel 1:1-3).[668] It is not entirely clear whether or not Jehoiakim actually swore allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar at this time. It may be that Jehoiakim merely tried to bribe the Chaldean prince by sending to him some of the valuable Temple vessels and some prize youth of the land, viz., Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

[668] Using a different system, Jeremiah 46:2 dates the battle of Carchemish to the fourth year of Jehoiakim. For a discussion of the two dating systems, see Thiele, MNHK, p. 162ff.

Nebuchadnezzar’s campaign in the Hatti-land was cut short by the death of his father, King Nabopolassar, on August 16, 605 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar hastened immediately back to Babylon where he was crowned on September 6, 605 B.C. Upon assuming the throne, Nebuchadnezzar returned to the Hatti-land (Syria-Palestine) to continue his conquests. The Babylonian records do not indicate precisely what cities he conquered at this time. A third campaign to the Hatti-land took place in the late spring and early summer of 604 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar’s official scribe declares that on this occasion all the kings of the Hatti-land came before him and he received their heavy tribute.[669] It was probably at this time that Nebuchadnezzar bound King Jehoiakim to take him to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:6). No evidence exists that Jehoiakim was actually taken to Babylon, and so one must conclude that for some reason Nebuchadnezzar changed his mind about the matter. Perhaps Jehoiakim took a solemn and sacred oath of allegiance to the Great King, and so Nebuchadnezzar decided to leave him on the throne of Jerusalem as his vassal.[670]

[669] DOTT, p. 79. [670] It cannot be known for certain on which of the three campaigns of 605-604 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and bound Jehoiakim. However in both Chronicles and Kings he is called king at the time he came against Jerusalem. This would suggest that he had already been crowned king and would thus eliminate the first campaign to the Hatti-land when he was only crown-prince.

Jehoiakim had no intention of remaining permanently the vassal of Nebuchadnezzar. He did serve the Babylonian for three years.[671] But since Pharaoh Necho was regaining strength down in Egypt, Jehoiakim was encouraged to rebel against his overlord. In 601 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar brought his armies down the coastal plain of Palestine apparently intent on invading Egypt and destroying Necho once and for all. However, it appears from a Babylonian text that Nebuchadnezzar met with a stinging defeat on the borders of Egypt.[672] This meant that for the last years of his reign Jehoiakim was an independent ruler.

[671] It is not certain at exactly what time Jehoiakim took his vassal oath to Nebuchadnezzar. What little evidence there is points to the summer of 604 B.C. Gray (OTL, pp. 756f.), however, thinks Jehoiakim was left independent from 604-601 B.C. Only in 601 B.C. when Jehoiakim showed signs of sympathy with Necho did Nebuchadnezzar impose tribute on him. Thus in Gray’s view, the three years of vassalage were 601-599 B.C. In the opinion of the present writer, 604-601 B.C. is more likely. [672] See ANET, p. 564.

That Nebuchadnezzar had received a rather severe blow in his battle with the Egyptians in 601 B.C. is indicated by the fact that for some eighteen months he was unable to personally attend to his rebellious vassal in Jerusalem. In the meanwhile, he sent bands of Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites and local contingents of Chaldean soldiers to harass the Judaeans. Though these small units were probably unable to do much damage to the fortified cities of Judah, they did force the rural people to seek refuge in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 35:11). By authorizing these raids of reprisal, Nebuchadnezzar was unconsciously beginning to fulfill the threats which the Lord had made against Judah through his great prophets. In reality it was the Lord through His permissive will who sent these raiders against Judah (2 Kings 23:2).

The final destruction of Judah had been decreed by the mouth of the Lord. Judah was to be removed from His sightcarried off to a foreign landbecause of the sins of Manasseh (2 Kings 23:3). This should not be interpreted to mean that the nation was being punished for the sins of a man long since dead. Rather the meaning is that the class of sins introduced by Manasseh still persisted in the nation. The sins of Manasseh included: (1) idolatry, accompanied by licentious rites; (2) child sacrifice to Moloch; (3) sodomy; (4) occult practices; and (5) the shedding of innocent blood. This shedding of innocent blood would include child sacrifice, but would also embrace the persecution of righteous saints. This kind of bloodshed continued under Jehoiakim. Reference has already been made to the execution of Uriah the prophet (Jeremiah 26:23). The blood of innocent saints cried out to God for vengeance. God could no longer overlook or pardon those crimes (2 Kings 23:4).

The author of Kings closes out his brief treatment of the reign of Jehoiakim by referring his readers to the prophetic chronicles of his reign (2 Kings 23:5). The Book of Jeremiah relates several other facts about Jehoiakim: (1) that he executed Uriah the prophet (Jeremiah 26:23); (2) that he destroyed the scroll of Jeremiah’s sermons (Jeremiah 36:20-23); and (3) that he ordered Jeremiah and Baruch to be arrested (Jeremiah 36:26).

Jehoiakim died on December 9, 598 B.C. The circumstances of his death are not entirely clear. Jeremiah had predicted that he would be buried with the burial of a donkey. His death, said the prophet, would be unlamented (Jeremiah 22:18-19). These words suggest that Jehoiakim was assassinated, or at least that his body was dishonored after death by his own countrymen. It is also possible that when the Chaldeans arrived in force at Jerusalem to punish the rebellious city they disinterred the corpse and exposed it to the indignities here described.

Whether by violence or natural death, Jehoiakim was dead when the Chaldeans arrived. His young son Jehoiachin[673] was left to face the wrath of the mighty Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 23:6). No further aid from Egypt was forthcoming. Even though Necho had successfully defended his land in the face of the Babylonian campaign of 601 B.C., the Egyptians did not have sufficient power to challenge Nebuchadnezzar’s hegemony over Syria-Palestine. All the territories between the River of Egypt and the Euphrates to which Pharaoh had laid claim after his campaign of 609 B.C. the Babylonians now controlled (2 Kings 23:7).

[673] Jehoiachin has two other names: Jeconiah (1 Chronicles 3:16-17; Jeremiah 27:20 etc.) and Coniah (Jeremiah 22:24; Jeremiah 22:28 etc.). The two longer forms both mean Yahweh will establish; the shorter form means Yahweh establishes.