2 Kings 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

THE DYING DAYS OF JUDAH

2 Kings 23:28 to 2 Kings 25:30

The twenty-three years following the death of Josiah were the dying time of the kingdom of Judah. These were tragic days when petty politicians repeated foolish mistakes which drug the nation down to oblivion. In spite of the heroic preaching of Jeremiah, the nation sunk ever deeper into apostasy and rebellion. The final scenes unfold like those in a Shakespearian tragedy: (1) the death and burial of Josiah (2 Kings 23:28-30); (2) the reign and removal of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:31-35); (3) the reign and rebellion of Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:36 to 2 Kings 24:7); (4) the reign and deportation of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:8-17); (5) the revolt and punishment of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:18 to 2 Kings 25:7); and (6) the aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:8-30).

REVIEW OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I. FACTS TO MASTER

A. Names of Importance:

1. Necho

2. Mattaniah

3. Ishmael

4. Josiah

5. Zedekiah

6. Johanan

7. Jehoahaz

8. Jeremiah 17. Jaazaniah

9. Eliakim

10. Nebuzaradan

11. Evil- Merodach

12. Jehoiakim

13. Seraiah

14. Nebuchadnezzar

15. Zephaniah 7. Jehoiachin

16. Gedaliah

B. Places of Importance:

1. Euphrates

2. Babylon

3. Megiddo

4. Plains of Jericho

5. Riblah

6. Mizpah

7. Egypt

8. Brook of Egypt

C. Important Dates and Numbers 1.605 B.C.

4. 582 B.C.

5. 597 B.C.

6. 10,000

7. 587 B.C.

8. three years

II. QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Why did Pharaoh Necho march north through Palestine in 609 B.C.? Why did Josiah attempt to withstand Necho at Megiddo?

When Josiah was killed, why did the people of the land bypass the heir apparent (Eliakim) and make Jehoahaz king?

List the events in the Book of Jeremiah which transpired during the reign of Jehoiakim. (See Jeremiah volume, in Bible Study Textbook Series, pp. 73-74.)

Evaluate the character of Jehoiakim.

How did Jehoiakim meet his death? What happened to his corpse?

What problem exists as to the age of Jehoiachin when he assumed the throne? How is the problem solved?

What archaeological finds shed light on the reign and captivity of Jehoiachin?

How many different Chaldean campaigns against Judah can be documented? On which of these were Jews carried away to Babylon?

How long did the final siege of Jerusalem last? What additional information about the siege can be gleaned from sources outside the Book of Kings?

What tragic fate befell Zedekiah? What lessons are underscored by his fate?

Why was Gedaliah selected to govern Judah after the fall of Jerusalem? Evaluate his administration.

Why was the remnant of Jews so determined to emigrate to Egypt after the assassination of Gedaliah? What advice did Jeremiah give them? What warning?

Why did the author of Kings choose to close his book with the account of the release of Jehoiachin?

DEPORTATIONS TO BABYLON

Date

References

Numbers

Notes

605

Daniel 1:1 2 Chronicles 36:6-7

Daniel and his three friends taken

597

2 Kings 24:13-16 Jeremiah 52:28 Ezekiel 1:2 2 Chronicles 36:10 a

10,000 3,023

Ezekiel taken

587

2 Kings 25:3-7 Jeremiah 52:29

832

Zedekiah blinded, taken captive

582

Jeremiah 52:30

745

2 Kings 24:1-20

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.

2 Kings 24:8-17

IV. THE REIGN AND DEPORTATION OF JEHOIACHIN 24:8-17

**TRANSLATION

(8) Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months In Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. (9) And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD according to all which his fathers had done. (10) At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem; and the city came under siege. (11) And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants set siege against it. (12) And Jehoiachin king of Judah went out unto the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his princes and his officers; and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. (13) And he brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the house of the king; and he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the Temple of the LORD as the LORD had spoken. (14) And he took captive all Jerusalem and all the princes and the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none was left except the poor of the people of the land. (15) And he took away Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king, the wives of the king, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. (16) And all the men of might seven thousand, the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all the mighty men who were warriors; and the king of Babylon brought them captive to Babylon. (17) And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his uncle king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.**

Eighteenth King of Judah JEHOIACHIN BEN JEHOIAKIM 597 B.C. (Yabweb will establish)

2 Kings 24:8-17

Contemporary Prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel; Daniel

Mother: Nehushta

Appraisal: Bad

Write this man down childless, a man who will not prosper in his days, Jeremiah 22:30

COMMENTS

Some confusion exists as to the age of Jehoiachin when he became king, but the figure eighteen must surely be correct.[674] His reign lasted three months, or to be more precise, three months and ten days (2 Chronicles 36:9). Jehoiachin’s mother Nehushta was of the powerful family of Elnathan, one of the chief princes under Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 26:22; Jeremiah 36:12; Jeremiah 36:25). Nehushta was probably the ruling spirit of the time during her son’s short reign[675] (2 Kings 24:8).

[674] 2 Chronicles 36:9 gives his age as eight. In Hebrew the number eighteen is written with two words, the word for eight and the word for ten. In the process of copying the manuscript of Chronicles, some scribe must have accidentally omitted the word for ten.

[675] Nehushta is mentioned in Jeremiah 22:26; Jeremiah 29:2.

In spite of his brief reign, the author of Kings declares that Jehoiachin did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord. As in the case of similar evaluations of short-reigned kings, this statement probably means the Jehoiachin made no attempt at a religious reformation, but allowed the idolatries and superstitions which had prevailed under Jehoiakim and Jehoahaz to continue. Jeremiah called this king a despised broken idol and a vessel wherein is no pleasure (Jeremiah 22:28).

During most of the short reign of Jehoiachin, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar were encamped about the walls of Jerusalem.[676] The Great King himself was temporarily detained in a siege at Tyre, and so sent his servants to deal with Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:10). While the siege conducted by his generals was still going on, Nebuchadnezzar himself appeared on the scene, probably bringing with him additional forces (2 Kings 24:11). The Holy City was well fortified and could have withstood several months of siege. But Jehoiachin realized that further resistance would only bring upon his people incalculable hardship. Perhaps he hoped that if he surrendered Nebuchadnezzar would allow him to retain his throne as a vassal king. Whatever his motives, Jehoiachin and the leading citizens of Jerusalem walked through the gates of the city and surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar on March 16, 597 B.C., the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar[677] (2 Kings 24:12). This is the first instance in Kings of dating in terms of a foreign king. The Biblical record of Jehoiachin’s surrender to Nebuchadnezzar is substantiated and supplemented by the Babylonian Chronicle.[678]

[676] The precise day on which the Chaldean forces arrived at Jerusalem cannot be determined. But the Babylonian Chronicle indicates that the siege began sometime after December 18, 598 B.C.

[677] The author here (as later in 2 Kings 25:8) uses the non-accession year method of computing the regnal years of Nebuchadnezzar. In this system, the first year of Nebuchadnezzar was only a few months long, from September 7, 605 till New Years (March-April) of 604 B.C. According to this system of counting, the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar began in the spring of 598 B.C. Jehoiachin surrendered on Adar 2 (the second day of the twelfth month) of that eighth year. Jeremiah 52:28 uses the standard Babylonian system of countingwhere the months up until the first New Years were not countedand places this deportation in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar.

[678] See ANET, p. 564.

In addition to the royal captives, Nebuchadnezzar carried off from Jerusalem additional treasure from the Temple and palace.[679] These treasuries had been exhausted in the days of Hezekiah when the Assyrian Sennacherib demanded heavy tribute (2 Kings 18:15). But fresh accumulations had been made during the long reigns of Manasseh and Josiah. The vessels of gold made originally by Solomon were cut in pieces, i.e., had the gold stripped from them. These vessels would include articles of furniture, like the altar of incense and the table of showbread which were covered with golden plates, and other articles made wholly of the precious metal such as the lamp-stand, tongs, spoons, etc. This confiscation of the wealth of the nation had been prophesied by a long line of prophets.[680]

[679] According to Daniel 1:1, he had carried away some of the sacred Temple vessels in 605 B.C.

[680] 2 Kings 20:17; Isaiah 39:6; Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 17:3 etc.

The statement that Nebuchadnezzar carried away all Jerusalem like so many other universal statements in the Bible is not intended to be taken literally. All Jerusalem means all that was important in the population of the citythe upper classes. This included the princes or nobles of the city, the professional soldiers and the skilled craftsmen[681] (2 Kings 24:14). Most prominent among the captives was Jehoiachin and his mother and wives and officers. All the mighty of the land, i.e., all the prominent citizens, were taken away to Babylon (2 Kings 24:15). The professional soldiers taken captive numbered some seven thousand, the skilled workmen another thousand and other ranking citizens two thousand making a total of ten thousand captives (2 Kings 24:16; cf. 2 Kings 24:14).

[681] There are still princes in Jerusalem under the last king (Jeremiah 38:4; Jeremiah 38:25; Jeremiah 38:27), and courtiers of rank (Jeremiah 38:7), and captains of forces (Jeremiah 40:7) and men of war (Jeremiah 52:7).

After the deportation of Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Mattaniah as king of Judah. Mattaniah was the third son of Josiah[682] to reign on the throne of David. The Great King demanded that his new vassal change his name. Mattaniah (Gift of Yahweh) chose the throne name of Zedekiah (Righteousness of Yahweh). This last king of Judah certainly made no attempt to live up to his new name; he made no effort to establish the righteousness of Yahweh in the land.

[682] 2 Kings 24:18 makes it clear that Mattaniah-Zedekiah was a son of Josiah (Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, was the wife of Josiah and mother of Jehoahaz). See also 1 Chronicles 3:15. The Hebrew text of 2 Chronicles 36:10 calls Zedekiah the brother of Jehoiachin. Brother is used here in the general sense of relative.

2 Kings 24:18-20

V. THE REVOLT OF ZEDEKIAH AND PUNISHMENT OF ZEDEKIAH 24:18-25:7

TRANSLATION

(18) Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. (19) And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD according to all which Jehoiakim had done. (20) For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and in Judah that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon until He cast them out from His presence. (1) And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem; and he camped against it, and built siege towers round about. (2) And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. (3) On the ninth day of the (fourth) month the famine was strong in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. (4) And the city was broken into and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the walls which were beside the garden of the king; (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about) and he went by the way of the Arabah. (5) And the Chaldean army pursued after the king, and they caught up with him in the plains of Jordan; and all his army were scattered from him. (6) So they seized the king and they brought him unto the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they pronounced judgment upon him. (7) And the sons of Zedekiah they slew before his eyes; then the eyes of Zedekiah were blinded, and they bound him in bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.

Nineteenth King of Judah ZEDEKIAH BEN JOSIAH 597-587 B.C. (Righteousness of Yahweh)

2 Kings 24:17 to 2 Kings 25:21; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21

Contemporary Prophets Jeremiah; Ezekiel; Daniel

Mother: Hamutal

Appraisal: Bad

As I live, says the Lord God, Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath be despised, and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon be shall die. Ezekiel 17:16

COMMENTS

Zedekiah reigned from 597-587 B.C.[683] He was the full brother of Jehoahaz who had been deported to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho in 609 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 23:31). He was the half brother of Jehoiakim (cf. 2 Kings 23:36). His father-in-law, Jeremiah of Libnah, is not the prophet who was of Anathoth (2 Kings 24:18). Zedekiah allowed the people of Judah to continue their pollutions and abominations (2 Chronicles 36:14). He ignored the prophetic warning to submit willingly to Babylon and sought instead by political maneuverings to extricate himself from the grip of Nebuchadnezzar. For these reasons it is said that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord as did Jehoiakim his half brother (2 Kings 24:19). It was because of God’s righteous anger that He permitted this perverse and faithless monarch to sit on the throne of David. The Almighty permitted Zedekiah’s stupid and stubborn rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar to proceed unimpeded until finally the cup of Judah’s iniquity was full to overflowing. Judah was cast out from the presence of the Lord, i.e., Judah lost the protecting power of God and thus was left defenseless against national enemies. Yet in spite of the precarious predicament of his people, Zedekiah broke his solemn vassal oath to Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled against his overlord (2 Kings 24:20).

[683] Thiele argues for the date 586 B.C. for the termination of Zedekiah’s reign and the fall of Jerusalem.

The reign of Zedekiah was in many respects the most tragic in the history of the people of God. The territory of Judah was diminished, and many of the cities of the land were severely damaged. The population had been drastically reduced through deportation, the upper classes being completely depleted. Zedekiah himself seems to have been at the mercy of his princes. The royal court was bent on rebellion. Jeremiah the prophet thundered forth against the folly of resistance against Babylon,[684] but still the political leaders clung to their suicidal course. A brief insurrection in Babylon sparked renewed hope in the western part of the empire. When a new Pharaoh, Psamtik II, came to power in 594 B.C. the little states of Syria-Palestine began to make plans for a concerted effort against Babylon. Ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon met in Jerusalem to plan the rebellion (Jeremiah 27:3 ff.). The plan must have been uncovered, for that very year Zedekiah was summoned to Babylon to reaffirm his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 51:59 ff.). Zedekiah’s first major effort to break with Babylon was nipped in the bud.

[684] Unlike the Assyrians, the Babylonians did not include worship of their gods as a condition of servitude, and thus there was no theological reason why Judah should not render homage to the Chaldeans. Cf. Finley, BBC, p. 500.

A still more boastful and aggressive Pharaoh took the throne of Egypt in 588 B.C. Pharaoh ApriesHophra, as he is known in the Bibleactively encouraged a western coalition against Babylon. But the revolt does not seem to have been widespread in Syria-Palestine. So far as is known, only Tyre and Ammon seem to have committed themselves. Zedekiah, however, sent ambassadors to Egypt (Ezekiel 17:15), and entered wholeheartedly into the rebellion.

The author of Kings is very precise in dating the events of the last days of Judah. Only in chapter 25 does he give the year, month and day of any event, and this he does three times. Extreme exactness with respect to a date indicates the extreme importance of the event dated. Chronologists have computed that the Babylonian army arrived at Jerusalem on January 15, 588 B.C. They blockaded the city and began to systematically eliminate the outlying strong points. The fortified towns of Lachish and Azekah were among the last to fall to the Chaldeans[685] (Jeremiah 34:7). With the fall of these two villages, Zedekiah’s communication lines to Egypt were cut. The siege of Jerusalem now began in earnest. Siege towers (KJV forts) were constructed (2 Kings 24:1). These towers were movable ones, made of planks, which were pushed up to the walls of the city. Such towers enabled the assailants to attack their adversaries with better advantage, being now on a level with the top of the walls. Sometimes these towers contained battering rams.

[685] In 1935 eighteen ostraca which date to this very time were discovered in the ruins of the ancient fortress city of Lachish. In the main these ostraca are military communiques between a field commander by the name of Hoshayahu and his superior in Lachish whose name was Yaosh. For a discussion of the significance of these letters, see Smith, JL, pp. 22-24.

The author of Kings omits all details of the siege of Jerusalem and passes immediately to the final catastrophe (2 Kings 24:2). Jeremiah and Ezekiel add significant information at this point. In the summer of 588 B.C. an Egyptian army marched northward toward Jerusalem with the intention of relieving the pressure on Zedekiah. Nebuchadnezzar was forced temporarily to lift the siege of the city in order to deal with the Egyptian threat (Jeremiah 37:5; Ezekiel 17:17). Apparently with little effort, Nebuchadnezzar was able to send the Egyptians scurrying back home. He then resumed the siege of Jerusalem. The defenders of the city began to suffer from famine (Jeremiah 21:7; Jeremiah 21:9; Lamentations 2:12; Lamentations 2:20). All the bread in the city was consumed by July of 588 B.C.[686] (2 Kings 24:3). Famine was followed by pestilence (Jeremiah 21:6-7), and after a time the city was reduced to the last extremity (Lamentations 4:10).

[686] From the information given here and in Jeremiah 52, it cannot be determined whether the bread was exhausted in the fourth month of Zedekiah’s tenth year (July, 587) or fourth month of his eleventh year (July 587 B.C.).

On July 29, 587 B.C. after a siege of eighteen months, the Babylonians were able to make a breach in the walls of Jerusalem, probably on the north side of the city. Zedekiah and the men of war who were left fled from Jerusalem on the south side by means of a gate which opened into the Tyropoeon valley, between the two great walls that guarded the town on either side of it. The escape route took Zedekiah and his men by the king’s gardens which were located near the Pool of Siloam. Under cover of darkness, the desperate Jews slipped past the Babylonian outposts and made their way in the direction of the Arab ah, the plains region near Jordan. The way toward the Arabah is the ordinary road from Jerusalem to Jericho. It would appear that Zedekiah was attempting to reach one of the friendly lands beyond the river.

When the escape of Zedekiah and his soldiers was discovered, the Babylonians set out in hot pursuit. Doubtlessly, the commander at Jerusalem was incensed to learn that the king had successfully abandoned the city. A company of soldiers was dispatched immediately to pursue the fugitives. When the Babylonians came within sight, the troops of Zedekiah deserted him (2 Kings 24:5). The king was taken captive without any resistance and was transported north to Riblah where Nebuchadnezzar had made his headquarters. There the rebel stood trial before the Babylonian princes (2 Kings 24:6). The judgment against Zedekiah probably corresponded to the self-maledictions which he had pronounced at the time he swore allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. He was forced to witness the execution of his young sons.[687] This turned out to be the last sight Zedekiah had on earth, for the Babylonians blinded him, probably by means of a red-hot iron rod.[688] The Babylonians then put Zedekiah in fetters of bronze and carried him away to Babylon (2 Kings 24:7) where he remained in prison until the day of his death (Jeremiah 52:11).

[687] As Zedekiah was no more than thirty-two years old (cf. 2 Kings 24:18), his sons must have been minors.

[688] Zedekiah’s loss of eyesight reconciled the two apparently conflicting propheciesthat he would be carried captive to Babylon (Jeremiah 22:5), and that he would never see Babylon (Ezekiel 12:13).