2 Chronicles
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2 Chronicles 36
2 Chronicles 36
Commentary · verses 1-23
1Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.
2Joahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
1Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.
2Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
Commentary · verses 1-2
Jehoahaz reigned over Judah. He was king for only three months. He was not listed in Matthew's lineage of Christ.
3And the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and fined the land a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
3And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
Commentary · verses 3-4
Eliakim reigned over Judah and the king of Egypt changed his name to Jehoiakim.
- "Eliakim" meant "God raises" or "God sets up" and
- "Jehoiakim" meant "Jehovah raises up."
The difference in the names was the word used for "God": Elohim ("El") or Jehovah ("Jeh") were the root words for the prefixes of each word, respectively. Elohim was referenced as God the Creator and Jehovah was referenced as The Great I AM.
The first captivity of Judah occurred to Jehoahaz while Jehoiakim was ruler of Judah.
5Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God.
6Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
7Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of Jehovah to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
5Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
7Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
Commentary · verses 5-7
Jehoiakim also was not listed in Matthew's lineage of Christ. Jechoniah/Coniah was listed after Josiah. Jehoiakim did evil before God and Nebuchadnezzar came against him: Daniel 1:1. Was the Ark taken? This occurred twenty-four years after the previous mention of the Ark in 2 Chronicles 35:3.
8Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
9Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.
8Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
9Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
Commentary · verses 8-9
In verse 9, "eight" ought to be eighteen. Three months later he was taken to Babylon and had several wives (2 Kings 24:15). Also, he had seed (Jeremiah 22:8). Jehoiachin reigned over Judah and did evil before God.
10And at the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of Jehovah, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
10And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Commentary · verse 10
Nebuchadnezzar brought Jehoiachin to Babylon and made Zedekiah King of Judah.
11Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: 12and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of Jehovah.
11Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.
Commentary · verses 11-12
Zedekiah did evil before God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet. Zedekiah was mentioned forty-eight times in the Book of Jeremiah.
13And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning unto Jehovah, the God of Israel.
13And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.
Commentary · verse 13
Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah swear by God but Zedekiah would not turn to God. Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart.
14Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15And Jehovah, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place: 16but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
14Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15And 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:
16But 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.
Commentary · verses 14-16
The people transgressed so much that there was no "remedy" for their actions. No repair?
17Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or virgin, old man or hoary-headed: he gave them all into his hand.
18And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.
19And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
17Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
19And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
Commentary · verses 17-19
The Chaldees burnt the temple, broke down the wall, burnt all the palaces, and destroyed all the goodly vessels. Was the Ark included?
20And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: 21to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: for as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
20And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
Commentary · verses 20-21
Those who escaped were carried away to Babylon until the reign of the kingdom of Persia (Cyrus): To fulfill the Word of God by Jeremiah. The land was owed seventy years of Sabbaths.
22Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 23Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all his people, Jehovah his God be with him, and let him go up.
22Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
23Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
Commentary · verses 22-23
God stirred the spirit of Cyrus. Cyrus made a proclamation that God had charged him to build Him a temple in Jerusalem: Ezra 1:1-2. 2 Chronicles 34-36 covered the last kings of Judah and time between Judah's captivity and Cyrus' proclamation, which was where the next book began.
Commentary · verse 23
Much like the two Books of Kings, the Books of Chronicles was one book in the Jewish Old Testament. The Greeks divided the book into two parts. Both served as a review of the previous four books. Many experts believe the Books of Chronicles were compiled by Isaiah (~683 BC) and Ezra (~461 BC) from the records of scribes and prophets from 1279-461 BC. The Book of 2 Chronicles was the ninth of the twelve books that made up the historical section of the Old Testament. While the Book of 1 Chronicles covered the same time period as the Book of 1 Samuel and the Book of 2 Samuel: The kingships of Saul and David, the Book of 2 Chronicles covered the same time period as the Book of 1 Kings and the Book of 2 Kings (Israel's history from Solomon until the captivity), however, the focus was Judah.
We have seen, both Books of Chronicles focused on the kings of Judah. Both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles ended with Judah in captivity. However, the Books of Chronicles were written by Isaiah and Ezra to maintain a continuous historical account. The Books of Kings concluded with Nebuchadnezzar. The Books of Chronicles progressed further to Cyrus. The Book of Daniel stated that there were two rulers mentioned between Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus: Belshazzar and Darius. Cyrus was the one who made the proclamation to build the temple in Jerusalem. The next book continued the historical account by looking at this proclamation.
The Old Testament consisted of five books of Moses (Torah), twelve books of history, five books of poetry, five books of major prophets, and twelve books of minor prophets (5, 12, 5, 5, 12...which made 39 books). We have three more books of history to complete. After that, the Old Testament went backwards in the timeline to cover the poetic and prophetic books. Realize, by this point in history the following books had already been written: Jonah, Joel, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Obadiah, and Daniel.
This chapter covered the fall of Jerusalem.