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. read more
Here we note the age of Jehoiakim as greater than that of Jeoahaz, and in the parallel we read that his mother was different. read more
The fortunes of Jehoiakim. I. A NEW KING UPON THE THRONE OF JUDAH . ( 2 Chronicles 36:5 .) 1 . His designation. Eliakim, "Whom God establishes," changed into Jehoiakim, "Jehovah has set up;" not by himself, though it would almost seem as if Uzziah had adopted that name instead of Azariah on acceding to the crown ( 2 Chronicles 26:1 ), and Pal had assumed the title Tiglath-Pileser, "Adar is my confidence," on succeeding Shalmaneser of Assyria; but by Necho II .... read more
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon . Our mere allusions in this and the following verse to Nebuchadnezzar'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 Nabokodrosoros, is written in the Assyrian monuments Nebu-kuduri-utzur, and meaning, "Nebo ( Isaiah 46:1 ), protector from ill," or "protects the crown." In Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 49:28 ) we have the name... read more
(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. read more
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... read more
(with Jeremiah 22:18 ). An unlamented death. We learn more of this King of Judah in the prophetic writings of Jeremiah than in these brief annals. There we learn that his foreign policy was not less condemnable than his conduct of home affairs. When his treasury was low by reason of heavy payments to the foreign powers, he must needs build for himself a splendid and costly mansion ( Jeremiah 22:14 ), and in order to do this he had to impress the labour of his subjects ( Jeremiah... read more
The narrative runs parallel with 2 Kings (marginal reference) as far as 2 Chronicles 36:13. The writer then emits the events following, and substitutes a sketch in which the moral and didactic element preponderates over the historical. read more
In his temple - Compare “the house of his god” Daniel 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. read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 36:3
Put him down ; Hebrew, וַיְסִירֵהוּ ; i.e. deposed him (Revised Version). At Jerusalem . In something more than three months Pharaoh-Necho 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, וַיַּעֲנשׁ . From this time nothing further is heard of Jehoahaz or... read more