Q. The Last Four Kings 36:1-21The sovereignty of the Davidic kings over Judah had ended. With the death of Josiah, Judah fell under the control of foreign powers, first Egypt and then Babylonia. God used other more powerful kings and kingdoms to punish His people (cf. 2 Kings 23:31 to 2 Kings 25:17). The temple motif in Chronicles also climaxes in this section with its destruction. read more
IV. THE REIGNS OF SOLOMON’S SUCCESSORS CHS. 10-36"With the close of Solomon’s reign we embark upon a new phase in Chr.’s account of Israel’s history. That account can be broadly divided . . . into the pre-Davidic era, the time of David and Solomon, and the period of the divided monarchy up until the Babylonian exile." [Note: McConville, p. 150.] ". . . the Chronicler never regarded the northern monarchy as anything but illegitimate and a rebellion against God’s chosen dynasty. As far as he was... read more
4. Zedekiah 36:11-21In Zedekiah’s reign, Judah bottomed out spiritually. The king refused to humble himself before either Yahweh or Nebuchadnezzar, even though God repeatedly sent messages and messengers urging him to do so. Hardness of heart now characterized the Davidic king as it had characterized the pharaoh of the Exodus. God humbled this king against his will as He had previously humbled that pharaoh.The last verses of this section are very sermonic (2 Chronicles 36:14-21). Yet the... read more
The Fall of JerusalemThis is a brief record of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, and of the destruction of Jerusalem.The first twenty vv. of this chapter are abbreviated from 2 Kings 23:30 to 2 Kings 25:21, with some variations of statement.6. Nebuchadnezzar] He was the son of Nabopolassar, the conqueror of Nineveh.Bound him in fetters] This is not recorded in Kings. Perhaps this was the ’purpose’ of the invasion described in 2 Kings 24:2, but Jehoiakim may have... read more
(13) And he also rebelled.—2 Kings 24:20.Who had made him swear by God.—When Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah vassal-king of Judah, he would naturally make him swear fealty to himself by the God of his fathers. The fact is not specially recorded in Kings; but the prophet Ezekiel makes it the point of a prophecy against the king and his grandees (Ezekiel 17:11-21; comp, especially 2 Chronicles 36:17, “mine oath that he hath despised.”)But (and) stiffened his neck and hardened his heart.—(Comp.... read more
THE LAST KINGS OF JUDAH2 Chronicles 34:1-33; 2 Chronicles 35:1-27; 2 Chronicles 36:1-23WHATEVER influence Manasseh’s reformation exercised over his people generally, the taint of idolatry was not removed from his own family. His son Amon succeeded him at the age of two-and-twenty. Into his reign of two years he compressed all the varieties of wickedness once practiced by his father, and undid the good work of Manasseh’s later years. He recovered the graven images which Manasseh had discarded,... read more
9. The Final Decline and Apostasy CHAPTER 36:1-14 1. Jehoahaz’s reign (2 Chronicles 36:1-7 ) 2. Jehoiachin’s brief reign (2 Chronicles 36:8-10 ) 3. Zedekiah (2 Chronicles 36:11-14 ) As the complete record of these three final rulers is given in the second book of Kings, the annotations are made there. Nothing needs to be added. It was the final plunge before the awful judgment overtook Jerusalem and Judah. And there will be a final plunge into apostasy in connection with the professing... read more
JEHOIAKIM'S REIGN AND CAPTIVITY (vv.5-8) Jehoiakim was evidently older than Jehoahaz for he was 25 when he began to reign (cf.v.2). He reigned 11 years in Judah, but he also dishonoured the memory of his father, Josiah by his ungodly actions. It was not Necho who came against him, however, but Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He took Jehoiakim captive to Babylon. At the same time he took some of the articles from the temple and put them in his own temple at Babylon. The Lord allowed this as... read more
MANASSEH TO THE CAPTIVITY MANASSEH AND AMON (2 Chronicles 33:0 ) The history of the first-named is divided into three parts: (1) the outline of his character and reign down to the crisis of his punishment (2 Chronicles 33:1-10 ); (2) his affliction and repentance in Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:11-13 ); and (3) his later career and death (2 Chronicles 33:14-20 ). The first part was considered in Kings. For the reference to “groves” and “the host of heaven,” compare Deuteronomy 16:21 ;... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 2 Chronicles 36:13
13. who had made him swear by God—Zedekiah received his crown on the express condition of taking a solemn oath of fealty to the king of Babylon ( :-); so that his revolt by joining in a league with Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt, involved the crime of perjury. His own pride and obdurate impiety, the incurable idolatry of the nation, and their reckless disregard of prophetic warnings, brought down on his already sadly reduced kingdom the long threatened judgments of God. Nebuchadnezzar, the... read more