12 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah his God, he hath not been humbled before Jeremiah the prophet `speaking' from the mouth of Jehovah;
and hath not been humbled before Jehovah, like the humbling of Manasseh his father, for Amon himself hath multiplied guilt.
and he hath not hearkened, he, and his servants, and the people of the land, unto the words of Jehovah, that He spake by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. And Zedekiah the king sendeth Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying, `Pray, we beseech thee, for us unto Jehovah our God.' And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people, (and they have not put him in the prison-house), and the force of Pharaoh hath come out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against Jerusalem, hear their report, and go up from off Jerusalem. And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying: `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Thus do ye say unto the king of Judah, who is sending you unto Me, to seek Me: Lo, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help hath turned back to its land, to Egypt, and the Chaldeans have turned back, and fought against this city, and captured it, and burnt it with fire. `Thus said Jehovah: Lift not up your souls saying, The Chaldeans surely go from off us, for they do not go; for though ye had smitten all the force of the Chaldeans who are fighting with you, and there were left of them wounded men -- each in his tent -- they rise, and have burnt this city with fire.' And it hath come to pass, in the going up of the force of the Chaldeans from off Jerusalem, because of the force of Pharaoh, that Jeremiah goeth out from Jerusalem to go `to' the land of Benjamin, to receive a portion thence in the midst of the people. And it cometh to pass, he is at the gate of Benjamin, and there `is' a master of the ward -- and his name is Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah -- and he catcheth Jeremiah the prophet, saying, `Unto the Chaldeans thou art falling.' And Jeremiah saith, `Falsehood -- I am not falling unto the Chaldeans;' and he hath not hearkened unto him, and Irijah layeth hold on Jeremiah, and bringeth him in unto the heads, and the heads are wroth against Jeremiah, and have smitten him, and put him in the prison-house -- the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it they had made for a prison-house. When Jeremiah hath entered into the house of the dungeon, and unto the cells, then Jeremiah dwelleth there many days, and the king Zedekiah sendeth, and taketh him, and the king asketh him in his house in secret, and saith, `Is there a word from Jehovah?' And Jeremiah saith, `There is,' and he saith, `Into the hand of the king of Babylon thou art given.' And Jeremiah saith unto the king Zedekiah, `What have I sinned against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people, that ye have given me unto a prison-house? And where `are' your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon doth not come in against you, and against this land? And now, hearken, I pray thee, my lord, O king, let my supplication fall, I pray thee, before thee, and cause me not to return `to' the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I die not there.' And the king Zedekiah commandeth, and they commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, also to give to him a cake of bread daily from the bakers' street, till the consumption of all the bread of the city, and Jeremiah dwelleth in the court of the prison.
And the king Zedekiah sendeth, and taketh Jeremiah the prophet unto him, unto the third entrance that `is' in the house of Jehovah, and the king saith unto Jeremiah, `I am asking thee a thing, do not hide from me anything.' And Jeremiah saith unto Zedekiah, `When I declare to thee, dost thou not surely put me to death? and when I counsel thee, thou dost not hearken unto me.' And the king Zedekiah sweareth unto Jeremiah in secret, saying, `Jehovah liveth, He who made for us this soul, I do not put thee to death, nor give thee unto the hand of these men who are seeking thy soul.' And Jeremiah saith unto Zedekiah, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, God of Israel: If thou dost certainly go forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, then hath thy soul lived, and this city is not burned with fire, yea, thou hast lived, thou and thy house. And if thou dost not go forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, then hath this city been given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they have burnt it with fire, and thou dost not escape from their hand.' And the king Zedekiah saith unto Jeremiah, `I am fearing the Jews who have fallen unto the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand, and they have insulted me.' And Jeremiah saith, `They do not give thee up; hearken, I pray thee, to the voice of Jehovah, to that which I am speaking unto thee, and it is well for thee, and thy soul doth live. `And if thou art refusing to go forth, this `is' the thing that Jehovah hath shewn me: That, lo, all the women who have been left in the house of the king of Judah are brought forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, and lo, they are saying: Persuaded thee, and prevailed against thee, Have thine allies, Sunk into mire have thy feet, They have been turned backward. `And all thy wives, and thy sons, are brought forth unto the Chaldeans, and thou dost not escape from their hand, for by the hand of the king of Babylon thou art caught, and this city is burnt with fire.' And Zedekiah saith unto Jeremiah, `Let no man know of these words, and thou dost not die; and when the heads hear that I have spoken with thee, and they have come in unto thee, and have said unto thee, Declare to us, we pray thee, what thou didst speak unto the king, do not hide `it' from us, and we do not put thee to death, and what the king spake unto thee, then thou hast said unto them, I am causing my supplication to fall before the king, not to cause me to return to the house of Jonathan, to die there.' And all the heads come in unto Jeremiah, and ask him, and he declareth to them according to all these words that the king commanded, and they keep silent from him, for the matter was not heard; and Jeremiah dwelleth in the court of the prison till the day that Jerusalem hath been captured, and he was `there' when Jerusalem was captured.
And Moses cometh in -- Aaron also -- unto Pharaoh, and they say unto him, `Thus said Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, Until when hast thou refused to be humbled at My presence? send My people away, and they serve Me,
and Hezekiah is humbled for the loftiness of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the wrath of Jehovah hath not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
and his prayer, and his entreaty, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places in which he had built high places, and established the shrines and the graven images before his being humbled, lo, they are written beside the matters of Hozai.
And Josiah hath not turned round his face from him, but to fight against him hath disguised himself, and hath not hearkened unto the words of Necho, from the mouth of God, and cometh in to fight in the valley of Megiddo;
The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the king Zedekiah's sending unto him Pashhur son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, `Inquire, we pray thee, for us at Jehovah, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath fought against us; perhaps Jehovah doth deal with us according to all His wonders, and doth cause him to go up from off us.' And Jeremiah saith unto them, `Thus do ye say unto Zedekiah, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Lo, I am turning round the weapons of battle That `are' in your hand, With which ye do fight the king of Babylon, And the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against you, At the outside of the wall, And I have gathered them into the midst of this city, And I -- I have fought against you, With a stretched-out hand, and with a strong arm, And in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath, And I have smitten the inhabitants of this city, Both man and beast, By a great pestilence do they die. And after this -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I give Zedekiah king of Judah, And his servants, and the people, And those left in this city, From the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of their enemies, And into the hand of those seeking their life, And he hath smitten them by the mouth of the sword, He hath no pity on them, Nor doth he spare, nor hath he mercy. And unto this people thou dost say, Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am setting before you the way of life, And the way of death! Whoso is abiding in this city -- dieth, By sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, And whoso is going forth, And hath fallen unto the Chaldeans, Who are laying siege against you -- liveth, And his life hath been to him for a spoil. For I have set My face against this city for evil, And not for good -- an affirmation of Jehovah. Into the hand of the king of Babylon it is given, And he hath burned it with fire.
`Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Go, and thou hast spoken unto Zedekiah king of Judah, and hast said unto him, Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he hath burned it with fire, and thou, thou dost not escape out of his hand, for thou art certainly caught, and into his hand thou art given, and thine eyes see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth with thy mouth speaketh, and Babylon thou enterest. `Only, hear a word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah, Thus said Jehovah unto thee: Thou dost not die by sword, in peace thou diest, and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings who have been before thee, so they make a burning for thee; and Ah, lord, they lament for thee, for the word I have spoken -- an affirmation of Jehovah.' And Jeremiah the prophet speaketh unto Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem, and the forces of the king of Babylon are fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that are left -- against Lachish, and against Azekah, for these have been left among the cities of Judah, cities of fortresses. The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the making by the king Zedekiah of a covenant with all the people who `are' in Jerusalem, to proclaim to them liberty, to send out each his man-servant, and each his maid-servant -- the Hebrew and the Hebrewess -- free, so as not to lay service on them, any on a Jew his brother; and hearken do all the heads, and all the people who have come in to the covenant to send forth each his man-servant and each his maid-servant free, so as not to lay service on them any more, yea, they hearken, and send them away; and they turn afterwards, and cause the men-servants and the maid-servants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for men-servants and for maid-servants. And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying: `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying, At the end of seven years ye do send forth each his brother, the Hebrew, who is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, yea, thou hast sent him forth free from thee: and your fathers hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear. `And ye turn back, ye to-day, and ye do that which is right in Mine eyes, to proclaim liberty each to his neighbour, and ye make a covenant before Me in the house over which My name is called. And -- ye turn back, and pollute My name, and ye cause each his man-servant and each his maid-servant, whom he had sent forth free, (at their pleasure,) to return, and ye subdue them to be to you for men-servants and for maid-servants. `Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto Me to proclaim freedom, each to his brother, and each to his neighbour; lo, I am proclaiming to you liberty -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine, and I have given you for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth. `And I have given the men who are transgressing My covenant, who have not established the words of the covenant that they have made before Me, by the calf, that they have cut in two, and pass through between its pieces -- heads of Judah, and heads of Jerusalem, the officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land those passing through between the pieces of the calf -- yea, I have given them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and their carcase hath been for food to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth. `And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his heads, I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and into the hand of the forces of the king of Babylon, that are going up from off you. Lo, I am commanding -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and have brought them back unto this city, and they have fought against it, and captured it, and burned it with fire, and the cities of Judah I do make a desolation -- without inhabitant.'
`And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known; and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand `is' thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 36
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 36 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 36
2Ch 36:1-4. Jehoahaz, Succeeding, Is Deposed by Pharaoh.
1. the people of the land took Jehoahaz—Immediately after Josiah's overthrow and death, the people raised to the throne Shallum (1Ch 3:15), afterwards called Jehoahaz, in preference to his older brother Eliakim, from whom they expected little good. Jehoahaz is said (2Ki 23:30) to have received at Jerusalem the royal anointing—a ceremony not usually deemed necessary, in circumstances of regular and undisputed succession. But, in the case of Jehoahaz, it seems to have been resorted to in order to impart greater validity to the act of popular election; and, it may be, to render it less likely to be disturbed by Necho, who, like all Egyptians, would associate the idea of sanctity with the regal anointing. He was the youngest son of Josiah, but the popular favorite, probably on account of his martial spirit (Eze 19:3) and determined opposition to the aggressive views of Egypt. At his accession the land was free from idolatry; but this prince, instead of following the footsteps of his excellent father, adopted the criminal policy of his apostatizing predecessors. Through his influence, directly or indirectly used, idolatry rapidly increased (see 2Ki 23:32).
2. he reigned three months in Jerusalem—His possession of sovereign power was of but very brief duration; for Necho determined to follow up the advantage he had gained in Judah; and, deeming it expedient to have a king of his own nomination on the throne of that country, he deposed the popularly elected monarch and placed his brother Eliakim or Jehoiakim on the throne, whom he anticipated to be a mere obsequious vassal. The course of events seems to have been this: on receiving intelligence after the battle of the accession of Jehoahaz to the throne, and perhaps also in consequence of the complaint which Eliakim brought before him in regard to this matter, Necho set out with a part of his forces to Jerusalem, while the remainder of his troops pursued their way at leisure towards Riblah, laid a tribute on the country, raised Eliakim (Jehoiakim) as his vassal to the throne, and on his departure brought Jehoahaz captive with him to Riblah. The old expositors mostly assumed that Necho, after the battle of Megiddo, marched directly against Carchemish, and then on his return came to Jerusalem. The improbability, indeed the impossibility, of his doing so appears from this: Carchemish was from four hundred to five hundred miles from Megiddo, so that within "three months" an army could not possibly make its way thither, conquer the fenced city of Carchemish, and then march back a still greater distance to Jerusalem, and take that city [Keil].
3. an hundred talents of silver—£3418 15s.
and a talent of gold—£5475; total amount of tribute, £8893 15s.
4. carried him—Jehoahaz.
to Egypt—There he died (Jer 22:10-12).
2Ch 36:5-8. Jehoiakim, Reigning Ill, Is Carried into Babylon.
5. Jehoiakim … did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord—He followed the course of his idolatrous predecessors; and the people, to a great extent, disinclined to the reforming policy of his father, eagerly availed themselves of the vicious license which his lax administration restored. His character is portrayed with a masterly hand in the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer 22:13-19). As the deputy of the king of Egypt, he departed further than his predecessor from the principles of Josiah's government; and, in trying to meet the insatiable cupidity of his master by grinding exactions from his subjects, he recklessly plunged into all evil.
6. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—This refers to the first expedition of Nebuchadnezzar against Palestine, in the lifetime of his father Nabopolassar, who, being old and infirm, adopted his son as joint sovereign and despatched him, with the command of his army, against the Egyptian invaders of his empire. Nebuchadnezzar defeated them at Carchemish, drove them out of Asia, and reduced all the provinces west of the Euphrates to obedience—among the rest the kingdom of Jehoiakim, who became a vassal of the Assyrian empire (2Ki 24:1). Jehoiakim at the end of three years threw off the yoke, being probably instigated to revolt by the solicitations of the king of Egypt, who planned a new expedition against Carchemish. But he was completely vanquished by the Babylonian king, who stripped him of all his possessions between the Euphrates and the Nile (2Ki 24:7). Then marching against the Egyptian's ally in Judah, he took Jerusalem, carried away a portion of the sacred vessels of the temple, perhaps in lieu of the unpaid tribute, and deposited them in the temple of his god, Belus, at Babylon (Da 1:2; 5:2). Though Jehoiakim had been taken prisoner (and it was designed at first to transport him in chains to Babylon), he was allowed to remain in his tributary kingdom. But having given not long after some new offense, Jerusalem was besieged by a host of Assyrian dependents. In a sally against them Jehoiakim was killed (see on 2Ki 24:2-7; also Jer 22:18, 19; 36:30).
9, 10. Jehoiachin was eight years old—called also Jeconiah or Coniah (Jer 22:24)—"eight" should have been "eighteen," as appears from 2Ki 24:8, and also from the full development of his ungodly principles and habits (see Eze 19:5-7). His reign being of so short duration cannot be considered at variance with the prophetic denunciation against his father (Jer 36:30). But his appointment by the people gave umbrage to Nebuchadnezzar, who, "when the year was expired" (2Ch 36:10)—that is, in the spring when campaigns usually began—came in person against Jerusalem, captured the city, and sent Jehoiachin in chains to Babylon, removing at the same time all the nobles and most skilful artisans, and pillaging all the remaining treasures both of the temple and palace (see on 2Ki 24:8-17).
2Ch 36:11-21. Zedekiah's Reign.
11. Zedekiah—Nebuchadnezzar appointed him. His name, originally Mattaniah, was, according to the custom of Oriental conquerors, changed into Zedekiah. Though the son of Josiah (1Ch 3:15; Jer 1:2, 3; 37:1), he is called the brother of Jehoiachin (2Ch 36:10), that is, according to the latitude of Hebrew style in words expressing affinity, his relative or kinsman (see 2Ki 24:18; 25:1-21).
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 (Eze 17:13); 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 executioner of the divine vengeance, commenced a third siege of Jerusalem, which, after holding out for a year and a half, was taken in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah. It resulted in the burning of the temple, with, most probably, the ark, and in the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah (see on 2Ki 25:1-7; Eze 12:13; Eze 17:16).
21. until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths—The return of every seventh was to be held as a sabbatic year, a season of rest to all classes, even to the land itself, which was to be fallow. This divine institution, however, was neglected—how soon and how long, appears from the prophecy of Moses (see on Le 26:34), and of Jeremiah in this passage (see Jer 25:9-12), which told that for divine retribution it was now to remain desolate seventy years. As the Assyrian conquerors usually colonized their conquered provinces, so remarkable a deviation in Palestine from their customary policy must be ascribed to the overruling providence of God.
2Ch 36:22, 23. Cyrus' Proclamation.
22. the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus—(See on Ezr 1:1-3).