2 Kings 23:34

31-37 After Josiah was laid in his grave, one trouble came on another, till, in twenty-two years, Jerusalem was destroyed. The wicked perished in great numbers, the remnant were purified, and Josiah's reformation had raised up some to join the few who were the precious seed of their future church and nation. A little time, and slender abilities, often suffice to undo the good which pious men have, for a course of years, been labouring to effect. But, blessed be God, the good work which he begins by his regenerating Spirit, cannot be done away, but withstands all changes and temptations....

Verse 34. _TURNED HIS NAME TO JEHOIAKIM_] These names are precisely the same in signification: ELIAKIM is _God shall arise_; JEHOIAKIM, _Jehovah shall arise_; or, the _resurrection of God; the_ _resurrection of Jehovah_. That is, God's rising again to show his power, justice, c. The _change_ of the name was to show Nechoh's _supremacy_, and that Jehoiakim was only his _vassal_ or _viceroy_. Proofs of this mode of changing the name, when a person of greater power put another in office under himself, may be seen in the case of _Mattaniah_, changed into _Zedekiah Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah_, and _Azariah_, into _Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach_, and _Abed-nego_; and _Joseph_ into _Zaphnath-paaneah_. See Daniel 1:6; Genesis 41:45....

IN THE ROOM OF JOSIAH HIS FATHER - Not “in the room of Jehoahaz his brother;” the phrase is intended to mark the fact, that Neco did not acknowedge that Jehoahaz had ever been king. TURNED HIS NAME TO JEHOIAKIM - Compare 2 Kings 23:30 and 2 Kings 24:17. It seems likely, from their purely Jewish character, that the new names of the Jewish kings, though formally imposed by the suzerain, were selected by the individuals themselves. The change now made consisted merely in the substitution of יהוה _y__e__hovâh_ for אל _'êl_ (“God, Yahweh, will set up”). Both names alike refer to the promise which God made to David...

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 23:1 JOSIAH'S RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT. HIS REFORMS AND DEATH. REIGN OF JEHOAHAZ. ACCESSION OF JEHOIAKIM. 2 KINGS 23:1 _Josiah_'_s renewal of the covenant_._ _The first care of Josiah, on receiving Huldah's message, which stamped the book found as the true "book of the covenant," was to call together a great assembly of the nation, which should be sufficiently representative of it, and renew the covenant between God and his people made originally a

AND PHARAOHNECHOH MADE ELIAKIM THE SON OF JOSIAH KING IN THE ROOM OF JOSIAH HIS FATHER,.... Not in the room of Jehoahaz; for he did not allow him to be a king, and to have any lawful right to the throne; but, deposing him, set up his elder brother: AND TURNED HIS NAME TO JEHOIAKIM; to show his subjection to him, and that he held his government by him: AND TOOK JEHOAHAZ AWAY: with him, from Jerusalem, when he departed thence: AND HE CAME TO EGYPT, AND DIED THERE: and never returned to Jerusalem, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 22:11....

JEHOIAKIM Called Jakim. (Matthew 1:10); (Matthew 1:11). (_ See Scofield) - (Matthew 1:10). _...

VI. FINAL APOSTASY OF JUDAH AND THE CAPTIVITY 1. Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim CHAPTER 23:31-37 _ 1. The three months' reign of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:31; 2 Chronicles 36:1)_ 2. Jehoiakim made king (2 Kings 23:34; 2 Chronicles 36:4) Chronicles tells us that immediately after the death of Josiah, the people of the land took Jehoahaz (which means “Jehovah holds up”) and made him king. He was not the LORD's choice, but the people's choice. He was not the eldest son and therefore the action of the people was an unlawful and a lawless one. He was an evil-doer; Josephus speaks of him as

Celebration of the Passover. The mention of the eighteenth year (2 Kings 23:23; cf. 2 Kings 22:3) shows that the reforms of Josiah occupied six months. The book was discovered in the first month of the civil year, in autumn. It was read (_cf._ Deuteronomy 31:10) at the Feast of Tabernacles. The Passover contemplated in Deuteronomy 16:6 was celebrated in the central sanctuary. It was not the domestic feast of the Priestly Code (Exodus 12), but a general assembly of the nation. In 2 Chronicles 30 Hezekiah is said to have kept a similar feast, but this is denied in...

ELIAKIM. Name changed, to assert Pharaoh-nechoh's authority. IN THE ROOM. Refusing to recognize the People's appointment of 2 Kings 23:30. DIED THERE. As Jeremiah (2 Kings 22:11; 2 Kings 22:12) foretold....

_Eliakim … and turned his name_to _Jehoiakim_ We can hardly think that this change was made by Pharaoh. He probably insisted on a change of name, but allowed the new king to suggest what it should be. So the change was made from _El_(God) _iakim_(will establish), to _Jeho_(i.e. Jehovah) will establish. On the custom of changing the names of subject persons and slaves, cf. the change of Joseph's name in Egypt (Genesis 41:45, also chap. 2 Kings 24:17 below). To these may be added the changes mentioned in the book of Daniel (Daniel 1:7). _and_[R.V. BUT HE] _took Jehoahaz away_ i.e. From Riblah, and carried him with him prisoner into Egypt, where he died. On his death see...