Jeremiah 27:1

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. The prophecy that follows was, according to this reading, given in the 4th year of Jehoiakim, 15 years before it was published in the reign of Zedekiah, to whom it refers; it was thus long deposited in the prophet's bosom, in order that by it he might be supported under trials in his prophetic career in the interim (Calvin). But "Zedekiah" may be the true reading. So the Syriac and Arabic versions. ; ; confirms this. Also one of Kennicott's manuscript. The English version's reading may have originated from : "Son of Josiah" applies to Zedekiah as truly as to "Jehoiakim" or "Eliakim." The 4th year may, in a general sense, here, as in , be called "the beginning of his reign," as it lasted 11 years (). It was not long after the 4th year of his reign that he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (; ; ), in violation of an oath before God which Nebuchadnezzar made him to take ().