2 Kings 24:1. _Nebuchadnezzar … came up_ We learn from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 46:2) that Pharaoh-nechoh was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at the Euphrates near Carchemish in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. The Egyptian king had probably left his army at Carchemish on his own return to Egypt. After routing th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees_ R.V. CHALDÆANS. The bands were irregular marauding parties which were allowed, perhaps encouraged, to overrun the country of the rebellious vassal before the great king could put his trained force in motion. These marauders did not consist only o... [ Continue Reading ]
_for the sins of Manasseh_ See above on 2 Kings 23:26. The fifty-five years of Manasseh's rule sealed the nation's fate.... [ Continue Reading ]
_which_[R.V. AND] _the Lord would not pardon_ The example, set for so long a time, had so penetrated the national character, that Jehovah, who multiplies His pardon (Isaiah 55:7), could bear with the transgressions no longer. We gather from Chronicles that Jehoiakim did evil like his predecessors. H... [ Continue Reading ]
_the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim_ One of the most conspicuous acts of Jehoiakim's impiety was the burning of Jeremiah's roll of prophecies (Jeremiah 36), and the way in which evil-doing had made men callous is expressed in the prophet's narrative: -Yet they were not afraid nor rent their garments,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jehoiakim slept with his fathers_ How the violent death which the prophet foretold came about the history makes no record. Whether he fell in fight with the numberless invaders, or, as seems suggested by the form of the prophecies quoted in the previous note, was slain by his own subjects and his b... [ Continue Reading ]
_the king of Egypt came not again any more_ The whole Asiatic possessions of Egypt had been conquered by the Babylonians, who now become the prominent heathen people in the Scripture story. _from the river_[R.V. BROOK] _of Egypt_ This is not the Nile, but the modern _Wadi El Arish_, a desert stream... [ Continue Reading ]
Reign of Jehoiachin. Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Plunder and captives carried away: Zedekiah made king of Judah (2 Chronicles 36:9-10) 8. _Jehoiachin_was _eighteen years old_ The Chronicler says _eight_. The letter which is required to make the difference is the smallest in the Hebrew al... [ Continue Reading ]
_the servants of Nebuchadnezzar … came up_against [R.V. TO] _Jerusalem_ There is no preposition in the Hebrew, only the accusative of direction. On -servants" see note on 2 Kings 5:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nebuchadnezzar came against_[R.V. UNTO] _the city, and his servants_did _besiege_[R.V. WERE BESIEGING] _it_ Here a preposition is expressed, and the latter clause of the verse indicates that the siege had begun before Nebuchadnezzar came thither in person.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jehoiachin … went out to the king of Babylon_ He did as Rab-shakeh invited the people to do on a former occasion (2 Kings 18:31) -Come out to me." This was to submit himself to Nebuchadnezzar, and in the hope of making an impression on the Babylonian king, Jehoiachin goes, taking with him the queen... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord_ According to the Chronicler (2 Chronicles 36:7) some of the vessels of the house of the Lord had been taken to Babylon in the reign of Jehoiakim. With this agrees the notice in Daniel (2 Kings 1:2) where we are told that the vess... [ Continue Reading ]
_he carried away all Jerusalem_ The policy of Nebuchadnezzar was to remove out of the way all those who might be able to organize and plan a revolt when he and his army had departed. Hence all the people of rank, of wealth, and of skill as handicraftsmen are deported, and only the poorest folk left,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Mattaniah_ He was the brother of Jehoiakim, and as we gather from 1 Chronicles 3:15, he was Josiah's third son. He is wrongly called -the brother" of Jehoiachin, 2 Chronicles 36:10, unless we accept the word translated -brother" for some general term of relationship and render it -kinsman". Thus Lo... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Kings 24:18 TO 2 KINGS 25:7. Zedekiah king of Judah. He rebels against Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem taken. Zedekiah put to death (2 Chronicles 36:11-21; Jeremiah 52:1-11) 18. _Hamutal_ See 2 Kings 23:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
_according to all that Jehoiakim had done_ For Jehoiakim's character, see above on verse 5.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For through the anger of the Lord it came_[DID IT COME] _to pass_ Still the same language as in 2 Kings 23:27 and in 2 Kings 21:12-14, and all pointing to the evil practices of Manasseh and his times. The picture in 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, sets before us the way in which the evil doings had corrupte... [ Continue Reading ]