2 Chronicles 36
36:1 Jehoahaz: Seventeenth king of Judah; son of Josiah; deposed and deported by Pharaoh Neco. The Chronicler states that the common people of Judah made Jehoahaz their next king. The point of this emphasis is the difference between the people’s choice for a king and Neco’s imposition of a king to his liking three months later.
36:2-3 Babylon won the battle of Carchemish (605 BC), reducing the power of both Assyria and Egypt. Thus, when Neco returned through Judah, he tried to make sure that the new king would not cause trouble as Josiah had done. He deposed Jehoahaz after he had reigned for only three months. According to 2Kg 23:32, Jehoahaz was about to perpetuate the same evil as some of the earlier kings. Although his deportation did not help the kingdom of Judah last much longer, it was no loss to the kingdom that Neco carried him off into exile and replaced him with his brother Eliakim (2Ch 36:4; cp. Jr 22:10-12).
36:4 Jehoiakim: Eighteenth king of Judah; son of Josiah; installed by Pharaoh Neco of Egypt; pursued evil. After reimbursing himself for his trouble with a tribute of gold and silver (v. 2), Neco placed Eliakim on the throne. He changed his name to Jehoiakim, thereby associating his new vassal more closely with the God he supposedly served (with “Jeho” being a reference to Yahweh), rather than using the more generic reference to God (El). Either version means “God raises up,” an ironic name for this godless king.
36:5-8 Jehoiakim was an evil king, committing idolatry and opposing the word from God that came to him by the prophet Jeremiah (Jr 36:10-26). He was eventually carried off by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon in 605 BC, along with a number of young men from leading families in Jerusalem. This was the first of three deportations, the one in which Daniel and his friends were relocated to Babylon (Dn 1:1-3).
36:9-10 Jehoiachin: Nineteenth and next-to-last king of Judah; son of Jehoiakim; deposed and deported by Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiachin wound up having just ten days longer (three months and ten days) on the throne than Jehoahaz, but this was sufficient time for him to further aggravate Nebuchadnezzar. The king of Babylon returned to Jerusalem, collected more treasures, and carried a group back to Babylon into exile in 597 BC. This was the second deportation, which included the prophet Ezekiel (Ezk 1:1). The next king, Zedekiah, is called his brother; this should be interpreted as “kinsman” in this case. Zedekiah, Jehoahaz, and Eliakim/Jehoiakim were all sons of Josiah (v. 1; Jr 36:1; 37:1); Jehoiachin was Jehoiakim’s son, making Zedekiah Jehoiachin’s uncle.
36:11-14 Zedekiah: Twentieth and last king of Judah; son of Josiah; uncle of Jehoiachin; refused to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem. Zedekiah thought he could get away with rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar, hoping that Egypt would come to his aid. But he was mistaken. He also brought Jerusalem and what little there was left of his kingdom to spiritual poverty, leading even the priests and Levites into false worship.
36:15-17 After God had graciously offered the people of Judah many opportunities to repent, he finally sent Nebuchadnezzar to eradicate Jerusalem and carry the people off to Babylon. When individual kings repented, God repeatedly provided a remedy (lit “healing”; 7:14; 30:20), but the accumulation of wrath against evil finally reached the tipping point. This passage is similar to the comment the Chronicler made about some of the northern tribes (1Ch 5:25-26).
36:18-20 Four punishments are exacted against rebellious Judah: (1) all the valuable articles in the temple were taken to Babylon, (2) God’s temple and all its palaces were burned down, (3) Jerusalem’s wall was torn down, and (4) the remaining population was deported to Babylon.
36:21 The book of Jeremiah records his prophecy that due to Judah’s wickedness, the Babylonians would conquer Judah and deport its inhabitants.
| Hebrew pronunciation | [mah LEY] |
| CSB translation | fill, fulfill |
| Uses in 2 Chronicles | 11 |
| Uses in the OT | 252 |
| Focus passage | 2 Chronicles 36:21 |
Male’ has a basic meaning of fill (Gn 1:22) or be full (2Kg 4:6). Intensive forms describe taking action to fill something (Ex 2:16). Male’ indicates days coming (Gn 25:24), passing (Ex 7:25), arriving (1Sm 18:26), or being completed (Lv 12:4). Male’ with “after” means follow completely (Nm 14:24), and with “over” means overflow (Jos 3:15). Male’ as cover shows the result of filling (2Kg 3:25). “Filling the hand” is idiomatic for ordaining priests (Ex 29:9) or drawing bows (2Kg 9:24). Male’ denotes mounting gems (Ex 31:5). It implies presenting as full payment (1Sm 18:27), confirming (1Kg 1:14), or being armed (2Sm 23:7). One fulfills a promise (2Ch 6:15) or satisfies an appetite (Jb 38:39). Male’ is being pregnant (Jb 39:2) or obsessed with (Jb 36:17). With “call” it suggests loudly (Jr 4:5). It can connote the height of success (Jb 20:22).
36:22-23 This story was not yet over. The Babylonians were eventually conquered by King Cyrus of Persia. Cyrus decreed that all the foreign gods in Babylon and Persia should be transported back to their places of origin and that the people who worshiped them should return and build new temples for these deities. The Jews correctly saw Cyrus as God’s instrument in issuing this command. The decree to release the Jews was made in 538 BC. See also Ezr 1:1-4.
