Jehoiakim
“Jehovah will establish; originally Eliakim, 'God will establish'”
Summary
The eighteenth king of Judah who reigned eleven years (609-598 BC), originally named Eliakim, placed on the throne by Pharaoh Necho as a vassal king; notorious for his wickedness, tyranny, and contemptuous destruction of Jeremiah's prophetic scroll.
☩Name and Accession
Jehoiakim (Hebrew יְהוֹיָקִים, Yehoyaqim, meaning 'Jehovah established') was originally named Eliakim ('God will establish'). He was the second son of Josiah by Zebudah, daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah, born around 634 BC. When Pharaoh Necho deposed his younger brother Jehoahaz (who had been made king by the people), he placed the twenty-five-year-old Eliakim on the throne and changed his name to Jehoiakim. This name change signified his vassalage, as conquering kings customarily renamed their subjects (Genesis 41:45; Daniel 1:7). Necho charged him with collecting a tribute of 100 talents of silver and one talent of gold (approximately $200,000) from the land.
☩Subjection to Egypt and Babylon
For four years Jehoiakim remained subject to Egypt. After Nebuchadnezzar's great victory over Necho at Carchemish in Jehoiakim's fourth year (605 BC), Egypt lost all its Syrian possessions and never again interfered in Jewish affairs (2 Kings 24:7; Jeremiah 46:2). Nebuchadnezzar then came to Jerusalem, took the king prisoner and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon, also taking some precious Temple vessels to the temple of Bel (2 Chronicles 36:6-7). It was at this time—in the third or fourth year of his reign—that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were taken captive to Babylon (Daniel 1:1-2). However, Nebuchadnezzar changed his purpose, accepted Jehoiakim's submission, and reinstated him on his throne as a vassal, perhaps in remembrance of Josiah's fidelity.
☩Character and Wickedness
All accounts of Jehoiakim describe him as vicious and irreligious (2 Kings 23:37; 24:9; 2 Chronicles 36:5). He was an unprincipled opportunist in policy—vassal to Necho until Necho was defeated, then enforced vassal to Nebuchadnezzar, then rebellious against the latter when he thought he could profit. His 'eyes and heart were only for covetousness, shedding innocent blood, oppression, and violence' (Jeremiah 22:13-17). He built himself a splendid palace using forced, unpaid labor in violation of the Law (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14-15). He allowed Baal worship to flourish again and introduced heathenish rites from Egypt (compare Ezekiel 8:5-17). He murdered the prophet Urijah for prophesying in the spirit of Jeremiah, having him extradited from Egypt (Jeremiah 26:20-23).
☩Destruction of Jeremiah's Scroll
In his fourth year, the prophet Jeremiah caused a collection of his prophecies to be written by his faithful scribe Baruch and read publicly in the Temple court. When this came to the king's knowledge, he sent for the scroll and had it read before him. But he had not heard much before he took the roll from the reader, cut it in pieces with a penknife, and threw it into the brazier burning before him in the winter hall (Jeremiah 36). 'Yet he and his servants were not afraid,' showing his hardened contempt for God's word—a stark contrast to his father Josiah, who had torn his clothes in repentance upon hearing the law (2 Kings 22:11, 19). The scroll was rewritten with even more severe additions, including the prediction of his ignominious death.
☩Rebellion and Death
After three years of subjection, Jehoiakim, deluded by the Egyptian party at his court, withheld his tribute and threw off the Chaldean yoke (2 Kings 24:1). This step, taken contrary to Jeremiah's remonstrances and in violation of his oath of allegiance, proved his ruin. Though Nebuchadnezzar could not come in person, he sent bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites who cruelly harassed the whole country (2 Kings 24:2-3). Either in battle with these forces or by the hand of his own oppressed subjects seeking to conciliate the Babylonians, Jehoiakim came to a violent end in the eleventh year of his reign. His body was cast out ignominiously and buried 'with the burial of an ass'—without pomp or lamentation—beyond the gates of Jerusalem, exactly as Jeremiah had prophesied (Jeremiah 22:18-19; 36:30).
Related Verses38 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Jehoiakim," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Jehoiakim," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Jehoiakim," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Jehoiakim," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).