Category:Jehoiakim (subject)
Jehoiakim (Eliakim), of the House of David, was the king of Judah, 609-598 BCE. He was the son of former king Josiah, the brother of his predecessor Jehoahaz, and the father of his successor Jehoiachin.
- Davidic Kings: ... -> Jehoahaz -> Jehoiakim -> Jehoiachin -> ...
Overview
When in 609 BCE he was appointed as a vassal king by the Egyptians in place of his brother Jehoahaz, his name was changed from Eliakim to Jehoiakim, as a sign of his submission to the new rulers. Jehoiakim ruled as a vassal of the Egyptians, paying a heavy tribute. To raise the money he "taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments" (2 Kings 23:35). The leaders of the nationalistic party (Jeremiah and Uriah) were persecuted (see Jeremiah 26).
In 605 the Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians in the Battle of Charchemish. Jerusalem was besieged, and Jehoiakim changed allegiances to avoid the destruction of the city. He paid tribute from the treasury in Jerusalem, some temple artifacts, and handed over some of the royal family and nobility as hostages. In the Book of Daniel, Daniel is described as being one of these.
Judah was now under Babylonian rule (2 Kings 24:1) and Jehoiakim became a Babylonian vassal ("his servant for three years," 2 Kings 24:1). Following the failure of the Babylonian invasion of Egypt in 601 BC, Jehoiakim switched allegiance back to the Egyptians. Jerusalem was besieged by the Babylonians in 598 BCE. Jehoiakim died before the city was taken (2 Kings 24:2-7).
Jehoiakim in ancient sources
2 Kings
2 Kings 23:34 - 24:8 (NRSV] Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away; he came to Egypt, and died there. 35 Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to meet Pharaoh's demand for money. He exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land, from all according to their assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, just as all his ancestors had done.
[2 Kings 24:1] In his days King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up; Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 The LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, bands of the Arameans, bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites; he sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, for all that he had committed, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to pardon. 5 Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his ancestors; then his son Jehoiachin succeeded him. 7 The king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken over all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Wadi of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
Book of Jeremiah
Jer 22:13-19
Jer 26
Jer 36xxvi., xxxvi.
2 Chronicles
2 Chr 36:4-8 (NRSV) -- [4] The king of Egypt made his brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim; but Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and carried him to Egypt. [5] Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. [6] Against him King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up, and bound him with fetters to take him to Babylon. [7] Nebuchadnezzar also carried some of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. [8] Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah; and his son Jehoiachin succeeded him.
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