2 Chronicles 36
Jehoahaz’s Reign
1 The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. 2Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3The king of Egypt prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem and imposed on the land a special tax ▼▼tn Or “a fine.”
of 100 talents ▼▼tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).
of silver and a talent of gold. 4The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s ▼▼tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehoahaz) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Necho seized his brother Jehoahaz and took him to Egypt. Jehoiakim’s Reign
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of ▼▼tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
the Lord his God. 6King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him, ▼▼tn Heb “came up against him.”
bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away ▼▼tn Heb “to carry him away.”
to Babylon. 7Nebuchadnezzar took some of the items in the Lord’s temple to Babylon and put them in his palace ▼▼tn Or “temple.”
there. ▼▼tn Heb “in Babylon.” Repeating the proper name “Babylon” here would be redundant in contemporary English, so “there” has been used in the translation.
8 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign, including the horrible sins he committed and his shortcomings, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ▼▼tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoiakim, and his horrible deeds which he did and that which was found against him, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah.”
His son Jehoiachin replaced him as king. Jehoiachin’s Reign
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen ▼▼tc The Hebrew text reads “eight,” but some ancient textual witnesses, as well as the parallel text in 2 Kgs 24:8, have “eighteen.”
years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of ▼▼tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
the Lord. 10At the beginning of the year King Nebuchadnezzar ordered him to be brought ▼▼tn Heb “sent and brought him.”
to Babylon, along with the valuable items in the Lord’s temple. In his place Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s relative ▼▼tn Heb “and he made Zedekiah his brother king.” According to the parallel text in 2 Kgs 24:17, Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle, not his brother. Therefore many interpreters understand אח (ʾakh) here in its less specific sense of “relative” (NEB “made his father’s brother Zedekiah king”; NASB “made his kinsman Zedekiah king”; NIV “made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king”; NRSV “made his brother Zedekiah king”).
Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah’s Reign
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. 12He did evil in the sight of ▼▼tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, the Lord’s spokesman. 13He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him vow allegiance ▼▼tn Or “made him swear an oath.”
in the name of God. He was stubborn and obstinate and refused to return ▼▼tn Heb “and he stiffened his neck and strengthened his heart from returning.”
to the Lord God of Israel. 14All the leaders of the priests and people became more unfaithful and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations. ▼▼tn Heb “like all the abominable practices of the nations.”
They defiled the Lord’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem. The Babylonians Destroy Jerusalem
15 The Lord God of their ancestors ▼▼tn Heb “fathers.”
continually warned them through his messengers, ▼▼tn Heb “and the Lord God of their fathers sent against them by the hand of his messengers, getting up early and sending.”
for he felt compassion for his people and his dwelling place. 16But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his warnings, ▼▼tn Heb “his words.”
and ridiculed his prophets. ▼▼tn All three verbal forms (“mocked,” “despised,” and “ridiculed”) are active participles in the Hebrew text, indicating continual or repeated action. They made a habit of rejecting God’s prophetic messengers.
Finally the Lord got very angry at his people and there was no one who could prevent his judgment. ▼▼tn Heb “until the anger of the Lord went up against his people until there was no healer.”
17He brought against them the king of the Babylonians, who slaughtered ▼▼tn Heb “killed with the sword.”
their young men in their temple. ▼▼tn Heb “in the house of their sanctuary.”
He did not spare ▼▼tn Or “show compassion to.”
young men or women, or even the old and aging. God ▼▼tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
handed everyone over to him. 18He carried away to Babylon all the items in God’s temple, whether large or small, as well as what was in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king and his officials. 19They burned down God’s temple and tore down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all its fortified buildings and destroyed all its valuable items. 20He deported to Babylon all who escaped the sword. They served him and his sons until the Persian kingdom rose to power. 21This took place to fulfill the Lord’s message spoken through Jeremiah ▼▼tn Heb “by the mouth of Jeremiah.”
and lasted until the land experienced ▼▼tn The verb may be seen as either of two homophonous roots רָצָה (ratsah) meaning “to restore” or “to accept, take pleasure in.”
its sabbatical years. ▼▼sn According to Lev 25:4, the land was to remain uncultivated every seventh year. Lev 26:33-35 warns that the land would experience a succession of such sabbatical rests if the people disobeyed God, for he would send them away into exile.
All the time ▼▼tn Heb “days of.”
of its desolation the land rested in order to fulfill the seventy years. ▼▼sn Concerning the seventy years see Jer 25:11. Cyrus’ edict (see vv. 22-23) occurred about fifty years after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., which is most naturally understood as the beginning point of the “days of desolation” mentioned in v. 21. The number “seventy” is probably used in a metaphorical sense, indicating a typical lifetime and suggesting a thorough or complete judgment that would not be lifted until an entirely new generation emerged.
Cyrus Allows the Exiles to Go Home
22 In the first year ▼ of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the Lord’s message spoken through Jeremiah, ▼▼tn Heb “by the mouth of Jeremiah.”
▼ the Lord motivated ▼▼tn Heb “stirred the spirit of.” The Hebrew noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) has a broad range of meanings (see BDB 924-26 s.v.). Here, it probably refers to (1) “mind” as the seat of mental acts (e.g., Exod 28:3; Deut 34:9; Isa 29:24; 40:13; Ezek 11:5; 20:32; 1 Chr 28:12; cf. BDB 925 s.v. 6) or (2) “will” as the seat of volitional decisions (e.g., Exod 35:5, 22; Pss 51:12, 14; 57:8; 2 Chr 29:31; cf. BDB 925 s.v. 7). So also in Ezra 1:5. The entire phrase “stirred the spirit” has been rendered as “motivated” to better reflect normal English.
King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation ▼ throughout his kingdom and also to put it in writing. It read: 23 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: ‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Anyone of his people among you may go up there, and may the Lord his God be with him.’”
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