1–4 (= 1 Esdras i. 34–38; 2 Kings xxiii. 30b–34).
The Reign of Jehoahaz.
¹Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.
1. the people of the land took] Compare xxvi. 1, xxxiii. 25.
Jehoahaz] Called “Shallum” in 1 Chronicles iii. 15; Jeremiah xxii. 11. He was younger than Jehoiakim; verse 5.
²Joahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
2. in Jerusalem] His mother’s name is here omitted; compare xxxiii. 1, 21, xxxiv. 1. According to 2 Kings xxiii. 32 (compare Ezekiel xix. 3, 4) Jehoahaz “did evil.”
³And the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and amerced the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
3. deposed him at Jerusalem] The clause answers to 2 Kings xxiii. 33, “put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem.” Perhaps we should read the same words in Chronicles The Hebrew words for “deposed” and “put in bands” are liable to be easily confused.
amerced] Authorized Version condemned. For “amerce” in the sense of “fine,” compare Deuteronomy xxii. 19; and for “condemn” in the same sense see Amos ii. 8 (Authorized Version, “fined” Revised Version).
an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold] The land was poorer than in the days when Sennacherib had imposed a fine on Hezekiah of “three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold” (2 Kings xviii. 14).
⁴And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
4. changed his name to Jehoiakim] This name is compounded with the Divine name Jehovah. Probably Neco made the new king swear fealty by Jehovah, and then declared his official name to be Jehoiakim, in order that he and his people might have something to remind them of the oath he had taken. (Eliakim = “God establishes”; Jehoiakim = “Jehovah establishes.”) The rendering of this verse in 1 i. 38 is due to misreadings of the Hebrew.
took Joahaz ... to Egypt] He died in Egypt; 2 Kings xxiii. 34; Jeremiah xxii. 12.
5–8 (= 1 Esdras i. 39–42; 2 Kings xxiii. 36–xxiv. 6).
The Reign of Jehoiakim.
⁵Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
5. and he reigned eleven years] So also in Kings. The statement, however, is lacking in 1 Esdras i. 39, so that it is a highly probable inference that the text of Chronicles has here been harmonised with Kings; compare verse 15, and Introduction § 3, p. xxii.
in Jerusalem] The Chronicler omits his mother’s name (compare verse 2, note) and also the statement that he raised the indemnity imposed by Neco by means of a poll-tax (2 Kings xxiii. 35).
he did that which was evil] Compare 2 Kings xxiii. 37; Jeremiah xxii. 13–18, xxvi. 20–23, xxxvi. 1–32.
⁶Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
6. Nebuchadnezzar] The correct form of his name is “Nebuchadrezzar” (so generally in Jeremiah and Ezekiel); in the inscriptions Nabu-kudurri-uṣur. The name is Assyrian and means “O Nebo, defend the crown” (or “the boundary”), Nebo being a god who was regarded as the son of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon (compare Isaiah xlvi. 1). Nebuchadrezzar reigned from 604–561 B.C., and was succeeded by Evil-Merodach (Amil-Marduk). The only purely historical inscription relating to his reign deals with a campaign in Egypt in 568 B.C.; compare Jeremiah xliii. 11.
came up] It seems probable that Nebuchadrezzar did not in person come up against Jerusalem at the end of Jehoiakim’s reign, nor in person carry off any of the sacred vessels; it is likely moreover that Jehoiakim was not carried to Babylon. The result of Jehoiakim’s rebellion against Nebuchadrezzar was according to 2 Kings simply that “bands” of Chaldeans and their allies invaded Judah. Probably Jehoiakim’s life and reign came to an end (how we do not know; compare Jeremiah xxii. 18, 19) during this petty warfare, and then three months later, the main Chaldean army under Nebuchadrezzar having arrived, Jerusalem was taken, and Jehoiakim’s son and successor Jehoiachin was carried off with the golden vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon. The Chronicler seems to foreshorten the history at this point.
⁷Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple¹ at Babylon.
7. of the vessels] There is no mention in 2 Kings of the removal of sacred vessels during Jehoiakim’s reign. Some were carried off under Jehoiachin, the rest under Zedekiah; 2 Kings xxiv. 13, xxv. 13–17. Compare last note.
in his temple] So LXX.; 1 Esdras i. 39 [41]; Daniel i. 2. Note the margin, “in his palace.” The Hebrew word (heykāl) is a loan-word; the original (ikallu) is the ordinary word in Assyrio-Babylonian for “palace.”
⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in¹ him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin² his son reigned in his stead.
8. that which was found in him] i.e. his sin (in this context); compare 1 Kings xiv. 13.
of Israel and Judah] The LXX. (but not 1 Esdras) adds here “And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of Uzza with his fathers.”
9, 10 (= 1 Esdras i. 43–45; compare 2 Kings xxiv. 8–17).
The Reign of Jehoiachin.
The account given in 2 Kings contains much that is not given in Chronicles and, in particular, many details of the first captivity of Judah.
⁹Jehoiachin was eight¹ years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.
9. Jehoiachin] Called “Jeconiah,” 1 Chronicles iii. 16, where see note.
eight years] So LXX. (B) of Chronicles and Esdras (B); but the number is probably corrupt for eighteen, so LXX. (A) of Chronicles and Esdras (A) and Hebrew and LXX. of 2 Kings xxiv. 8. It is possible that the words “and ten days” in the latter part of the verse are a misplaced fragment of an original ben shĕmōneh ‘esreh shānāh, i.e. “eighteen years old.”
in Jerusalem] The Chronicler here omits the king’s mother’s name (compare verse 2, note), though she was a person of some influence; compare 2 Kings xxiv. 12; Jeremiah xxii. 24–26; and perhaps Jeremiah xiii. 18 (Revised Version).
he did that which was evil] Compare Jeremiah xxii. 24; Ezekiel xix. 5–9.
¹⁰And at the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
10. at the return of the year] Compare 2 Samuel xi. 1 = 1 Chronicles xx. 1, “at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle.” This would be in the spring.
brought him to Babylon] Not the king only, but also certain leading men and craftsmen and smiths (in number 3023) went into captivity—so Jeremiah lii. 28; compare Jeremiah xxiv. 1, and 2 Kings xxiv. 14 (where the size of the deportation is magnified into “all Jerusalem save the poorest of the land—even ten thousand captives”).
Zedekiah] A covenant-name like “Jehoiakim”—(verse 4, note); it seems to mean “Righteousness of Jehovah”; compare the significant title in Jeremiah xxiii. 6, “The Lord is our Righteousness.” Zedekiah’s original name was “Mattaniah” (i.e. “gift of Jehovah”); 2 Kings xxiv. 17.
his brother] In 2 Kings (more accurately) “his father’s brother”; compare 1 Chronicles iii. 15, 16, notes.
11–19 (= 1 Esdras i. 46–56; compare 2 Kings xxiv. 18–xxv. 21; Jeremiah xxxvii. 1–xxxix. 8, lii. 1–27).
Reign of Zedekiah. Destruction of
Jerusalem.
¹¹Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem:
11. in Jerusalem] The Chronicler omits, as usual, his mother’s name. She was “Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah” (2 Kings xxiv. 18), and was mother of Jehoahaz also (2 Kings xxiii. 31). Jehoiakim was by a different mother (2 Kings xxiii. verse 36).
¹²and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.
12. humbled not himself] Jeremiah consistently advised Zedekiah to submit to the Chaldeans; but the king partly through fear of his princes, partly through illusive hopes, could never bring himself to do so; compare Jeremiah xxi. 1–7, xxxiv. 8–22, xxxvii. 1–10, 17, xxxviii. 17–23.
¹³And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened¹ his heart from turning unto the Lord, the God of Israel.
13. who had made him swear by God] Compare Ezekiel xvii. 11–19.
¹⁴Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the heathen; and they polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
14. polluted the house] Jeremiah vii. 9–11, xxiii. 11–14; Ezekiel viii. 5–16.
¹⁵And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
15. rising up early and sending] The words are absent from 1 Esdras i. 50, and are perhaps a late addition to Chronicles derived from Jeremiah; compare Jeremiah xxvi. 5. See note on verse 5 above.
¹⁶but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy¹.
16. mocked the messengers] Jeremiah was imprisoned, beaten, and threatened with death, Urijah (Jeremiah xxvi. 20–23) was put to death. Of the fate of Habakkuk (who probably lived during the Chaldean period, Habakkuk i. 6) nothing is known.
¹⁷Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man or ancient: he gave them all into his hand.
17. Chaldeans] Their name in Hebrew is Casdim and in Assyrio-Babylonian Caldu (the change of “s” for “l” before a dental is not uncommon in the latter language). They were a people originally living south of Babylon on the sea, but Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadrezzar, conquered Babylon and established a Chaldeo-Babylonian Empire.
in the house of their sanctuary] Compare Ezekiel’s vision of the slaughter; Ezekiel ix. 1–11.
¹⁸And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
18. all the vessels] i.e. all the vessels which remained after the previous spoliation (verse 10). They were perhaps chiefly of brass; compare 2 Kings xxv. 13–15.
¹⁹And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
19. brake down the wall] The Hebrew verb here used (nittēç) implies a more thorough breaking down than the pāraṣ of xxv. 23 (see note), xxvi. 6.
20, 21 (= 1 Esdras i. 57, 58).
The Captivity.
²⁰And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
20. to him and his sons] Compare Jeremiah xxvii. 7. There were three kings of Babylon after Nebuchadrezzar before Cyrus established Persian rule, viz. Evil-Merodach (Amil-Marduk) (2 Kings xxv. 27), Neriglissar (Nergalšar-uṣur), and Nabonidus (Nabu-na’id). The last two kings were usurpers. Neriglissar was (it seems) son-in-law to Nebuchadrezzar (Hommel, Babylonia in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, 1. 229a, or Sayce in Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, III. pp. 105, 106). Whether Nabonidus was connected with the royal house is not known.
²¹to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
21. by the mouth of Jeremiah] Compare Jeremiah xxv. 11, xxix. 10.
her sabbaths] i.e. years, occurring every seventh year, when the land was to be allowed a respite from cultivation; compare Leviticus xxv. 1–7, xxvi. 34, 35.
threescore and ten years] i.e. two whole generations. It is probable that the Chronicler intended to suggest that the Sabbatical years had been neglected throughout the period (about 490 = 70 × 7 years) during which the kingdom lasted; but, if so, he treats the point somewhat loosely, not troubling about the objection that the reigns of the several God-fearing kings (David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat) would need to be subtracted from this total, and that actually the number of violated Sabbatical years would fall considerably below 70.
22, 23 (= Ezra i. 1–3a] 1 Esdras ii. 1–5a).
Cyrus Decrees the Rebuilding of the
Temple.
These verses are obviously inappropriate as the conclusion of Chronicles, and their proper place is as the opening words of the book of Ezra, where also they are given. Their exposition properly belongs to the commentaries on Ezra or Esdras, to which accordingly the reader must be referred for fuller notes. These verses were retained here when the separation of Ezra–Nehemiah from Chronicles was made (see Introduction, § 2), either through mere accident, or perhaps to indicate that Chronicles had originally formed one work with Ezra and Nehemiah, but most probably in order to avoid a depressing termination to the book. This last point carries no small weight in view of the fact that in the Hebrew Bible Chronicles is the last book. It is interesting to note that to avoid closing the book of Isaiah with the terrible verse (lxvi. 24) which is actually its conclusion, it was customary to repeat after verse 24 some hopeful words taken from verse 23. Compare also the last verses of 2 Kings.
²²Now in the first year of Cyrus¹ king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
22. Cyrus king of Persia] Cyrus, the Persian, was at first king of a small state in Elam, to the east of Babylonia. In 549 B.C. he conquered the king of the Medes, and so became founder of the Medo-Persian Empire. In 546 B.C. he overthrew the famous Croesus, king of Lydia, and advancing against Babylon entered it after a short and easy campaign in 538 B.C.—a career of meteoric brilliance. By his “first year” is meant 537 B.C., his first year as ruler of the Babylonian Empire.
stirred up the spirit] Compare 1 Chronicles v. 26; Haggai i. 14.
made a proclamation] compare xxx. 5. The phrase is characteristic of the Chronicler.
²³Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all his people, the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.
23. All the kingdoms of the earth] The king of Babylon bore the title of “king of the four quarters of the world.” Cyrus succeeded to this title on his conquest of Babylon.
let him go up] i.e. to Jerusalem; compare Ezra i. 3. Since Chronicles is the last book according to the order of the Hebrew Canon, these encouraging words conclude the Hebrew Bible.