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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
36:1-21 The Last Four Kings. See 2 Kings 23:31-25:21. The Chronicler presents the reigns of the last four kings of Judah quite summarily, as the history of the nation accelerates toward an outcome that has been inevitable since Manasseh's reign. With Josiah's death, the covenant is abandoned by king and people alike. The Chronicler treats the last four reigns essentially as a unit: he omits the names of the queen mothers and the customary death notices, so that there is no strict separation between each of the reigns, and the common fate of these kings is exile, as it will be for the people. Another common theme is the temple vessels (2 Chron. 36:7, 10, 18; see note on 1 Chron. 28:11-19). As well as the kings (2 Chron. 36:5, 9, 11-12), the whole nation from its leaders down shares in the mounting collective guilt (v. 14) that finally overwhelms it in destruction. Yet the exile is a positive time of purification, and the book concludes on a surprising upswing in a new act of God's grace declared through a pagan king (vv. 22-23).
36:1-4 Pharaoh Neco II asserted control over Judah after Josiah's death. The "people of the land" who made Jehoahaz king (see 23:13; 26:1; 33:25) probably hoped he would continue Josiah's opposition to Egypt. Neco preempted this risk by deposing him in favor of Eliakim, whom he renamed Jehoiakim as a mark of his authority over him. The tribute that Neco imposed on the land was a tax exacted from those who had supported Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:35).
36:5-8 Jehoiakim's reign () was marked by a return to idolatry (Jer. 25:1-7) and the king's persecution of the prophets (Jer. 26:20-24; 36:20-31). Nebuchadnezzar, following his defeat of Neco at Carchemish (), besieged Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:1) and carried off some of its citizens and some of the temple vessels to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:7; Dan. 1:1-2). This may have been the occasion when Nebuchadnezzar bound him in chains to take him to Babylon, making Jehoiakim into his vassal. Jehoiakim later rebelled against the Babylonians, and in Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem, just after Jehoiakim's death.
36:9-10 The reign of Jehoiachin lasted only for the duration of the siege, before he was exiled to Babylon. Brother here denotes "relative" (Zedekiah was Jehoiachin's uncle).
36:11-16 Zedekiah's reign () culminated in rebellion, a siege of , the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and the deportation of its leading citizens (see Jer. 52:28-30 and note for additional information about Jerusalem's final days). This reign is presented as the zenith of disobedience to God, with the king leading the way and the people becoming exceedingly unfaithful (Hb. ma‘al; see note on 1 Chron. 2:3-8). Their mocking rejection of the prophets (see Jer. 25:4) meant the refusal to repent, so now there was no remedy (lit., "no healing"; see 2 Chron. 7:14) against God's wrath (see 34:25 and note on 2 Kings 24:18-25:7).
36:17-21 Excavations on the Ophel hill in Jerusalem have revealed some domestic structures belonging to Judeans just before Nebuchadnezzar's destruction in One four-room house sits at the base of the massive stone-stepped structure. It is called the "house of Ahiel" because an inscription with his name was found in the house. See also note on 2 Kings 25:9-10.
36:19-21 they burned the house of God. See notes on 2 Kings 25:8-12; 25:9-10. The land lying desolate while the exiles pay for their sins is a covenant curse (Lev. 26:34-35, 43) but also an opportunity for the land to recuperate and prepare to receive a purified people back (see Lev. 26:44-45). seventy years. See Jer. 25:11; 29:10.
