Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Chronicles 36
Albert Barnes Commentary
2 Chronicles 36
Albert Barnes Commentary
2 Chronicles 36
"Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father`s stead in Jerusalem." — 2 Chronicles 36:1 (ASV)
The narrative runs parallel with 2 Kings as far as 2 Chronicles 36:13. The writer then omits the following events and substitutes a sketch in which the moral and didactic element outweighs the historical.
"Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of Jehovah to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon." — 2 Chronicles 36:7 (ASV)
In his temple - Compare this to the house of his god in Daniel 1:2. Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions show him to have been the special devotee of Merodach, the Babylonian Mars. His temple, which the Greeks called the temple of Belus, was one of the most magnificent buildings in Babylon. Its ruins still remain in the vast mound, called Babil, which is the loftiest and most imposing of the “heaps” that mark the site of the ancient city.
"Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead." — 2 Chronicles 36:8 (ASV)
The abominations he committed - See Jeremiah 7:9, Jeremiah 7:30–31, Jeremiah 19:3–13, and Jeremiah 25:1 and following. Jehoiakim appears to have restored all the idolatries that Josiah his father had swept away.
"Jehoiachin was eight 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 Jehovah." — 2 Chronicles 36:9 (ASV)
Eight years old - Rather, eighteen (see the marginal reference). Jehoiachin had several wives and (apparently) at least one child (Jeremiah 22:28), when, three months later, he was carried captive to Babylon.
"And at the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of Jehovah, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem." — 2 Chronicles 36:10 (ASV)
When the year was expired - This phrase literally means “at the return of the year,” that is, at the start of the season for military expeditions. The expedition against Jehoiakim probably took place late in the autumn of one year, and the one against Jehoiachin early in the spring of the next.
Strictly speaking, Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle, being the youngest of the sons of Josiah. He was nearly the same age as Jehoiachin and is called his “brother” here .
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