John Gill Commentary 2 Kings 24

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up
Against Jerusalem; this was in the latter end of the third, or the beginning of the fourth of Jehoiakim's reign, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar, (Jeremiah 25:1) (46:2) , when Jehoiakim was taken, but restored upon promise of subjection and obedience, and hostages given, at which time Daniel and his companions were carried captive, with some of the vessels of the temple; (See Gill on Daniel 1:1) (See Gill on Daniel 1:2)

and Jehoiakim became his servant three years :
which were the fifth, sixth, and seventh years of his reign:

then he turned and rebelled against him ;
being encouraged by the king of Egypt, who promised to assist him against the king of Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar is the Nabocolasser in Ptolemy's canon; and Berosus ^F14 testifies, that seventy years before the Persian monarchy he made war against the Phoenicians and Jews, and it is from this time the seventy years' captivity is to be dated.

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Apud Clement. Alex. Stromat. 1. p. 329.

And the Lord sent against him
By Nebuchadnezzar, against whom he rebelled:

bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the
Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon ;
who were all subject to the king of Babylon, or were voluntary troops in his service, and bore an hatred tothe Jews: according to Eupolemus ^F15 , this army consisted of Medes and Babylonians, and, besides10,000 chariots, there were in it 180,000 foot, and 120,000 horse:

and sent them against Judah to destroy it ;
this was not until the eleventh of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar being diverted by the siege of Tyre, or otherimportant business, from chastising the king of Judah until this time:

according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servants the
prophets ;
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Huldah the prophetess.

FOOTNOTES:

• F15: Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 39. p. 454.

Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to
remove them out of his sight
It was the sure and certain decree of God they should be carried captive, and therefore he stirred up the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar, and gave him orders to go against it:

for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did ;
which were still continued among the Jews, and committed by them, though repented of by Manasseh, and he returned from them.

And also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled
Jerusalem with innocent blood
See (2 Kings 21:16) which cruel usage of the prophets, and servants of the Lord, was still continued; see (Jeremiah 26:21–24) ,

which the Lord would not pardon ;
he pardoned the sins of Manasseh, who repented, but not the sins of those persons who imitated him, but repented not; or though he personally pardoned the sins of Manasseh, so that he was saved everlastingly, yet the temporal punishment of the nation for those sins, in which they were involved with him, was not averted.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim
In (2 Chronicles 36:8), it is added, "his abominations, and that which was found in him": which besides his rebellion against the king of Babylon, and his shedding innocent blood, is interpreted of marks made in his body for superstitious and idolatrous purposes; so Lyra.