Week 23 2 Chronicles 36
Key facts about Judah’s second last king:
Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king
He reigned for three months and ten days (the 2 Kings version rounds it down to three months)
At that point Nebuchadnezzar brought Jehoiachin to Babylon. The Bible I’m reading says that Jehoiachin was ‘summoned’ to Babylon. But when I turn back to the Kings version of the story it looks like it was something stronger than a ‘summons’. 2 Kings says that: 1) the Babylonian army had Jerusalem under siege. 2) Jehoiachin surrendered to the Babylonians. And 3) Jehoiachin was taken prisoner.
Then one final thing: Jehoiachin did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.
I had hoped that Jeremiah would give me some extra information (like with Jehoiakim) – but he dropped-the-ball. At least at first. I checked a word book and found that Jehoiachin’s name showed up in the last chapter of Jeremiah. So how did things turn out for Jehoiachin?
He was a prisoner in Babylon for 37-years
He was then released from prison
He was given a living allowance that covered his expenses for the rest of his life.
So in the end things turned around a little bit for Jehoiachin.
As a teen-aged king Jehoiachin did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. I wondered if he’d had a change of heart there in Babylonian exile.
Maybe. But I didn’t find anything to say he did.
Note: quote from 2 Chronicles 36:9 2 Kings 24:12 (NLT). And see Jeremiah 52:31-34