2 Chronicles 36
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 609 BC – 538 BC · Judah alone · Exile in Babylon · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
23 verses · 706 words · ~4 min read · ~5 min listen
Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah
1Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
2Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3And the king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4Then Neco king of Egypt made Eliakim brother of Jehoahaz king over Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakimʼs name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Eliakimʼs brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah
5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
6Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 7Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon some of the articles from the house of the Lord, and he put them in his temple in Babylon.
8As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations he committed, and all that was found against him, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah
9Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
10In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the Lord. And he made Jehoiachinʼs relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah
11Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12And he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the Lord.
13He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the Lord, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15Again and again the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. 16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
17So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, 18who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king and his officials. 19Then the Chaldeans set fire to the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the palaces and destroyed every article of value.
20Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
21So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
22In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
23“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
‘The Lord, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.
Whoever among you belongs to His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and may he go up.’”
Footnotes (11)
- a v2 Hebrew Joahaz, a variant of Jehoahaz; also in verse 4
- b v3 100 talents is approximately 3.77 tons or 3.42 metric tons of silver.
- c v3 A talent is approximately 75.4 pounds or 34.2 kilograms of gold.
- d v7 Or palace
- e v9 One Hebrew manuscript, some LXX manuscripts, and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight
- f v10 Literally At the turn of the year
- g v10 Or brother or uncle
- h v13 Or made strong or made courageous
- i v15 Literally Rising up early and sending (it),
- j v17 That is, the Babylonians; also clarified in verse 19
- k v21 See Jeremiah 25:12and Jeremiah 29:10.
Study notes on this chapter · 2
Covenant warnings and the exile
Leviticus and Deuteronomy warn that if Israel breaks the covenant, they will be scattered among the nations and the land will enjoy its Sabbaths while they are away, and also that if they repent God will gather them. The books of Kings and Chronicles present the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles as this fulfillment, and Nehemiah's prayer recalls Moses' words.
When: Sinai and Moab (traditionally c. 1446–1406 BC); the exiles, 722 BC and 605–586 BC; Nehemiah's prayer, c. 445 BC.
Ways people read this (2)
- The exile is presented in the Bible as the covenant curses taking effect.
- Critical scholars see the Deuteronomistic history as shaped by the exile, which gives the warnings their present form.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Seventy years of exile and Cyrus's decree
Jeremiah says the nations will serve Babylon seventy years, after which God will restore his people. Ezra opens by saying Cyrus of Persia's decree to rebuild the temple fulfilled Jeremiah's word (538 BC).
When: Jeremiah, c. 605 BC; Cyrus's decree, c. 538 BC (Babylon fell to Persia in 539 BC).
Ways people read this (1)
- The seventy years may be counted from 605 BC to 539/538 BC, or from the temple's destruction (586 BC) to its rebuilding (c. 516 BC); it may also be a round number.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.