II Kings 24: Keeping Track Of The "J"s

A lot of history can happen in a short period of time.  A quick succession of kings ascended to the throne of Judah before and during its defeat to Babylon.  It can be hard to keep track of them because several of their names begin with the letter "J".

King Josiah, one of the best kings of Judah who followed the Lord with all his heart, reigned from approximately 641 to 609 B.C.  He was killed in a battle with the Egyptian forces.

One of Josiah's sons, Jehoahaz, became king in his father's place, but reigned only three months.  The Pharaoh of the time deposed him and took him as a prisoner back to Egypt.

Another of Josiah's sons, Eliakim, was installed as the king instead by the Pharaoh.  Pharaoh also decided to confuse things by changing Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim.  Jehoiakim reigned for eleven years, from 609 to 598 B.C.  At first, Jehoiakim supported the Egyptians and sent them tribute.  After Egypt was defeated by the Babylonians in 605, Jehoiakim sent tribute to them instead.  Around 601, the tide turned back to Egypt, and so did Jehoiakim's loyalty.  However, this was a bad miscalculation on his part, for the Babylonians arrived in force in 598 and subdued Jerusalem.  Jehoiakim died during the siege and his body was thrown over the wall.

After Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin ruled as king, but only for three months.  Then Nebuchadnezzar took him as prisoner and rounded up a bunch of other Judean nobility and sent them into exile to Babylon along with Jehoiachin.  Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's uncle (another one of Josiah's sons), Mattaniah, king in his place, and changed Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah, who reigned for eleven years. Finally the string of "J" kings was broken!

We read about the first exile of 598 B.C. in II Kings 24:  "He [Nebuchadnezzar] carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, which King Solomon of Israel had made, all this as the Lord had foretold.  He carried away all Jerusalem, all the officials, all the warriors, ten thousand captives, all the artisans and the smiths; no one remained, except the poorest people of the land.  He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the elite of the land, he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.  The king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, seven thousand, the artisans and the smiths, one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war.  The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah" (vs. 13-17).