2 Chronicles 36

1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead, in Jerusalem.

2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

3 And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and imposed a fine upon the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.

5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah his God.

6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him with chains of brass to carry him to Babylon.

7 And Nebuchadnezzar carried [part] of the vessels of the house of Jehovah to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.

8 And 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.

9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah.

10 And at the turn of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent and had him brought to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of Jehovah; and he made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

12 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before the prophet Jeremiah speaking from the mouth of Jehovah.

13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take oath by God; and he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from returning to Jehovah the God of Israel.

14 All the chiefs of the priests also, and the people, increased their transgressions, according to all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

15 And Jehovah the God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending; because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling-place.

16 But they mocked at the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the fury of Jehovah rose against his people, and there was no remedy.

17 And he brought up [against] them the king of the Chaldees, and slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and spared not young man nor maiden, old man nor him of hoary head: he gave [them] all into his hand.

18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, he brought all to Babylon.

19 And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all the palaces thereof with fire, and all the precious vessels thereof were given up to destruction.

20 And them that had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they became servants to him and his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia;

21 to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.

22 And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he made a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying,

23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of the heavens given to me, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all his people, Jehovah his God be with him, and let him go up.

2 Chronicles 36 Commentary

Chapter 36

The destruction of Jerusalem. (1-21) The proclamation of Cyrus. (22,23)

Verses 1-21 The ruin of Judah and Jerusalem came on by degrees. The methods God takes to call back sinners by his word, by ministers, by conscience, by providences, are all instances of his compassion toward them, and his unwillingness that any should perish. See here what woful havoc sin makes, and, as we value the comfort and continuance of our earthly blessings, let us keep that worm from the root of them. They had many times ploughed and sowed their land in the seventh year, when it should have rested, and now it lay unploughed and unsown for ten times seven years. God will be no loser in his glory at last, by the disobedience of men. If they refused to let the land rest, God would make it rest. What place, O God, shall thy justice spare, if Jerusalem has perished? If that delight of thine were cut off for wickedness, let us not be high-minded, but fear.

Verses 22-23 God had promised the restoring of the captives, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, at the end of seventy years; and that time to favour Zion, that set time, came at last. Though God's church be cast down, it is not cast off; though his people be corrected, they are not abandoned; though thrown into the furnace, they are not lost there, nor left there any longer than till the dross be separated. Though God contend long, he will not contend always. Before we close the books of the Chronicles, which contain a faithful register of events, think what desolation sin introduced into the world, nay, even into the church of God. Let us tremble at what is here recorded, while in the character of some few gracious souls, we discover that the Lord left not himself without witness. And when we have looked at this faithful portrait of man by nature, let us contrast with it that same nature, when recovered by Almighty grace, through the justifying and soul-adorning righteousness of Christ our Saviour.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'deposed him,' as 1Kings 15.13.
• [b]. Or 'bronze,' and see ch. 33.11.
• [c]. Or 'unfaithfulness.'
• [d]. Or 'he spared,' as in ver. 17.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 36

This chapter records the reigns of the four kings of Judah, and the captivity of the Jews, the short reign of Jehoahaz, deposed by the king of Egypt, and his brother Eliakim or Jehoiakim set up in his room, 2Ch 36:1-4, the reign of Jehoiakim, who was bound and carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, 2Ch 36:5-8, the reign of Jehoiachin his son, who also in a short time was taken and carried to Babylon by the same king, 2Ch 36:9,10, the reign of Zedekiah, who also rebelled against the king of Babylon, and he and his people were taken and carried captive by him for his sins, which are here mentioned, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, and where the Jews continued until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, 2Ch 36:11-21 and the chapter is concluded with the proclamation of Cyrus king of Persia, and with which also the next book begins, 2Ch 36:22,23.

\\Josiah\\ Of whose reign, and of the three following, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, and the account of them, from hence to the end of 2Ch 36:13, what needs explanation or reconciliation, \\See Gill on "2Ki 23:31"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 23:32"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 23:33"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 23:34"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 23:35"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 23:36"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 23:37"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 24:5"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 24:6"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 24:8"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 24:10"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 24:17"\\ \\See Gill on "2Ki 24:18"\\ 19953-950201-1301-2Ch36.2