2 Chronicles 36

1 Then the people of the land took Yeho'achaz the son of Yoshiyahu, and made him king in his father's place in Yerushalayim.

2 Yo'achaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Yerushalayim.

3 The king of Mitzrayim deposed him at Yerushalayim, and fined the land one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

4 The king of Mitzrayim made Elyakim his brother king over Yehudah and Yerushalayim, and changed his name to Yehoiakim. Nekho took Yo'achaz his brother, and carried him to Mitzrayim.

5 Yehoiakim was Twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

6 Against him came up Nevukhadnetztzar king of Bavel, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Bavel.

7 Nevukhadnetztzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Bavel, and put them in his temple at Bavel.

8 Now the rest of the acts of Yehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Yisra'el and Yehudah: and Yehoiakim his son reigned in his place.

9 Yehoiakim was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Yerushalayim: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

10 At the return of the year king Nevukhadnetztzar sent, and brought him to Bavel, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Tzidkiyahu his brother king over Yehudah and Yerushalayim.

11 Tzidkiyahu was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim:

12 and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he didn't humble himself before Yirmeyahu the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of the LORD.

13 He also rebelled against king Nevukhadnetztzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Yisra'el.

14 Moreover all the chiefs of the Kohanim, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the LORD which he had made holy in Yerushalayim.

15 The LORD, 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 the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, until there was no remedy.

17 Therefore he brought on them the king of the Kasdim, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or gray-headed: he gave them all into his hand.

18 All the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Bavel.

19 They burnt the house of God, and broke down the wall of Yerushalayim, and burnt all the palaces of it with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels of it.

20 Those who had escaped from the sword carried he away to Bavel; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Paras:

21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Yirmeyahu, until the land had enjoyed its Shabbatot: [for] as long as it lay desolate it kept Shabbat, to fulfill seventy years.

22 Now in the first year of Koresh king of Paras, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Yirmeyahu might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Koresh king of Paras, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and [put it] also in writing, saying,

23 Thus says Koresh king of Paras, All the kingdoms of the eretz has the LORD, the God of heaven, given me; and he has charged me to build him a house in Yerushalayim, which is in Yehudah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, the LORD 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.

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