2 Kings 24:15-20

15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon as a prisoner, together with Jehoiachin's mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of Judah. ¹

16 Nebuchadnezzar deported all the important men to Babylonia, seven thousand in all, and one thousand skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, all of them able-bodied men fit for military duty.

17 Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah. ²

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah. ³

19 King Zedekiah sinned against the Lord, just as King Jehoiakim had done.

20 The Lord became so angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah that he banished them from his sight. ⁴

2 Kings 24:15-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 24

This chapter relates the rebellion of Jehoiakim against the king of Babylon, which prepared the way for the ruin of the kingdom of Judah, according to the decree of God, and also the death of Jehoiakim, and the conquest the king of Babylon made of part of the land of the king of Egypt, 2Ki 24:1-7 and the short and wicked reign of Jehoiachin his son, when he and the royal family, with great numbers of the inhabitants of the land, were carried captive to Babylon, 2Ki 24:8-16, and his uncle was made king in his room, 2Ki 24:17-20.

Cross References

• 1. 24.15Ezekiel 17.12.
• 2. 24.17Jeremiah 37.1;Ezekiel 17.13.
• 3. 24.18Jeremiah 27.1-22; 28.1-17.
• 4. 24.20Ezekiel 17.15.