The First Carrying Away
1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, bands of the Syrians, bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to Yahweh’s word which he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of Yahweh this came on Judah, to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh would not pardon. 5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 The king of Egypt didn’t come out of his land any more; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that belonged to the king of Egypt. 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, according to all that his father had done. 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon—he, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign. 13 He carried out from there all the treasures of Yahweh’s house and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in Yahweh’s temple, as Yahweh had said. 14 He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. No one remained except the poorest people of the land. 15 He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For through the anger of Yahweh, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Babylon replaces Egypt, the reason for the exile is stated before it is narrated, and ten thousand of the best go east with the temple gold.
In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
The empires change hands and Judah's policy does not: submit, then rebel at the first opportunity, then be crushed. Jehoiakim serves three years and gambles, and the raiding parties that follow are described with a phrase the book has used since Samaria — according to Yahweh's word which he spoke by his servants the prophets 2 Kings 24:2.
3 Surely at the commandment of Yahweh this came on Judah, to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh would not pardon.
Here the explanation is given before the disaster is narrated. The reader reaches the burning of the city already knowing the verdict, exactly as the fall of Samaria was accounted for at length after the event 2 Kings 17:7–23. Judah's reason is stated in advance; Israel's afterward; and the two explanations bracket the end of both kingdoms.
The naming of Manasseh three reigns later, and of the innocent blood specifically, is the book's answer to the obvious objection — Josiah reformed everything, so why did it still fall? Because a nation is not a ledger that clears when the shrines come down. Blood shed end to end through fifty-five years had made a people, and the people outlived the reform.
The king of Egypt didn’t come out of his land any more; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that belonged to the king of Egypt.
The strategic sentence of the last chapters. Egypt, the ally every Judean king reached for, is finished as a player in the corridor. There is nobody left to play off against Babylon, and Judah's whole foreign policy has run out of options.
and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon—he, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign.
An eighteen-year-old who has reigned three months surrenders the city rather than let it be stormed, and walks out with his household. It saves Jerusalem for another decade, and it is the last competent decision anyone in the royal family makes.
He carried out from there all the treasures of Yahweh’s house and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in Yahweh’s temple, as Yahweh had said.
The closing clause is the one to notice. Isaiah had told Hezekiah exactly this, after the Babylonian envoys admired the treasury — all that is in your house... will be carried to Babylon 2 Kings 20:17. A century later the inventory he showed off goes east, and the vessels Solomon made are cut up for transport.
He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. No one remained except the poorest people of the land.
The deportation of 597 takes the administrative and military class and, pointedly, the metalworkers — the men who could make weapons. Among the ten thousand is a young priest named Ezekiel, who will begin seeing visions by a canal in Babylon five years later Ezekiel 1:1–3.
The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
A third king in a decade installed by a foreign power and renamed by it. And the last verse states the outcome before the siege begins: through the anger of Yahweh, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled 2 Kings 24:20.
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