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2 Kings 24

Judah’s submission to Babylon becomes exile as YHWH fulfills his announced judgment against persistent evil and innocent bloodshed.

Jehoiakim rebels after three years of serving Nebuchadnezzar, and Judah comes under attack. The narrator identifies these losses as YHWH’s judgment, recalling Manasseh’s sins and the innocent blood shed in Jerusalem. After Jehoiakim’s death, his son Jehoiachin reigns for three months before surrendering to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar removes temple treasures and deports the king, officials, soldiers, and skilled workers. He installs Jehoiachin’s uncle as Zedekiah, whose rebellion closes the chapter.

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1In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
2The LORD 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 the LORD’s word which he spoke by his servants the prophets.
3Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came on Judah, to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did,
4and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon.
5Now 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?
6So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
7The 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.
8Jehoiachin 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.
10At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
12and 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.
13He carried out from there all the treasures of the LORD’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 the LORD’s temple, as the LORD had said.
14He 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.
15He 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.
16All 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.
17The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18Zedekiah 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.
19He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
20For through the anger of the LORD, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
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Key verses
2 Kings 24:1Jehoiakim’s rebellion against Babylon begins the chapter’s movement from foreign domination toward siege and deportation.
2 Kings 24:12Jehoiachin’s surrender brings Judah’s king and court under Babylon’s control, setting the stage for their exile.
2 Kings 24:13The stripping of temple and palace treasures fulfills YHWH’s word and exposes the depth of Judah’s loss.
Where this chapter reaches

Jeremiah and 2 Chronicles recount Babylon’s conquest of Judah and the captivity of its rulers, sharing this chapter’s setting of judgment and exile. Ezekiel dates his opening visions from Jehoiachin’s captivity, while Daniel also describes temple vessels being carried to Babylon.

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After reading the whole chapter

What does the repeated mention of innocent blood show about the judgment described here?

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Which loss in Jerusalem’s surrender stands out to you, and why?

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Questions people ask about 2 Kings 24

What is the difference between Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah in 2 Kings 24?

Jehoiakim serves Babylon for three years and then rebels. His son Jehoiachin succeeds him, reigns for three months, and surrenders during Jerusalem’s siege. Babylon takes Jehoiachin captive and installs his uncle Mattaniah, renaming him Zedekiah. Zedekiah reigns eleven years, and the chapter ends with his rebellion against Babylon.

Why does 2 Kings 24 say YHWH would not pardon?

The statement concerns judgment on Judah, tied to Manasseh’s sins and the innocent blood that filled Jerusalem. The narrator also describes the succeeding kings as doing evil. In this account, the announced national judgment proceeds; the verse does not offer a general explanation of every question about forgiveness.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).