Commentaria in IV Regum
Chapter Twenty-four. Synopsis of the Chapter
Joakim reigns, and after him his son Joachin, v. 6, whom Nabuchodonosor carried away to Babylon, and set up in his place Sedecias his uncle, v. 17.
1. In his days Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up, and Joakim became his servant three years: and then he turned away and rebelled against him. 2. And the Lord sent against him rovers of the Chaldeans, and rovers of Syria, and rovers of Moab, and rovers of the children of Ammon: and he sent them against Juda to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3. And this came to pass in Juda by the word of the Lord, that he might remove it before his face for the sins of Manasses, which he did, 4. And for the innocent blood that he shed, wherewith he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and therefore the Lord would not be appeased. 5. Now the rest of the acts of Joakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? And Joakim slept with his fathers; 6. And Joachin his son reigned in his stead. 7. And the king of Egypt moved no more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. 8. Joachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: his mother’s name was Nohesta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his father had done. 10. At that time the servants of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was surrounded with bulwarks. 11. And Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came to the city with his servants to assault it. 12. And Joachin king of Juda went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his eunuchs: and the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign. 13. And he brought out from thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord. 14. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the valiant men of the army, ten thousand, into captivity, and every artificer and smith: and none were left except the poorest sort of the people of the land. 15. He carried away also Joachin into Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his eunuchs, and the judges of the land he led into captivity from Jerusalem into Babylon. 16. And all the men of strength, seven thousand, and the artificers and smiths a thousand, all strong men and fit for war: and the king of Babylon led them captive into Babylon. 17. And he made Matthanias his uncle king in his stead: and called his name Sedecias. 18. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: his mother’s name was Amital the daughter of Jeremias of Lobna. 19. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that Joakim had done. 20. For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against Juda, till he cast them out from his face: and Sedecias revolted from the king of Babylon.
1. IN HIS DAYS NABUCHODONOSOR KING OF BABYLON CAME UP, AND JOAKIM BECAME HIS SERVANT (subject and tributary) THREE YEARS, AND THEN HE REBELLED AGAIN—in the fourth year of his reign. Josephus relates this more fully, book 10, ch. 6 ff., where he tells how the Egyptians and Babylonians, the Assyrians having been conquered, contended for empire. For first the Egyptians, Josias having been slain, subjugated Syria; then returning into Juda, having removed Joachaz, they made Joakim king, who, in hope of Egyptian help, in the fourth year refused to pay the tribute which he had paid to the Babylonians for three years. Wherefore Nabuchodonosor came against him in the same year, and carried him off to Babylon, from where he sent him back to Jerusalem on his promising the tribute. Joakim stood in fidelity seven years; but in the eighth year, which was the eleventh of his reign, he rebelled again. Wherefore Jerusalem being invested by the soldiers of Nabuchodonosor, he was taken and killed in it, and his son Joachin put in his place. But as Nabuchodonosor feared lest Joachin the son should imitate his father Joakim in rebellion and avenge his death, he took him and led him to Babylon, and set up in the kingdom in his stead Sedecias his uncle, who also wavered in the fidelity and subjection promised to Nabuchodonosor, relying on a vain hope of Egyptian help; for which cause he was often admonished and rebuked by Jeremias, and at length, rebelling, was besieged by Nabuchodonosor in Jerusalem; and when the Egyptians wished to succour him, they were prevented and put to flight by Nabuchodonosor. Nabuchodonosor therefore took Jerusalem, and in it Sedecias, and blinded him and killed his sons, and in the fifth year after invaded Egypt and subdued it, and slew Pharao its king. See also Jeremias, chapter 22, v. 13 ff.
Augustine, vol. 3, book 2, ch. 9.
Further, this fourth year of Joakim was the first of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, in which he carried off Joakim himself, with Daniel and other nobles, to Babylon. Then after eight years, namely in the eleventh and last year of the reign of Joakim, he killed him and carried off his son Joachin with all the princes, soldiers and citizens of Jerusalem, as is said in chapter 24, v. 14, whence from this eleventh year of Joakim, which was the eighth of Nabuchodonosor, the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity are to be reckoned; for Nabuchodonosor after the carrying away of Joachin reigned 36 years, then his son Evilmerodach, or Baltasar, 34 years, which taken together make 70. Baltasar was succeeded by Cyrus king of Persia, who, the 70 years of captivity being now completed, taking Babylon and slaying Baltasar, freed the Jews from Babylon. See what was said on Jeremias
2. AND THE LORD SENT AGAINST HIM RAIDERS OF THE CHALDEANS.—“Raiders” are soldiers who go marauding, and run out for plunder like robbers. Nabuchodonosor sent these to intercept Jerusalem, joined with the Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites, and to take and kill the rebellious Joakim; which they also did, as I have already said.
AND JOACHIN HIS SON REIGNED IN HIS STEAD,—Note: Joakim the father and Joachin the son differ, as do Jechonias and Jeconias, Matthew 1. For the father Joakim is written in Hebrew with the letters Coph and Mem; but the son Joachin is written with Caph and Nun. Joakim in Hebrew is the same as God will establish; Joachin, however, as God will prepare or direct. Joachin or Jechonias is shortened in the Hebrew by Jeremias, chapter 22, v. 24, and called Conias, that is, prepared, namely for destruction.
8. JOACHIN WAS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGAN TO REIGN.—You will say: In 2 Paralipomenon, last chapter, v. 9, he is said to have reigned at eight years. I answer: At 18 he reigned alone after his father, but at eight he began to reign with his father Joakim. For Joachin seems to have been declared king in the third or fourth year of his father Joakim, namely when Nabuchodonosor took his father and carried him to Babylon. So Abulensis.
AND HE REIGNED THREE MONTHS.—How then is it said in 2 Paralipomenon, last chapter, v. 10, that after a year he was carried away by Nabuchodonosor? Cajetan answers that some months of interregnum flowed between Joakim and Joachin before Joachin took up the kingdom. I shall give another answer on 2 Paralipomenon.
12. AND JOACHIN WENT OUT,—at the persuasion of Jeremias that he should surrender to Nabuchodonosor, as is plain from Jeremias 37:2 ff., and therefore he was indeed led to Babylon, but after the death of Nabuchodonosor was freed from prison by his son Evilmerodach, and treated with the highest honour in the thirty-seventh year after this, as is had in the following chapter.
14. AND HE CARRIED AWAY ALL JERUSALEM,—the citizens and inhabitants of Jerusalem. This was the second captivity. For the first was made eight years before, in the fourth year of Joakim, when he himself, rebelling, was carried off with the chief men to Babylon, as I said at v. 1; the second was this, in which Joachin with his princes and soldiers, and with the prophet Ezechiel, was carried away; the third and last was made after eleven years, namely in the last year of Sedecias, in which Jerusalem with the temple was taken and overthrown by Nabuchodonosor, as will be said in the following chapter.
“smith,” as our version has it; Jeremias 24:1, by which St. Jerome there understands the one who encloses gems in precious metals and fastens them to the bezels of golden rings. Others better understand those who are skilled in marking out camps, and know how to enclose them with ramparts as with their bars, as well as to entrench and fortify cities. So Vatablus, Sanchez and others. Hence the Chaldee renders it door-keepers, that is, guards of cities and closers of the gates. For the matter here is of soldiers and strong men, whom the Chaldeans took away from the Jews, lest they should rebel again, as the Philistines also did, 1 Kings chapter 13, v. 19. So Angelomus. So by “artificer” understand “craftsman,” as our version renders it, Jeremias chapter 24, v. 1, namely the one who forges swords and other arms. The devil uses the same art, when he is busy removing zealous men from the commonwealth,
17. AND HE MADE MATTHANIAS HIS UNCLE (namely the uncle of Joachin, and therefore the brother of Joakim) KING IN HIS STEAD, AND CALLED HIS NAME SEDECIAS,—that he might be always admonished by his name to keep the fidelity and subjection which he had promised to Nabuchodonosor; for “Sedecias” in Hebrew is the same as my justice, God. So Cajetan. The pious king Josias gave his sons pious names, to admonish them of piety toward God. Hence he called one “Joachaz,” that is, the grasp or possession of God, that as often as he heard himself named he might think himself grasped and possessed by God; another he called “Heliakim,” that is, the firmness of God, that he might think himself firmed by God alone; the third he called “Matthanias,” that is, the gift of God, or, according to the Syriac, expectation, that in all adversities he might take refuge in the Lord as in a sanctuary; but all, forgetting God as well as their own name, took refuge in idols, and therefore perished, God taking vengeance.