Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. Jehoiakim ... did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord - i:e., he followed the course of his idolatrous predecessors; and the people to a great extent disinclined to the reforming policy of his father, eagerly availed themselves of the vicious licence which his lax administration restored. His character is portrayed with a masterly hand in the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 22:13). As the deputy of the king of Egypt, he departed further than his predecessor from the principles of Josiah's government; and in trying to meet the insatiable cupidity of his master by grinding exactions from his subjects, he recklessly plunged into all evil.

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