2 Kings 23:31-35

II. THE REIGN AND REMOVAL OF JEHOAHAZ 23:31-35

TRANSLATION

(31) Jehoahaz was twenty-three yean old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. (32) And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD according to all which his fathers had done. (33) And Pharaoh Necho restrained him in Riblah in the land of Hamath from reigning over Jerusalem, and appointed a tribute upon the land, a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. (34) And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father, and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. And he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt and he died there. (35) And the silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the silver according to the word of Pharaoh. Each man according to his assessment, he exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Necho.

COMMENTS

Upon assuming the throne, Shallum adopted the name Jehoahaz. He reigned but three months in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:31). Even in this short reign, Jehoahaz showed himself to be an irreligious man. Ezekiel hints that he was also a persecutor (cf. Ezekiel 19:3). He did according to all that his fathers had done, i.e., he participated in idolatrous practices (2 Kings 23:32).[665] Jehoahaz was summoned by Necho to the Egyptian military headquarters at Riblah in the land of Hamath about two hundred miles north of Jerusalem. It is not certain why the new king left the safety of Jerusalem to comply with the wishes of Necho. But whatever his reasons for going, that trip to Riblah proved an ill-fated one for Jehoahaz. The Jewish king was deposed and his land was ordered to pay to Pharaoh a tribute of a hundred talents of silver ($200,000 BV) and a talent of gold[666] ($30,000 BV; 2 Kings 23:33).

[665] His sin may have been that he was too ready to go to Necho at Riblah.

[666] The tribute was very moderate compared to the three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold demanded by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14). Perhaps the Pharaoh was trying to be conciliatory toward Judah in anticipation of his confrontation with Babylon.

Sixteenth King of Judah
JEMOAHAZ BEN JOSIAH
609 B.C.
(Yabweb-seized)

2 Kings 23:30-34; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4

Contemporary Prophet
Jeremiah

Mother: Hamutal

Appraisal: Bad

in the place inhere they led him captive there he will die and not see this land again. Jeremiah 22:12

Necho installed his own man, Eliakim, the older son of Josiah, on the throne. The Pharaoh required his vassal to take a new name as a symbol of submission and subjection, and yet Eliakim himself seems to have had the right to select what that new name might be. He chose the name Jehoiakim (Yahweh will set up) which is only slightly different in meaning from his given name of Eliakim (God will set up). The deposed King Jehoahaz was carried away by Necho to Egypt where he died (2 Kings 23:34). Jeremiah the prophet had clearly predicted this fate for Shallum-Jehoahaz (Jeremiah 22:10-12). The vassal King Jehoiakim was unable to meet Necho's tribute demands from the national treasuries which apparently were exhausted. He was forced to impose a real estate tax upon the land owners in order to meet his obligations (2 Kings 23:35).