And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt. — It will be remembered that the king had been appointed by Pharaoh-necho, and rested therefore on his alliance. Elnathan, the envoy employed on this mission, was the king’s father-in-law (2 Kings 24:8). His father, Achbor, had taken a prominent part, together with Shaphan, the father of Ahikam, in the work of reformation under Josiah, and was sent by the king to the prophetess Huldah (2 Kings 22:12). Elnathan appears again in the list of princes in Jeremiah 36:12 as favourable to Jeremiah.

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