2 Kings 24:8

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign,.... In 2 Chronicles 36:9 he is said to be but eight years old; which may be reconciled by observing, that he might be made and declared king

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign. Object. He was then but eight years old, . Answ. 1. Both are true; in his eighth year he began to reign with his father, who made him king with him, as divers other kings of Israel and Judah had done in the like times of trouble; and in his eighteenth year he reigned alone. 2. He is called a son of eight years when he began to reign, , because this was the eighth year, not of his age, but of the Babylonish captivity, or bondage; under which both he and his father had been just so long; for it began in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, as it is affirmed , and continued all his reign, which lasted eleven years, ; and so the first year of Jehoiachin was precisely the eighth year of that captivity. And this is certain, that the years of kings mentioned in Scripture are not always accounted from the beginning of their age, but from some other remarkable time or thing: thus Saul, when at man’ s estate, is called the son of one year, , of which See Poole "" and Ahaziah is called a son of forty and two years when he began to reign, , because that was the forty and second year of the reign of Omri’ s family, as most think. And therefore it cannot seem strange if the years of this king be computed, not from his birth but from the beginning of so great and famous a change of the Jewish affairs, as this captivity made; this being the usual way of the Romans and Greeks, and other more ancient and eastern nations, to compute the times from the great changes and revolutions happening among them. And that this was the practice of the Jews in the computation of these very times, is evident from the use of it in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, , which was the fifth year of Jehoiachin’ s captivity; and , in the twelfth year of our captivity; and , in the twenty-fifth year of our captivity. 3. To all this might be added, that some here acknowledge an error of the scribe, and affirm, that in the first and best copies, in , it was not eight, but eighteen; which they gather from hence, because those two ancient and venerable translators, the Syriac and Arabic, read there, as it is here, was eighteen years old; which, they say, they would never have presumed to do, if they had not so read it in those Hebrew copies, out of which they drew their translation, or in some of them. He reigned in Jerusalem three months, and ten days, which are added, . But such small sums are frequently omitted in great numbers. See Poole ""; See Poole "".

2 Kings 24:8 Jehoiachin [was] eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’ s name [was] Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.Ver. 8. Jehoiakin was eighteen years old,] sc., When he began to reign alone. See 2 Chronicles 36:9. Mutavit Iudaea dominos, non miserias. This king is also called Jechonias, and Coniah - that is, prepared, sc., for destruction; the name of God - whom he had forsaken - being defalked. [Withdrawn; i.e., Je (Jehovah) left out of his name Jeconiah.]

THE REIGN OF . OF THE (2 Kings 24:8-16). (8) Jehoiachin.—“Jah will confirm.” Four or five different forms of this name occur in the documents. Ezekiel 1:2 gives the contraction Joiachin. In Jeremiah we find a popular transposition of the two elements, thus: Jechonjahu (once, viz., Jeremiah 24:1, Heb.), and usually the shorter form, Jechoniah (Jeremiah 27:20; Esther 2:6); which is further abridged into Coniah (Heb., Chonjahu) in Jeremiah 22:24; Jeremiah 22:28. Ewald thinks this last the original name; but Hengstenberg supposes that the prophet altered the name, so as to make of it a “Jah will confirm” without the “will,” in order to foreshadow the fate which awaited this king. Nehushta.—Referring, perhaps, to her complexion (as we say “bronzed”). Elnathan.—See Jeremiah 26:22; Jeremiah 36:12; Jeremiah 36:25; one of Jehoiakim’s “princes.”

Verse 8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old] He is called Jeconiah, 1 Chronicles 3:16, and Coniah, Jeremiah 22:24. In 2 Chronicles 36:9, be is said to be only eight years of age, but this must be a mistake; for we find that, having reigned only three months, he was carried captive to Babylon, and there he had wives; and it is very improbable that a child between eight and nine years of age could have wives; and of such a tender age, it can scarcely be said that, as a king, he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. The place in Chronicles must be corrupted. That he was a grievous offender against God, we learn from Jeremiah 22:24, which the reader may consult; and in the man's punishment, see his crimes.

8–17. Reign of Jehoiachin. Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Plunder and captives carried away: Zedekiah made king of Judah (2 Chronicles 36:9-10) 8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old] The Chronicler says eight. The letter which is required to make the difference is the smallest in the Hebrew alphabet, and may easily have fallen out by a slip of the copyist. That ‘eighteen’ is the correct number may be concluded because (see verse 15) Jehoiachin had wives, which would hardly be the case at eight. To the ‘three months’ of the king’s reign here set down, the Chronicler adds ‘and ten days’, probably having before him a precise record. Though after the last reign we come no more upon quotations from the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah. Jehoiachin is called Jeconiah in Jeremiah 24:1, and Coniah in Jeremiah 22:24; Jeremiah 22:28. For the double form compare Oshea and Jehoshua (Numbers 13:16). Elnathan of Jerusalem] Almost certainly the same person who is called ‘Elnathan the son of Achbor’ (Jeremiah 26:22) and who was sent by Jehoiakim with a party of men into Egypt to fetch thence Urijah the prophet, whom Jehoiakim caused to be put to death. The name also occurs among the princes in the account of Jeremiah’s roll (Jeremiah 36:12; Jeremiah 36:25). He was one of those who made intercession with the king not to burn it.

His mother’s name - On the position of the “queen mother” see 1 Kings 15:10 note.

’S REIGN, AND THE FIRST GREAT OF EXILES TO BABYLON, 2 Kings 24:8-17. 8. Three months — The same length of time that his uncle Jehoahaz had reigned. 2 Kings 23:21.