The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 444

(2 Kings ix. 3). He may hnve been preferred to his brother Eliakim on account or his ferocious cl:nmctor nnd supposed warlike qualitios (Keil), or because Eliakim wa~ at tho timo beyond their roach, having prc,bably taken part in the battle of Megi,ldu ond been mrn:l.e o prisoner (Rawlinson). II. DEPOSED BY THE Krno OF EoYPT. (Ver. 8.) 1. After a short reign. Only throe brief months was he allowed to retain the regal dignity. The other Shallum's time of glory was still shorter, Sic transit gloria mundi. 2. At the request of his brother. '!'his, at least, is not improbable. As Necho was not far distant, viz. at Ribloth, in the land of Hamath (2 Kings xxiii. 33), the party favourable to Eliakim, the legitimate heir, may have craved his help against the .usurper. 3. By means of treachery. 'fhe language of Ezekiel (xix. 3, 4) seems to imply that he was caught by guile, entrapped by stratagem. That Necho actually returned from Riblah with part of his forces, besieged aad captured Jerusalem (Keil), is doubtful, and is not required by the language of the Chronicler (ver. 3). It is more likely that Jehoahaz was either expressly summoned by Necho (Josephus), or treacherously enticed into visitin~ the camp at Riblah (Ewald), where he was thrown into chains and so deposed. 4. With the imposition of a fine upon the land. "A hundred talents of silver," equivalent to £34,200, and "a talent of gold," equivalent to £5475, were exacted in tribute, nnd as a pledge of fealty to Egypt. III. SucoEEDED BY HIS FATHER'S BON. (Ver. 4.) 1. Whose right was vindicated. The throne belonged to him by right of primogeniture. 2. Whose name was changed. Called Eliakim, "Whom God establishes," he was designated, on acceding to the king- dom, Jehoiakim, "Jehovah has set up." 3. Whose throne was secured. The usurper being deported to Egypt, where he died (2 Kings xxiii. 34), removed the likelihood at least of ci vii strife. IV. LAMENTED DY A PROPHET OF JEHOVAH. Jeremiah (xxii. 10-12) probably only gave expression to the feelings of regard cherished by Jehoahaz's subjects, who mourned : 1. For their own disappointed hopes. Dnring his short reign he had pleased the people, caught the popular imagination, and excited in them expectations of being able to revive the faded glories and upraise the fallen fortunes of Judrea. But now these anticipations were scattered to the winds. 2. For his melancholy fate. This seemed worse than what had threatened to befall Hezekiah (2 Kings x.x. 1; Isa. xxxviii. 10)-to be c11t off in the middle of his days; worse even than what had overtaken his illustriaus father-death upon the battle-field (eh. xxxv. 23, 24). No king of Judah had before been carried off into hopeless exile. Manasseh had, indeed, been deported to Babylon (eh ..xxxiii. 11), but had afterwards been restored to his crown and kingdom. (eh. xxxiii. 20). In the case of Jehoahaz no such alleviation of his misery could be looked for. Jehovah's word, through Jeremiah, was the death-stroke to any such expectation : "He shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more." Learn: 1. The strange vicissitudes of mortal life. 2. The miseries of many kings- a check to ambition. 3. The certainty of God's Word.-W. Vere. 5-8.-The fortunes of Jehoiakim. I. A NEW KING UPON THE THRONE OP JUDAH. (Ver. 5.) 1. His designation. Eliakim, "Whom God establishes," changed into J ehoiakim, "Jehovah has set up;" not by himself (Cheyne, 'Jeremiah: his Life and Times,' p. 142), though it would almost seem as if Uzziah had adopted that nama instead of Azariah on acceding to the crown (eh. xxvi. 1), and Pul had assumed the title Tiglath-Pileser, "Adar is my confidence," on succeeding Shalmaneser of Assyria (Sayce, 'Fresh Light,' etc., p. 126); but by Necho II. (ver. 4; 2 Kings xxi.i.i. 34), as Mattaniah's name was changed into Zedekiah by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxiv. 17); which statements may be harmonized by supposiog that" Necho and Nebuchadnezzar treated the vassal kings appointed by them not altogether as slaves, but permitted them to choose themselves the new names, which they only confirmed in token of their supremacy" (Keil). 2. His lineage. 'l'he son of Josiah and of Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rume.h, supposed to be identical with Arume.h, near Shechem (2 Kings xxiii. 36). Jehoahaz, whom he succeeded, was his younger brother by a different mother, Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah (2 Kings xxiii. _31). 3. His accession. (1) As to time, when he was twenty-five years of age, which shows he 448 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [clH, xxxv1. 1-23,