(5) Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim . . .--Assuming with Hitzig that the passage Habakkuk 2:9-14 refers to him, we gather that he severely oppressed his people by his exactions of forced labour upon the defences of Jerusalem. Thenius concludes from the words, "that he may set his nest on high," &c., that Jehoiakim strengthened and enlarged the fortress on Ophel erected by Manasseh. (Comp. also Jeremiah 22:13-17.)
Are they not written . . .--The last reference to this authority. Bahr concludes that the work did not extend beyond the reign of Jehoiakim.
Verse 5. - Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim; and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Among the acts of Jehoiakim recorded elsewhere in the Old Testament, the most remarkable are the following:
(1) His execution of Urijah the son of Shemaiah (Jeremiah 26:23);
(2) his destruction of the first collection of the early prophecies made by Jeremiah, in a fit of anger at hearing its contents (Jeremiah 36:20-23);
(3) his order that Jeremiah and Baruch should be arrested (Jeremiah 36:26);
(4) his capture by some of the "nations" which Nebuchadnezzar had stirred up against him, and delivery into the hands of that monarch (Ezekiel 19:9), probably at Jerusalem. How Nebuchadnezzar treated him is uncertain. Josephus says ('Ant. Jud.,' 10:6. § 3) that he put him to death, and east him out unburied beyond the walls of the city. But from the biblical notices we can only gather that he died prematurely after a reign of no more than eleven years ( B.C. 608 to B.C. 597), and was u-lamented, "buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:18, 19). Conjecture has filled up the blanks of this history in several ways, the most purely imaginative being, perhaps, that of Ewald, who says ('History of Israel,' vol. 4. p. 262), "When the Chaldean armies presented themselves at the gates of the capital, Jehoiakim seems to have been betrayed into the same error as his brother (Jehoahaz), eleven years before. He gave ear to a crafty invitation of the enemy to repair for negotiations to their camp, where, in sight of his own city, he was made prisoner. He offered a frantic resistance, and was dragged away in a scuffle, and miserably cut down; while even an honorable burial for his corpse, which his family certainly solicited, was refused."
24:1-7 If Jehoiakim had served the Lord, he had not been servant to Nebuchadnezzar. If he had been content with his servitude, and true to his word, his condition had been no worse; but, rebelling against Babylon, he plunged himself into more trouble. See what need nations have to lament the sins of their fathers, lest they smart for them. Threatenings will be fulfilled as certainly as promises, if the sinner's repentance prevent not.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim,.... In 2 Chronicles 36:8, it is added, "his abominations, and that which was found in him": which besides his rebellion against the king of Babylon, and his shedding innocent blood, is interpreted of marks made in his body for superstitious and idolatrous purposes; so Lyra.
Are they not written . . .--The last reference to this authority. Bahr concludes that the work did not extend beyond the reign of Jehoiakim.
(1) His execution of Urijah the son of Shemaiah (Jeremiah 26:23);
(2) his destruction of the first collection of the early prophecies made by Jeremiah, in a fit of anger at hearing its contents (Jeremiah 36:20-23);
(3) his order that Jeremiah and Baruch should be arrested (Jeremiah 36:26);
(4) his capture by some of the "nations" which Nebuchadnezzar had stirred up against him, and delivery into the hands of that monarch (Ezekiel 19:9), probably at Jerusalem. How Nebuchadnezzar treated him is uncertain. Josephus says ('Ant. Jud.,' 10:6. § 3) that he put him to death, and east him out unburied beyond the walls of the city. But from the biblical notices we can only gather that he died prematurely after a reign of no more than eleven years ( B.C. 608 to B.C. 597), and was u-lamented, "buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:18, 19). Conjecture has filled up the blanks of this history in several ways, the most purely imaginative being, perhaps, that of Ewald, who says ('History of Israel,' vol. 4. p. 262), "When the Chaldean armies presented themselves at the gates of the capital, Jehoiakim seems to have been betrayed into the same error as his brother (Jehoahaz), eleven years before. He gave ear to a crafty invitation of the enemy to repair for negotiations to their camp, where, in sight of his own city, he was made prisoner. He offered a frantic resistance, and was dragged away in a scuffle, and miserably cut down; while even an honorable burial for his corpse, which his family certainly solicited, was refused."