2 Chronicles 36:5
Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem, and he reigned there eleven years doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He was Josiah's son, set on the throne by the king of Egypt after Jehoahaz had reigned only three months, his name being changed from Eliakim to Jehoiakim when Judah was laid under tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. He kept the throne after Jerusalem lost its independence, serving Nebuchadnezzar three years and then rebelling, until Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, bound him in fetters to take him to Babylon, and carried vessels of the house of the Lord to his temple, yet he died in Jerusalem and was not taken there. His continued evil and disobedience put Jerusalem under the power of Babylon and marked the beginning of the downward course that ended in exile, captivity, and bondage with no remedy. His reign forms the opening setting for Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and carried away Daniel and his companions with other chief men, and it places the beginning of Jeremiah's seventy years in 606 B.C. when the people and the vessels were first taken to Babylon.
Reign and Historical Setting
After Josiah died his son Jehoahaz reigned only three months until the king of Egypt deposed him and made his brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, changing his name to Jehoiakim. That enthronement was in retaliation for Josiah's interference in the war between Egypt and Assyria, and Judah was laid under tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He stands among the vacillating kings in Judah's rapid decline, before Jehoiachin and Zedekiah and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple that ended the kingdom in 586 B.C.
He ruled after Jerusalem lost its independence and received a ruler appointed by a foreign king. He continued on that throne in Jerusalem even after Nebuchadnezzar captured the city and took some of its people and temple vessels to Babylon, reigning there eight more years before his son Jehoiachin succeeded him. In his reign he served Nebuchadnezzar for three years and then rebelled, prompting Nebuchadnezzar to invade, besiege Jerusalem, and bind Jehoiakim in fetters. He also carried off vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his temple there. The account supplies a sufficient record of siege and invasion even where the word siege is not used.
Although Nebuchadnezzar bound Jehoiakim in fetters with the intention of taking him to Babylon, Jehoiakim died in Jerusalem and was not taken captive there. His reign provides the historical background and opening setting for Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against Jerusalem and took it. He carried away some of the chief men of the city to Babylon, among whom were Daniel and his three companions.
Sin, Judgment and Prophecy
Jehoiakim, Josiah's son, did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, unlike his father who acted on the requirements of God's law. He continued a course of evil, and Judah's kings grew increasingly wicked under him until the Lord removed the kingdom with no remedy.
His disobedience explains why Judah was conquered by Babylon, for the people sinned against God, broke covenant, and persisted in disobedience until punishment came upon them in exile, captivity, and bondage. That defeat came just as Israel's sin had brought defeat at Ai, showing covenant-breaking brings overthrow. His continued evil brought upon the people the wrath that was kindled in the days of Hezekiah, and put Jerusalem under the power of Babylon. That defeat by the king of Babylon with subjection for Jerusalem definitely marked the beginning of the downward course that ended in the Babylonish captivity.
Israel's overthrow and Babylonian captivity were caused chiefly by transgressing the Sabbath. The Sabbath was the sign that Jehovah, the living God who created all things and sanctified Israel, was their God, and while Israel kept it they did not forget the Lord. Instead the people turned away from Him, forgot His Sabbath, and fell into idolatry.
The judgment stands in the record of Nebuchadnezzar's three captivities of Judah, the first in 606 B.C., the second in 598 B.C., and the third in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem was completely destroyed. Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 B.C., and the people were removed to Babylon by 588 B.C. This Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem marks the beginning of Israel's scattering for disobeying God's commandments, which scattering may have continued until Jerusalem's later destruction by the Romans.
The verse places the beginning of Jeremiah's seventy years in Jehoiakim's reign in 606 B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar took some of the Jewish people and some vessels from God's house to Babylon after repeated transgressions. The events in Daniel 1 occurred in his third year, dated as his fourth year in the other reckoning, at the beginning of the Jews' seventy years of captivity.