What is the meaning of 2 Kings 23:34? Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah • After Josiah’s death at Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29-30), the people crowned his younger son Jehoahaz, but Pharaoh Neco asserted dominance on his return from battling Babylon and installed Eliakim instead (2 Chronicles 36:4). • Judah’s throne now depended on a foreign ruler, fulfilling warnings such as Deuteronomy 28:36: “The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you…”. • The change marks the unraveling of Josiah’s reforms (2 Kings 23:26-27) and signals that Judah’s sin has brought it under alien control, as prophesied by Jeremiah 2:18-19. He changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim • In Scripture, renaming displays authority (Genesis 17:5; Daniel 1:7). Neco’s action declares Egypt’s supremacy over Judah. • The new name, “Jehoiakim” (“Yahweh raises up”), is ironic; the king will defy the very God whose name he bears (2 Kings 23:37). • This foreshadows Babylon’s later renaming of kings (2 Kings 24:17), showing Judah’s slide from Egyptian to Babylonian vassalage. • Jeremiah confronts Jehoiakim for burning the prophetic scroll (Jeremiah 36:20-24), illustrating a heart far from God despite the name invoking Him. Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt • Jehoahaz (Shallum, Jeremiah 22:11) reigned only three months before removal (2 Kings 23:31-33). • His deportation enacts Deuteronomy 28:32-33: sons will be given to another nation. • The rightful heir’s exile crushes hopes that Josiah’s legacy of faithfulness might continue (2 Chronicles 36:3). • Judah’s dependence on Egypt instead of the LORD is exposed (Isaiah 31:1). Where he died • Jeremiah foretold: “He will die in the place to which they have led him, never seeing this land again” (Jeremiah 22:10-12); the verse confirms that prophecy. • Egypt—once the place of Israel’s deliverance—now becomes the grave of a Davidic king (Hosea 8:13). • Jehoahaz’s death seals the judgment against a nation that had rejected God’s covenant, leaving Judah trapped between Egyptian and Babylonian powers. summary 2 Kings 23:34 records Judah’s loss of sovereignty. Egypt installs Jehoiakim, asserts control by renaming him, and exiles the legitimate king, who dies in a foreign land. Every detail fulfills covenant warnings and prophetic words, proving God’s Word both accurate and authoritative while urging readers to trust Him rather than earthly powers. |
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