Son of Josiah who was made king over Judah by Phraoah Neco.
About Jehoiakim
Second son of Josiah by Zebidah (2 Kgs 23:36; 1 Chr 3:15; 2 Chr 36:4) who became king of Judah in 609 BC. He replaced his younger brother Jehoahaz as king when he was deposed and exiled by Pharaoh Neco after a three-month reign (2 Kgs 23:31–35). Jehoiakim was installed as king at age 25, and he ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem. His given name, Eliakim, means “God will establish.” Upon enthroning him, Neco changed his name to Jehoiakim, meaning “Yahweh will establish” (2 Kgs 23:34), perhaps seeking to claim Yahweh’s support for his action.
Neco laid a heavy tribute on Judah, which Jehoiakim raised by levying a tax on the whole land (2 Kgs 23:35; cf. Jer 22:13–17, where the woe oracle against Jehoiakim implies that he appropriated some of these funds for personal use). Jehoiakim remained subservient to the Egyptians until the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar and the Neo-Babylonians routed Neco. Judah then became a vassal state of Babylon for three years (2 Kgs 24:1–2). After Nebuchadnezzar’s failure to completely subdue Neco in a second fierce battle in 601 BC, Jehoiakim seized the opportunity to throw off the Babylonian yoke when the Babylonian king returned home to reorganize his army. This ill-advised decision proved costly, as Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah in 598 BC to punish the rebellious vassal king (2 Kgs 24:3–7). The expected help from Egypt never came, and the Babylonians destroyed the important Judahite cities of Debir and Lachish, seized control of the Negev, and deported several thousand of Judah’s ablest citizens. This no doubt crippled the economy and left Judah virtually leaderless. Jehoiakim died during the Babylonian siege (probably late in 598 BC). His son Jehoiachin was placed on the throne.
Family Relationships
- Parents
- Josiah, Zebidah
- Partner
- Nehushta
- Half-siblings 3
- Jehoahaz, Zedekiah, Shallum (1 Chronicles 3:15)
- Child
- Jehoiachin
Key References
Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, where he died.
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out and exposed to heat by day and frost by night.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
All Scripture References (37)
2 Kings (7)
Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, where he died.
So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each according to his wealth.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah.
During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.
1 Chronicles (2)
The sons of Josiah: Johanan was the firstborn, Jehoiakim the second, Zedekiah the third, and Shallum the fourth.
The successors of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah.
2 Chronicles (3)
Then Neco king of Egypt made Eliakim brother of Jehoahaz king over Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations he committed, and all that was found against him, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
Jeremiah (23)
and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the LORD:
King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and officials heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah found out about it, he fled in fear and went to Egypt.
Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor along with some other men.
They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him put to the sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD.
which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.
And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Now in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a fast before the LORD was proclaimed to all the people of Jerusalem and all who had come there from the cities of Judah.
“Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.
You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’
Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out and exposed to heat by day and frost by night.
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and at Jeremiah’s dictation he wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.
This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:
And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.
Daniel (2)
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He carried these off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, where he put them in the treasury of his god.