36:5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 4 He did evil in the sight of 5 the Lord his God. 36:6 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him, 6 bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away 7 to Babylon. 36:7 Nebuchadnezzar took some of the items in the Lord’s temple to Babylon and put them in his palace 8 there. 9
36:8 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign, including the horrible sins he committed and his shortcomings, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 10 His son Jehoiachin replaced him as king.
36:9 Jehoiachin was eighteen 11 years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of 13 the Lord. 36:10 At the beginning of the year King Nebuchadnezzar ordered him to be brought 14 to Babylon, along with the valuable items in the Lord’s temple. In his place he made his relative 15 Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
1 tn Or “a fine.”
2 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).
3 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehoahaz) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
6 tn Heb “came up against him.”
7 tn Heb “to carry him away.”
8 tn Or “temple.”
9 tn Heb “in Babylon.” Repeating the proper name “Babylon” here would be redundant in contemporary English, so “there” has been used in the translation.
10 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoiakim, and his horrible deeds which he did and that which was found against him, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah.”
11 tc The Hebrew text reads “eight,” but some ancient textual witnesses, as well as the parallel text in 2 Kgs 24:8, have “eighteen.”
12 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
13 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
14 tn Heb “sent and brought him.”
15 tn Heb “and he made Zedekiah his brother king.” According to the parallel text in 2 Kgs 24:17, Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle, not his brother. Therefore many interpreters understand אח here in its less specific sense of “relative” (NEB “made his father’s brother Zedekiah king”; NASB “made his kinsman Zedekiah king”; NIV “made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king”; NRSV “made his brother Zedekiah king”).