In 2 Chronicles in the context of the Divided Kingdom during the reign of Jehoram, king of Judah, the statement is made, “Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever” (21:7). (The NET Bible reads, “But the LORD was unwilling to destroy David’s dynasty because of the promise he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty”).
To say that Jehoram was very wicked would be an understatement. His first act when his co-regency with his father Jehoshaphat (good king!) ended was to murder all six of his brothers! (21:4). Jehoram was married to Athaliah, the wicked daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and greatly swayed by them. Though King of Judah, “he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done” (21:6).
Lamp, dating to the time of the Divided Kingdom. Author’s personal collection. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
Our inspired historian is stating that although Jehoram deserved destruction, as had indeed been meted out to several dynasties in Israel, that Yahweh, the faithful God of the Covenant, would insure that the lineage of David would continue. The use of the word picture of a lamp which continues to burn, and is not extinguished, was a fitting metaphor. The Davidic lineage (here seen in the kings of Judah, both good and bad) would continue until the Messiah came to earth, God Incarnate. This fulfilled the promise made in 2 Samuel 7; cf. 1 Chron. 17, and etc.). Indeed, “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
I have earlier written about Judah’s King Jehoram here.
Some context: Mareshah in southern Israel was a city which Solomon’s son, King Rehoboam fortified (2 Chronicles 11:8). Later Judah’s King Asa met a military force of Cushites which greatly outnumbered Judah’s forces, but YAHWEH granted deliverance (2 Chronicles 14:9ff). Here is a photo of a Blessed Milkthistle I took while there a few years ago:
The wording of our titles comes from 2 Chronicles 12:2, “And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD.” As most readers know, “Pharaoh” was not a personal name but a dynastic title designating the king of Egypt. The first biblical mention of a Pharaoh is Genesis 12:15, in the days of Abraham’s sojourn into Egypt. Other subsequent pharaohs are mentioned as time goes on, including the events in Joseph’s life, and later in the time of Moses and the Exodus. But the first Pharaoh mentioned by name is Shishak (cf. 1 Kings 11:40; 14:25-26). Shishak reigned during Egypt’s 22nd dynasty, which was a Libyan dynasty. His reigned 946-924 BC. He invaded Judah in his 19/20th year, which was 927/926 BC. This lines up with the 5th year of Rehoboam, 926/5 BC (2 Chron. 12:2), r. 931/930-913 BC.
In the days of Solomon’s adversary Jeroboam (who would become Israel’s first king when the kingdom divided into Israel and Judah after Solomon’s death, 931 BC), “Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon” (1 Kings 11:40). Solomon was succeeded by his son Rehoboam (1st king of the southern kingdom of Judah), and Pharaoh Shishak was again mentioned in scripture: “It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made” (14:25-26). God allowed this invasion of Jerusalem because of Judah’s unfaithfulness (2 Chron. 12:2). The text explains, “Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak'” (2 Chron. 12:5).
It was the 21st year of his reign when Shishak returned to the capital of Thebes (ESV, “No” in NKJV), at Karnak he recorded his victory, including the listing not only of cities of Judah, but of many Israelite cities as well. Our photo shows the Shishak Inscription. Here he lists conquests, including Yuda Melchi (kingdom of Judah). This hieroglyphic inscription contains the names of ca. 50-60 localities in Israel and about 100 in Judah which were captured on this expedition.
The site of Tanis/Zoan is to be associated within the area of Goshen where the Israelites had lived for some time and were living at the time of the Exodus. “Psalm 78:12 Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan” (Psa. 78:12). Tanis is the site where Shishak was entombed. Our photo here shows the entrance into Tanis:
This is a fascinating example of how archaeology can enhance our understanding of the biblical text, as well as underscore the fact that the Bible is factual. While we do not depend on archaeology to “prove” the Bible, as it stands on its own merit, this “intersection” of biblical history with secular records has an important place in the discipline of apologetics.
“Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king” (2 Chron. 10:1, ESV). Biblical Shechem is modern Tell Balata, near Nablus, in today’s West Bank. Though our text does not specify why Rehoboam went to Shechem, it was a city of great historical significance to God’s people, especially prior to the monarchy. We will briefly summarize what happened to Rehoboam at Shechem, but first let’s consider some of the biblical events that transpired at this location.
Shechem, at Israel’s geographical center. Map courtesy of biblemapper.com.
Having first entered the land of Canaan, Abraham was standing here at Shechem, with Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim looming on either side, when God gave him the land promise (Gen. 12:6-7). Sadly, it was also here that Jacob’s daughter Dinah was defiled, and where Levi and Simeon savagely destroyed much of the populace in retaliation (Gen. 34).
In Joshua 8:30-35, in the early days of the Conquest of Canaan, all Israel assembled at Shechem, with six tribes on Mt. Gerizim (mount of “blessing”) and six tribes on Mt. Ebal (mount of “cursing”). At that time Joshua “read all the words of the law, the blessing and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law” (v.34, NKJV). This was in obedience to prior instructions given by Moses in his final days (Deut. 27:11-26). In our Joshua text, that great nation who had descended from that childless couple (at the time of the promise), Abraham and Sarah, was there to lay claim to the promise. But they weren’t just there to receive the land; their reception of Canaan was grounded upon their pledge to keep the covenant of Yahweh.
Then later as Joshua’s death approached, Shechem was the location for Joshua’s last words and for Israel’s covenant renewal (Josh. 24:1-28). Shechem was also where Joseph was buried (Josh. 24:32).
In addition to its great historical significance, the site of Shechem was also a central location and thus a logical meeting place for the matter at hand, Rehoboam’s coronation. On the other hand, Maier suggests that perhaps Rehoboam sensed a bit of discontent among the northern tribes. “One clue was that they did not come to Jerusalem but wanted the meeting at another place, in Shechem, on their own turf, so to speak” (A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture, pub. Concordia, 1K12-22, p. 1052).
The outcome of the meeting at Shechem: The northern tribes rejected Rehoboam, with the result that the kingdom divided into Israel (north) and Judah (south). This was punitive, as a result of Solomon’s apostasy, and foretold by the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 11; 2 Chron. 10:15; 11:1-5). The dynasty would change several times in Israel to the north, but the southern kingdom of Judah would be ruled by the Davidic dynasty, from Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) down through Zedekiah. This covers the years 931-586 BC.
It was at Shechem that Israel met with Solomon’s son Rehoboam to make him king. Shechem is located between Mount Gerizim (left) and Mount Ebal (right).
The study of the biblical books of 1-2 Kings is a study of inspired theological history. That is to say, it is history but with an emphasis always on the divine perspective. The concern of the narrative is consistently whether the king under consideration, whether in the northern kingdom of Israel, or in Judah’s kingdom to the south, did that which was “right in the sight of the LORD.”
The Lord had promised Israel’s King Jehu (r. 841-814 BC) that his sons would reign to the fourth generation (2 Kings 10:30). Meanwhile Syria was ravaging Israel, gobbling up the territory on the eastern side of Jordan. Israel was drastically reduced in size (2 Kings 10:32). Following Jehu’s death, his son Jehoahaz reigned (814-798), and the Aramaic oppression continued (2 Kings 13:3) with its terrible devastation. The fascinating thing about this northern king is that though he was “evil” (2 Kings 13:2), “Jehoahaz pleaded with the LORD” (v. 4). What is further amazing is the mercy of God: though God permitted the Arameans to punish Israel because of national covenant unfaithfulness, “the LORD listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them (Ibid.).
The next verse tells us, “Then the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before” (2 Kings 13:5, NKJV). The ESV reads, “Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.” (Note: the KJV, NRSV also render מושיע as “savior”. Most translations have “deliverer.” The hiphil participle means to deliver, to save).
This is reminiscent of the language of the Judges, where in times of punishment for sin, Israel would cry out to the LORD for deliverance, and He would send the Judge would deliver/save Israel from its oppressor. The biblical text does not name who the deliverer/savior was at the time referenced in 2 Kings 13:5.
Many scholars believe that it is the Assyrian King Adad-Nirari III who is referenced here as Israel’s מושיע.
For example, “Adad-nirari III may have been the ‘savior’ bringing them freedom from Aramean oppression” (Gilboy, The Lexham Bible Dictionary). “Adad-nirari III may have been the ‘deliverer’ of Israel mentioned in 2 Kgs. 13:5” (Chavalas, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, p. 18). “By intervening in the affairs of the Syrian kingdoms, Adad-nerari III put pressure on Damascus, thus relieving Israel from the heavy hand of the Arameans (Mordechai Cogan, The Raging Torrent, p. 41).
David T. Lamb, in a chapter entitled, “An Evil King Praying, Jehoahaz of Israel,” states, “Within the context of this narrative, the most reasonable deliverer for Jehoash is therefore Adad-nirari III of Assyria since, toward the end of Jehoahaz’s reign, he attacked Aram. Adad-nirari’s campaign would have diverted Aram’s attention away from Israel and toward the north. From the perspective of the text, Adad-nirari would play a similar role to Cyrus (Isa 45:1), as a foreign ruler who accomplishes a divinely appointed task” (Lamb, D. T., 1-2 Kings, T. Longman III & S. McKnight, Eds.; p. 399).
D. J. Wiseman supplies the following information regarding Adad-nirari:
Adadnirari III (810–783 B.C.) took five years to quell the widespread revolt led by nobles, high officials, and some provincial governors who, like Dayan-Aššur, the army commander of Shalmaneser, had accumulated much local power. He had to reassert Assyrian authority also over tribes to the north and east who had meanwhile withheld their taxes. This was the beginning of the internal resistance to the central authority of the king which was to recur and ultimately lead to Assyrian weakness in the following century.
When Šamši-Adad died, his queen Sammu-ramat (in part the legendary Semiramis) took over command as co-regent for five years during the minority of her son Adadnirari. In 806 B.C. the young king undertook an expedition to north Syria, reaching the Mediterranean (Arpad), and another the following year, when he took Hazazu and broke up the powerful coalition developing between Damascus and states as far afield as Malatya. In 804 he struck further southwest to Tyre and Sidon. Joash of Israel, anxious to annul the burdensome treaty imposed on him by Hazael, seems to have taken this opportunity, as had Jehu before him, to obtain Assyrian help. The evidence for this is a royal stele (from Tell ar Rimah, Iraq) in which Adadnirari lists tribute from “Joash of Samaria” (Yu’ asu mātSamerinā) before that of Tyre and Sidon. When the Assyrian entered Damascus and took spoil from Ben-hadad it is likely that Israel was allowed to strengthen trade relations with that city and recover some lost territory (2 K. 13:25).
Wiseman, D. J. (1979–1988). Assyria. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 1, pp. 334–335). Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Similarly, the ESV Study Bible in its comments on our text says, “It seems likely that the ‘savior’ in question here is Assyria, whose interest in Syria-Palestine was rekindled in the closing years of the ninth century B.C., resulting in a measure of relief for Israel as the attention of Damascus necessarily turned tot he north.”
On the other hand, Keil & Delitzsch state, “but the Lord gave them the saviour in the two successors of Jehoahaz, in the kings Jehoash and Jeroboam, the former of whom wrested from the Syrians all the cities that had been conquered by them under his father (v. 25), while the latter restored the ancient boundaries of Israel (2 Kings 14:25).” (Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 267).
Others have suggested Elisha, who foretold the three-fold victory over Aram, as the “deliverer” under consideration (2 Kings 13:14-19). Could the solution be that Elisha foretold the victory and enlargement of Israel (cf. the later reference to Jonah & Jeroboam II, 2 Kgs. 14:23-25), which was fulfilled in the days of Jehoash and Jeroboam, but was made possible by the role of Adad-nirari? Remember that God rules in the kingdoms of men (Dan. 4:17), and His providential use of the nations could well be under consideration here.
The city of Beth-shemesh was given to the Levites when they were given their possession by lot in the days of Joshua, following the Conquest of Canaan (Josh. 21:16). Years later, during the days of the Judges, the Philistines captured the ark in battle with Israel (1 Sam. 4), but when they were divinely punished they allowed the ark to return. The two cows pulling the cart from Philistian Ekron “headed straight for the road to Beth-shemesh” (1 Sam. 6:12).
Later, in the days of the Divided Kingdom, King Amaziah (Judah) challenged King Jehoash (Israel) to battle. This may have been in retaliation for the destruction and looting carried out by the Israelite mercenaries Amaziah had hired, but then sent back home (2 Chron. 25:6-13). Beth-shemesh was the meeting point of the two armies, which resulted in Amaziah being soundly defeated. The theological reason is given by the inspired historian: “But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might deliver them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom.” It was because of Amaziah’s idolatry that God orchestrated events to punish Amaziah. Ironically, it was after God had given Amaziah victory in battle against Edom that Amaziah then decided to worship the gods of Edom!
“Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ‘ (Isa. 44:28)
I often say that every passage has a context; the greater context of our passage here, Isaiah 40-48, addresses the incomparable greatness of YAHWEH. This is especially seen in these chapters as the true God is contrasted with the idols made by human hands. The gods created in the imaginations of men cannot see anything, or say anything, or do anything (cf. Isa. 44:9-20). But the God of Israel says, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them.” (Isa. 44:6-7).
One manifestation of the true God’s great power is that only He can foretell the future. So while the Assyrians were still the world power, God foretold through Isaiah (8th century BC) that it would be Babylon who would take Judah captive (Isa. 39). Then God foretold the return from Babylonian captivity (Isa. 48:20). But through Isaiah (prophetic work spanned 740-ca.690 BC) God called the future deliverer by name: it would be Cyrus, king of the Persians (r. 559-530 BC). Approximately two centuries before Cyrus ascended the throne, God called him by name, and foretold that he would be the one who would allow the Jews to return from captivity and rebuild their temple!
The Cyrus Cylinder. British Museum. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
In addressing the significance of the Cyrus Cylinder, the Lexham Bible Dictionary notes:
The Cyrus Cylinder is an important piece of external evidence for the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Written in Akkadian, the Cylinder is a building inscription celebrating the restoration of Babylon, which Cyrus king of Persia conquered. The Bible records that Cyrus’ conquest brought an end to the Babylonian exile and allowed for the exiled Judahites to return to their homeland (Ezra 1:3; 2:1–67). The Cyrus Cylinder does not explicitly mention the Judahites, but the book of Ezra opens with a decree from Cyrus that allows the Judahites to return from exile and promises Persian patronage for the reconstruction of the temple in Jerusalem.
Krijgsman, M. (2016). Cyrus Cylinder. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Note how this ties in with Ezra’s opening verses that tell of the decree of King Cyrus:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
Ezra 1:1-4
Indeed, the true God proclaimed “the things that are coming and shall come”!
Hebron is mentioned more than sixty times in the Bible, the first of which is in Genesis 13:18: “Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.” Remains have been excavated at Hebron which pre-date the patriarch Abraham.
Tel-Hebron consists of approximately twelve acres. It is located about twenty miles south of Jerusalem. Excavations have uncovered a stretch of wall that is dated to the Early Bronze Age, as seen at left in photo here. The well-preserved staircase is made of natural stone slabs, well worn by the city’s ancient inhabitants. Scholars suggest the path likely led to one of Hebron’s city gates. At right is an additional wall constructed at a later date than that on your left.
Another important discovery at Hebron is that of an 8th century BC four room house. Some scholars date the house to the time of Judah’s King Hezekiah (r. 715-686).
seems to have settled into the role of regional center. This is demonstrated by the phenomenon of l’melekh handles. The term means “(belonging) to the king” or “property of the king.” The four-letter Hebrew designation (LMLK) was stamped into the wet clay of the handle of a certain type of storage jar at the end of the eighth century B.C.E. The jars were probably produced during the reign of King Hezekiah in preparation for the attack on Judah by Sennacherib’s Assyrian army, which occurred in 701 B.C.E.
L’melekh handles display either a two-winged sun disk or a four-winged scarab, but, more importantly for our purposes, they also include the name of one of four cities of Judah. One of these four cities was Hebron. (BAR 31:5, Sept/Oct 2005).
From Tel-Hebron one can see the Cave of Machpelah which Abraham purchased as a burial site. Herod the Great built the edifice which now covers the cave.
In the tumultuous days of the Divided Kingdom, King Baasha (Israel) fortified Ramah, a border city (on the Israel/Judah border) on the main north-south road, as well as a location which controlled the route westward to the sea. King Asa (Judah) retaliated. Here is the story:
And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.” So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali (1 Kings 15:17-20).
Judah’s King Asa gave a “present” to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria (Aram), that he would attack Baasha. The word for “present is šōḥad, meaning, “Bribe, present, gift, reward, gratuity, inducement” (TWOT, #2359). Related passages would include Exodus 23:8, “You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just” (NASB). Isaiah denounced the leaders of Judah with the words, “Your princes are rebellious, And companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes, And follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, Nor does the cause of the widow come before them” (Isa. 1:23, NKJV). šōḥadis the word used to describe the bribe money that King Ahaz of Judah sent to Tiglath-pileser in a scheme like that of our present text, as he bribed the Assyrian king to attack Pekah (Israel) and Rezin (Aram/Syria) (2 Kings 16:8).
Syria’s king Ben-Hadad was very willing to take the money from Asa; he was being paid to do something he wanted to do! From his perspective he had everything to gain and nothing to lose. So as our text relates, “He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtal” (1 Kings 15:20). This gave Syria a great advantage; this gave them a clear route to the Mediterranean Sea.
For Asa, from a military standpoint, his actions were successful; it was good military strategy for the short term. But from Chronicles we learn that God was displeased. He sent the prophet Hanani to Asa and rebuked him because you “have not relied on the LORD your God” (2 Chron. 16:7). The prophet went on to say, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars” (v.9).
Back to our opening text of 1 Kings 15, one of Israel’s northern cities successfully attacked by Ben-Hadad was Abel-beth-maacah.
Abel-beth-maacah, in northern Israel. Map by BibleAtlas.org.
Here is a photo of Abel-beth-maacah. The large tel, at center.
Recent excavations have been conducted at Abel-beth-maacah. An interesting artifact housed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem is the head of a statue depicting a king, discovered in 2017 in a fortress at the summit of the tel. According to the museum info, this head is dated to the 9th century BCE, which would approximate the time of our 1 Kings 15 text (Asa r.911-870 BC; Baasha r.909-886 BC). (By their mention of King Ahab of Israel. r.874-853 BC, the IM is dating this artifact just slightly after the events of 1 Kings 15 re: Asa and Baasha).
The placard states, “Its elegant style leaves no doubt that it portrays a distinguished personage, probably a king, but since it was found of the border of three different ancient kingdoms, we do not know whether it depicts King Ahab of Israel, King Hazael of Aram Damascus, or King Ithobaal of Tyre, rulers known from the Bible and other sources. Additional questions regarding the statues’s material and style only heighten the mystery.”
Some of my current studies include 2 Kings 24-25, which tell of the reigns of Judah’s last three kings: Jehoiakim (r. 609-597 BC), Jehoiachin (597 BC), and Zedekiah (597-586 BC). For so long down to that point in time, God’s people had repeatedly turn to idols, such as Baal (other names included Teshub, Hadad, etc.), the cultic fertility god who (supposedly) supplied rain for the crops. The contest with Baal prophets and Elijah should have manifestly demonstrated that Yahweh, not Baal, controls the rain, or lack there of (1 Kings 18). They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and worshiped and served Baal. It was for this determined apostasy that divine judgment was inevitable.
Storm-god (Teshub). From temple at Carchemish, South-eastern Turkey. Photo by Leon Mauldin. British Museum.
The “point of no return,” the inspired historian explains, was reached earlier in the days of Judah’s King Manasseh (r. 695-642 BC): “Surely at the command of the LORD it [the punitive destruction] came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive” (2 Kings 24:3-4). Though there were great and extensive reforms under good King Josiah (r. 640-609 BC), Jeremiah lamented, “‘Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,’ says the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:10). Thus Judah went into Babylonian captivity for seventy years, beginning with a 605 BC invasion, then a second one in 597 BC, and a third and final in 586 BC, at which time the temple was burned and looted, and Jerusalem destroyed.
Our present article makes note of Jehoiachin (597 BC). He only reigned 3 months (2 Kings 24:8). At this time Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem. King Jehoiachin surrendered, and he, along with others, was deported to Babylon. It was during this deportation that the prophet Ezekiel was also taken captive, and would live and work among the other Judean captives by the River Chebar in Babylon, “in the land of the Chaldeans” (Ezekiel 1:1-2).
2 Kings 24:8-14 tells the story:
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, just as the LORD had said. Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.
It is fascinating when artifacts are located that have a bearing on the biblical record. Such is the case with this Babylonian Captivity of 597 BC, in the Babylonian records known as the Babylonian Chronicles. Several of these tablets are displayed in the British Museum. This one featured here records the Babylonian account of the 597 BC invasion referenced in the Bible.
Babylonian Chronicle which records the 597 BC Babylonian Invasion of Judah. Photo by Leon Mauldin. British Museum.
This tablet was among others translated by scholar Dr. Donald J. Wiseman. An article in Biblical Archaeology Review has this information on this tablet:
Saved from the obscurity of the British Museum’s storerooms, this 3.25-inch by 2.5-inch clay cuneiform tablet is one of nine published by author Wiseman in 1956. The nine are part of the Babylonian Chronicles, an accurate record of the historic events in each king’s regnal year. They are just a tiny portion of the 90,000 tablets received by the British Museum between 1872 and 1889—a time when that famed institution did not even have the staff to catalogue the tablets.
The tablet’s obverse side recounts Babylon’s defeat of the Egyptian army at Carchemish in 605 B.C. and its conquest of Syria; Nebuchadnezzar’s succession to the Babylonian throne that same year and his acceptance of tribute from the kings of Syro-Palestine in 604 B.C.; the sack of Ashkelon in 603 B.C.; and the hitherto-unknown battle in 601 B.C. between the Babylonians and the Egyptians that ended inconclusively and which caused Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to align himself with Egypt. That proved a disastrous decision in light of subsequent events.
A paragraph on the reverse side of the tablet tells us just what those subsequent events were: “In the month of Kislev of his seventh year the king of Babylon [Nebuchadnezzar] mustered his army to march to Hatti-land [Syro-Palestine] and besieged the city of Judah [Jerusalem] and on the second day of Addar [15/16 March 597 B.C.] captured the city and seized its king [Jehoiachin]. He appointed there a king of his own choice [Zedekiah/Mattaniah] and took vast tribute, bringing it back to Babylon.” (Translation by Donald J. Wiseman.) A failed revolt ten years later in Judah ended in the utter destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and in the exile of most of the population to Babylon. (BAR Sep/Oct 1990, H. Shanks ed.).
Such artifacts as these (and so many others) lend credibility to the historicity and accuracy of the Bible.
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