Jehoiakim

About Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim, also known as Eliakim, was a king of Judah who reigned for eleven years (609-598 BC). He was the second son of King Josiah and became king after his younger brother Jehoahaz was deposed by Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt (2Ki.23.34; 2Ch.36.4). Necho changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim and imposed a heavy tribute on Judah (2Ki.23.35).

During Jehoiakim's reign, Judah became a vassal state of Egypt and later Babylon (2Ki.24.1). Jehoiakim initially served Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon but later rebelled against him (2Ki.24.1). This rebellion led to the first Babylonian invasion of Judah, during which some of the temple treasures and members of the royal family and nobility were taken to Babylon (2Ch.36.6-7; Dan.1.1-2).

The prophet Jeremiah prophesied during Jehoiakim's reign, warning the king and the people of Judah about the impending Babylonian judgment (Jer.1.3; 25.1; 26.1). Jehoiakim opposed Jeremiah, burning the scroll containing the prophet's warnings (Jeremiah 36) and persecuting those who followed Jeremiah's message (Jer.26.20-23).

Jehoiakim died before the final Babylonian invasion and was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin (2Ki.24.6). The circumstances of his death are not clearly stated in the biblical text, but Jeremiah prophesied that he would be buried like a donkey, dragged and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem (Jer.22.18-19; 36.30).

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.