Daily Tanach Tuesday 8th Iyar Sefer Melachim 2 Chapter 24 Part 2: The reign of Yehoyachin, and the exile of Jerusalem by Nevuchadnetzar

* The article below is an excerpt from the above Sefer
  1. The reign of Yehoyachin:
  • The age that he became king: Yehoyachin was eighteen years old when he became king.
  • The length of his reign: Yehoyachin reigned for three months in Jerusalem.
  • The name of his mother: His mother’s name was Nechushta the daughter of Elnasan from Jerusalem.
  • His deeds: Yehoyachin performed evil in the eyes of Hashem as his father had done.
  1. Nevuchadnetzar places Jerusalem under siege and captures Yehoyachin:
  • The siege: At that time, the servants of Nevuchadnetzar went up against Jerusalem and put the city under siege. Nevuchadnetzar the king of Babylon arrived to the city while his servants were besieging it.
  • Yehoyachin is captured: Yehoyachin, the king of Yehuda, came out to greet and subjugate himself before the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his officers and his mighty warriors. The king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his [i.e. Nevuchadnetzar’s] reign [as he feared he may rebel against him as did his father Yehoyakim, and hence he captured him and reigned his Uncle in his stead[1]].
  • Nevuchadnetzar takes all the treasures of the Temple and palace: Nevuchadnetzar removed all the treasures from the Temple and from the king’s palace. He stripped off all the golden decorations from the vessels that king Shlomo had made in the Temple.
  • Nevuchadnetzar exiles the Jewish people from Jerusalem: Nevuchadnetzar exiled all the people of Jerusalem, including all of the officers and all the mighty warriors, ten thousand men in total [three thousand from the tribe of Yehuda and seven thousand from the tribe of Binyamin and other tribes[2]]. He exiled all of the craftsmen and the guards of the gates. No one remained except the poorest and simplest of the people of the land. He exiled Yehoyachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother and the king’s wives, and his officers and the Tzadikim of the land, he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. All seven thousand military men, and one thousand craftsmen and guards, and all the mighty warriors were exiled. The king of Babylonia brought them into exile to Babylon.

[1] Radak 24:12

[2] Rashi 24:16

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