Jehoiakim turns and rebels against Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar carries away Jehoiachin, the treasures of the house, and all the men of might — none remain save the poorest of the land; Zedekiah reigns, and rebels against the king of Babylon.
Tap any Hebrew word to reveal its root, value, and meanings.
In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.
verse value 2654
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 56 letters. The shortest word is "went·up" (עָלָ֔ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "Nebuchadnezzar" (נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּ֖ר, 8 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "and·rebelled·against·him" (וַיִּמְרׇד־בּֽוֹ). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "and·was·to·him" (root היה, 119x in II Kings); "years" (root שנה, 109x in II Kings). First appearance of the root נבכדנאצר ("Nebuchadnezzar") in II Kings. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Babylon', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: בְּיָמָ֣יו [in·his·days] (68) + עָלָ֔ה [went·up] (105) + נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּ֖ר [Nebuchadnezzar] (417) + מֶ֣לֶךְ [king] (90) + בָּבֶ֑ל [Babylon] (34) + וַיְהִי־ל֨וֹ [and·was·to·him] (67) + יְהוֹיָקִ֥ים [Jehoiakim] (181) + עֶ֙בֶד֙ [servant] (76) + שָׁלֹ֣שׁ [three] (630) + שָׁנִ֔ים [years] (400) + וַיָּ֖שׇׁב [and·turned] (318) + וַיִּמְרׇד־בּֽוֹ [and·rebelled·against·him] (268) = 2654.
Radak
"And Jehoiakim was his servant for three years." Behold, we have found that Nebuchadnezzar reigned in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, for so it is written in Jeremiah: "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." And in Daniel it says: "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar came... and the Lord gave into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, and some of the vessels of the house of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar." And behold, it says that Jehoiakim was exiled to Babylon, and likewise it says in Chronicles: "to take him to Babylon." And Jeremiah prophesied against him: "Carry him away and cast him forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." It appears that he died on the way. And it says "in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim," meaning the year in which Pharaoh Necho made him king. And at the end of three years of Jehoiakim, at the beginning of his fourth year, Jeremiah prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would come against Jerusalem. And he came in that year and besieged it and captured it, and took Jehoiakim and led him to Babylon, as it says in the Book of Daniel. And he was returned to Jerusalem and stood in Jerusalem for three years in fidelity with the king of Babylon, and he rebelled against him. This is what it says: "And Jehoiakim was his servant for three years, and he turned and rebelled against him." And this is what it says "and he turned," for he had already been taken and led to Babylon, and afterwards he returned and rebelled against him. And behold, his reign lasted seven years or more, for we do not know how long he was in Babylon before his return to Jerusalem. For if we say that in that very year in which he was taken to Babylon he was returned to Jerusalem, and he stood for three years in fidelity and then rebelled, behold, seven years of his reign have passed, and four years of his reign remain. If so, the bands of Chaldeans did not come to Jerusalem until the end of these four years, and he stood in his rebellion for four years. The seven that passed and the four that remained—behold, eleven years that Jehoiakim reigned. And if we say that he was there in Babylon longer, we can say that he was there for four years, and upon his return to Jerusalem, eight years of his reign had passed, and three years of his reign remained. And those three years he stood in fidelity with the king of Babylon and was his servant, and at the end of three years, which was his eleventh year, he rebelled, and the bands of Chaldeans came and captured him and dragged him away, and he died on the way and was not buried, and his carcass was cast out to the waste places, exposed to the heat by day and to the frost by night. And in Seder Olam it says, and likewise in the words of our Sages of blessed memory, that in the first year that Nebuchadnezzar reigned, he conquered Nineveh; in the second year he conquered Jehoiakim, and that was the fifth year of Jehoiakim. And he was his servant and stood for three years, for behold, eight years of his reign: four before the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and the year in which he was conquered by his hand, and three years in which he was his servant—behold, eight years in which he rebelled against him. And at the end of three years of his rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar came and conquered him a second time. And this is what it says in Daniel: "In the third year," meaning the eleventh year of Jehoiakim and the eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. And in that eighth year he made Jehoiachin king, and he reigned for three months, and he exiled him along with the craftsmen and the smiths. And this is what it says: "They were exiled in the seventh year; they were exiled in the eighth." In the seventh [year] to conquer Jehoiakim, which was the eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, for behold, one year he reigned before the conquest of Jehoiakim.
Metzudat David
"And he turned back." After the three years:
Malbim
In his days, Nebuchadnezzar came up; the fourth year of Jehoiakim is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, as it is stated (in Jeremiah 28). And in Daniel 1, it is said that in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and captured Jehoiakim, and brought him, along with the vessels of the House of God, to the house of his god. And according to the opinion of our Sages of blessed memory in Seder Olam, Nebuchadnezzar captured Jehoiakim in the second year of his reign, and he was his servant for three years, making eight years in total. Then he rebelled against him, and at the end of the third year of his rebellion, which was the eleventh year of Jehoiakim and the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar, he captured him. And according to this view, what is stated in Daniel that he was brought to Babylon in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim means the third year of his independent reign, just as it is stated regarding Hoshea son of Elah, and regarding Uzziah, as explained in its proper place. And according to this, it must be said that what is stated about him in Jeremiah, "He shall be buried like a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem," means that they sent his corpse from Babylon to the Land of Israel to be dragged in disgrace around the walls of Jerusalem. Or, perhaps when he came against Jehoiachin, he brought him [Jehoiakim] with him, and there he was killed and dragged in disgrace, to humiliate his son who reigned in his place. And according to the opinion of the Ri [Mahariya/Abarbanel], Nebuchadnezzar came against him immediately in the first year of his reign. And regarding this, it is said "in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim" according to its plain meaning, intending to say at the end of the third year, which is the fourth year of Jehoiakim and the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, and then he was brought to Babylon along with some of the vessels of the House of God. And there he was his servant for three years, and then he returned to Jerusalem, and afterward he rebelled. Then Nebuchadnezzar came to him a second time, and he was killed and dragged beyond the gates of Jerusalem. However, behold, in Jeremiah (36), it is stated that in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, they proclaimed a fast, and Jehoiakim burned the scroll that Jeremiah had written. Thus, Jehoiakim was then in Jerusalem. And you might say that by then he had already returned and was a servant to Nebuchadnezzar; but if so, why did it say there, "You burned the scroll, saying, 'Why did you write, saying, "The king of Babylon will come..."'?"
And Hashem sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Arameans, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Hashem, which He spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets.
verse value 4679
Insights
Verse structure: 23 words, 109 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "in·him" (בּ֡וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·bands·of" (וְאֶת־גְּדוּדֵ֨י, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 407: and, and. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "bands·of" (אֶת־גְּדוּדֵ֣י), "and·bands·of" (וְאֶת־גְּדוּדֵ֨י), "to·destroy·him" (לְהַאֲבִיד֑וֹ). The root גדוד appears 4 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 318x in II Kings); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 276x in II Kings); "as·word·of" (root דבר, 147x in II Kings). First appearance of the root כשדים ("Chaldeans") in II Kings. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·destroy·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 16 and 7 words.
Radak
"And the bands of Aram, and the bands of Moab, and the bands of the children of Ammon." All of them came by the commission of Nebuchadnezzar the wicked, for the Lord placed it in their hearts to come and destroy him, because he had done evil in the eyes of the Lord. And this is what is stated: "And the Lord sent against him." God, blessed be He, did not wish to prolong his days any further; therefore it is stated: "And the Lord sent against him."
Metzudat David
"And the Lord sent." [He] aroused the hearts of the bands of the Chaldeans, etc., to come against him in battle.
"And He sent them away." Since the matter had been prolonged, the verse returns to state "and He sent them away," and this is the manner of Scripture.
Metzudat Zion
Bands. Army troops:
Malbim
"And the Lord sent" – this occurred at the time of his rebellion. And [Malbim] explains that this was because the sentence had been decreed long ago due to the sin of Manasseh, as stated in chapters 22 and 23.
Cross-references: Genesis 11:31; Deuteronomy 28:51; II Kings 10:19
Surely at the commandment of Hashem came this upon Judah, to remove them out of His sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;
verse value 3041
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 50 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֗ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "indeed" (אַ֣ךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "in·Judah" (בִּֽיהוּדָ֔ה, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 420: was, in·sins·of. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "in·sins·of" (בְּחַטֹּ֣את). The root על appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 318x in II Kings); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 276x in II Kings); "did" (root עשה, 142x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'his·face', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 5 words. Full calculation: אַ֣ךְ [indeed] (21) + עַל־פִּ֣י [upon·peh] (190) + יְהֹוָ֗ה [Hashem] (26) + הָֽיְתָה֙ [was] (420) + בִּֽיהוּדָ֔ה [in·Judah] (32) + לְהָסִ֖יר [to·remove] (305) + מֵעַ֣ל [from·upon] (140) + פָּנָ֑יו [his·face] (146) + בְּחַטֹּ֣את [in·sins·of] (420) + מְנַשֶּׁ֔ה [Manasseh] (395) + כְּכֹ֖ל [as·them] (70) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + עָשָֽׂה [did] (375) = 3041.
Rashi
Only by the word of the Lord was it. All the evil that comes in Judah by means of those troops:
Radak
"Only by the word of the Lord was it in Judah." This means that prior to the reign of Jehoiakim, the decree had been issued by the word of the Lord, who spoke through His servants the prophets, concerning the sin of Manasseh. For had it not been for his numerous sins, He would have forgiven the sins of those who came after him. But because of his sins, the decree was issued to destroy Jerusalem.
Metzudat David
But only by the word of the Lord. This means to say: The idolatrous nations did not prevail by the might of their hand, but it was by the word of the Lord.
“Because of the sin of Manasseh.” Because they clung to the sin of Manasseh, to do all that he had done.
and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and Hashem would not pardon.
verse value 2636
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 47 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "blood" (דָּ֣ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "Jerusalem" (אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם, 8 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "blood·of·the·innocent" (דַּֽם־הַנָּקִי֙), "to·forgive" (לִסְלֹֽחַ). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 318x in II Kings); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 276x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'innocent', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְגַ֤ם [and·also] (49) + דַּֽם־הַנָּקִי֙ [blood·of·the·innocent] (209) + אֲשֶׁ֣ר [that] (501) + שָׁפָ֔ךְ [shed] (400) + וַיְמַלֵּ֥א [and·filled] (87) + אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם [Jerusalem] (987) + דָּ֣ם [blood] (44) + נָקִ֑י [innocent] (160) + וְלֹא־אָבָ֥ה [and·not·willing] (45) + יְהֹוָ֖ה [Hashem] (26) + לִסְלֹֽחַ [to·forgive] (128) = 2636.
Ralbag
"And the Lord was not willing to forgive." This means that even though Manasseh did repent, God was not willing to forgive him for the shedding of innocent blood, and it would seem that included among the servants of God whom he killed was Isaiah son of Amoz, because he was admonishing him. And so our Sages of blessed memory stated that Manasseh killed Isaiah.
Metzudat David
And also the blood of the innocent. Also the blood of the innocent caused the matter:
“Who shed.” This means: Because Manasseh was lenient regarding the shedding of blood, the people too learned to shed blood; thus, he filled [the land] with blood, making them all murderers.
"And He was not willing." To this [sin] the Lord did not wish to forgive, for they clung to the wickedness of Manasseh, and even to the shedding of blood.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
verse value 3425
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 59 letters. The shortest word is "did" (עָשָׂ֑ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "Jehoiakim" (יְהוֹיָקִ֖ים, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 216: words·of, words·of. The root דבר appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "of·the·kings·of" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "and·all·that" (root אשר, 318x in II Kings); "words·of" (root דבר, 147x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'did', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְיֶ֛תֶר [and·remainder·of] (616) + דִּבְרֵ֥י [words·of] (216) + יְהוֹיָקִ֖ים [Jehoiakim] (181) + וְכׇל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר [and·all·that] (557) + עָשָׂ֑ה [did] (375) + הֲלֹא־הֵ֣ם [not?·they] (81) + כְּתוּבִ֗ים [written] (478) + עַל־סֵ֛פֶר [in·the·book·of] (440) + דִּבְרֵ֥י [words·of] (216) + הַיָּמִ֖ים [day] (105) + לְמַלְכֵ֥י [of·the·kings·of] (130) + יְהוּדָֽה [Judah] (30) = 3425.
Radak
“Concerning the kings of Judah.” And there it is written in a general manner, “and his abominations which he did,” and those found concerning him are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And if he said it concerning this book, there is nothing written here about his deeds except in a general manner, “and he did evil.” And it appears that he spoke concerning the Book of Jeremiah, for there his abominations are recounted in the passage “Woe to him who builds his house.”
So Jehoiakim was buried with his fathers; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
verse value 2147
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 39 letters. The shortest word is "his·son" (בְּנ֖וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "Jehoiakim" (יְהוֹיָקִ֖ים, 7 letters). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·he·reigned" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "his·son" (root בן, 66x in II Kings); "with·his·fathers" (root עם, 65x in II Kings). First appearance of the root יהויכין ("Jehoiachin") in II Kings. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'with·his·fathers', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיִּשְׁכַּ֥ב [and·he·slept] (338) + יְהוֹיָקִ֖ים [Jehoiakim] (181) + עִם־אֲבֹתָ֑יו [with·his·fathers] (529) + וַיִּמְלֹ֛ךְ [and·he·reigned] (106) + יְהוֹיָכִ֥ין [Jehoiachin] (111) + בְּנ֖וֹ [his·son] (58) + תַּחְתָּֽיו [instead·of·him] (824) = 2147.
Rashi
And Jehojakim lay down. Not on his bed, for Nebuchadnezzar bound him in brasses to lead him to Babylon, and they dragged him and he died in their hands, as it is said (Jeremiah 22:19): the burial of an ass shall he be buried, dragged and thrown. And in Chronicles (II 36:6) it is written that Nebuchadnezzar bound him to lead him to Babylon:
Radak
“And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers.” This means that he died, but he was not buried with his fathers, for he was not buried at all, as it is written; rather, the expression follows the manner of “he was gathered to his people.”
Metzudat David
"With his fathers." This means that he died in the manner of his fathers, but he was not buried with them, for he [Nebuchadnezzar] bound him in chains to take him to Bavel, and he died on the way, and was not buried at all, as stated in Chronicles II 36:6 and Jeremiah 22:19. See Sanhedrin 82a.
And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt.
verse value 4880
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 73 letters. The shortest word is "all" (כֹּ֛ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "until·river·Euphrates" (עַד־נְהַר־פְּרָ֔ת, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 380: Egypt, Egypt, Egypt. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "and·not·continued" (וְלֹא־הֹסִ֥יף), "to·go·out" (לָצֵ֖את), "from·his·land" (מֵֽאַרְצ֑וֹ). The root מלך appears 3 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "that" (root אשר, 318x in II Kings); "was" (root היה, 119x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·his·land', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 11 words.
Rashi
To go out from his land. To help Jehoiakim:
For the king of Babylon took and so on. That he overcame him in battle in the fourth year of Jehojakim, in Carchemish on the river Euphrates, as it is written in the book of Jeremiah (46:2):
Radak
"And the king of Egypt added no more": The meaning is that at that time, until King Zedekiah reigned, and then he went out, as it is written in Jeremiah: "And King Zedekiah reigned, etc., and the army of Pharaoh went out from Egypt; and the Chaldeans besieging Jerusalem heard their report, and they went up from Jerusalem." And similarly, "and the bands of Aram did not come again to the land of Israel": This means at that time, but afterwards they came, as it is written:
Ralbag
"And the king of Egypt added no more to go out of his land." This statement is made to draw attention to the fact that God, blessed be He, took vengeance on him for the blood of Josiah, whom he had killed when he came to fight at the River Euphrates.
Metzudat David
"To go forth from his land": To appoint a king in Judah, just as he appointed Jehoiakim.
Malbim
And he did not continue [to venture out] — because the king of Egypt was coming to crown Jehoiachin, just as he had crowned his father Jehoiakim; it is only that he was unable to go out at that time until the days of Zedekiah, as it is stated in Jeremiah (36): "The army of Pharaoh had gone out from Egypt."
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned in Jerusalem three months; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
verse value 5978
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 70 letters. The shortest word is "year" (שָׁנָה֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "Jehoiachin" (יְהוֹיָכִ֣ין, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "Nehushta" (נְחֻשְׁתָּ֥א), "daughter·of·Elnathan" (בַת־אֶלְנָתָ֖ן). The root מלך appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·his·reigning" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "year" (root שנה, 109x in II Kings); "and·name·of" (root שם, 61x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·Jerusalem', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 5 words. Full calculation: בֶּן־שְׁמֹנֶ֨ה [son·of·eight] (447) + עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה [ten] (575) + שָׁנָה֙ [year] (355) + יְהוֹיָכִ֣ין [Jehoiachin] (111) + בְּמׇלְכ֔וֹ [in·his·reigning] (98) + וּשְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה [three] (641) + חֳדָשִׁ֔ים [months] (362) + מָלַ֖ךְ [he·reigned] (90) + בִּירֽוּשָׁלִָ֑ם [in·Jerusalem] (588) + וְשֵׁ֣ם [and·name·of] (346) + אִמּ֔וֹ [his·mother] (47) + נְחֻשְׁתָּ֥א [Nehushta] (759) + בַת־אֶלְנָתָ֖ן [daughter·of·Elnathan] (933) + מִירוּשָׁלִָֽם [from·Jerusalem] (626) = 5978.
Radak
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign. But in Chronicles it states: "Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days." Is it possible that his father Jehoiakim made him king in the first year of his own reign, so that he would reign in his stead after his death? Perhaps he had other sons. Moreover, seeing that his kingship depended on others, he did not know whether they would remove him from the throne, as they had done to his brother; therefore, he made his son Jehoiachin king, to reign in his stead after him. At that time, Jehoiachin was eight years old. And now, when his father died and he reigned, he was eighteen years old. He reigned for three months, and here they did not bother to write the additional ten days. And in Seder Olam: the eighteen [years] is reckoned by King Nebuchadnezzar's reign as eight, counting from when the sentence of exile was sealed.
Malbim
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, but in the Book of Chronicles it is written: "Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem." Radak wrote that Eliakim [Jehoiakim] made him co-king with him in the first year that he reigned. And the Mahariya [Abarbanel] answered him with several responses, and he explained that what is stated in Chronicles, "and ten days," refers to years, and the measure of the verse is: when Jehoiachin was eight years, three months, and ten days—meaning years—old, then he reigned in Jerusalem. And this is strained. Rather, it appears that since the common people anointed Jehoahaz and consecrated him, Pharaoh was therefore compelled to take him to Egypt, because he was a king anointed by the people. And Pharaoh knew that even though he took Jehoahaz, the sons of Jehoahaz would raise the claim of royal inheritance from their father Jehoahaz. Therefore, he also anointed Jehoiachin to be king in place of his father, so that the sons of Jehoahaz would not challenge the throne after their father's death. And Jehoiachin was then eight years old, and the objections of the Mahariya are thereby refuted.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of Hashem, according to all that his father had done.
verse value 1794
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 29 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֑ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 1794 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "the·evil" (הָרַ֖ע, 3 letters) and the longest is "that·did" (אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֖ה, 6 letters). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that·did" (root אשר, 318x in II Kings); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 276x in II Kings); "and·did" (root עשה, 142x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Hashem', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיַּ֥עַשׂ [and·did] (386) + הָרַ֖ע [the·evil] (275) + בְּעֵינֵ֣י [in·eyes·of] (142) + יְהֹוָ֑ה [Hashem] (26) + כְּכֹ֥ל [as·them] (70) + אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֖ה [that·did] (876) + אָבִֽיו [his·father] (19) = 1794.
At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
verse value 2949
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 50 letters. Notable word values: "slave" (עַבְדֵ֛י) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "time" (בָּעֵ֣ת, 3 letters) and the longest is "Nebuchadnezzar" (נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּ֥ר, 8 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "upon" (עָל֗וּ). The root עלה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king·of·Babylon" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "and·came" (root בוא, 146x in II Kings); "slave" (root עבד, 70x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Jerusalem', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: בָּעֵ֣ת [time] (472) + הַהִ֔יא [that] (21) + (עלה) [went·up] (105) + עָל֗וּ [upon] (106) + עַבְדֵ֛י [slave] (86) + נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּ֥ר [Nebuchadnezzar] (417) + מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֖ל [king·of·Babylon] (124) + יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם [Jerusalem] (586) + וַתָּבֹ֥א [and·came] (409) + הָעִ֖יר [the·city] (285) + בַּמָּצֽוֹר [siege-enclosure] (338) = 2949.
Radak
"At that time." Just as it is stated in Chronicles: "And at the turn of the year, the king sent..."
“‘The servants of Nebuchadnezzar went up.’ It is written as ‘alah’ (singular) but read as ‘alu’ (plural), because he went up afterward and found them besieging the city; and it is read as ‘alu’ because his servants went up first.”
Metzudat David
"And the city shall be besieged." They built around it a rampart to subdue it. And similarly (Deuteronomy 20:20): "And you shall build a siege-work." And it is called so because the people dwelling in it are in a siege and in distress.
And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.
verse value 1498
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 38 letters. The shortest word is "and·came" (וַיָּבֹ֛א, 4 letters) and the longest is "Nebuchadnezzar" (נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּ֥ר, 8 letters). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king·of·Babylon" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "and·came" (root בוא, 146x in II Kings); "on" (root על, 116x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·the·city', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיָּבֹ֛א [and·came] (19) + נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּ֥ר [Nebuchadnezzar] (417) + מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֖ל [king·of·Babylon] (124) + עַל־הָעִ֑יר [upon·the·city] (385) + וַעֲבָדָ֖יו [and·his·servants] (98) + צָרִ֥ים [binding] (340) + עָלֶֽיהָ [on] (115) = 1498.
Metzudat David
"Enemies are pressing upon her." They encircle her to afflict the people.
And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
verse value 3527
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 78 letters. The shortest word is "Babylon" (בָּבֶ֔ל, 3 letters) and the longest is "king·Judah" (מֶֽלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 34: Babylon, Babylon. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "and·his·mother" (וְאִמּ֔וֹ), "and·his·princes" (וְשָׂרָ֣יו), "and·his·chamberlains" (וְסָרִיסָ֑יו). The root מלך appears 4 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king·Judah" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "in·year·of" (root שנה, 109x in II Kings); "and·took" (root לקח, 72x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·his·chamberlains', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 7 words.
Rashi
And Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon. To do for him according to his desire, and not to war:
Radak
“Yehoyachin went out.” He went out to the king of Babylon, so that he might do with him as he pleased, and indeed he took him. Why did he depose him from the kingship? Our Sages said: The king of Babylon thought that Yehoyachin would be a rebel, just as his father had been a rebel. He said: “From a bad dog, a good cub does not emerge.” Therefore, he deposed him and made his uncle king in his place.
"and his officers and his eunuchs." The Targum: "his nobles and his mighty men."
"In the eighth year of his reign." At the beginning of the eighth year, for Jehoiakim reigned eleven years, and Nebuchadnezzar reigned in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. And if it had been at the end of the eighth year, it would have been the twelfth year. Rather, its interpretation is: at the beginning of the eighth. And similarly, in Jeremiah it says: "And this people whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled in the seventh year"—meaning the end of the seventh and the beginning of the eighth. And there are many interpretations of this type in this book. And according to the words of the author of Seder Olam, the seventh year of the conquest of Jehoiakim is the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
Ralbag
"And Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon." This means that he [Jehoiachin] went out during the siege to the king of Babylon, when he heard that he [Nebuchadnezzar] had come there, to make peace with him and to place his neck under his yoke; but behold, he [Nebuchadnezzar] did not wish to make peace with him, but rather exiled him to Babylon—himself, his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs—in the eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, when seven full years had passed for him.
Metzudat David
And Jehoiachin went out. He surrendered himself into his hand to do with him as he pleased, thinking that he would show him mercy because of his submission.
"In the eighth year." And he reckons by incomplete years:
To his kingship. To the kingship of Nebuchadnezzar, and in Jeremiah (52:28) it is said: “In the seventh year,” and he means, in the seventh [year] to conquer Jehoiakim, for in the second year of his kingship, which was the fifth year of Jehoiakim, he conquered Jehoiakim initially, and took him to Babylon, and he undertook to be his servant, and he returned him [to Jerusalem], and he served him for three years, and he rebelled against him again, and he conquered him a second time in the third year of his rebellion, which is that mentioned in II Chronicles (36:9), and in this year Jehoiachin reigned, and he was exiled after three months.
And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of Hashem, 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 Hashem, as Hashem had said.
verse value 6855
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 93 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֔ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "from·there" (מִשָּׁ֗ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·treasures·of" (אֶת־כׇּל־אֽוֹצְרוֹת֙, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 412: house·of, house·of. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "all·treasures·of" (אֶת־כׇּל־אֽוֹצְרוֹת֙), "and·treasuries·of" (וְאוֹצְר֖וֹת), "all·vessels·of" (אֶת־כׇּל־כְּלֵ֣י). The root יהוה appears 3 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "that" (root אשר, 318x in II Kings); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 276x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'king', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 12 words.
Metzudat David
"And he cut off." He severed and stripped the gold from the vessels.
And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
verse value 7327
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 88 letters. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·Jerusalem" (אֶת־כׇּל־יְ֠רוּשָׁלִַ֠ם, 10 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "and·exiled" (וְהִגְלָ֣ה), "all·Jerusalem" (אֶת־כׇּל־יְ֠רוּשָׁלִַ֠ם), "and·all·the·princes" (וְֽאֶת־כׇּל־הַשָּׂרִ֞ים). The root עשר appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 106x in II Kings); "people·of·the·land" (root ארץ, 67x in II Kings); "ten" (root עשר, 35x in II Kings). First appearance of the root גולה ("exiles") in II Kings. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·a shutting up', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 5 words.
Rashi
The craftsman and the smith. Targum Yonatan translates: craftsmen and gatekeepers. And our Sages said (Gittin 88a): great scholars in the Torah, for when one of them speaks all are silent, as it is written (Isaiah 41:1): be silent before Me, O islands. Smith: all sit before him and learn from him, as it is said (there 22): and he opens and none shuts, and he shuts and none opens:
Radak
"Heroes of the army, ten thousand exiles." It is written "asarah" and read "aseret" [two grammatical forms of the same word for "ten," both qualifying "thousand"], and they are the same. And it further states, "and all the men of the army, seven thousand." And in Jeremiah it says, "In the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Judeans." How is this calculation? The first count, which is ten thousand, is the general total for all, and then it specifies afterward seven thousand, who were from the sons of Benjamin and the other tribes. And it further specifies in Jeremiah three thousand, who were men gathered together from the sons of Judah, as it says "Judeans" — and altogether that is ten thousand; and the twenty-three is a small number, and he did not consider it necessary to count them among the ten thousand. This is the exile that went into exile with Jehoiachin. And in the book of Jeremiah it mentions those who went into exile in the exile of Zedekiah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, and they were eight hundred and thirty-two. And after the destruction, in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, the exiles were seven hundred and forty-five, those who were in Ammon and Moab. And it says "exile" [golah] like "exiles" [golim], and it is a general expression in the singular form. And according to Jonathan, it is a name that he translated as "in the exile" [be-galuta].
And every smith and coppersmith. The Targum: artisans and gatekeepers.
Ralbag
"And every craftsman and smith" – these are the craftsmen, the gatekeepers, and the guards of the walls, who close their gates.
Metzudat David
"Ten thousand." And in Jeremiah (ibid.) it is stated: "Judahites, three thousand and twenty-three," and he means to say that the aforementioned count was from the children of Judah, and the remainder were from the children of Benjamin and the other tribes who dwelt in Jerusalem. And this is what he says below, "seven thousand," and all of them together are ten thousand. And he did not trouble to further account for that twenty-three mentioned in Jeremiah.
"And every craftsman and smith" – these are the craftsmen and the gatekeepers, who closed the gates at their appointed time; and so did Jonathan translate.
Metzudat Zion
Except. Only:
Malbim
"And he exiled, etc., ten thousand exiles." In verse sixteen it states, "and all the men of the army, seven thousand; and the smiths and the carpenters, one thousand." And in Jeremiah (52:28) it says, "This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled in the seventh year: Jews, three thousand and twenty-seven." The opinion of the commentators is that what is stated here, "ten thousand exiles," is the total sum, meaning that the princes, the mighty men of the army, the smiths, and the carpenters together were ten thousand. And in verse sixteen it explains that from these ten thousand, seven thousand were men of the army, and the smiths and carpenters were one thousand, and two thousand were from among the princes and the king's eunuchs. And in Jeremiah, he did not count the men of the army, only the princes, the smiths, and the carpenters, who were three thousand. This is the opinion of the Mahariya [Abarbanel], and similar to this is the opinion of the Radak and the Ralbag, except that they said that the three thousand were from the sons of Judah, and the remainder were from the sons of Benjamin. And it seems to me that after Jeremiah wrote his book, and the Book of Kings counted here what Nebuchadnezzar exiled in the eighth year of his reign, which was the exile with the greatest number of people, and they were ten thousand, and also seven thousand of the men of the army, and the smiths and carpenters (who were from the men of the army) were also one thousand. And in the Book of Jeremiah he did not mention this exile, since it was already written in Kings, and he wished to mention the rest of the exiles, apart from the exile that went out with Jehoiachin, in the seventh year when he exiled three thousand and twenty-three. And this was one year before the exile of Jehoiachin, at the time when he exiled Jehoiakim, for the exile of Jehoiachin was in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar, and the exile of Jehoiakim was one year before. And regarding this it says in Chronicles, "And at the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, together with the desirable vessels of the House of the Lord." And this contradicts what is stated in Kings, that immediately when Nebuchadnezzar came, Jehoiachin went out to him, and the king of Babylon took him. Only that what is stated there, "at the turn of the year," refers to the first exile of Jehoiakim, which was in the previous year, when Nebuchadnezzar counted the seventh year of his kingship. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said in Megillah page eleven: "They went into exile in the seventh, they went into exile in the eighth." And it is explained in Daniel that when he conquered Jehoiakim, he commanded Ashpenaz, the chief of his eunuchs, to bring from the seed of Judah and from the royal children, and it is not mentioned there how many he brought with him from the children of Israel, and Jeremiah mentioned this in his book. And he also mentioned there the exile that was in the eighteenth year, which is the year of the destruction, and in the twenty-third year, which is five years after the destruction. And all these exiles in total were four thousand and six hundred, apart from the exile of Jehoiachin.
And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
verse value 4339
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 80 letters. The shortest word is "and" (וְאֵת֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "Jehoiachin" (אֶת־יְהוֹיָכִ֖ין, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 95: king, king. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "Jehoiachin" (אֶת־יְהוֹיָכִ֖ין), "and·if" (וְאֶת־אֵ֣ם), "and·wives·of" (וְאֶת־נְשֵׁ֨י). The root בבלה appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "the·mighty·of" (root איל, 153x in II Kings); "led" (root הלך, 98x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·Babylon', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 13 words.
Rashi
And the mighty of the land. These are the nobles of Judah and Benjamin, and they were righteous; of them the verse says (Jeremiah 24:5): like these good figs, so will I regard the exile of Judah:
Radak
"And the nobles of the land." These are the nobles of Judah and Benjamin, about whom the verse states: "Like these good figs..."
He led the exile. [Meaning] into exile; and it [the word golah] is a noun of the same pattern as "shoah" [desolation], and likewise "keli goleh" (vessel of exile).
Ralbag
"And the nobles of the land." This means the princes of the land.
Metzudat Zion
Mighty. They are the great and strong nobles, for it means great strength, so too (Genesis 31:29): my power is with me:
And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
verse value 3843
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 73 letters. The shortest word is "and" (וְאֵת֩, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·men·of" (כׇּל־אַנְשֵׁ֨י, 6 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "all·men·of" (כׇּל־אַנְשֵׁ֨י), "and·the·craftsman" (וְהֶחָרָ֤שׁ), "mighty·men" (גִּבּוֹרִ֖ים). The root אלף appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king·of·Babylon" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "and·he·brought·them" (root בוא, 146x in II Kings); "doers·of" (root עשה, 142x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'battle', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 4 words.
Rashi
Seven thousand. And above he says ten thousand, the third verse came and decided in the book of Jeremiah (52:28): this is the people that Nebuchadnezzar exiled in the seventh year Jews three thousand, say now three thousand were from the tribe of Judah, and seven thousand from Benjamin and the rest of the tribes, and also in Seder Olam we learned so:
Radak
"And the artisans and the smiths, one thousand." These are not included in the ten thousand mentioned in the number above. In Seder Olam it says, "And from among them, the artisans and the smiths were one thousand," meaning that they were part of the total of ten thousand. Now, the biblical style does not include a number and then later specify it unless to introduce a new matter regarding the first subject. Therefore, besides these first ones, there were [others].
"All are mighty warriors who wage war." In Seder Olam it is asked: "What kind of might do they exert, people who go into exile? And what kind of war do they wage, people who are bound with fetters, placed in iron chains?" Rather, they are mighty in the might of Torah. And so it says, "Mighty in strength, executing His word" (Psalms 103:20)—they execute the war of Torah. And so it says, "Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD" (Numbers 21:14). [As for] "the craftsman" [חרש]: one speaks and all fall silent. [As for] "the smith" [מסגר]: all sit before him and learn from him — to fulfill what is stated, "He opens, and none can shut; and He shuts, and none can open" (Isaiah 22:22).
Ralbag
"And all the men of valor, seven thousand." Now, above it states ten thousand, and in the Book of Jeremiah it says that in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, he exiled three thousand and twenty-three Jews. It seems that what is said in the Book of Jeremiah regarding the "seventh year" means that they served Nebuchadnezzar for seven years; therefore, here it says "in the eighth year." However, regarding the number of the mighty men, it is as explained by Rabbi David Kimhi: initially, it enumerated all the mighty men of the army exiled from Judah and Benjamin, and subsequently, in this place, it specifies the mighty men who were from the tribe of Benjamin. In the Book of Jeremiah, it specifies the mighty men who were from the tribe of Judah, and therefore it calls them "Jews."
Metzudat David
"All are mighty." This is said of the men of valor, not of the craftsman and the smith.
And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
verse value 3014
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 41 letters. The shortest word is "his·beloved" (דֹד֖וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "Mattaniah" (אֶת־מַתַּנְיָ֥ה, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "Mattaniah" (אֶת־מַתַּנְיָ֥ה), "his·beloved" (דֹד֖וֹ). The root מלך appears 2 times in this verse. 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·he·made·king" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "instead·of·him" (root תחת, 40x in II Kings). First appearance of the root צדקיהו ("Zedekiah") in II Kings. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'instead·of·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיַּמְלֵ֧ךְ [and·he·made·king] (106) + מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֛ל [king·of·Babylon] (124) + אֶת־מַתַּנְיָ֥ה [Mattaniah] (906) + דֹד֖וֹ [his·beloved] (14) + תַּחְתָּ֑יו [instead·of·him] (824) + וַיַּסֵּ֥ב [and·he·turned] (78) + אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ [name] (747) + צִדְקִיָּֽהוּ [Zedekiah] (215) = 3014.
Rashi
And he changed his name to Zedekiah. The Lord will justify the judgment against you, if you rebel against Me (Horayot 11b):
Radak
"And his name was changed to Zedekiah." The meaning has been explained above. As for why he changed his name so completely and called him Zedekiah, the midrashic interpretation states: God said to him, "Yah will vindicate the judgment against you if you rebel against Me."
Metzudat Zion
In his place. In his stead:
Malbim
"And they set Mattaniah his uncle in his place," whereas in Chronicles it is written, "And he made Zedekiah his brother king." Abarbanel inferred from this that Zedekiah was not a son of Josiah, but rather the son of his son, namely the son of Jehoiakim, as it is stated (in Chronicles 3:17), "The sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son." Zedekiah was older than his brother Jehoiachin by two or three years, for Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king. In Chronicles, they are not listed according to the order of their birth, but rather according to the order of their accession to the throne. He forces this interpretation according to his view that Shallum is Jehoahaz; if so, Jehoahaz would have been the youngest of Josiah's sons and was twenty-three years old when he became king. It would therefore be necessary that Zedekiah, his older brother, who reigned eleven years later, would be thirty-four or thirty-five years old. How then can it say he was twenty-one years old? Therefore, he proved that the Zedekiah who reigned was the brother of Jeconiah, as stated in Chronicles, and not his uncle, as stated in Kings. By "uncle" it means his beloved friend and companion.
Upon reflection, this is entirely impossible, for regarding Jehoahaz, who was the son of Josiah, it is said, "And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah," and similarly it is said regarding Zedekiah. Thus, Zedekiah and Jehoahaz were brothers, sons of the same mother, and Zedekiah was not the son of Jehoiakim. Although one might say this in accordance with what our Sages of blessed memory stated that Jehoiakim came to his father's wife, and one might say that Zedekiah was born to Hamutal through Jehoiakim, and was therefore genealogically attributed to Josiah in appearance, while in truth he was the son of Jehoiakim, and thus he was counted among both the sons of Josiah and the sons of Jehoiakim, and here he is called "uncle" by Jehoiachin, while in Chronicles he is called "his brother," and perhaps the author of this statement derived this from these verses—nevertheless, from what our Sages of blessed memory stated elsewhere that Zedekiah was righteous, it is not fitting to say such a thing, that he was born in illegitimacy. Why should we distance ourselves from the simple meaning, that Zedekiah was the third son of Josiah, as it is stated, "The third was Zedekiah," and that Jehoiakim also had a son whose name was Zedekiah? When Jehoiachin went out to Nebuchadnezzar, he saw that the people of the land would make Zedekiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the brother of Jeconiah, king in his father's place. So he made Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, the son of Josiah, king, and changed his name to Zedekiah, meaning that he is the one standing in the place of Zedekiah, who claims the right of inheritance to the kingdom. In Chronicles, all this is hinted at by calling him "his brother," meaning that he is the one standing in the place of Zedekiah, his brother.
As for the difficulty raised by Abarbanel: after establishing that Jehoahaz is Shallum, and he was the youngest son of Josiah, and was twenty-three years old when he became king, and after him Jehoiakim reigned eleven years, it follows that it is impossible for Zedekiah, who is older than Shallum (who is Jehoahaz), to be twenty-one years old when he became king. From this very fact, it is proof that Shallum is not Jehoahaz, but rather another son. And our Sages of blessed memory already stated that Johanan is Jehoahaz, and he was born before Zedekiah, not after him.
Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
verse value 5161
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 75 letters. Verse gematria: 5161 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "year" (שָׁנָה֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "daughter·of·Jeremiah" (בַּֽת־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 415: and·one, and·one. The root אחד appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·his·reigning" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "year" (root שנה, 109x in II Kings); "son·of·twenty" (root בין, 106x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·Jerusalem', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 6 words.
Radak
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old. How is this so, since he was thirty-five years old according to the calculation of his brothers? For he was the third son of Josiah, and regarding Jehoiakim, who was older than him, it is stated that he was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years, making thirty-five years for Zedekiah. And we have already written above according to the opinion of the scholar Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, who says that he reigned for three years during his father's lifetime, and at that time he was twenty-one years old. All of this was necessary for his view, which states that Shallum is Jehoahaz, and he was the youngest of the sons of Josiah, and it is written that he was twenty-three years old when he began to reign. But according to the words of our Sages of blessed memory, who said that Shallum is Zedekiah, there is no difficulty at all, for Zedekiah was the youngest of the sons of Josiah, and he was ten years old at the time of his father's death, and now, when he reigned, he was twenty-one years old. However, this is far-fetched, and it is that he mentioned two sons in order, and one of them is not [the one intended]. And according to our interpretation, that Shallum is Jehoiachin, behold, Zedekiah was the youngest of the sons of Josiah, and no correction is needed here.
Cross-references: Jeremiah 52:1; II Chronicles 36:11
And he did that which was evil in the sight of Hashem, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
verse value 1956
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 32 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֑ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "the·evil" (הָרַ֖ע, 3 letters) and the longest is "Jehoiakim" (יְהוֹיָקִֽים, 7 letters). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that·did" (root אשר, 318x in II Kings); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 276x in II Kings); "and·did" (root עשה, 142x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Hashem', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיַּ֥עַשׂ [and·did] (386) + הָרַ֖ע [the·evil] (275) + בְּעֵינֵ֣י [in·eyes·of] (142) + יְהֹוָ֑ה [Hashem] (26) + כְּכֹ֥ל [as·them] (70) + אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֖ה [that·did] (876) + יְהוֹיָקִֽים [Jehoiakim] (181) = 1956.
Malbim
And he did evil: Our Sages of blessed memory received that Zedekiah was righteous and his generation were wicked, for in Chronicles it is explained that “and he did evil” means that he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, from the mouth of the Lord, and also he rebelled against the king of Babylon, who had made him swear by God. Moreover, all the princes of the priests and the people greatly transgressed, committing treachery in all the abominations of the nations, etc. It is clear that Zedekiah’s sin was that he did not heed the words of the prophet and that he violated the oath; nothing else. Only that generation was it that greatly transgressed. According to this, what is stated here that he did evil as all that Jehoiakim did means that also Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and did not heed the words of the prophet, and the reason for this was:
Cross-references: Jeremiah 52:2; II Chronicles 36:12
For through the anger of Hashem did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until He had cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
verse value 3046
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 63 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֗ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "in·Jerusalem" (בִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in II Kings. Unique to this verse in II Kings (hapax): "through·the·anger·of" (עַל־אַ֣ף), "until·He·cast·out" (עַד־הִשְׁלִכ֥וֹ). The root על appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king" (root מלך, 407x in II Kings); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 276x in II Kings); "was" (root היה, 119x in II Kings). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'his·face', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 4 words. Full calculation: כִּ֣י [for] (30) + עַל־אַ֣ף [through·the·anger·of] (181) + יְהֹוָ֗ה [Hashem] (26) + הָיְתָ֤ה [was] (420) + בִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ [in·Jerusalem] (588) + וּבִ֣יהוּדָ֔ה [and·in·Judah] (38) + עַד־הִשְׁלִכ֥וֹ [until·He·cast·out] (435) + אֹתָ֖ם [them] (441) + מֵעַ֣ל [from·upon] (140) + פָּנָ֑יו [his·face] (146) + וַיִּמְרֹ֥ד [and·he·rebelled] (260) + צִדְקִיָּ֖הוּ [Zedekiah] (215) + בְּמֶ֥לֶךְ [king] (92) + בָּבֶֽל [Babylon] (34) = 3046.
Rashi
For the anger of the Lord was and so on. Therefore and Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, the Holy One, blessed be He, put in his heart to rebel against him, so that he should be exiled:
Radak
“For the anger of the LORD.” This is the reason for what is stated afterward, “and he rebelled”: God, may He be blessed, placed it in his [Zedekiah's] heart to rebel against the king of Babylon, so that the king of Babylon would find a pretext to destroy everything.
“It was in Jerusalem.” The remnant that remained was in Jerusalem on account of His anger and His wrath, because of the evil deeds they were committing.
Ralbag
"For the anger of the LORD was upon Jerusalem and Judah, until He cast them out from His presence." This means that due to the snares of the people and the anger of the Lord against them, it came to pass that these wicked men were made kings over them. And this, too, was the cause of Zedekiah's rebellion against the king of Babylon, for had he not rebelled, Jerusalem would not have been destroyed and they would not have been exiled from their land, as Jeremiah had told him.
Metzudat David
"For [it was] on account of the anger." For because the anger of the Lord against Jerusalem and Judah was so great, to the extent that He would cast them off from before Him, therefore He stirred up the heart of Zedekiah to rebel against the king of Babylon, in order to serve as a cause for the exile, to send them away from before Him.
Malbim
For it was upon the anger of the Lord, since the decree had already been sealed because of the sins of the generation:
Cross-references: Jeremiah 52:3; II Chronicles 36:13
Radak
Metzudat David
Malbim