Who is King Jehoiakim in the Bible?

Quick Facts

Father: King Josiah, 2Ki 23:34
Mother: Zebudah, 2Ki 23:36
Predecessor: Jehoahaz of Judah, 2Ch 36:3–4
Succession: 18th king
Length of reign: 11 years, 2Ch 36:5
Successor: King Jehoiachin, 2Ch 36:8
Age when crowned: 25 years, 2Ch 36:5
Kingdom: Kingdom of Judah,
Reign: 609 BC –  598 BC
Morality: evil, 2Ch 36:5
Other name: Eliakim, 2Ki 23:34; 2Ch 36:4
Biblical history: 2Ch 36:5-8; 2Ki 23:34-37; 2Ki 24:1-7

Jehoiakim becomes king of Judah

The name Jehoiakim means ‘Jehovah will raise‘. When King Josiah died, Jehoahaz of Judah, his 4th son, replaced him as king. But Pharaoh Necho came to dethrone him and exiled him to Egypt. Pharaoh Necho made his elder brother Eliakim king of Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Pharaoh also condemned the Kingdom of Judah to pay a tribute of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold to him. King Jehoiakim became a vassal king and for some years during his reign, he paid tribute to Pharaoh Necho by collecting silver and gold as taxes from the people of Judah just as Pharaoh instructed him to do (2Ki 23:35).

Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah, was 25 years old when he began to reign. He reigned for 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah. King Jehoiakim chose the path of evil like some of the kings who preceded him, for he perpetuated idol worship in the kingdom. Aside from idolatry, was also guilty of practicing abominations (2Ch 36:8), covetousness, shedding innocent blood, and ruling with oppression and violence (Jer 22:17).

Jehoiakim kills Prophet Urijah

Jeremiah was a major prophet during the reign of King Jehoiakim. Alongside Prophet Jeremiah, there was another prophet of God named Urijah, who also prophesied the same terrible disaster against Judah and Jerusalem as Jeremiah did. When Jehoiakim, his warriors, and officials heard his prophecies, they wanted to kill him. When Prophet Urijah heard of it, in fear, he ran away to Egypt. However, Jehoiakim sent Elnathan and Co after him. Then they found and fetched Urijah out of Egypt and brought him alive to Jehoiakim, who had him killed with a sword and cast his corpse into the graves of the common people. (Jeremiah 26:20-23)

Jehoiakim burns Jeremiah’s scroll

In the 4th year of Jehoiakim’s reign, God instructed Jeremiah to write all the prophetic messages He had given him. Jeremiah had his scribe Baruch faithfully write these prophecies onto a scroll, which contained words of both judgment and hope. Then in Jehoiakim’s 5th year, Baruch took it to the temple in Jerusalem, where he read it aloud to a gathering of people. Word quickly spread about the scroll and its contents. (Jer 36:1-20)

However, when certain officials heard about Jeremiah’s prophecies, they feared and brought the matter to Jehoiakim’s attention. The king had one Jehudi fetch the scroll and read it. As it was read in sections, he took a knife and began cutting off each page as it was read. He then threw them into a fire that had been prepared for heating his winter quarters. In addition, he sought to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch. (Jer 36:21-26)

Prophesy against Jehoiakim

God made Jeremiah write the prophetic messages again and, this time, there was a prophecy of doom for Jehoiakim. God threatened to bring disaster upon him, his descendants, his officials, Jerusalem, and his kingdom. God added that his descendants would not inherit the throne and at his death, his corpse would be thrown out to lie unburied — exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. (Jer 36:30-31)

Also in Jeremiah 22:18-19, Jeremiah prophesied against Jehoiakim that at his death, the people will not lament for him, saying, “Ah my brother!  Or, Ah sister! Or, Ah lord!  Or, Ah his glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”

The fall of Jehoiakim

About 2 years and 4 months after Jeremiah’s scroll had been burnt, the word of God began its course of fulfillment. Jehoiakim had reigned as a vassal of Pharaoh for 8 years. Then another superpower, the Babylonian, who had defeated the Egyptians in the Battle of Carchemish (Jer 46:2), invaded the Kingdom of Judah and besieged Jerusalem. Then Jehoiakim surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon. Therefore he became a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon for 3 years (2 Kings 24:1).

After 3 years, he rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar II. Then Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah again with a vast army of Chaldees, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites and besieged Jerusalem for 3 months. Eventually, Jehoiakim was captured from Jerusalem and Nebuchadnezzar II had him bound in fetters and carried him to Babylon (2Ch 36:6). Apart from Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar II also carried the vessels of the house of God to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon (2Ch 36:7). Jehoiachin became king in place of his father Jehoiakim.

Misachievements of Jehoiakim

Though he reigned longer than his predecessor King Jehoahaz, he did nothing worthy of mention. Rather, he set his heart to practice wickedness: He burnt the Scriptures of Jeremiah, killed Prophet Urijah, and sought the life of Jeremiah and Baruch.

Major events during Jehoiakim’s reign

  • Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and made Jehoiakim his vassal. (2 Kings 24:1)
  • When Jehoiakim rebelled, Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah again to depose him and exile him to Babylon. (2Ch 36:6)
  • Nebuchadnezzar II sacked the temple of God and put the spoils into the temple of his gods in Babylon. (2Ch 36:7)
  • There was war between the Babylonians and the Egyptians all the days of King Jehoiakim.

Contemporaries of Jehoiakim

  • Pharaoh Necho of Egypt — he made Jehoiakim a vassal king. Jehoiakim paid tribute to him for 8 years. (2 Kings 23:34)
  • Nebuchadnezzar II — he snatched Judah from the hands of Pharaoh Necho. He made Jehoiakim his vassal and later exiled him to Babylon. (2 Kings 24:1)
  • Prophet Jeremiah — his Scriptures were burnt by Jehoiakim (Jer 26:1-24; Jer 36)
  • Prophet Urijah — he was killed by Jehoiakim. (Jer 26:20-23)

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