The Meaning of 2 Kings 24:18 Explained

2 Kings 24:18

KJV: 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.

YLT: A son of twenty and one years is Zedekiah in his reigning, and eleven years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother is Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah,

Darby: Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does 2 Kings 24:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Zedekiah (Mattaniah) was Josiah"s third son to rule over Judah. He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar ( 2 Kings 24:20) by making a treaty with Pharaoh Hophra (589-570 B.C.), being pressured by nationalists in Judah (cf. Jeremiah 37-38).
"Clearly, he lacks the moral fiber to be more than what he Isaiah , a man who gauges each situation by how long its results can keep him in power." [1]
Jerusalem was under siege for about eighteen months (588-586 B.C.; 2 Kings 25:1-2). The resulting famine that the residents experienced ( 2 Kings 24:3) was only one of many that the Israelites underwent for their rebellion against God. Yahweh again withheld fertility as a punishment for apostasy. Jerusalem finally fell in586 B.C. Some scholars believe it fell in587 B.C. [2] The Babylonians captured King Zedekiah while he was trying to escape and took him to Riblah (cf. 2 Kings 23:33) where Nebuchadnezzar passed judgment on him. Nebuchadnezzar killed Zedekiah"s heirs to the throne thus ending his fertility, blinded him (cf. Revelation 3:17), and bound him with bronze shackles ( 2 Kings 24:7). All of these measures also represented the fate of the nation the king led. The Israelites were now without royal leadership, spiritually blind, and physically bound. The blinding of prisoners was a common practice in the ancient East (cf. Judges 16:21). [3]
"The lesson of Samaria"s fall and exile should have been learned." [4]
". . . the deuteronomistic history, which extends from Joshua through2Kings25 , begins victoriously on the plains of Jericho ( Joshua 1-7) and ends in tragic defeat on the plains of Jericho ( 2 Kings 25:5)." [5]
These bracketing references to the plains of Jericho are an indication of the narrative unity of this section of Scripture.

Context Summary

2 Kings 24:10-20 - The Captivity Begins
Jehoiachin followed the evil path of his predecessors. Again Jerusalem was besieged and Deuteronomy 28:48 began to be fulfilled. The ill-advised revolt of the young king ended in bitter disappointment, as Jeremiah had foretold, Jeremiah 22:24-25; and the final tragedy came on apace, in spite of the insistence of the false prophets that the sacred vessels of the Temple should be returned from Babylon, Jeremiah 27:16. Finally, a sad procession issued from the gate of the doomed city, and the king, his nobles and officials, presented themselves before the enemy, sitting on the ground, clothed in black, their faces covered in their mantles, Jeremiah 13:18. They were at once deported to Babylon with thousands more. The treasures in the Temple and the palace were rifled; and a cry of agony and astonishment arose from Jeremiah and the whole land. See Jeremiah 22:24; Jeremiah 22:28; some add Psalms 42:1-11; Psalms 43:1-5.
Zedekiah, Josiah's youngest son, enticed into a league with neighboring nations against the conqueror, brought upon himself and his people a yet more disastrous overthrow. How foolish man's wisdom becomes when he departs from the living God! "A wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed," James 1:6. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Kings 24

1  Jehoiakim, first subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, then rebelling against him,
2  procures his own ruin
5  Jehoiachin succeeds him
7  The king of Egypt is vanquished by the king of Babylon
8  Jehoiachin's evil reign
10  Jerusalem is taken and carried captive into Babylon
17  Zedekiah is made king, and reigns ill, unto the utter destruction of Judah

What do the individual words in 2 Kings 24:18 mean?

Old twenty and one years Zedekiah [was] when he became king [and] ten years he reigned in Jerusalem And name [was] of His mother Hamutal Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah
בֶּן־ עֶשְׂרִ֨ים וְאַחַ֤ת שָׁנָה֙ צִדְקִיָּ֣הוּ בְמָלְכ֔וֹ עֶשְׂרֵה֙ שָׁנָ֔ה מָלַ֖ךְ בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם וְשֵׁ֣ם אִמּ֔וֹ [חמיטל] (חֲמוּטַ֥ל) בַּֽת־ יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ מִלִּבְנָֽה

בֶּן־  Old 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
עֶשְׂרִ֨ים  twenty 
Parse: Number, common plural
Root: עֶשְׂרִים  
Sense: twenty, twentieth.
וְאַחַ֤ת  and  one 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, feminine singular construct
Root: אֶחָד  
Sense: one (number).
שָׁנָה֙  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
צִדְקִיָּ֣הוּ  Zedekiah  [was] 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: צִדְקִיָּה 
Sense: the last king of Judah renamed from ‘Mattaniah’ by Nebuchadnezzar; son of Josiah by wife Hamutal; placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar when he carried his nephew Jehoiakim in captivity.
בְמָלְכ֔וֹ  when  he  became  king 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person masculine singular
Root: מָלַךְ 
Sense: to be or become king or queen, reign.
עֶשְׂרֵה֙  [and]  ten 
Parse: Number, feminine singular
Root: עָשָׂר 
Sense: ten, -teen (in combination with other numbers).
שָׁנָ֔ה  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
מָלַ֖ךְ  he  reigned 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָלַךְ 
Sense: to be or become king or queen, reign.
בִּירוּשָׁלִָ֑ם  in  Jerusalem 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְרוּשָׁלַםִ  
Sense: the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split.
וְשֵׁ֣ם  And  name  [was] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
אִמּ֔וֹ  of  His  mother 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אֵם  
Sense: mother.
[חמיטל]  Hamutal 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
(חֲמוּטַ֥ל)  Hamutal 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֲמוּטַל 
Sense: one of the wives of Josiah, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, mother of Jehoahaz and Zedekiah.
בַּֽת־  the  daughter 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ  of  Jeremiah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִרְמְיָה 
Sense: the major prophet, son of Hilkiah of the priestly family in Anathoth; author of the prophetic book bearing his name.
מִלִּבְנָֽה  of  Libnah 
Parse: Preposition-m, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: לִבְנָה  
Sense: a royal city of the Canaanites in the southwest captured by Joshua; allocated to Judah and made a Levitical city; site unknown.

What are the major concepts related to 2 Kings 24:18?

Loading Information...