2 Kings 23:36

Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign,.... And therefore must be two years older than his brother Jehoahaz, who was deposed: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and therefore must die at the age of thirty and six: and his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah; which Josephus (l) calls Abuma; but he speaks of a village in Galilee called Ruma (m); but whether the same with this is not certain. (l) Antiqu. l. 10. c. 5. sect. 2.((m) De Bello Jud l. 3. c. 6. sect. 21.

23:31-37 After Josiah was laid in his grave, one trouble came on another, till, in twenty-two years, Jerusalem was destroyed. The wicked perished in great numbers, the remnant were purified, and Josiah's reformation had raised up some to join the few who were the precious seed of their future church and nation. A little time, and slender abilities, often suffice to undo the good which pious men have, for a course of years, been labouring to effect. But, blessed be God, the good work which he begins by his regenerating Spirit, cannot be done away, but withstands all changes and temptations.

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,.... Of whose reign, and of the three following, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, and the account of them, from hence to the end of 2 Chronicles 36:13 , what needs explanation or reconciliation; see Gill on 2 Kings 23:31 , 2 Kings 23:32 , 2 Kings 23:33 , 2 Kings 23:34 , 2 Kings 23:35 , 2 Kings 23:36 , 2 Kings 23:37 , 2 Kings 24:5 , 2 Kings 24:6 , 2 Kings 24:8 , 2 Kings 24:10 , 2 Kings 24:17 , 2 Kings 24:18

When he began to reign; either, 1. When he began to reign alone, and with full power, or after Jehoahaz’s death; till which the people would not disown him whom they had anointed king, which was esteemed a great tie, 2 Samuel 19:10 ; nor own or accept Jehoiakim as their king, but only as his brother’s viceroy, though Pharaoh had by violence forced him upon them. And so Jehoahaz might be his elder brother, and the same who is called Johanan , and is first mentioned, as the eldest son, 1 Chronicles 3:15 , though he may be placed first not in regard of his birth, but of his dignity, the crown being first put upon his head. Or, 2. When he was first set up by Pharaoh; and so this was the elder brother, though by popular violence put by his right: See Poole "2 Kings 23:30" .

36 . His mother’s name was Zebudah ] R.V. Zebidah . The R.V. follows the spelling of the Kethib . The name Rumah , the native place of Zebidah, is not mentioned elsewhere. It has been conjectured that it is the same as Dumah ( ד and ר being in Hebrew writing most easily interchanged). Dumah ( Joshua 15:52 ) was in the hill country of Judah, near Hebron, from which neighbourhood ( viz . Libnah) another of Josiah’s wives came. The R at the beginning is however represented by the LXX., which has Ῥουμά .

Verse 36. - Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign - he was therefore two years older than his brother Jehoahaz (see the comment on ver. 31) - and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem - probably from B.C. 608 to B.C. 597 - and his mother's name was Zebudah - he was, therefore, only half-brother to Jehoahaz and Zedekiah, whose mother was "Hamutal" (see ver. 31 and 2 Kings 24:18 ) - the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. "Rumah" is probably the same city as the "Arumah" of Judges 9:41 , which was in the vicinity of Shechem. 2 Kings 23:36

Reign of Jehoiakim (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:5-8 ). - Jehoiakim reigned eleven years in the spirit of his ungodly forefathers (compare 2 Kings 23:37 with 2 Kings 23:32 ). Jeremiah represents him ( 2 Kings 22:13 .) as a bad prince, who enriched himself by the unjust oppression of his people, "whose eyes and heart were directed upon nothing but upon gain, and upon innocent blood to shed it, and upon oppression and violence to do them" (compare 2 Kings 24:4 and Jeremiah 26:22-23 ). Josephus therefore describes him as τὴν φύσιν ἄδικος καὶ κακοῦργος, καὶ μήτε πρὸς Θεὸν ὅσιος, μήτε πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιεικής (Ant. x. 5, 2). The town of Rumah, from which his mother sprang, is not mentioned anywhere else, but it has been supposed to be identical with Aruma in the neighbourhood of Shechem ( Judges 9:41 ).

Verse 1. - The people of the land took Jehoahaz (see parallel, 2 Kings 23:30 ). The form of expression may indicate the hearty zeal of the nation for this chosen son of Josiah, who seems to have been not the eldest. In the next verse, as Revised Version, he is called Joahaz . In 1 Chronicles 3:15 , as in the affecting passage Jeremiah 22:10-12 , his name appears as Shallum . His mother's name was Hamutal, while the name of the mother of his immediate sue-cessor was Zebudah ( 2 Kings 23:31 and 2 Kings 23:36). 2 Chronicles 36:1