Bible Strands
2 Kings 23:33
And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate political aftermath of King Josiah’s death, when Pharaoh Neco intervenes in Judah’s succession crisis. Jehoahaz’s reign ends as Neco removes him from Jerusalem to install a puppet ruler and secure tribute.
The words — The Hebrew וַיַּאַסְרֵהוּ (va.ya'asrehu) translates literally as “and he confined him,” while מִמְּלֹךְ (mi'mlokh) means “from reigning.” These terms describe a forced political termination and the immediate imposition of foreign fiscal control.
The thread — Riblah reappears as a site of foreign judgment when Chaldean forces bring a later king to 2 Kings 25:6. The geographic marker of Hamath in 1 Kings 8:65 and the pursuit of Zedekiah in Jeremiah 39:5 establish a recurring pattern of external powers enforcing covenant consequences.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political sovereignty in Judah was contingent on covenant fidelity, not dynastic right. It requires the reader to observe how foreign imposition of tribute and regicide operates as the direct mechanism of divine judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Pharaoh–nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 8:65 So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more days—fourteen days in all.
- 2 Kings 25:6 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.
- Jeremiah 39:5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him.
- Jeremiah 52:9 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah.
- Jeremiah 52:26 Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
- Exodus 21:22 If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows.
- Numbers 13:21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
- Numbers 34:11 then go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Chinnereth.
- 2 Kings 18:14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
- 2 Kings 23:29 During Josiah’s reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went out to confront him, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.