Bible Strands
2 Kings 23:37
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator concludes the biography of King Jehoiakim after noting his age, eleven-year reign, and his mother Zebidah. The statement functions as a final historical and theological verdict on his rule.
The words — בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה (be./'ei.Nei Yah.weh) translates literally as "in the eyes of Yahweh," marking the standard by which the king's conduct is measured. The verb וַיַּעַשׂ (va/i.Ya.'as) means "he did," directly tying his actions to the inherited pattern of disobedience.
The thread — The identical formula appears in 2 Kings 23:32 regarding his immediate predecessor, while 2 Chronicles 28:22 and 2 Chronicles 33:4 record similar royal apostasy under Ahaz and Manasseh. The repeated phrasing traces a continuous line of Judahite kings who rejected covenant obedience.
Why it lands — The text records Jehoiakim's alignment with his ancestors' disobedience before drawing any theological conclusion. It requires the reader to evaluate leadership against a fixed divine standard and recognize the cumulative weight of inherited sin.
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 he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 23:32 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.
- 2 Chronicles 28:22 In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 33:4 Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
- 2 Chronicles 33:22 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon served and sacrificed to all the idols that his father Manasseh had made,
- Jeremiah 22:13 “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
- Jeremiah 26:20 Now there was another man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land the same things that Jeremiah did.
- Jeremiah 36:23 And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire.
- Jeremiah 36:31 I will punish him and his descendants and servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the calamity about which I warned them but they did not listen.”
- Ezekiel 19:5 When she saw that she had waited in vain, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.