Bible Strands
2 Kings 24:8
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Jehoiachin’s accession and brief reign during Judah’s final subjugation to Babylon. The account follows Babylon’s seizure of Egypt’s former territories and immediately precedes the judgment on Jehoiachin’s evil conduct.
The words — The phrase בֶּן־שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה (ben-shemoneh esreh shanah) literally renders “a son of eighteen years,” marking Jehoiachin’s age at coronation. The term חֳדָשִׁים (cho.dashim) denotes the “months” of his reign, emphasizing its brevity.
The thread — This accession record parallels the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 36:9 and aligns with the royal lineage noted in 1 Chronicles 3:16, while Jeremiah 22:24 later addresses Jehoiachin by his alternative name Coniah.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that Jehoiachin’s short reign and inherited evil pattern fulfill the historical trajectory of Judah’s monarchy. It requires the reader to trace how royal succession and divine judgment operate within recorded history rather than myth.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 3:16 The successors of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah.
- 2 Chronicles 36:9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 22:24 “As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.
- Jeremiah 22:28 Is this man Coniah a despised and shattered pot, a jar that no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they do not know?
- Jeremiah 24:1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 37:1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.
- Matthew 1:11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.