Jehoiakim: The King Who Burned the Scroll

A king renamed by Pharaoh

Jehoiakim was a king of Judah, of the tribe of Judah, whose life falls within the era of the divided kingdom, around 975 BC to 586 BC (era placed on Ussher's chronology, 1650). His name was not the one his parents gave him. "Pharaoh Necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim; but he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there" (2 Kings 23:34). The Chronicler records the same act: "The king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt" (2 Chronicles 36:4). A foreign king put him on the throne and gave him a new name; that is where his reign begins.

The genealogy places him among his brothers: "The sons of Josiah: the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, and the fourth Shallum. The sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah his son" (1 Chronicles 3:15-16). His mother is named in the record of his accession: "Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah" (2 Kings 23:36). The dossier also names Nehushta as his wife (2 Kings 24:8) and Jehoiachin as his son (2 Kings 24:6).

The tax for Egypt

His first recorded policy was extraction. "Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necoh" (2 Kings 23:35). The tribute did not come out of the king's own house. It was assessed on the people, person by person, at the commandment of a foreign ruler.

The Chronicler's summary of the whole reign is one sentence long: "Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did that which was evil in Yahweh his God's sight" (2 Chronicles 36:5). A further notice of his acts stands in 2 Chronicles 36:8, and another verdict in 2 Kings 24:19. His reign is also the subject of 2 Kings 24:1 and of the opening verses of Daniel (Daniel 1:1-2).

The prophet he hunted down

One scene shows what Jehoiakim did with a word he did not want to hear. "When Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt. Then Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt; and they fetched Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people" (Jeremiah 26:21-23). This was not a flash of temper. It was an extradition, organized, staffed and carried through, ending in an execution and a dishonorable burial.

The scroll in the fire

The second scene concerns a document. "Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, 'Yahweh says: "You have burned this scroll, saying, "Why have you written therein, saying, 'The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cause to cease from there man and animal?' " ' Therefore Yahweh says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: "He will have no one to sit on David's throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost" (Jeremiah 36:28-30). The king who cast Uriah's body into common graves is told his own body will be cast out. The words he burned were written again (Jeremiah 36:32).

His name marks the dating of much of Jeremiah's ministry and message: Jeremiah 1:3, 22:18, 22:24, 24:1, 25:1, 26:1, 27:1, 27:20, 28:4, 35:1, 36:1, 36:9, 37:1, 45:1, 46:2 and 52:2. Many of these are mentions of him as the reign in which a word came, not narrative scenes.

The failures named

Scripture does not soften him. He was installed and renamed by a foreign power (2 Kings 23:34). He laid the tribute on the people of the land (2 Kings 23:35). He did evil in Yahweh's sight (2 Chronicles 36:5). He hunted a man into Egypt and killed him with the sword (Jeremiah 26:21-23). He burned the scroll of words given him (Jeremiah 36:28). The judgment spoken over him touches both his throne and his corpse (Jeremiah 36:30).

What we are not told

The closing notice is spare: "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place" (2 Kings 24:5-6). The rest of his acts are pointed to, not told. The dossier records no repentance, no reform, no prayer from him. It lists no New Testament reference for Jehoiakim, so no line is drawn here beyond the books that name him. What stands is the sentence of Jeremiah 36:30 and the succession of 2 Kings 24:6, laid side by side, and the reader left to weigh them.