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•JEHOIACHIN succeeded his father Jehoiakin (B.C. 599) when only eight years of age, and reigned for one hundred days (2 Chronicles 36:9). He is also called Jeconiah (Jeremiah 24:1; 27:20, etc.), and Coniah (22:24; 37:1). He was succeeded by his uncle, Mattaniah = Zedekiah (q.v.). He was the last direct heir to the Jewish crown. He was carried captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, along with the flower of the nobility, all the leading men in Jerusalem, and a great body of the general population, some thirteen thousand in all (2 Kings 24:12-16; Jeremiah 52:28). After an imprisonment of thirty-seven years (Jeremiah 52:31, 33), he was liberated by Evil-merodach, and permitted to occupy a place in the king’s household and sit at his table, receiving “every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life” (52:32-34).
•JEHOIADA Jehovah-known. (1.) The father of Benaiah, who was one of David’s chief warriors (2 Samuel 8:18; 20:23).
(2.) The high priest at the time of Athaliah’s usurpation of the throne of Judah. He married Jehosheba, or Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram (2 Chronicles 22:11), and took an active part along with his wife in the preservation and training of Jehoash when Athaliah slew all the royal family of Judah.
The plans he adopted in replacing Jehoash on the throne of his ancestors are described in 2 Kings 11:2; 12:2; 2 Chronicles 22:11; 23:24. He was among the foremost of the benefactors of the kingdom, and at his death was buried in the city of David among the kings of Judah (2 Chronicles 24:15, 16). He is said to have been one hundred and thirty years old.
•JEHOIAKIM he whom Jehovah has set up, the second son of Josiah, and eighteenth king of Judah, which he ruled over for eleven years (B.C. 610-599). His original name was Eliakim (q.v.).
On the death of his father his younger brother Jehoahaz (=Shallum, Jeremiah 22:11), who favoured the Chaldeans against the Egyptians, was made king by the people; but the king of Egypt, Pharaoh-necho, invaded the land and deposed Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:33, 34; Jeremiah 22:10-12), setting Eliakim on the throne in his stead, and changing his name to Jehoiakim.
After this the king of Egypt took no part in Jewish politics, having been defeated by the Chaldeans at Carchemish (2 Kings 24:7; Jeremiah 46:2). Palestine was now invaded and conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiakim was taken prisoner and carried captive to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:6, 7). It was at this time that Daniel also and his three companions were taken captive to Babylon (Daniel 1:1, 2).