Why will the people not lament the death of Jehoiakim when he is buried like a donkey beyond the gates of Jerusalem?

Jehoiakim is now explicitly identified as the king who has exploited his own people with unrighteousness and injustice. His failure to rule according to the covenant is going to bring judgment from the Lord of the covenant. This judgment is seen most clearly at his death. He will not be missed at all by his own people. They shall not lament for him, saying Ah, my brother! or Ah, sister! They shall not lament for him saying, Ah, lord! or Ah, his majesty. The normal expressions of mourning at a funeral, and especially at the funeral of a king, will not be heard at Jehoiakim’s funeral.¹ The nation will not shed a single tear when he dies. He will not even have the dignity of a proper burial, which would have been seen as a great insult for any normal citizen, but unthinkable for a king of Judah. He would instead be dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem (see Jeremiah 36:30). There is no record in Scripture of how these prophetic words of judgment were fulfilled, but the Jewish historian, Josephus, seems to suggest that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had Jehoiakim’s body thrown outside the city wall.²