Following the exile of King Shallum (Jehoahaz), another one of Josiah’s sons, Jehoiakim, was made king by Pharoah Necho in 609 BC. He was probably chosen because, unlike his father, he sided with the Egyptian/Assyrian alliance against Babylon. However, by 605 BC, the dominance of Babylon over Egypt meant that Nebuchadnezzar was already able to extract tribute from Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim continued to resist Babylon and finally made his move against their subjugation of Judah in 597 BC (2 Kings 23:36–24:7) by rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian king responded swiftly and mobilized his forces against Judah. By the time Nebuchadnezzar reached Jerusalem, Jehoiachin (also known as Coniah: see Jeremiah 22:24–30), Jehoiakim’s son, had already replaced Jehoiakim as king of Judah and it is unclear how this happened. It is possible that Nebuchadnezzar orchestrated Jehoiakim’s assassination.
The passage concerning Jehoiakim’s eight-year reign begins with an assessment of his reign in Jeremiah 22:13–17 which is followed by a description of the Lord’s judgment on the king in Jeremiah 22:18–19. The one being assessed is only mentioned towards the end of the passage in Jeremiah 21:1–14. A similar pattern was used in the assessment of King Shallum in Jeremiah 22:10–12.
There is a clear and deliberate change in person throughout this passage. As the Lord begins his assessment of Jehoiakim’s reign in Jeremiah 22:13–14, the third person form is used as the Lord refers to the king as him
and the accusations are made in a way that could apply to anyone. As the accusations continue in Jeremiah 22:15–17, there is a change to the second person form (you
) and the person spoken of is referred to as a king
who is compared to his ”father” who ruled before him. In the final section when judgment is described (Jeremiah 22:18–19), there is a return to the third person form but now the person is explicitly identified as Jehoiakim.1. The impact of this change in person throughout the passage is to slowly focus in on Jehoiakim’s profound failure as king.
In Jeremiah 22:13–14 the Lord condemns the way that Jehoiakim went about building his house. This is a reference to the physical palace he built but probably also reflects the way he built his political dynasty. His methods were both unrighteous and unjust, in stark contrast to how the king of Israel was supposed to behave (see Jeremiah 21:12a; Jeremiah 22:1–3). The Lord says the king makes his neighbour serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages.
The people he treated as slaves and did not pay for the work they did, were his neighbours, his fellow Israelites, whom he was supposed to protect by upholding righteousness and justice.2
Jehoiakim’s ambition was to build himself a great house.
The description of the house speaks of excessive opulence and luxury with spacious upper rooms, cut out windows, panelled in cedar wood and painted with vermillion. The Lord’s assessment of Jehoiakim’s reign was of a self-indulgent king who pursued greatness for himself at great cost to his own people.
13 Malheur à celui qui bâtit sa maison par l'injustice, Et ses chambres par l'iniquité; Qui fait travailler son prochain sans le payer, Sans lui donner son salaire;