Jehoiachin
JEHOIACHIN (Heb. יְהוֹיָכִין; "YHWH will establish"; also: Joiachin, Jeconiah, Jechoniah, Coniah; in Babylonian Akkadian documents Ia-ʾ-kin), king of Judah. He ascended the throne at the height of the rebellion against Babylon, when he was 18 years old (II Kings 24:8; the version in II Chron. 36:9, which states that he was only eight at the time is difficult), and reigned for three months (II Chron. 36:9 adds another ten days). In the winter of 597 B.C.E. Nebuchadnezzar exiled him, along with his mother, family, officers, slaves, and 10,000 captives – including craftsmen and smiths – to Babylon (II Kings 24:12ff.), setting up Zedekiah in his place. It seems that Jehoiachin's mother Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan, was very influential in the palace, for she is mentioned in the Bible several times (II Kings 24:12, 15; Jer. 22:26; 29:2). The Babylonian chronicle published by D.J. Wiseman (see bibliography) describes the capture of Jerusalem and the exile of Jehoiachin in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, relating that the Judean king surrendered with a large part of his army shortly after Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem. Jehoiachin's surrender saved the land from destruction, but many of the people of Judah disapproved of his action; the resulting disputes between the party favoring peace and that counseling rebellion were specifically revealed in the antagonism which arose between Jeremiah and Hananiah son of Azur of Gibeon in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (Jer. 28). Excavations into various Judahite tells (Beth-Shemesh, Tel Bet-Mirsim, Ramat Raḥel) have disclosed the imprint of a seal reading "to Eliakim, the servant of Jochin," which Klein suggested refers to
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
J.W. Rothstein, Die Genealogie des Königs Jojachin … (1902); J. Lewy, in: Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatisch-Ägyptischen Gesellschaft, 29, pt. 2 (1924), 42–51; W.F. Albright, in: JBL, 51 (1932), 77ff.; idem, in: BA, 5 (1942), 49ff.; A. Malamat, in: JNES, 9 (1950), 218ff.; idem, in: IEJ, 6 (1956), 246ff.; 18 (1968), 137ff.; idem, in: Y. Aviram (ed.), Yerushalayim le-Doroteha (1968), 34ff.; Klausner, Bayit Sheni, 1 (19512), 3238; F.M.T. Böhl, Opera minora (1953), 423–9, 525; P. Artzi, in: A. Biram (ed.), Sefer E. Urbach (1955), 264–5; J.P. Hyatt, in: JBL, 75 (1956), 277–82; H. Tadmor, in: JNES, 15 (1956), 226–30; D.J. Wiseman, Chronicles of Chaldaean Kings (626–556 B.C.E.)… (1956); E. Vogt, in: VT, Supplement, 4 (1957), 92–96; M. Noth, in: ZDPV, 74 (1958), 133ff.; E. Kutsch, in: ZAW, 71 (1959), 270ff.; J. Liver, Toledot Beit David (1959), 7–9, 12ff., 49ff.; Bright, Hist, index. IN THE AGGADAH: Ginzberg, Legends, index, S.V., Jehoiakim; I. Ḥasida, Ishei ha-Tanakh (1964). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (1988), 310–14; Y. Garfinkel, in: BA, 53 (1990), 74–79; S. Ahituv, Handbook of Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions (1992), 128; J. Berridge, in: ABD, 3:661–63.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.