Nebuchadnezzar’s second attack on Jerusalem

Nebuchadnezzar’s Attacks on Jerusalem

Before we look specifically at Nebuchadnezzar’s second attack on Jerusalem, let’s remember that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem three times:

1. In the 3rd/4th year of Jehoiakim/Eliakim (the 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar).[1]
2. From the 11th year of Jehoiakim/Eliakim until the 3rd month of Jeconiah/Jehoiachin (the 8th year of Nebuchadnezzar).[2]
3. In the 9th-11th year of Zedekiah/Mattaniah[3] (17th-19th year of Nebuchadnezzar[4]).  This is the most well-known attack by Nebuchadnezzar and resulted in the complete destruction of Jerusalem.[5]

On the first two occasions, Nebuchadnezzar took prisoners and reduced the ability of the nation to defend itself.

Nebuchadnezzar’s second attack

In this article, we are looking at Nebuchadnezzar’s second attack on Jerusalem.  Jehoiakim was king at this time, but he died at some time during the invasion (see “How did he die?”). Jeconiah, his son (also known as Jehoiachin or Coniah), replaced him as king and reigned in Jerusalem for 3 months and 10 days – all of it spent under siege.

When Jeconiah surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar during the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar,[6] 10,000 people were taken into captivity.  2 Kings 24:14-16 and Jeremiah 24:1 give us descriptions and categories:

• Jeconiah, his wives and his mother
• Jeconiah’s servants, officials and palace officials (probably eunuchs)
• Chief men of the land and all the officials
• All Jerusalem
• Mighty men of valour (7,000)
• Craftsmen and metal workers (1,000)

Since the components with numbers only add up to 8,000, and some of the categories have no numbers given, it seems likely that the 10,000 only includes the numbers of men.  Women and children were probably additional, making a total of something between 30,000 and 50,000 or even more.  Not many people were killed – or so it appears.  It is possible that Daniel, working for Nebuchadnezzar in far-off Babylon, may have had some influence over that.

Outside Jerusalem?

According to Jeremiah 52:28, 3,023 Judeans were taken away in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar.  Perhaps these were people from outside the city of Jerusalem, taken away before Jeconiah gave up.

Only the poorest people remained, a phrase repeated 11 years later, after the destruction of Jerusalem described in 2 Kings 25:12, Jeremiah 40:7 and 52:16.  Many even of the poorest were taken into captivity after that destruction.[7]

Jeremiah’s expectations

Sometimes it is interesting to look at events from the point of view of God’s prophets.  God seems to have given them some information about the future, but often just snippets, rather than a detailed picture of events with times and order.

This raises the question: When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem in the time of Jeconiah, did Jeremiah expect it to be destroyed ?

From the very start of his mission and throughout the years that followed, God gave Jeremiah many prophecies of the  destruction coming on Jerusalem.  Here are a few examples that refer to the land, the cities and the temple.  I believe that they were all given before the reign of Jeconiah:

• Jeremiah 4:6-7 Disaster and great destruction is coming from the north.  Cities will be ruins.
• Jeremiah 7:14 I will do to this house (the temple in Jerusalem) what I did to Shiloh.
• Jeremiah 13:13-14 The inhabitants of the land and of Jerusalem will be filled with drunkenness and smashed together.  God will destroy them.
• Jeremiah 19:10-11 Jerusalem and nation broken like a potter’s vessel.
• Jeremiah 22:5, 8 If the king will not listen, God will destroy his house.
• Jeremiah 36:29 Jehoiakim complained that Jeremiah had said the king of Babylon would destroy the land.

How long?

So when did Jeremiah expect these prophecies to be fulfilled?  It seems most likely to me that he would have felt much the same as many people do now in expecting the return of Jesus very soon.  In the reign of Josiah, he may have hoped that God would relent, but from then on he would have expected the devastating judgement to come very soon.  Every year that passed would probably have been an unexpected delay.

In the reign of Jeconiah, when Nebuchadnezzar’s army was camped outside the walls, I think that Jeremiah probably expected the prophecies of complete destruction to be fulfilled immediately.

As a result, when Jeconiah surrendered, I imagine that Jeremiah would have expected death and destruction on a grand scale – but it did not happen; not then.

God’s timing is not like ours.

 

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Notes

[1] See Daniel 1:1-4.  Also mentioned in passing in 2 Kings 24:1 and 2 Chronicles 36:6.
[2] See 2 Kings 24:6, 8-16; 2 Chronicles 36:9; Jeremiah 22:18-19; 24; 36:30; 52:28 and a passing reference in Ezekiel 1:1-2.
[3] Jeremiah 52:4-6
[4] Jeremiah 32:1
[5] See 2 Kings 25:1-21; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Jeremiah 39:1-10; 52:4-27.
[6] 2 Kings 24:12
[7] Jeremiah 52:15

 

See also Sieges.