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Jehoiachin

A king of Judah who reigned only three months before Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and carried him, his mother, his officials and the craftsmen of the city into exile, along with the temple treasures. He remained a prisoner in Babylon for thirty-seven years; the closing verses of 2 Kings record that Evil-merodach released him, gave him a seat above the other kings and let him eat at the royal table for the rest of his life — a quiet note of hope at the end of a grim history. Babylonian ration tablets naming him have been excavated.

Role: King of Judah

Also known as: Jeconiah

Lived: c. 615 BC – c. 560 BC

Belonged to: Genealogy of Jesus, Kings of Judah, Tribe of Judah

Tribe/lineage: Judah

Born: Jerusalem

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1 Archaeology — physical evidence · 1

Life, role & deeds

BibleA young king of Judah carried captive to Babylon, later released from prison there.

2 Kings 24:15; 25:27

↳ Babylon

ArchaeologyBabylonian ration tablets from Nebuchadnezzar's palace list 'Ya'u-kīnu, king of the land of Judah' receiving oil — the very king of 2 Kings 25.

Jehoiachin Ration Tablets from the vaulted building near the Ishtar Gate, Babylon (R. Koldewey's German excavations), now Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin (VAT 16283 and related); publ. E. F. Weidner, 'Jojachin, König von Juda, in babylonischen Keilschrifttexten,' Mélanges syriens offerts à M. René Dussaud, vol. 2 (Geuthner, 1939).

↳ Babylon

Where in scripture

2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Esther Jeremiah Ezekiel Matthew

So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
2 Kings 24:6

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
2 Kings 24:8 — Becomes king

and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign.
2 Kings 24:12

He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2 Kings 24:15

In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;
2 Kings 25:27 — Released in exile

The sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah his son.
1 Chronicles 3:16

The sons of Jeconiah, the captive: Shealtiel his son,
1 Chronicles 3:17

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
2 Chronicles 36:8

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.