The Bible reports that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem three times:

 

On the first two occasions, prisoners were taken and the ability of the nation to defend itself was reduced.

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

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

 

Since the components add up to 8,000, and they do not include all the categories of people described, 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.  There does not seem to have been a large number of people killed.  It is possible that Daniel, working for Nebuchadnezzar in far-off Babylon, may have had some influence over that.

There is also another number reported in Jeremiah 52:28 which reports that 3,023 Judeans were taken away in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar.  These may well have been men from outside the city of Jerusalem, who were taken away before Jeconiah gave up.

Only the poorest men remained, a phrase that is repeated 11 years later after the destruction of Jerusalem, described in 2 Kings 25:12, Jeremiah 40:7 and 52:16.  After that destruction, some of the poorest were also taken into captivity.[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 of information rather than a detailed picture of events with times and order.

This raises the question: Did Jeremiah expect Jerusalem to be destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar besieged it in the time of Jeconiah?

Jeremiah had been given quite a few prophecies of destruction from the start of his mission onwards.  Some examples that I believe were all given before the reign of Jeconiah and refer to the land, the cities and the temple:

 

So when would Jeremiah have expected 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.

When it came to the reign of Jeconiah, and Nebuchadnezzar’s army was camped outside the walls, I think it is very likely that Jeremiah would have been expecting the immediate fulfilment of those prophecies of complete destruction.

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.

 

 

 

[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