Jehoiachin
King of Judah for three months. He surrendered Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC and lived out his life as a captive in Babylon, where ration tablets name him.
Jehoiachin came to the throne at eighteen, was besieged in Jerusalem by the Babylonian army, and gave himself up after a reign of three months (2 Kings 24:8–12). He was taken to Babylon with his family and court (2 Kings 24:15). Babylonian ration lists record oil issued to the king of Judah and his retinue (Ration tablet from Babylon VAT 16378), and Kings ends with his release from prison in the thirty-seventh year of his exile (2 Kings 25:27–30).
The exiles continued to count years by his captivity (Ezekiel 1:2), and the line of David was traced through him: Zerubbabel, who led the return, was his grandson (1 Chronicles 3:17–19), and Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus passes through him (Matthew 1:11–12).
In the timeline
- 16 March 597 BC, firm dateThe First Deportation to Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem, deports the young king Jehoiachin with thousands of Judah’s leading people, and puts Zedekiah on the throne. Babylon’s own chronicle dates the capture to the day.