“Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.”
My Notes
What Does 2 Chronicles 36:5 Mean?
Jehoiakim's reign represents one of the most dramatic reversals in Judah's history. The son of the godliest king in generations did "evil in the sight of the LORD his God." Eleven years on the throne—not a brief reign, but over a decade of active wickedness. Jeremiah's prophecies are filled with specific indictments of Jehoiakim: he built a lavish palace using forced labor, he burned the scroll of God's word, and he shed innocent blood.
The phrase "his God" is pointed. The LORD was still Jehoiakim's God—by covenant, by heritage, by national identity. The evil he did wasn't against a stranger's god. It was against his own. This makes the rebellion more intimate and more damning. He knew whose he was and chose to defy that belonging.
Jehoiakim was installed by Pharaoh Necho after deposing Jehoahaz, and he served as Egypt's vassal before switching allegiance to Babylon and then rebelling against them too. His reign was characterized by political cynicism and spiritual emptiness—a man who used power for personal gain while ignoring every prophetic warning that came his way. He died during or shortly before the Babylonian siege, and Jeremiah prophesied he would be buried "with the burial of a donkey"—dragged out and thrown beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How do you think someone raised by a godly parent like Josiah ends up doing evil for eleven years? What went wrong?
- 2.Have you ever felt the tension between inherited faith and personal faith? Where are you in that process of making your faith your own?
- 3.Jehoiakim burned God's word; Josiah wept at it. What is your honest posture toward Scripture when it confronts you?
- 4.Eleven years of evil is a lifestyle, not a mistake. Are there areas of your life where a 'temporary' compromise has become a settled pattern?
Devotional
Jehoiakim was twenty-five when he took the throne—old enough to know better, young enough to think he was invincible. His father Josiah had loved God's word so deeply that he tore his robes when he heard it read. Jehoiakim, when given a scroll of God's word from Jeremiah, cut it up with a knife and burned it in a fire. Same family. Same throne. Completely opposite hearts.
The contrast between father and son is one of the starkest in Scripture, and it demolishes any idea that godliness is genetic. You don't inherit a relationship with God. You choose it—or you don't. Josiah chose. Jehoiakim didn't. And eleven years of doing evil left a mark that contributed to Judah's final destruction.
If you're living in the shadow of a godly parent, grandparent, or mentor, their faithfulness is a gift—but it's not your faith. Their prayers covered you. Their example showed you the way. But at some point, the throne is yours and the choice is yours: will you tear your robes at God's word, or will you take a knife to it?
Jehoiakim's story also warns about the slow normalization of evil over a long reign. Eleven years of wickedness. That's not a momentary lapse—it's a lifestyle. Evil rarely announces itself. It settles in gradually, one compromised decision at a time, until eleven years have passed and you've built a life that's actively opposed to everything your father built.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
The destruction of Judah and Jerusalem is here coming on by degrees. God so ordered it to show that he has no pleasure…
(1Es 1:39-42; 2Ki 23:35 to 2Ki 24:7). The Reign of Jehoiakim
5. in Jerusalem The Chronicler omits his mother's name (cp.…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture