Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the LORD. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy. So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Significance
These are parallel accounts of Zedekiah's reign leading to Jerusalem's destruction. Kings focuses on the political-military narrative: the siege, famine, breach, Zedekiah's flight and capture, his sons killed before his eyes, his blinding. The Chronicler provides the theological explanation: Zedekiah "stiffened his neck and hardened his heart" (2 Chr 36:13), the priests and people increased unfaithfulness, "Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place," but "they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy" (2 Chr 36:15-16). This is the Chronicler's definitive theological verdict on the exile.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression — Kings closes Zedekiah's reign in three terse verses (accession, "he did evil," "the anger of the LORD," rebellion, 2 Kgs 24:18-20), and the Chronicler retells that same ending as a full theological reckoning: the king who would not humble himself before Jeremiah, the priests and people defiling the consecrated house, the LORD sending messengers out of compassion, and the mockery that stirred wrath "beyond remedy" (2 Chr 36:12-16); the post-exilic narration advances redemptive history by explaining the catastrophe Kings only records — and by setting God's persistent compassion in place as the ground of the restoration to come.
