📖 Biblical Definition
Nineteenth king of Judah (2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; Jeremiah 22:24-30; 52:31-34), also called Jeconiah and Coniah (Jeremiah 22:24, 28; 24:1; 27:20). Son of Jehoiakim; reigned only three months and ten days (598-597 BC) before Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and Jehoiachin surrendered. He was carried away to Babylon along with his mother, his wives, his officers, and the cream of Jerusalem's craftsmen and warriors — the famous first deportation of 597 BC. Jeremiah's curse-prophecy against him is severe: Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah (Jeremiah 22:30). Jehoiachin remained imprisoned in Babylon for thirty-seven years. The final episode of 2 Kings (and the Jeremiah parallel) records his unexpected late-life elevation: in the thirty-seventh year of his captivity, Evil-merodach king of Babylon released Jehoiachin from prison, spoke kindly to him, set his throne above the thrones of the other kings in Babylon, gave him a daily allowance, and changed his prison garments (2 Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34). The episode is the closing note of the Old Testament historical narrative: a Davidic king alive in Babylon, fed at the king's table, with the Davidic line preserved through him for the Messiah who would come (Matthew 1:11-12 lists Jechonias in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Nineteenth king of Judah (598-597 BC); three-month reign; Babylonian deportation of 597 BC; thirty-seven-year imprisonment; late-life elevation by Evil-merodach; Davidic line preserved through him for Christ.
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JEHOIACHIN, proper n. (nineteenth king of Judah; also Jeconiah, Coniah) Son of Jehoiakim. Reigned three months and ten days (598-597 BC; 2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10). Surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar; carried to Babylon with his mother, wives, officers, and the cream of Jerusalem's craftsmen and warriors (the first deportation of 597 BC). Jeremiah's curse-prophecy (Jeremiah 22:30): write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David. Imprisoned in Babylon for thirty-seven years; released and elevated by Evil-merodach in his thirty-seventh year (2 Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34). Davidic line preserved through him for the Messiah (Matthew 1:11-12).
📖 Key Scripture
2 Kings 24:12 — "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 took him in the eighth year of his reign."
Jeremiah 22:24-25 — "As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life."
2 Kings 25:27-30 — "And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah... that Evil-merodach king of Babylon... did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison... and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon."
Matthew 1:11-12 — "And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition. The principal theological point is the preservation of the Davidic line through Jehoiachin despite Jeremiah's curse, for the Messiah who would come.
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Jehoiachin as a proper name does not undergo lexical corruption. The principal theological point worth recovering is the apparent tension between Jeremiah's curse-prophecy (write ye this man childless, Jeremiah 22:30) and the Matthew 1 genealogy of the Lord Jesus, which lists Jechonias as one of the ancestors. The Reformed-confessional reading harmonizes: Jeremiah's curse is fulfilled in the sense that no immediate descendant of Jehoiachin sat on the Davidic throne in Judah; the Davidic line continued biologically through him but the throne-promise was suspended until the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Davidic king, fulfilled it in the Messianic kingdom. The strangeness of grace is that the cursed line still bears the Christ; the line continues despite the curse, awaiting the King whose throne is not of this world.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Nineteenth king of Judah; 598-597 BC; first Babylonian deportation; thirty-seven-year imprisonment; ancestor of Christ.
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['Hebrew', 'H3078', 'Yehoyakhin', 'Yahweh establishes']
['Hebrew', 'H3204', 'Yekhonyah', 'Jeconiah, alternate form']
['Hebrew', 'H3659', 'Khonyahu', 'Coniah, contracted form (Jeremiah 22:24)']
Usage
"Nineteenth king of Judah; three-month reign; first Babylonian deportation 597 BC."
"Jeremiah's curse-prophecy: write ye this man childless (Jeremiah 22:30)."
"Late-life elevation by Evil-merodach; Davidic line preserved through him for Christ (Matthew 1:11-12)."