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Prophecy

Jehoiakim: “none of his will sit on the throne of David”, his corpse exposed (Jeremiah 36:30; 22:18-19)

King Jehoiakim burns the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jer 36), artist’s impression, etching by Jan Luyken (1712).
Artist’s impression King Jehoiakim burns the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jer 36), artist’s impression, etching by Jan Luyken (1712). — Jan Luyken (etching, Rijksmuseum), Wikimedia Commons · CC0

⊘ Not fulfilled as written

Written 605–604 BC according to tradition; 604–550 BC according to historians. Event: 598–597 BC.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. The prophet Jeremiah, in the book of Jeremiah, around 605–604 BC, announces that Jehoiakim, king of Judah, will have no descendant sitting on the throne, and that his corpse will remain outside, exposed to the heat by day and the cold by night.

What happened. When Jehoiakim dies, at the end of 598 or the beginning of 597 BC, the Bible itself says that his son Jehoiachin reigns in his place, for three months, before being taken to Babylon. On the fate of his body, the accounts differ: the book of Kings says nothing, the Jewish historian Josephus tells that he was thrown unburied before the walls.

What is still debated. believers say that a three-month reign does not count and rely on Josephus for the corpse, while skeptics point out that the Bible says in so many words that the son reigned.

What is surprising

The Bible keeps side by side a precise oracle and an account that contradicts it to the letter, even though the editors of Jeremiah knew what followed. As for the exposed corpse, also announced, the accounts differ and nothing allows a decision.

Main objection (in French for now)

« Aucun des siens ne sera assis sur le trône de David » est démenti par 2 R 24:6-8 : son fils Joïakin lui succède et règne trois mois, roi reconnu par la Bible comme par la Chronique babylonienne (« il captura le roi »).

The text (World English Bible)

Therefore the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on David’s throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.

Jer 36:30

Therefore the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They won’t lament for him, saying, ‘Ah my brother!’ or, ‘Ah sister!’ They won’t lament for him, saying ‘Ah lord!’ or, ‘Ah his glory!’ He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, drawn and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”

Jer 22:18-19

Sources