Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven ° years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers.

And Ismaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Josabad the Gederathite,

Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

Jeremiah the tenth, Machbanai the eleventh.

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.

To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation ° throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

35:19 Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem. It was here that Rachel died and here that Jesus was born, as prophesied in Micah 5:2. Rachel’s son Benjamin (“son of my right hand,” first named by Rachel, Benoni, “son of pain”) was the progenitor of the tribe that would eventually inhabit this portion of the Promised Land. Hence the phrase, “Rachel weeping for her children” (Matthew 2:18; Jeremiah 3l:15), when Herod sought to slay the male children of Bethlehem. Note also the reference to Ephratah in Psalm 132:6.

26:12 my people. This beautiful promise, originally limited to the children of Israel, will ultimately be fulfilled to all the redeemed in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:3; see also Exodus 6:7; Jeremiah 32:38; Zechariah 2:11).

26:34 land enjoy her sabbaths. There were approximately 490 years in Israel’s monarchy, from Saul to Zedekiah, followed by the 70 years of Babylonian captivity (Jeremiah 25:11,12). During all this period, they failed to observe God’s commanded Sabbatical and Jubilee years; hence, the Lord enforced the 70 rest years which were due His land.

23:21 not beheld iniquity. God had repeatedly punished the Israelites for their sins, yet, by the great principle of justification by grace through faith, these could all be forgiven and forgotten (Psalm 103:3; Jeremiah 31:34).

10:4 according to the first writing. When God made the first “copy” of the Scriptures, He laid down the principle for all future copies. In so far as humanly possible, copies should be meticulously accurate “according to the first writing.” The later Jewish scribes and copyists labored diligently to conform to this principle. See also the note on Jeremiah 36:2.

10:16 foreskin of your heart. The rite of circumcision was not merely physical; it implied a dedication of heart as well as body to the covenant of God. The Bible also speaks of an uncircumcised ear (Jeremiah 6:10) and uncircumcised lips (Exodus 6:12).

4:22 departed from Israel. This possibly refers specifically to the shekinah glory cloud (Exodus 13:21), which had evidently been permanently residing in the “temple” at Shiloh until this time. It is also significant that Shiloh itself is never mentioned as the center of Israel’s worship after this. Archaeological and Biblical evidence indicates that the city was eventually destroyed. Note Jeremiah 7:14; 26:6,9.

7:4 Baalim and Ashtaroth. The worship of Baal and Ashtaroth, the chief god and goddess of the Canaanites, as well as the Moabites, the Phoenicians, and many others, had been a snare to Israel ever since the death of Joshua (Judges 2:13) and continued until the time they were carried into exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 32:28,29). “Baalim” and “Ashtaroth” are plural nouns, referring to the images of these supposed deities (actually mere personifications of natural phenomena—Ashtaroth, for example, was the goddess of fertility) or to their various manifestations. The worship of these deities was commonly accompanied by unspeakably cruel and licentious rites, and largely accounts for God’s command to Israel to destroy them out of the land.

Introduction to I Kings Formerly considered the “third book of Kings” after I and II Samuel, this book has carried its present identification since the sixteenth century. It continues the account of David’s life, starting with the rebellion of Adonijah, the coronation of Solomon and the death of David. It continues with the details of Solomon’s reign, featured by the building and dedication of the temple. The sad fall of Solomon, his death and then the tragedy of the divided kingdom, following the rebellion of Jeroboam against Rehoboam, are recounted in the central chapters of I Kings, with the rest of the book devoted to the conflicts of Judah and Israel with each other and with other nations. Of special significance is the story of the prophet Elijah, in his interchanges with King Ahab and the prophets of Baal. The book continues through the reign of Jehoshaphat in Judah (great grandson of Rehoboam, son of Solomon), and Ahaziah in Israel (the seventh king of Israel following Jeroboam). The total period covered by I Kings is about 126 years, from the accession of Solomon to that of Jehoram. No one knows who wrote I Kings. Undoubtedly the final editor used various sources with which to compile the inspired record as we now have it. Jewish tradition indicates that the prophet Jeremiah was the man responsible for the final compilation and editing of both I Kings and II Kings. The Jews had considered both Samuel and Kings to be included in the Books of the Prophets (as distinct from the Law and the Psalms), and the Books of Kings are indeed filled with many prophetic insights, so it could well be true that the original records, as well as the final editing, were produced by one or more of the prophets.

7:15 eighteen cubits high apiece. The parallel description in II Chronicles 3:15 says these pillars were thirty-five cubits high. The apparent contradiction has been attributed to a copyist error in the Chronicles reference. The eighteen-cubit dimension is confirmed in II Kings 25:17 and Jeremiah 52:21. These two pillars were evidently free standing; their names, Jachin and Boaz (I Kings 7:21), are believed to have meant “Established” and “Strong,” referring to God and His purpose as depicted in the temple and its ministry. It has also been suggested that the two pillars could have been first cast together in a thirty-five cubit mold, then later divided into the two pillars.