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Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, 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,
Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the chief of the fathers: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
New Defender's Study Bible Notes
14:19 book of the chronicles. This book should not be confused with the Biblical book of Chronicles. It apparently was a book kept in the king’s court from generation to generation and frequent references to it indicate that it was a historical source book used by whoever prepared the two books of Kings in their present form (possibly Jeremiah, or some other later prophet).
16:5 book of the chronicles. This book is not available today, but apparently was an ongoing chronicle of the successive kings of Israel, written sequentially by various scribes. The abbreviated accounts of these histories, as now preserved in our books of Kings and Chronicles, were brought together finally by Jeremiah or some other editor into its present form—all, of course, by divine guidance and inspiration.
20:1 Ben-hadad. There were three Syrian kings named Ben-Hadad, all of whom appear in the Biblical narratives (e.g., I Kings 15:18; II Kings 13:24). It seems to have been used by Jeremiah as a general name for all the Syrian kings (Jeremiah 49:27).
Introduction to II Kings The division between I Kings and II Kings is seemingly quite arbitrary; originally the two were one book. The second book continues the history of Judah and Israel until their eventual captivities. Like I Kings, the book of II Kings was probably compiled from records of the earlier prophets by Jeremiah or one of the later prophets of Judah. The ministries of Elijah and Elisha constitute the dominant subject of the first third of the book. The portion of the history devoted to Israel is sad in the extreme, with one ungodly king after another leading the people away from God, until finally the Assyrians destroyed their land and carried the people off into captivity. The last king of Israel was Hoshea (II Kings 17). There were, of course, believers and faithful servants of God in the northern kingdom during all those years of spiritual decline and apostasy. The most notable were the prophets Elijah and Elisha, but two of the prophets of the Biblical canon also had ministries primarily in Israel. Hosea’s initial ministry to Israel was during the long reign of Jeroboam II, but it evidently continued even beyond Israel’s exile into Assyria (Hosea 1:1). The prophet Amos was a contemporary of Hosea who also ministered especially in the northern kingdom of Israel (sometimes called Ephraim). In Judah, several of the kings were God-fearing men, and Hezekiah and Josiah in particular led in great national revivals. Of the writing prophets, those whose ministry was mainly centered in Judah were—in more or less chronological order—Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Jeremiah. Isaiah, in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah, and Jeremiah, during the last days of the kingdom under Josiah and the kings who briefly followed him, had especially significant influence on the kings and the nation as a whole. No doubt because of the influence of these prophets, and the several God-fearing kings of Judah, God allowed Judah to remain in the land for about 130 years after Israel had been carried away to Assyria. Eventually, however, even Judah became so wicked and apostate, especially under her final kings (Jehoiakim, Jeconiah and Zedekiah) that God sent Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem with its temple and to carry the king and all the leaders of the people into exile and captivity in Babylon. There were other godly prophets and priests in both Israel and Judah, of course, besides those whose prophecies have been preserved in the Bible. Some among these, no doubt, were the original writers of the records now incorporated in the books of Kings. The last of them, Jeremiah, quite possibly was the man who compiled and edited all of these earlier documents into their present, divinely inspired form.
10:15 Jehonadab the son of Rechab. Rechab and Jehonadab (same as Jonadab) were the founders of the Rechabites, who were commended by the prophet Jeremiah for their abstinence from wine (Jeremiah 35:1-10,16-19).
22:14 Huldah the prophetess. Both Jeremiah and Zephaniah began their prophetic ministries during the reign of King Josiah. At this time, however, early in his reign, the only true prophet available in Jerusalem was actually a prophetess. She did, however, have an authentic word for Josiah from the Lord.
24:6 Jehoiakim slept. The death of Jehoiakim, although not specifically described, was apparently violent and degrading. He was carried to Babylon, “bound in fetters” (II Chronicles 36:6). The prophet Jeremiah said: “He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:19).
24:12 Jehoiachin. Both Jehoahaz, who ruled only three months and Jehoiakim, who ruled eleven years (II Kings 23:31,36), were wicked sons of good King Josiah. Jehoiachin, who was Josiah’s grandson, was also an evil king, though not as much so as the others were (see note on II Kings 25:27). He ruled only three months before being taken captive to Babylon. Another wicked son of Josiah, Zedekiah, ruled eleven years, and he was to be Judah’s last king of the Davidic line. Jeremiah had prophesied concerning both Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin (also called Jechoniah and Coniah) that their lines would end (Jeremiah 36:30, 22:28-30). Nevertheless God’s promise to David would still be fulfilled, through another branch of David’s descendants (Jeremiah 33:17; Luke 1:31-33; 3:23-31).
25:1 all his host. Nebuchadnezzar had placed two sons of Josiah on the throne, with both no doubt swearing fealty to him, but both had rebelled, not only against Babylon but also a against the counsel of God through Jeremiah. Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar decided to either kill or take captive all the nobility and other leaders of Judah in order to preclude any further rebellion.
25:7 put out the eyes. A Babylonian monument was found with an engraving depicting the eyes of a captive king being put out. This punishment of Zedekiah was predicted—namely that he would see Nebuchadnezzar face to face (Jeremiah 32:4; 34:3), but not see Babylon (Ezekiel 12:13).