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Context No. 118 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 25:25-30: in context

25But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah so that he died, with the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. 26All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. 27In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison, 28and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, 29and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life; 30and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him from the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.

This is the last page of the book of Kings. Jerusalem is destroyed, the temple is gone, and the governor Babylon appointed, Gedaliah, has just been assassinated by a member of the royal family. The survivors flee to Egypt, afraid of reprisal. That is the end of the story of the land.

Then the book does something odd. It jumps thirty-seven years forward and closes on a scene in Babylon. A new king, Evil-merodach, takes the throne and releases Jehoiachin, the young king of Judah who had been imprisoned since the first deportation. He speaks kindly to him, gives him a seat above the other captive kings, takes off his prison clothes, and lets him eat at the king's table for the rest of his life, with a regular allowance.

That is how the history of Israel's monarchy ends: a released prisoner eating dinner. Babylonian ration tablets have been found listing oil for Jehoiachin king of Judah and his sons, which is about as ordinary a confirmation as history offers. The line of David is alive, in captivity, on an allowance. What small mercy would I have to count as the real ending, if the large restoration I wanted never came?

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