Lenten Season · Fourth Sunday of Lent · Year B
2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
Zedekiah King of Judah
March 7, 2027
Overview & Insights
“The Lord, the God of heaven… has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem.” (2 Chronicles 36:23)
The accounts of the last four kings of Judah are very brief. Two of them (Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin) ruled for only about three months each, while the other two (Jehoiakim and Zedekiah) each ruled for eleven years. Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim therefore were nothing more than transitional figures bracketing the rule of King Jehoiakim of Judah and leading to the rule of Zedekiah. Although Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim were still successors to the throne of their respective fathers, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah were actually puppet figures put on the throne by the Egyptian and Babylonian kings, respectively (36:4, 10). The Chronicler made use of the Deuteronomistic accounts of these kings’ reigns (in 2 Kgs. 23:31–24:20) but abbreviated even further the already short accounts given there.
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Commentary
2 Chronicles 36 Commentary: The Fall of Jerusalem Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse-by-verse notes on the exile, the sabbath rest of the land, and the decree of Cyrus.
2 Chronicles 36 Commentary Precept Austin
Deep verse-by-verse study collating multiple commentators on Judah's last kings and the return from exile.
2 Chronicles 36:14 Commentaries BibleHub
Aggregated classic commentaries on the desecration of the temple and the Babylonian captivity.
2 Chronicles 36 - Constable's Expository Notes StudyLight
Thomas Constable's detailed expository notes on the closing chapter of Chronicles and the edict of Cyrus.
Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year B (Readings) Agape Bible Study
Catholic study reading the destruction of the temple and exile as the setting for Laetare Sunday's mercy.
Background & Word Study
II Chronicles 36 - Sefaria Sefaria
Hebrew text of the final chapter of Chronicles with classical Jewish commentary and translation.
2 Chronicles 36:14 Interlinear BibleHub
Hebrew word-by-word interlinear with parsing and Strong's numbers for the passage.
Books of Chronicles Overview BibleProject
Animated overview showing how Chronicles ends in exile yet leaves readers hoping for return and a temple.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
How does 2 Chronicles end?
After the fall of Jerusalem and seventy years of exile, God stirs up Cyrus of Persia to send the people home and rebuild the temple, a dawn of hope after judgment.
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