2 Chronicles 36:13
in 2 Chronicles 36He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning unto Jehovah, the God of Israel.
KJV
And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 36
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The oath of allegiance was taken when he was first installed in his kingdom. On Zedekiah’s sin in breaking his oath, see Eze 17:18-20; Eze 21:25.
This site's exposition
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old
on 2 Chronicles 36:11-13
Verse 12 names a failure Kings does not record. Zedekiah “did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the LORD”, though a living voice of God was in his city. He had sworn loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar by God's name, John Wesley notes, so his rebellion carries perjury.
This site's exposition
who had made him swear by God
Albert Barnes dates the oath to Zedekiah's installation and points to Ezekiel 17:13 to 20. Stiffening the neck is the sin Hezekiah warned against in 30:8. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown name the causes of the fall together: the king's pride, the nation's idolatry and its disregard of the prophets.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
By God - Who had required him to swear fealty and constant obedience to him by the true God, whom he called upon to be a witness against him if he broke his oath. So his rebellion was aggravated with perjury, and horrid contempt of God.
The great sin that brought this destruction was idolatry. The priests and people went after the abominations of the heathen, forsook the pure worship of God for the lewd and filthy rites of the Pagan superstition, and so polluted the house of the Lord,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
His own pride and obdurate impiety, the incurable idolatry of the nation, and their reckless disregard of prophetic warnings, brought down on his already sadly reduced kingdom the long threatened judgments of God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
who adjured him by God as is explained in Ezekiel (17:12): “Say now to the rebellious house, etc.” The entire chapter was written regarding Jehoiachin and Zedekiah: (verse 13f.) “took its king and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon,” refers to Jehoiachin and his company.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord What is the evil?
Also, all etc. They should have instructed Israel, as it is written (Deut.:8): “in accordance with all that the priests, the Levites, instruct you.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֠גַם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בַּמֶּ֤לֶךְ | bamelekh | against the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| נְבֽוּכַדְנֶאצַּר֙ | nevukhadnetzar | Nebuchadnezzar | H5019 → | 60 times |
| מָרָ֔ד | marad | he rebelled | H4775 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הִשְׁבִּיע֖וֹ | hishbio | he had made swear an oath him | H7650 → | 186 times |
| בֵּֽאלֹהִ֑ים | belohim | by God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וַיֶּ֤קֶשׁ | vaiyekesh | and he made stiff | H7185 → | 28 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עָרְפּוֹ֙ | arepo | neck his | H6203 → | 33 times |
| וַיְאַמֵּ֣ץ | vayametz | and he made hard | H553 → | 41 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְבָב֔וֹ | levavo | heart his | H3824 → | 252 times |
| מִשּׁ֕וּב | mishuv | from turning back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֥י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וְ֠גַםand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
בַּמֶּ֤לֶךְagainst the king
bamelekhH4428 →2525 times
נְבֽוּכַדְנֶאצַּר֙Nebuchadnezzar
nevukhadnetzarH5019 →60 times
מָרָ֔דhe rebelled
maradH4775 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הִשְׁבִּיע֖וֹhe had made swear an oath him
hishbioH7650 →186 times
בֵּֽאלֹהִ֑יםby God
belohimH430 →2601 times
וַיֶּ֤קֶשׁand he made stiff
vaiyekeshH7185 →28 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עָרְפּוֹ֙neck his
arepoH6203 →33 times
וַיְאַמֵּ֣ץand he made hard
vayametzH553 →41 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
לְבָב֔וֹheart his
levavoH3824 →252 times
מִשּׁ֕וּבfrom turning back
mishuvH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Chronicles 30:8Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 29:10
Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us.
- Exodus 32:9
The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
- Deuteronomy 6:13
Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
- 2 Chronicles 29:10
Through
2 Samuel 21:2At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal…
it leads to
- Joshua 9:3–21
But the people of Gibeon, having heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
- Joshua 9:3–21
Through
2 Kings 24:20For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9–11
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- Deuteronomy 2:30
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9–11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.