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2 Chronicles 36:13

in 2 Chronicles 36

He 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.

This verse in 2 Chronicles 36

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
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 one and twenty years old

on 2 Chronicles 36:11-13

Verse twelve names the specific failure Kings does not: Zedekiah humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord, a king with a living voice of God in his own city who would not bend to it. He had sworn loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar by God's own name, Wesley notes, so the rebellion of verse thirteen carries perjury with it, and he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel, the verdict Chronicles passes on the whole reign in one clause.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

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.

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.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 36:13:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
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?
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 36:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
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.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 36:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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 words

Every 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.

  • וְ֠גַםand also

    vegamH1571769 times

  • בַּמֶּ֤לֶךְagainst the king

    bamelekhH44282525 times

  • נְבֽוּכַדְנֶאצַּר֙Nebuchadnezzar

    nevukhadnetzarH501960 times

  • מָרָ֔דhe rebelled

    maradH4775

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwho

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • הִשְׁבִּיע֖וֹhe had made swear an oath him

    hishbioH7650186 times

  • בֵּֽאלֹהִ֑יםby God

    belohimH4302601 times

  • וַיֶּ֤קֶשׁand he made stiff

    vaiyekeshH718528 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • עָרְפּוֹ֙neck his

    arepoH620333 times

  • וַיְאַמֵּ֣ץand he made hard

    vayametzH55341 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • לְבָב֔וֹheart his

    levavoH3824252 times

  • מִשּׁ֕וּבfrom turning back

    mishuvH77251056 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] God of

    ʾeloheiH4302601 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel

    yisraelH34782507 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 30:8

    Now 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.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 21:2

    At 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,

  • Through

    2 Kings 24:20

    For 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…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About 2 Chronicles

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.