2 Kings 24:19
in 2 Kings 24And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
KJV
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
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This verse in 2 Kings 24
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He did that which was evil - The character of Zedekiah seems to have been weak rather than wicked. Consult Jer. 34; 37: His chief recorded sins were: (1) his refusal to be guided in his political conduct by Jeremiah’s counsels, while nevertheless he admitted him to be a true Yahweh-prophet; and (2) his infraction of the allegiance which he had sworn to Nebuchadnezzar.
This site's exposition
according to all that Jehoiakim
on 2 Kings 24:19-20
Zedekiah's evil is measured by the same standard as Jehoiakim's, the third king in this chapter judged by that formula, and Barnes calls him weak rather than wicked, a king who heard Jeremiah and would not obey him. Verse 20 names the cause behind the political history already told: through the anger of the Lord it came to pass, until he had cast them out from his presence, so the narrator gives the theological reading before the political fact, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Wesley reads the sequence as the people's own sin producing the wicked king who then brought their punishment, not the king producing the people's sin. The chapter ends on the edge of the siege that chapter 25 will finish, the oath sworn to Babylon already broken.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
3 Surely at the commandment of the L ORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the L ORD would not pardon.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:92%@v3-4
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But, according to the custom of conquerors, who changed the names of the great men they took captives in war, in token of their supremacy, he gave him the new name of Zedekiah--that is, "The righteous of God." This being a purely Hebrew name, it seems that he allowed the puppet king to choose his own name, which was confirmed.
He did - evil - How astonishing is this! not one of them takes warning by the judgments of God, which fell on their sinful predecessors.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הָרַ֖ע | hara' | the evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בְּעֵינֵ֣י | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּכֹ֥ל | kekhol | according to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשָׂ֖ה | ʾasah | he had done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְהוֹיָקִֽים׃ | yehoyakim | Jehoiakim | H3079 → | 37 times |
וַיַּ֥עַשׂand he did
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
הָרַ֖עthe evil
hara'H7451 →662 times
בְּעֵינֵ֣יin [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּכֹ֥לaccording to all
kekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עָשָׂ֖הhe had done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
יְהוֹיָקִֽים׃Jehoiakim
yehoyakimH3079 →37 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 36:12And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the LORD.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 33:23
but he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done; instead, Amon increased his guilt.
- Jeremiah 37:2–21
But he and his officers and the people of the land refused to obey the words that the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
- Jeremiah 38:14–28
Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance to the house of the LORD. “I am going to ask you something,” said the king to Jeremiah. “Do…
- 2 Chronicles 33:23
Through
Ezekiel 21:25And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, the day has come for your final punishment.’
it leads to
- Ezekiel 35:5
Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment,
- Ezekiel 21:29
while they offer false visions for you and lying divinations about you—to be placed on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.
- Ezekiel 17:19
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.
- Ezekiel 35:5
Through
Jeremiah 24:8But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 43:1
When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything that the LORD had sent him to say—
- Jeremiah 37:17
Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the…
- Jeremiah 43:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Kings

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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old and New Testaments; 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.
