וְיֶתֶר֩ דִּבְרֵ֨י יְהֽוֹיָקִ֜ים וְתֹֽעֲבֹתָ֤יו אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה֙ וְהַנִּמְצָ֣א עָלָ֔יו הִנָּ֣ם כְּתוּבִ֗ים עַל־סֵ֛פֶר מַלְכֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וִֽיהוּדָ֑ה וַיִּמְלֹ֛ךְ יְהוֹיָכִ֥ין בְּנ֖וֹ תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ (פ)
Ang iba pang mga gawa ni Jehoiakim, ang mga kasuklam-suklam na bagay na kanyang ginawa, at ang natagpuan sa kanya, narito, nakasulat ang mga ito sa aklat ng mga hari ng Israel at Juda. At naghari si Jehoiakin na kanyang anak na kapalit niya.
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
Another interpretation (of Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED. This text is related (to Jer. 12:8): MY HERITAGE HAS BECOME FOR ME LIKE A LION IN THE FOREST … [THEREFORE I HAVE HATED IT (literally: HER)]. How so? The Holy One saw that wicked children were going to issue from her; so he called her HATED. Now the wicked ones are these: Jehoram, Jehoash, Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, Jehoiakim, < and > Zedekiah. About Jehoram, it is written (in II Kings 8:18): AND HE WALKED IN THE WAY OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AS THE HOUSE OF AHAB HAD DONE. About Ahaz, it is written (in II Kings 16:2): AND HE DID NOT DO WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD [HIS GOD] AS HIS ANCESTOR DAVID < HAD DONE >. Isaiah had said to him (according to Is. 7:11): ASK A SIGN FROM THE LORD YOUR GOD. MAKE IT AS DEEP AS SHEOL, for the dead to live again or for Korah to rise from Sheol. (Ibid., cont.:) OR AS HIGH AS ABOVE. You may ask for Elijah to descend from the heavens. He said to him: I know that he has power to do < such things >, but I do not want the name of names to be sanctified at my hands. Thus it is stated (in vs. 12): I WILL NOT ASK, NOR PUT THE LORD TO THE TEST. About Jehoash, it is written (in II Kings 12:3 [3]): AND JEHOASH DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD ALL HIS DAYS AS THE PRIEST JEHOIADA INSTRUCTED HIM. But when Jehoiada died, evil occurred, as stated (in II Chron. 24:17): NOW {IT CAME TO PASS} AFTER THE DEATH OF JEHOIADA, < THE PRINCES OF JUDAH CAME AND BOWED LOW TO THE KING. THEN THE KING HEARKENED UNTO THEM >…. See what is written about Manasseh (in II Chron. 33:6-7): < HE DID MUCH EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD TO ANGER HIM >, AND HE SET UP A SCULPTURED IMAGE, WHICH HE HAD MADE, IN THE HOUSE OF GOD. About Amon, it is written (in II Chron. 33:22-23): AND HE DID WHAT WAS EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD…. AND TO ALL THE IMAGES WHICH HIS FATHER MANASSEH HAD MADE < AMON SACRIFICED >…. [MOREOVER, HE DID NOT HUMBLE HIMSELF BEFORE THE LORD…. FOR AMON INCURRED A LOT OF GUILT]. About Jehoiakim, it is written (in II Chron. 36:8): NOW AS FOR THE REST OF THE ACTS OF JEHOIAKIM, [THE ABOMINATIONS WHICH HE DID], AND WHAT WAS FOUND AGAINST HIM < HERE THEY ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH >. Thus he repudiated circumcision, extended the foreskin (to disguise circumcision), and entered the orifice through which he had come out.40I.e., he had sexual intercourse with his mother. So Lev. R. 19:6; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:1. The text might possibly mean that he had entered the orifice through which one empties the bowels. About Zedekiah, it is written (in II Chron. 36:12): AND HE DID WHAT WAS EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD HIS GOD…. Here are the seven wicked men; therefore, the prophet < Jeremiah > cries and says (in Jer. 15:9): SHE WHO BEARS SEVEN IS WRETCHED. Therefore, (in Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED….
Vayikra Rabbah
Another matter, “and a woman, if her bloody discharge will flow.” Who fulfilled the mitzva of [separating from a woman at the time of her] discharge? It was Yekhonyahu son of Yehoyakim. They say that when Nebuchadnezzar ascended to destroy Jerusalem, he ascended and encamped at Daphne at Antioch, and the Great Sanhedrin descended to greet him. They said to him: ‘Has the time arrived for this house to be destroyed?’ He said to them: ‘No. But Yehoyakim rebelled against me. Give him to me and I will go.’ They came to Yehoyakim and said to him: ‘Nebuchadnezzar wants you.’ He said to them: ‘Is this how one acts? Does one disregard one life in favor of another life? Do [you] disregard my life in order to sustain your lives? It is written: “You shall not deliver a slave to his master”’ (Deuteronomy 23:16). They said to him: ‘Did your ancestor not do so to Sheva ben Bikhri?’39See II Samuel Chapter 20. Since he did not heed them, they rose, took him, and lowered him to [Nebuchadnezzar].
How did they lower him? Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Natan said: They lowered him alive, just as it says: “They placed him in a cage with hooks [baḥaḥim]” (Ezekiel 19:9); “alive [baḥayim]” is written.40The word as written in this verse is baḥaḥim. Some suggest that the midrash derives the connection between “with hooks [baḥaḥim]” and “alive [baḥayim]” from the fact that in Ezekiel 29:4 the word hooks [ḥaḥim] is written with two yods, such that it could be read ḥaḥayim (HaTirosh). Rabbi Shimon said: They lowered him to him dead, just as it says: “So that his voice would be heard no longer” (Ezekiel 19:9). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: I will uphold the statement of both of them. They lowered him alive, but he was delicate and he died at their hands.
What did Nebuchadnezzar do to him? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: He took him and brought him around to all the cities of Judah, and he sat and judged him in a show trial and executed him. He tore open a donkey and placed him in it. That is what is written: “He will be buried in the burial of a donkey” (Jeremiah 22:19). Rabbi Neḥemya said: He took him and brought him to all the cities of Israel and executed him. He would cut from him [pieces of flesh the size of] olive bulks and cast them to the dogs. That is what is written: “He will be buried in the burial of a donkey.” Where is a donkey buried, is it not in the innards of a dog?
It is he whom the prophet castigates and says: “The rest of the matters of Yehoyakim, and everything that he did” (II Kings 24:5).41Some suggest that the reference should be to the following verse: “The rest of the deeds of Yehoyakim, and his abominations that he performed, and that which was found about him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah” (II Chronicles 36:8) (Rashash). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There were three amora’im;42Three amora’im offered interpretations as to the actions he performed that are alluded to in the phrase “and that which was found about him” – see previous footnote. one said that he wore diverse kinds, one said that he pulled his foreskin,43He attempted to conceal that he was circumcised. one said that he had a tattoo engraved on his flesh.
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is that he consorted with his mother, his daughter-in-law, and his father’s wife, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The truth of the matter is that he entered the entrance through which he had emerged. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is that he settled biraniyot in Jerusalem. What are biraniyot? Empty [bairan] and bound [tzairan], as he would kill the husbands, ravage the wives, and place their money in the royal treasury. That is what is written: “He ravished its widows” (Ezekiel 19:7).
Once Nebuchadnezzar killed him, he crowned his son, Yekhonya, in his stead and descended to Babylon. All the citizens of Babylon emerged to laud him. They said to him: ‘What did you do?’ He said to them: ‘Yehoyakim rebelled against me. I killed him and crowned his son Yekhonya in his stead.’ They said to him: ‘The parable says: Do not raise a good puppy from a bad dog, and a bad puppy from a bad dog, all the more so.’ Immediately, he heeded them and ascended and encamped at Daphne at Antioch. The Great Sanhedrin descended to greet him. They said to him: ‘Has the time arrived for this house to be destroyed?’ He said to them: ‘No. However, the one whom I crowned, give him to me and I will go on my way.’ They went and said to Yekhonya: ‘Nebuchadnezzar wants you.’ What did he do? He stood and collected all the keys to the Temple and ascended to the rooftop. He said: ‘Master of the universe, since we did not merit to be treasurers before You; until now we have been faithful custodians before You, from here on, here are Your keys before You.’ Two amora’im; one said,a sort of fiery hand descended and took them from him, and one said, from the moment that he threw them, they did not descend again. What were the youths of Israel doing? They were ascending to their rooftops and falling and dying. That is what is written: “A prophecy of the Valley of Vision: What, indeed, is with you, that you all went up to the roofs?” (Isaiah 22:1).
What did Nebuchadnezzar do? He took him and incarcerated him in prison. Anyone who was incarcerated in his days would never emerge from there, based on: “Who never released his prisoners homeward” (Isaiah 14:17). Yehoyakhin44Yehoyakhin, Yekhonya, and Konya are all varieties of the same name and refer to the same individual. was exiled and the Great Sanhedrin was exiled with him. That is what is written: “Is [this man Konya] a despised, shattered idol [ha’etzev]?” (Jeremiah 22:28). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Like this bone [ka’etzem] with marrow, that once you shatter it, it is not good for anything…until “She’altiel” (I Chronicles 3:17). The Holy One blessed be He consulted [shaal] with His supernal court and they annulled His oath.45See Vayikra Rabba 10:5.
At that moment, the Great Sanhedrin convened to deliberate and said: In our day, the kingdom of the House of David will cease, in whose regard it is written: “His throne will be as the sun before Me” (Psalms 89:37). What shall we do? Let us go and appease Gadelet,46Gadelet was the nursemaid of Nebuchadnezzar’s queen’s nursemaid. and Gadelet [will appease] the queen, and the queen [will appease] the king. They went and appeased Gadelet, and Gadelet, the queen, and the queen, the king.
What was the name of Nebuchadnezzar’s wife? Rav Huna said: Her name was Shemiram. Rabbi Avin said: Her name was Shemiramot. The Rabbis say: Her name was Shemiraam, because she was born in thunder.
When Nebuchadnezzar came to consort with her, she said to him: ‘You are a king; is Yekhonya not a king? You seek your position; does Yekhonya not seek his position?’47Yekhonya, as a king, deserves to be treated with some degree of respect, even in prison. In particular, he should be granted his position, meaning conjugal rights. Immediately he issued a decree and they gave him his wife. How did they lower her to him? Rabbi Shabetai said: They lowered her to him through the skylights. The Rabbis say: They opened the roof and lowered her to him. When he came to consort with her, she said to him: ‘I saw [blood] like a red rose.’48She experienced menstrual bleeding. He withdrew from her. Immediately, she went, counted, became purified, and immersed.
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘In Jerusalem you did not fulfill the mitzva of discharge, but now you are fulfilling it, as it is stated: “You too, for the blood of your covenant, I have released your prisoners from the pit” (Zechariah 9:11). You remembered that blood of Sinai;49The blood of the covenant (see Exodus 24:8). therefore, “I have released your prisoners.”’50Yehoyakhin was eventually released (see II Kings 25:27–28). Rabbi Shabetai said: He did not move from there until the Holy One blessed be He granted him atonement for him of all his iniquities. Regarding that moment it says: “All of you is fair, my love, and there is no blemish in you” (Song of Songs 4:7). A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: “Return, wayward children, I will heal your deviances” (Jeremiah 3:22).
How did they lower him? Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Natan said: They lowered him alive, just as it says: “They placed him in a cage with hooks [baḥaḥim]” (Ezekiel 19:9); “alive [baḥayim]” is written.40The word as written in this verse is baḥaḥim. Some suggest that the midrash derives the connection between “with hooks [baḥaḥim]” and “alive [baḥayim]” from the fact that in Ezekiel 29:4 the word hooks [ḥaḥim] is written with two yods, such that it could be read ḥaḥayim (HaTirosh). Rabbi Shimon said: They lowered him to him dead, just as it says: “So that his voice would be heard no longer” (Ezekiel 19:9). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: I will uphold the statement of both of them. They lowered him alive, but he was delicate and he died at their hands.
What did Nebuchadnezzar do to him? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: He took him and brought him around to all the cities of Judah, and he sat and judged him in a show trial and executed him. He tore open a donkey and placed him in it. That is what is written: “He will be buried in the burial of a donkey” (Jeremiah 22:19). Rabbi Neḥemya said: He took him and brought him to all the cities of Israel and executed him. He would cut from him [pieces of flesh the size of] olive bulks and cast them to the dogs. That is what is written: “He will be buried in the burial of a donkey.” Where is a donkey buried, is it not in the innards of a dog?
It is he whom the prophet castigates and says: “The rest of the matters of Yehoyakim, and everything that he did” (II Kings 24:5).41Some suggest that the reference should be to the following verse: “The rest of the deeds of Yehoyakim, and his abominations that he performed, and that which was found about him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah” (II Chronicles 36:8) (Rashash). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There were three amora’im;42Three amora’im offered interpretations as to the actions he performed that are alluded to in the phrase “and that which was found about him” – see previous footnote. one said that he wore diverse kinds, one said that he pulled his foreskin,43He attempted to conceal that he was circumcised. one said that he had a tattoo engraved on his flesh.
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is that he consorted with his mother, his daughter-in-law, and his father’s wife, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The truth of the matter is that he entered the entrance through which he had emerged. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is that he settled biraniyot in Jerusalem. What are biraniyot? Empty [bairan] and bound [tzairan], as he would kill the husbands, ravage the wives, and place their money in the royal treasury. That is what is written: “He ravished its widows” (Ezekiel 19:7).
Once Nebuchadnezzar killed him, he crowned his son, Yekhonya, in his stead and descended to Babylon. All the citizens of Babylon emerged to laud him. They said to him: ‘What did you do?’ He said to them: ‘Yehoyakim rebelled against me. I killed him and crowned his son Yekhonya in his stead.’ They said to him: ‘The parable says: Do not raise a good puppy from a bad dog, and a bad puppy from a bad dog, all the more so.’ Immediately, he heeded them and ascended and encamped at Daphne at Antioch. The Great Sanhedrin descended to greet him. They said to him: ‘Has the time arrived for this house to be destroyed?’ He said to them: ‘No. However, the one whom I crowned, give him to me and I will go on my way.’ They went and said to Yekhonya: ‘Nebuchadnezzar wants you.’ What did he do? He stood and collected all the keys to the Temple and ascended to the rooftop. He said: ‘Master of the universe, since we did not merit to be treasurers before You; until now we have been faithful custodians before You, from here on, here are Your keys before You.’ Two amora’im; one said,a sort of fiery hand descended and took them from him, and one said, from the moment that he threw them, they did not descend again. What were the youths of Israel doing? They were ascending to their rooftops and falling and dying. That is what is written: “A prophecy of the Valley of Vision: What, indeed, is with you, that you all went up to the roofs?” (Isaiah 22:1).
What did Nebuchadnezzar do? He took him and incarcerated him in prison. Anyone who was incarcerated in his days would never emerge from there, based on: “Who never released his prisoners homeward” (Isaiah 14:17). Yehoyakhin44Yehoyakhin, Yekhonya, and Konya are all varieties of the same name and refer to the same individual. was exiled and the Great Sanhedrin was exiled with him. That is what is written: “Is [this man Konya] a despised, shattered idol [ha’etzev]?” (Jeremiah 22:28). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Like this bone [ka’etzem] with marrow, that once you shatter it, it is not good for anything…until “She’altiel” (I Chronicles 3:17). The Holy One blessed be He consulted [shaal] with His supernal court and they annulled His oath.45See Vayikra Rabba 10:5.
At that moment, the Great Sanhedrin convened to deliberate and said: In our day, the kingdom of the House of David will cease, in whose regard it is written: “His throne will be as the sun before Me” (Psalms 89:37). What shall we do? Let us go and appease Gadelet,46Gadelet was the nursemaid of Nebuchadnezzar’s queen’s nursemaid. and Gadelet [will appease] the queen, and the queen [will appease] the king. They went and appeased Gadelet, and Gadelet, the queen, and the queen, the king.
What was the name of Nebuchadnezzar’s wife? Rav Huna said: Her name was Shemiram. Rabbi Avin said: Her name was Shemiramot. The Rabbis say: Her name was Shemiraam, because she was born in thunder.
When Nebuchadnezzar came to consort with her, she said to him: ‘You are a king; is Yekhonya not a king? You seek your position; does Yekhonya not seek his position?’47Yekhonya, as a king, deserves to be treated with some degree of respect, even in prison. In particular, he should be granted his position, meaning conjugal rights. Immediately he issued a decree and they gave him his wife. How did they lower her to him? Rabbi Shabetai said: They lowered her to him through the skylights. The Rabbis say: They opened the roof and lowered her to him. When he came to consort with her, she said to him: ‘I saw [blood] like a red rose.’48She experienced menstrual bleeding. He withdrew from her. Immediately, she went, counted, became purified, and immersed.
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘In Jerusalem you did not fulfill the mitzva of discharge, but now you are fulfilling it, as it is stated: “You too, for the blood of your covenant, I have released your prisoners from the pit” (Zechariah 9:11). You remembered that blood of Sinai;49The blood of the covenant (see Exodus 24:8). therefore, “I have released your prisoners.”’50Yehoyakhin was eventually released (see II Kings 25:27–28). Rabbi Shabetai said: He did not move from there until the Holy One blessed be He granted him atonement for him of all his iniquities. Regarding that moment it says: “All of you is fair, my love, and there is no blemish in you” (Song of Songs 4:7). A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: “Return, wayward children, I will heal your deviances” (Jeremiah 3:22).
Midrash Tanchuma
The kings of the House of David likewise abolished the precept of circumcision. Jehoiakim extended his own foreskin (to hide his circumcision), as it is said: Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found upon him (II Chron. 36:8). What is the meaning of was found upon him? It means that he stretched his foreskin. Others maintain that this verse indicates that he tattooed his skin. Hence, we learn that both the priests and the kings abrogated the covenant of circumcision. The Holy One, blessed be He, declared: “I informed Aaron and David that their offspring would survive forever, as it is said: Ought you not to know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? (ibid. 13:5). And unto Aaron I swore: It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee (Num. 18:19). But they (their offspring) abrogated the covenant of circumcision!” The Holy One, blessed be He, declared unto the prophet: Go and say unto them: If ye can break My covenant with the day, and My covenant with the night, so that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also My covenant be broken with David, My servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, My ministers (Jer. 33:20–21). When the Israelites heard this, they cried out: Woe unto us, the two families which the Lord did choose, He cast them off (ibid., v. 24). The Holy One, blessed be He, responded to them: Consider thou not what this people have spoken, saying: The two families, etc. (ibid.). And He asked: “When were they cast off?” At the time they abrogated the commandment mentioned in the verse that follows: Thus saith the Lord, If My covenant be not with day and night, etc. (ibid., v. 25), and it says: Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the Holy City, for no more shall enter into thee henceforth the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isa. 52:1). Amen and so may it be Thy will.