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Since Jehoaikim began to reign in 609 B.C., his eleventh year was 598 B.C. (see Chart 20). In Jeremiah 25:1, we discover the next time-reference to Jehoiakim. There we read:
From this reference we know what year King Nebuchadrezzar began to reign. The fourth year of Jehoiakim was 605 B.C., which means that the first year of the Babylonian king was also 605 B.C. (Chart 20). The next citation that we will examine is II Chronicles 36:6, where God informs us that Jehoikim was deposed by the king of Babylon: "Against him came up Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon." In II Kings 24:6, we learn that Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah and Coniah in the Bible), the son of Jehoiakim, became the next king. In II Kings 24:8, we read that he was eighteen years of age when he began to reign and he reigned for three months. II Kings 24:8:
But II Chronicles 36:9 reports that he was eight years of age when he began to reign:
This apparent contradiction is resolved when we recognize that Jehoiakim made his eight-year-old son co-regent
with himself almost immediately after Jehoiakim ascended the throne. In the year 609 B.C, Jehoiakim began to reign.
The next year, 608 B.C., his eight-year-old son, Jehoiachin, was made co-regent with him. Thus, ten years later,
when Jehoiachin was 18 years old, he was already reigning when his father, Jehoiakim, was taken to Babylon. Jehoiachin
then reigned for three months and ten days before he was taken to Babylon (Chart 21). Additional information concerning
the deposing of Jehoiachin is given in II Kings 24:12, where we read that it was the eighth year of King Nebuchadnezzar.
The eighth year of King Nebuchadnezzar was, therefore, 598 B.C. Following the deposing of Jehoiachin, we read in II Kings 24:17-18 that the king of Babylon made a brother king of Judah in place of Jehoiachin. II Kings 24:17-18:
The End of the Nation of Judah Zedekiah's first full year according to the accession year system was 597 B.C., and his eleventh year by the same system was 587 B.C. Since he was the last king of Judah, the year 587 B.C. ended the period of the kings of Judah. Jeremiah 32:1 gives another citation that describes the time relationship between the reigns of Zedekiah and Nebuchadnezzar:
The tenth year of Zedekiah by the accession year system was 588 B.C., as was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar by the non-accession year system.
The end of Jerusalem is described in Jeremiah 52:12-15. The Bible describes the precise day that the city was
destroyed.
In this citation, God again emphasizes that this occurred in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar (in the non-accession year system). In II Kings 24:12, we read that it was in the eight year of King Nebuchadnezzar that Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon. In Jeremiah 52:28, the Bible records that it was in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar that 3320 captives were taken. There is no discrepancy because the eighth year of the king is the same as the seventh year. Counting from the year 605 B.C., when King Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne, we come to 598 B.C. as his eighth year. However, reckoning by the accession year system, the year 598 B.C. was his seventh year. Remember that in the accession year system, the year
number one for a king was the first full year he reigned and, therefore, the year number one was the year immediately following the year he ascended the throne (see Chart 22). Likewise, in Jeremiah 52:29, we read that in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive 832 persons. Remember, in Jeremiah 52:12-15, we read that it was in the nineteenth year that the captain of the guard carried away certain of the poor of the city. Again there is no contradiction. The eighteenth year of King
Nebuchadnezzar was the same year (587 B.C.) as the nineteenth year. The eighteenth year according to the accession year system started counting from his first full year as king (604 B.C.). The nineteenth year according to the non-accession year system started counting from the previous year (605 B.C) when he actually became king. By God's mercy, we have been enable to reconstruct the calendar of history covering the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah. In the next chapter, we will show why we can be certain that our starting date of 931 B.C. and our ending date of 587 B.C. are trustworthy. [An outline of the kings of Judah and Israel is on the following page.]
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