The Tribe of Judah (1 Chron 2:3-4:23): Descendants of Ram (Part 3)

1. The Descendants of Ram (cont)

Section 3 – Josiah, Zerubbabel and the returned exiles

The Chronicles record simply gives the succession of kings from Solomon to Josiah without giving any details of other sons involved. We shall therefore skip this portion of the record (1 Chron. 3:10-14) and take up our studies again at Josiah and his sons.

I Chronicles 3:15 says, “And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum”. It will be useful first of all to give some information about Josiah, and those who reigned after him, from 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles and Jeremiah.

Josiah – began to reign at the age of 8, and was killed at the age of 39 (2 Kings 22:1). After 8 years of his reign, at the age of 16, he began to turn to God (2 Chron.34:3).

Shallum – According to Jeremiah 22:11 -12 he reigned instead of Josiah his father and was taken into captivity. He must therefore have been Jehoahaz who ruled for 3 months after Josiah’s death and was taken captive by Pharaoh Necho. He was 23 at the time and was therefore born when Josiah was 16 (2 Kings 23:30-33).

Jehoiakim – Put on the throne by Pharaoh to replace Jehoahaz/Shallum. His original name was Eliakim. He began to reign at the age of 25, and, as this was only 3 months after his father Josiah had died at the age of 39, he must have been born when Josiah was only 14. He reigned 11 years (2 Kings 23:34-36).

Jehoiachin – Ruled instead of his father Jehoiakim for 3 months before being deposed by the Babylonians and taken into captivity in Babylon (2 Kings 24:8-12). In Jeremiah he is called both Jeconiah and Coniah (Jer. 24:1, 22:24).

Zedekiah – Placed by the Babylonians on the throne as a puppet king instead of Jehoiachin. His original name was Mattaniah. He was 21 when he began to reign, so he was only 10 when his father was killed, and was therefore much younger than his brothers Jehoahaz/Shallum and Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:17-18). After 11 years, his reign, and the kingdom of Judah, came to an end.

Two Problems

In comparing the genealogy in Chronicles with this information from elsewhere on the Scriptures, two problems can be seen:

1. According to the genealogy, Johanan was the firstborn and Jehoiakim the second. Yet Jehoiakim was born when his father was only 14.
2. According to the genealogy, Zedekiah was the third son of Josiah and Jehoahaz/Shallum the fourth. Yet at the time of Josiah’s death Jehoahaz/Shallum was 23 and Zedekiah only 10.

These problems were raised in the Bible Student Vol.1. No.6 and answers invited, but none subsequently appeared. Here are some suggestions to solve them.

Regarding the first problem, it is probably best to assume first of all that Johanan died before his father, hence the absence of any information about him in the historical accounts. It.need not necessarily be assumed that because he was the firstborn, he was the eldest; there are a number of cases in Scripture where the one Who took the position of firstborn was not actually born first (note 1 Chron.26:10). However, Johanan could have been literally born first, for we know that Jehoiakim’s mother was called Zebudah (2 Kings 23:36) and the mother of Zedekiah and Jehoahaz/Shallum was Hamutal (2 Kings 23:31, 24:18). Thus if Josiah could have had a son called Jehoiakim by Zebidah when he was 14, he could also have had a son called Johanan by Hamutal slightly earlier in the same year. Whilst it is surprising that Josiah was a father at so young an age, it is not impossible. Since it was not until 16 that he turned to God, it is reasonable to suppose that before that time he was living in the kind of dissolute atmosphere at court which would have permitted him to take two women at so young an age. His father Amon “trespassed more and more” (2 Chron.33:23), and from the details which are given of Josiah’s reformation we know that Jerusalem, and even the temple, were full of heathen worship with its corrupt and lewd practices, into which Josiah was probably initiated. It is incidentally interesting to note that Josiah was a grandfather at 32, for Jehoiachin/Jechoniah, his grandson, was born when Jehoiakim was 18 (cp. 2 Kings 23:36, 24:8).

The second problem seems to have no very satisfactory solution. Zedekiah is stated in 2 Chron.36:10 to be Jehoiachin/Jeconiah’s brother, and it might be suggested that he was not therefore the son of Josiah mentioned in the genealogy, but another son of Jehoiakim. However, the term “brother” must be taken in its wider meaning of “relation”, since it is quite explicitly stated in 2 Kings 24:17-­18 that Zedekiah was Jehoiachin/Jeconiah’s “father’s brother”, and his mother was “Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah who was also the mother of Jehoahaz/ Shallum (23:31). Perhaps the reason why Jehoahaz/Shallum is relegated to last place is because he reigned for only 3 months, and because of what is said about him by Jeremiah: “Thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: but he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more” (Jer. 22:11-12).

Rivalry amongst Josiah’s Sons

Although it is nowhere stated explicitly in the text that there was rivalry amongst the sons of Josiah, there is some evidence that this was so. On Josiah’s death, it was “the people of the land” who chose Jehoahaz/Shallum instead of his elder brother Jehoiakim, and perhaps his elder brother Johanan too, if he was still alive. Pharaoh Necho immediately invaded, deposed Jehoahaz/Shallum and made Jeho­iakim king. The people of the land seem to have been the patriotic party (I have developed this theme more fully in “The People of the Land”, Testimony June-July 1972) and they presumably chose Jehoahaz/Shallum because he was that way inclined himself. Presumably Necho put Jehoiakim on the throne instead because he was pro-Egyptian.

In the previous article in this series we saw the conflict which existed in the court of David between David’s sons by different mothers. No doubt the same would have happened in Josiah’s court. If Jehoiakim was indeed favourable to Egypt he must have been in conflict with his father who met his death opposing Egypt. Such a conflict was all the more a pity because Jehoiakim’s father-in-law Elnathan was the son of a supporter of Josiah’s reformation (cp. 2 Kings 24:8; Jer. 36:12 and 2 Kings 22:14 in that order), and Elnathan himself was a prince of Judah who was amongst those who tried to persuade Jehoiakim not to burn the scroll (Jer. 36:25).

The True Line

If Jehohanan, Jehoahaz/Shallum and Zedekiah had sons, they are not recorded, Only through Jehoiakim is it recorded that the line from David was maintained.

Zedekiah in fact appears in the Scriptures as a usurper. In Ezekiel 21:25 he is described as “profane wicked prince of Israel”, not king; the king was still Jehoiachin/Jechoniah, in exile in Babylon. This is supported by the parable of Ezek.17:1-10, where the taking into captivity of Jehoiachin/Jechoniah to Babylon is likened to the establishment of the topmost branch of the cedar of Israel in a foreign land by the Babylonian eagle, whilst the kingdom of Zedekiah is but “a spreading vine of low stature”. The name Zedekiah means “righteousness of Yah”, but in reality he was “profane” and “wicked”. Hence it was said by God: “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch…and this is the name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness” (Jer. 23:5-6). This is an obvious play upon the name of Zedekiah who was about to rule Judah as a puppet king, following the overthrow and capture of Jehoiachin/Jechoniah after a reign of 3 months as proph­esied in the previous chapter (22:24-26).

The line of David was thus regarded as going through Jehoiachin/Jechoniah, as can be seen in Matt.1:11, where, interestingly, Jehoiakim is missed out, pre­sumably as unworthy of inclusion since he was placed on the throne by Egypt.

The Line of Nathan

There now presents itself a problem. In 1 Chron.3 and Matt. 1, Salathiel/ Shealtiel appears as the son of Jehoiachin/Jechoniah, but in Luke 3:27 he appears as the son of Neri, a descendant of David through Nathan, not Solomon. In fact, in 1 Chron. 3:16-18 Jehoiachin/Jeconiah is shown as having 9 sons, yet in Jer. 22:30 we read,

“Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah”.

How then does he appear in the genealogy of Jesus?

There is a solution that seems to fit the facts of the case. Zedekiah, the son of Jehoiachin/Jeconiah referred to in 1 Chron. 3:15, died young without children. The first name in the following verse, ssir, was not in fact a son; the word means “captive” and the RV translates it as such: “Jeconiah, the captive”. Then comes Salathiel/Shealtiel, said by Luke to be the son of Neri, of the line of Nathan. Jehoiachin/Jeconiah in fact had no more children, so in order to keep the line of descent going for the kingship, he adopted this other descendant of David as his own son, and as heir to the throne of David. It would appear from 1 Chron. 3:18 that the rest of the sons of Neri were also adopted by Jehoiachin/Jeconiah; note the somewhat incidental way they are mentioned. It seems likely from the prophecy of 2 Kings 20:18 that Jehoiachin was made a eunuch when taken captive, which would explain the absence of further children.

Thus the legal line of descent to Jesus from Abraham and David in Matthew 1 and his actual genealogy in.Luke 3 converge at Salathiel/Shealtiel. The line from Solomon dies out; the line from Nathan takes over. Is this in fact what Ezekiel is referring to when he said, “exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high” (Ezek. 21:26 RV)? No literal descendant of Jehoiachin/Jechoniah ruled upon the throne of David, just as Jeremiah had said.

Zerubbabel and his Descendants

In Matt.1:12 and Luke-3:27 Zerubbabel is given as the son of Salathiel/ Shealtiel. He is several times called “Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel” in the Old Testament (Hag.1:1; Ezra 3:2). Yet in 1 Chron.3:19 he is shown as the son of Pedaiah, the brother of Salathiel/Shealtiel. Here perhaps the law of Deut. 25:5 -6 came into operation. Salathiel/Shealtiel died childless so his widow married his brother Pedaiah, and the resulting son Zerubbabel was counted as the son of Salathiel/Shealtiel. Interestingly enough, there were 7 brothers in all, as in the hypothetical case of the Sadducees (Matt.22:25) where the same law was invoked.

The names of 7 sons and a daughter of Zerubbabel are given. The split between the first group of 2 sons and the final group of 5 may indicate that the latter 5 were born after the return to the land of Israel from Babylon. It is interesting that 5 is said to be the number of grace, the grace of God in this case having been shown to captive Israel. The names which Zerubbabel gave to some of his sons certainly show an appreciation of what God had done for Israel; Hananiah means “Yah is gracious”, Berechiah means “Yah is blessing”, Hasadiah means “Yah is kind” and Jushabhesed means-“kindness is returned”.

The names of some of the sons of Zerubbabel occur in Ezra and Nehemiah. The only ones which could refer to men of Judah are in the context of the return under Ezra and Nehemiah which happened about 80 years after the return under Zerub­babel. If any of the names do refer to Zerubbabel’s sons, they must have been old men, even if we assume that Zerubbabel returned as a young man, and most of his children were born after the return.

Ezra was helped by some “chief men”, amongst them Meshullam (Ezra 8:16), and it may have been this same man who assisted Ezra in dealing with the matter of marrying strange wives (10:15). Likewise Meshullam was there when Ezra read the law (Neh. 8:4) and was among “the chief of the people” (Neh. 10:14,20).

Hananiah is another name that occurs in Nehemiah, for he was “ruler of the palace” and “a faithful man, and feared God above many” (7:2), and was alongside Meshullam as one of the “chief of the people” (10:23). One would expect the sur­viving sons of Zerubbabel to be prominent in this way.

There follows in 1 Chron. 3 a verse which makes little sense in the AV (v.21). The LXX, which is largely followed by the RSV, reads: “and the sons of Hananiah, Pelatiah, and Jeshaiah his son, Rephaiah his son, Arnan his son, Obadiah his son, Shecaniah his son”. This gives a line of descent from Hananian son of Zerubbabel to Shecaniah, 6 generations later. Of this line we can, perhaps, iden­tify Pelatiah, Zerubbabel’s grandson, with the one mentioned in Neh. 10:22 as a chief man along with his father Hananiah and his uncle Meshullam.

From Shecaniah the genealogy branches out again, but this must have been in times later than any historical record in the Old Testament, so we are unable to look for any links elsewhere.

Finally, we return to the New Testament where, after Zerubbabel, the line seems to bear no resemblance to Chronicles. The son of Zerubbabel given by Luke is Rhesa, a name which does not appear in Chronicles. There is a possible solution to this. The word “Rhesa” is, in fact, Chaldean for “prince”. In Ezra 1:8 Zerub­babel, under his Chaldean name of Sheshbazzar, is termed “the prince of Judah”. Hence it is conjectured that Luke 3:27 read originally “Joanna, son of Zerubbabel the prince”. Joanna is in fact the same name as Hananiah (the components of the name are reversed; in Joanna the name “Yah” is first, in Hananiah it is last), who was the son of Zerubbabel through whom the line is continued in 1 Chron. 3.

From Hananiah the straight line of descent to Shecaniah is given without any Other sons who may have existed being named (compare the line from Solomon to Josiah in v.10-14 where we know in some cases that other sons existed). The Juda son of Joanna in Luke 3:26 would have been a son of Hananiah who is not mentioned in Chronicles. In Matthew 1 there are known to be names missed out anyway, so Abiud could have been any of the grandsons of Zerubbabel, although we have shown him also as a son of Hananiah.