# Judah passes from Egyptian to Babylonian domination

Divided Kingdom · Draft · BSB

Content revision: aa6a37ece97fdf9c · No editorial review date recorded

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Date: Judah · Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim · Egyptian tribute, then Babylonian rule

Neco removes Jehoahaz after three months, imprisons him at Riblah and takes him to Egypt. He installs Eliakim, renaming him Jehoiakim, and demands tribute. Jehoiakim later serves Nebuchadnezzar for three years, then rebels; raids weaken Judah as Babylon overtakes Egypt’s regional power.

The passage spans several years and two imperial powers, not one simultaneous occupation. Kings connects Judah’s coming removal with Manasseh’s sins and innocent blood. Jehoiakim’s death closes the reign summary; the great destruction of Jerusalem has not yet occurred.

## Primary Scripture

[2 Kings 23:31–24:7 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%2023%3A31%E2%80%9324%3A7&version=BSB)

23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

23:32 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.

23:33 And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

23:34 Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, where he died.

23:35 So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each according to his wealth.

23:36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah.

23:37 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.

24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

24:2 And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.

24:3 Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done,

24:4 and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.

24:5 As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

24:6 And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.

24:7 Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

## Related Scripture

[Jeremiah 22:10–12 · prophecy](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2022%3A10%E2%80%9312&version=BSB)

Jeremiah laments the king taken away; Shallum is another name associated with Jehoahaz.

## Location evidence

Jerusalem marks the royal center, and Riblah is a proposed identification near modern Ribleh. Jehoahaz’s place of death in Egypt is unnamed; no specific Egyptian city or imperial invasion route is invented.

Event map marker: Identified site; \[longitude, latitude\] = \[35.234167, 31.776667\]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.

Jerusalem: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.234167, 31.776667\]. Classification source: editorial.

[OpenBible.info: Jerusalem (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a15257a/jerusalem)

Riblah: Proposed site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[36.572623, 34.459547\]. Classification source: editorial.

[OpenBible.info: Riblah (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/ab2bde8/riblah-1)

[OpenBible.info: Jerusalem (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a15257a/jerusalem)

## For the class

What signs show how little freedom Judah’s kings now have to determine their own rule?

## Interpretation and reuse

Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.

Record source: editorial (content/authored/divided-kingdom.json)

Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.

Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.

Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm

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