Cheshvan 22 – Then Jehoiachin His Son Reigned in His Place…

Cheshvan 22, 5786; from sunset November 12, 2025, to sunset November 13, 2025

(The twenty-second day of the eighth month)

This is an image of the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle; one of 50+ Babylonian Chronicles which is a series of tablets recording major events in Babylonian history. This tablet brags of capturing the king of Judah (Jehoiachin) and the appointment of a king of his choosing (Zedekiah).

Today is the possible date of the ending of King Jehoiakim’s 11-year reign and the beginning of Jehoiachin’s three month and ten-day reign.

Let’s do a quick rundown of the history behind this day by going back a dozen or so years. Josiah was king and, at that time, Pharaoh Necho was moving north out of Egypt to assist the king of Assyria. Though he was advised against it, Josiah went up against Necho near Megiddo, which proved to be a fatal mistake. Back in Jerusalem, the people crowned Josiah’s son Jehoahaz king in his father’s place. After a three-month reign, Pharaoh Necho put Jehoahaz in prison and shipped him off to Egypt, where he died. He then set up another one of Josiah’s sons, Eliakim, king in his place. Necho renamed Eliakim (God Sets Up) to Jehoiakim (The LORD Sets Up) and he reigned for a troublesome eleven years. During that time, Babylon defeated Egypt and Jehoiakim became a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar. When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became king.

Jehoiachin was either eight (2 Chronicles 36:9) or eighteen (2 Kings 24:8) years old when he became king…and today is the possible date of the beginning of his reign[1].

Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. At the turn of the year[2] King Nebuchadnezzar summoned him and took him to Babylon, with the costly articles from the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah, Jehoiakim‘s brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem. – 2 Chronicles 36:8-10 (NKJ)

The story is mirrored in 2 Kings 24:

So Jehoiakim rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. – 2 Kings 24:6-9 (NKJ)

¹The timing of today’s calendar event was calculated by taking the date that Jehoiachin was deposed (as stated in the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle – that is, Adar 2) and subtracting three months and ten days – the period of time mentioned in 2 Chronicles 36 that Jehoiachin reigned in Jerusalem before being carried off by Nebuchadnezzar.

According to the Chronicle, Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem on Adar 2 while Jehoiachin was king. The Akkadian cuneiform inscription reads:

Year 7 [597 BCE] in Kislev the king of Babylonia [Nebuchadnezzar] called out his army and marched to Hattu [the land of Syria, Israel and Judea]. He set his camp against the city of Judah [Jerusalem] and on the second Adar he took the city and captured the king [Jehoiachin]. He appointed a king of his choosing there [Zedekiah], took heavy tribute, and returned to Babylon.

²Similar to the Hebrew calendar, Babylonia used a lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an intercalary month inserted as needed by decree. Contrary to the Hebrew calendar, Babylonia’s year began in the spring – which may explain the “at the turn of the year” timeframe mentioned in 2 Chronicles 36:10, “at the turn of the ‘Babylonian’ year,” (i.e. in the springtime)?

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