Jehoiachin reigned a mere three months before Nebuchadnezzar took him into exile. He was one more Judean king who did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and his one recorded action as king was to surrender to the Babylonians. How significant can a king be whose reign ended when it had scarcely begun? Remarkably, unlike his uncles, Jehoahaz and Zedekiah, Jehoiachin did not disappear after his removal. Instead, he became the focus of ongoing prophetic discussion about the monarchy, his rehabilitation by Evil-Merodach was a turning point in the exile, and his offspring was eventually identified as the future of David's line. The attention paid to Jehoiachin in the canon is the seed of Patton's study. Why is there such interest in a king who was so insignificant politically and wholiterarily speakingis a rather flat character? What significance do particular biblical books attribute to him, and why?
If we expand our purview to the Bible as a whole, another reason for investigating Jehoiachin emerges. The exile was one of the most significant events in the history of Israel. In its midst, Jehoiachin occupies an important position as both one of the last kings of Judah and one of the first exiles. Are there ways in which biblical writers capitalize on Jehoiachin's unique position for their broader theological purposes?
Going one step further, in Hope for a Tender Sprig, Patton pursues not only the diversity of the Bible but also its unity, suggesting that salvation history is useful for conceiving the unity of the Bible, especially when we are concerned with a historical figure such as Jehoiachin. If the various books of the Bible bear witness to one grand storyline, what is the significance of Jehoiachin within that story? In the light of the canon as a whole, can we synthesize the various perspectives on Jehoiachin and articulate his distinctive role in this grand narrative?
These questions beg many others. What do we mean by canon? What grounds do we have for considering the canon as a unity, and why should we consider salvation history a valid paradigm for understanding it as a whole? What is the relationship of salvation history to real history, and is this even a valid question? What role will extrabiblical evidence (some of which concerns Jehoiachin directly) play in our investigation? Patton addresses these issues and arrives at a comprehensive biblical-theological reflection on Jehoiachin's significance.
Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
IntroductionHistory of Research
Method
Overview
Historical Background
Babylonian Foreign Policy
The Gěbîrâ
Judean Exiles in Babylonia
Mesopotamian Imprisonment Practices
The King’s Table
Conclusion
Jehoiachin in 2 Kings
Jehoiachin in 2 Kings 24:8–17 and 25:27–30
Excursus: The Primary History as a Literary Unit
Narrative Analogies to Jehoiachin
Themes Pertaining to Jehoiachin
Conclusion
Jehoiachin in Jeremiah
Jehoiachin Uprooted
Hope for Jehoiachin’s Planting
Conclusion
Jehoiachin in Ezekiel
Making Low the Exalted: The False David Deposed
Making High the Low: The True David Exalted
Conclusion
Jehoiachin in Persian-Period Scriptures
Jehoiachin in Chronicles
Allusions to Jehoiachin in Haggai and Zechariah
Jehoiachin in Second Temple Texts
Septuagint
2 Baruch
Josephus
Targums and Rabbinic Traditions
Conclusion
Jehoiachin in the New Testament
Matthew 1:11–12
Luke’s Genealogy of Jesus
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Conclusion
Jehoiachin in Theology
A Salvation-Historical Approach to Biblical Theology
Jehoiachin in Salvation History
Conclusion
Appendix 1. Names of Jehoiachin
Appendix 2. Divine Oaths and Their Fulfillment
Appendix 3. Genre in Ezekiel 17
Bibliography
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
“A worthy contribution to OT scholarship on Jehoiachin and biblical theology of salvation history. Though the author may overstate the significance of Jehoiachin, the exegetical work displayed throughout and the trajectory these passages provide in salvation history are valuable. This reader will incorporate many insights from this book into both teaching and preaching.”
—Dean M. Erickson, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
