Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 23:31–end
Jerusalem saw not a good day after Josiah was laid in his grave, but one trouble came after another, till within twenty-two years it was quite destroyed. Of the reign of two of his sons here is a short account; the former we find here a prisoner and the latter a tributary to the king of Egypt, and both so in the very beginning of their reign. This king of Egypt having slain Josiah, though he had not had any design upon Judah, yet, being provoked by the opposition which Josiah gave him, now, it should seem, he bent all his force against his family and kingdom. If Josiah's sons had trodden in his steps, they would have fared the better for his piety; but, deviating from them, they fared the wo…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 23:29
In his days Pharaoh-nechoh--(See Ch2 35:20-27).
Next: 2 Kings Chapter 24
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 23:37
He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord - He was a most unprincipled and oppressive tyrant. Jeremiah gives us his character at large, Jer 22:13-19, to which the reader will do well to refer. Jeremiah was at that time in the land, and was an eyewitness of the abominations of this cruel king.
John Gill on 2 Kings 23:37
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. Amon and Manasseh; see 2 Kings 23:32.
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Kings 23:36–end
Reign of Jehoiakim (cf. Ch2 36:5-8). - Jehoiakim reigned eleven years in the spirit of his ungodly forefathers (compare Kg2 23:37 with Kg2 23:32). Jeremiah represents him (Kg2 22:13.) as a bad prince, who enriched himself by the unjust oppression of his people, "whose eyes and heart were directed upon nothing but upon gain, and upon innocent blood to shed it, and upon oppression and violence to do them" (compare Kg2 24:4 and Jer 26:22-23). Josephus therefore describes him as τὴν φύσιν ἄδικος καὶ κακοῦργος, καὶ μήτε πρὸς Θεὸν ὅσιος, μήτε πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιεικής (Ant. x. 5, 2). The town of Rumah, from which his mother sprang, is not mentioned anywhere else, but it has been su…
