2 Kings 25:30

And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(30) His allowance.—For the maintenance of his little court. Literally, And (as for) his allowance a continual allowance was given him from the king, a day’s portion in its day.

All the days of his (Jehoiachin’s) life.—He may have died before Evil-merodach was murdered. There would be nothing strange in this, considering his age and his thirty-seven years of imprisonment.

The writer evidently dwells with pleasure on this faint gleam of light amid the darkness of the exile. It was a kind of foreshadowing of the pity which afterwards was to be extended to the captive people, when the divine purpose had been achieved, and the exile had done its work of chastisement and purification. (Comp, Psalm 106:46; Ezra 9:9; Nehemiah 2:2.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:22-30 The king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah to be the governor and protector of the Jews left their land. But the things of their peace were so hidden from their eyes, that they knew not when they were well off. Ishmael basely slew him and all his friends, and, against the counsel of Jeremiah, the rest went to Egypt. Thus was a full end made of them by their own folly and disobedience; see Jeremiah chap. 40 to 45. Jehoiachin was released out of prison, where he had been kept 37 years. Let none say that they shall never see good again, because they have long seen little but evil: the most miserable know not what turn Providence may yet give to their affairs, nor what comforts they are reserved for, according to the days wherein they have been afflicted. Even in this world the Saviour brings a release from bondage to the distressed sinner who seeks him, bestowing foretastes of the pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore. Sin alone can hurt us; Jesus alone can do good to sinners.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Allowance - From the treasury, in order to enable him to maintain the state proper to his rank, and in addition to his food at the royal table. Jehoiachin, to the day of his death, lived in peace and comfort at the court of Babylon (compare Jeremiah 52:34).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

29. Jehoiachin … did eat … continually before him—According to an ancient usage in Eastern courts, had a seat at the royal table on great days, and had a stated provision granted him for the maintenance of his exiled court.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it came to pass in the thirty and seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah,.... Who must then be fifty five years of age:

in the twelfth month, on the twenty and seventh day of the month; in Jeremiah 52:31 it is said to be the twenty fifth day; of the reason of which difference; see Gill on Jeremiah 52:31,

that Evilmerodach king of Babylon; who is supposed, by some (z)", to be the same with Belshazzar, and his successor Neriglissar, the same with Darius the Mede in Daniel. From hence, to the end of the chapter, the same account is given of the kindness of this king to Jehoiachin, as in Jeremiah 52:31. See Gill on Jeremiah 52:31; see Gill on Jeremiah 52:32; see Gill on Jeremiah 52:33; see Gill on Jeremiah 52:34.Metasthenes (a) calls him Amilinus Evilmerodach, and says he reigned thirty years, and makes Belshazzar, or Baltassar, as he calls him, his third son.

(z) Vid. Lampe, Eccles. Hist. l. 1. c. 7. sect. 18. (a) Ut supra. (De Judicio Temp. & Annal. Pers. fol. 221. 2.)

Geneva Study Bible

And his {o} allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.

(o) Meaning, that he had standing in the court.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

30. And his [R.V. for his] allowance] i.e. He was assigned a regular amount in money or in kind for the keeping of such attendants as a captive king might be supposed to require.

a daily rate for every day] R.V. every day a portion. This is the A.V. rendering in Jeremiah 52:34, where the history says ‘until the day of his death all the days of his life’, an emphatic mode of expressing that the king’s mind did not change, nor was the arrangement altered by Evil-merodach’s successor.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 30. - And his allowance was a continual allowance. Keil supposes that this "allowance" was a daily "ration of food," intended for the maintenance of a certain number of servants or retainers. But it is quite as likely to have been a money payment. The word translated by "allowance" - אֲרֻחַת - does not point necessarily to food. It is a "portion' of any kind. Given him of the king - i.e., out of the privy purse, by the king's command - a daily rate for every day - or, a certain amount day by day - all the days of his life (see the comment on the preceding verse). Beth the privileges accorded to Jehoiachin, his sustenance at the king's table, and his allowance, whether in money or in kind, continued to the day of his death. Neither of them was ever revoked or forfeited. Thus this last representative of the Davidic monarchy, after thirty-six years of chastisement, experienced a happy change of circumstances, and died in peace and comfort. Probably, as Keil says, "this event was intended as a comforting sign to the whole of the captive people, that the Lord would one day put an end to their banishment, if they would acknowledge that it was a well-merited punishment for their sins that they had been driven away from before his face, and would turn again to the Lord their God with all their heart."



2 Kings 25:30

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And he (Jehoiachin) changed his prison garments," i.e., took them off and put other regal clothing on (cf. Genesis 41:42). "And ate continually before him all his life," i.e., ate at the king's table (cf. 2 Samuel 9:7). Moreover a daily ration of food was supplied to him by the king for the maintenance of his retainers, who formed his little court. The חיּיו כּל־ימי of 2 Kings 25:30, upon which Thenius throws suspicion without any reason, refers to Jehoiachin like that in 2 Kings 25:29; for the historian intended to show how Jehoiachin had fared from the day of his elevation to the end of his life. At the same time, we cannot infer from this with any certainty that Jehoiachin died before Evil-merodach; for the favour shown to him might be continued by Evil-merodach's successor. We cannot make any safe conjecture as to the motives which induced Evil-merodach to pardon Jehoiachin and confer this distinction upon him. The higher ground of this joyful termination of his imprisonment lay in the gracious decree of God, that the seed of David, though severely chastised for its apostasy from the Lord, should not be utterly rejected (2 Samuel 7:14-15). At the same time, this event was also intended as a comforting sign to the whole of the captive people, that the Lord would one day put an end to their banishment, if they would acknowledge that it was a well-merited punishment for this sins that they had been driven away from before His face, and would turn again to the Lord their God with all their heart.