{"id":64539,"date":"2019-10-22T09:21:08","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T06:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64539"},"modified":"2023-05-16T13:03:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T10:03:10","slug":"a-daily-allotment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-daily-allotment\/","title":{"rendered":"A Daily Allotment"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[432,451],"acf":{"old_id":"64539","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33692,"related_cahpter":"334","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Events may yet again shift in Israel's favor with the restoration to land, the Temple, and self-governance\r\n","content":"

Kings 25:27-30 is an enigmatic finale to Kings. Jerusalem is in ruins, its people exiled. Suddenly we read a snippet of information about the exiled king, as we jump forward thirty-seven years and hear that with the advent of a new Babylonian ruler, Jehoiachin has been released from his Babylonian incarceration. But why is this story included as the epilogue to the <\/span>churban<\/span><\/em>? What does it seek to convey?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some look at this as a tale of pessimism and despair, continuing the gloom and doom of the book of Kings. In this reading the king languishes in exile, any hope of a collective return to Zion an absolute impossibility. The Judahite king is absolutely dependent upon his Babylonian benefactor. The <\/span>churban<\/em> <\/span>in this reading is final and definitive. Others, however, disagree, pointing to the release of the king as optimistic news. Corroboration for this may be found in the language, which speaks of the restoration of Jehoiachin’s “throne,” and in the manner in which the king “raised the head” of Jehoiachin, a phrase which in its parallel usage in Genesis 40:13 connotes not merely freedom from incarceration but restoration to one’s former position and prestige. Does the change in Jehoiachin’s physical conditions and his newfound rise in status evoke some hope that better times are ahead?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One phrase which strikes us \u2014 almost the final word of the book \u2014 expresses how Jehoiachin’s food is bestowed “<\/span>devar yom beyomo<\/span><\/em>” (II Kings 25:30), on a daily basis. This particular phrase appears in only one other place in Kings: at the dedication of the Temple. There Solomon says:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let these words of mine, which I have pleaded before God, be close to the Lord God day and night, and may He maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, day by day \u2014 <\/span>devar yom beyomo<\/span><\/em>. (I Kings 8:59)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This, then, is a phrase of divine response to Israel’s prayers. Evil-merodach’s provision of Jehoiachin’s daily requirements is indicative that God is in some manner engaging with His nation and acting with mercy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jehoiachin’s reprieve offers a glimmer of hope, a sense that the tide has turned, and events may yet again shift in Israel’s favor with the restoration to land, the Temple, and self-governance. Indeed, it shall be none other than Jehoiachin’s grandson Zerubbabel who, one generation hence, will lead the exiles back to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Israel, II Kings: In a Whirlwind<\/em>, Maggid Books, 2019, The End<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63310,"id":63310,"title":"Alex Israel - 2_kings_cover","filename":"Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-hairy-prophet\/alex-israel-2_kings_cover\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"alex-israel-2_kings_cover","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63117,"date":"2019-09-23 13:43:41","modified":"2019-09-23 13:53:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1711,"height":1821,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-768x817.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":817,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-962x1024.jpg","large-width":962,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1443,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1711,"2048x2048-height":1821,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-1128x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1128,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-395x420.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Excerpts from: II Kings - 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