{"id":64577,"date":"2019-10-22T15:20:49","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T12:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64577"},"modified":"2023-05-16T12:36:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T09:36:44","slug":"the-end-of-punishment-is-the-beginning-of-redemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-end-of-punishment-is-the-beginning-of-redemption\/","title":{"rendered":"The End Of Punishment Is The Beginning Of Redemption"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What should we make of the strange coda to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem that concludes the Book of Kings? After recounting in unsparing detail the plundering of the Temple, the exile of people and finally the utter devastation of Judea, the author flashes forward 27 years into the depths of the Babylonian exile and gives us this little anecdote about the treatment of the exiled King Jehoiachin:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah…King Evilmerodach of Babylon, in the year he became king, took note of King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a throne above those of other kings who were with him in Babylon. His prison garments were removed, and [Jehoiachin] received regular rations by his favor for the rest of his life. A regular allotment of food was given him at the instance of the king\u2014an allotment for each day\u2014all the days of his life\u201d (25:27-30).<\/span><\/p>\n

The commentators are divided on how to read this vignette. Is Merodakh\u2019s patronizing treatment of the former King an expression of the ultimate degradation of Judah, as if Jehoiachin has become so harmless and pathetic that he no longer needs to be humiliated? Or should we see the material improvement of the former king as a sign of comfort and a portent that the worst is over and the Judah\u2019s fortunes are set to rise?<\/span><\/p>\n

Da\u2019at Mikra shows how the narrative of the kingdom\u2019s decline and fall is replete with linguistic parallels to the descriptions of Judah at the height of its glory under David and Solomon.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, at the end of his life David blesses God that he has merited that \u201chis eyes see\u201d his son Solomon peacefully succeeding him on the throne\u201d (I Kings I:48). In grotesque contrast, King Zedekiah is made to watch as his sons are slaughtered in front of him, before the King\u2019s eyes are put out so he will see nothing else ever again (II Kings 25:7). The very last thing he is permitted to witness is the violent destruction of his dynasty. This awful episode is made more painful still by the reference to David seeing his son\u2019s serene succession.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, the epilogue, of Jehoiachin eating food from the King of Babylon\u2019s table is set against the effusive descriptions of the food at King Solomon\u2019s table (I Kings 5:2-3) and the multitudes who ate from the King\u2019s table at the zenith of the kingdom. Jehoiachin\u2019s humiliation is rendered all the more acute by this verbal resonance.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, Da\u2019at Mikra sees in this a sign of hope. All the degradations of Israel have now played out, the precise inverses of her glory days. Now that the punishment has been meted out in full, the recovery of the nation\u2019s fortunes can begin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Fabre – Nabuchodonosor Has Zedekiah’s Children Killed before his Eyes, 1787 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64578,"id":64578,"title":"2kings25-Zedekiah's_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes","filename":"2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-end-of-punishment-is-the-beginning-of-redemption\/2kings25-zedekiahs_children_killed_before_his_eyes\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings25-zedekiahs_children_killed_before_his_eyes","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64577,"date":"2019-10-22 12:20:36","modified":"2019-10-22 12:20:45","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":651,"height":501,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes-300x231.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":231,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","medium_large-width":651,"medium_large-height":501,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","large-width":651,"large-height":501,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","1536x1536-width":651,"1536x1536-height":501,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","2048x2048-width":651,"2048x2048-height":501,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","post_full_size-width":651,"post_full_size-height":501,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes-546x420.jpg","home_baner-width":546,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The End Of Punishment Is The Beginning Of Redemption","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Connecting ignominious end to glorious beginning, signifies the possibility of a new beginning","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":64578,"id":64578,"title":"2kings25-Zedekiah's_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes","filename":"2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings25-Zedekiahs_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-end-of-punishment-is-the-beginning-of-redemption\/2kings25-zedekiahs_children_killed_before_his_eyes\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings25-zedekiahs_children_killed_before_his_eyes","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64577,"date":"2019-10-22 12:20:36","modified":"2019-10-22 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