Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin, whose other names were Jeconiah and Coniah, succeeded him on the throne but only reigned for three months (598-597 B.C.). When Nebuchadnezzar's troops were besieging Jerusalem the Babylonian king personally visited Judah's capital, and Jehoiachin surrendered to him (v. 12). The invasion fulfilled the Lord's warning to Solomon about apostasy in 1 Kings 9:6-9. A large deportation of Judah's population followed in 597 B.C. None of Jehoiachin's sons ruled Judah, as Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer. 22:30). Rather Nebuchadnezzar set up Jehoiakim's younger brother, Zedekiah, on the throne as his puppet and exercised his sovereign prerogative by changing his name (v. 17). The Jewish people, however, seem to have continued to regard Jehoiachin as the rightful heir to David's throne until his death.141
