JOAKIM (ELIAKIM). - King of Judah (608-597), firstborn son of King Josiah, he was placed on the throne, after his brother Jehoahaz (v.) had been deposed, by the pharaoh Necho, who changed his name from Eliakim to I., perhaps wishing by this gesture to pay homage to the religion of Yahweh (Jāhājājūm = "Yahweh establishes") and even more to emphasize his high sovereignty over Judah. Within a few years he brought the country to complete subjugation and ruin. Presumptuous, superstitious and cruel, he stained himself with grave sins, shedding much innocent blood and persecuting the prophets: one of these, Uriah, for having foretold the end of the city and of the kingdom, was put to death (Jer. 26:20 ff.).
The first three years passed rather quietly under the high control of the pharaoh of Egypt, to whom I. had immediately to render an act of submission and pay tribute (II Kings 23:33). But with the defeat of Carchemish (605 B.C.), Egypt lost its predominance, and Syria and Palestine fell under the supremacy of Babylon, which however for some time remained merely nominal, since Nebuchadnezzar was detained in his own country. In those years (605-601 B.C.) the kingdom of Judah too was able to benefit and enjoy greater autonomy. But the situation had changed, and I. was wrong to persist obstinately in his pro-Egyptian policy, which was bound to draw the reprisals of the Babylonian king. Opposed to such a political course were the more fervent Yahwists, such as the prophet Jeremiah (v.), who saw in it a grave danger not only for the security of the nation but also for religion. Indeed, under King I. the various idolatrous cults, which had been crushed by his father Josiah (v.), immediately regained strength and spread. Jeremiah himself, accused of defeatism, was ceaselessly persecuted by this king: he suffered imprisonment, insults, beatings and threats of death. One day, in the fifth year of his reign, I. had all the prophet's oracles read to him, and as the scroll was unrolled, the impious king would cut up the parts that had been read and burn them. But Jeremiah dictated the oracles anew to Baruch and added new ones, also predicting the ignoble end of the wicked monarch (Jer. 36). In fact Nebuchadnezzar, having settled affairs in Mesopotamia, did not delay in making the weight of his sovereignty felt in Syria and Palestine (ca. 601 B.C.). Some princes of those countries hastened to render an act of submission and pay tribute (Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., X, 6, 1-2). As for the king of Judah, it seems that the hand of the new master made itself more harshly felt, if to this occasion must be referred the notice transmitted only by II Chron. 36:6 f., that Nebuchadnezzar put King I. in chains and plundered the Temple. It seems that Nebuchadnezzar, being aware of I.'s pro-Egyptian policy, at first treated him harshly, but then, having obtained a promise of loyalty, released him free and restored him to the throne (in this sense the notice of Dan. 1:1 would also agree, that in the third year of I.'s reign Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, took the king himself and carried off the furnishings of the Temple: but the chronological indication, as it seems, is to be attributed to an error of the copyist, and perhaps the original text read "eighth year" and not "third year": cf. G. Ricciotti, p. 482).
But the forced vassalage toward Babylon lasted little. I., disregarding the repeated warnings of Jeremiah, continued in his heart to side with Egypt, secretly maturing his plans for that uprising, which became, after three years, open rebellion against the Chaldean empire. Nebuchadnezzar at first limited himself to sending against the rebellious king of Judah armed bands of Arameans, Moabites and Ammonites together with some detachments of Chaldeans (II Kings 24:2); a few months later he himself came to lay siege to Jerusalem. But he found that King I. had died shortly before (at the age of 36), perhaps by a violent death (either in combat or as the result of a conspiracy). After barely three months Jerusalem fell (697 B.C.) and the new king Jehoiachin (v.) or Jeconiah surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar.