IOAKIM (ELIACIM). — King of Judah (608–597), eldest son of King Iosia, was placed on the throne, Ioachaz (v.) had been deposed, by Pharaoh Nechao, who changed his name from Eliacim to I., perhaps wishing by this gesture to pay homage to the religion of Jahweh (Jāhājājūm = “Jahweh establishes”) and, even more, to emphasize his own 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 crimes, shedding much innocent blood and persecuting the prophets: one of them, Uria, for having foretold the end of the city and the kingdom, was put to death (Ier. 26, 20 ff.).
The first three years passed in relative tranquillity under the supreme control of the pharaoh of Egypt, to whom I. had immediately to submit and pay tribute (II Reg. 23, 33). But with the defeat of Charcamis (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 Nabuchodonosor was detained in his homeland. During 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 at fault for persisting in his pro-Egyptian policy, which was inevitably bound to bring reprisals from the Babylonian king. Opposed to this political direction were the more fervent Jahwists, such as the prophet Geremia (v.), who saw in it a grave danger not only to the security of the nation but also to the religion. Indeed, under King I., the various idolatrous cults that had Iosia (v.) immediately regained strength and spread once more. Geremia himself, accused of defeatism, was continually 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 predictions read aloud to him, and as the scroll was unrolled, the impious king cut up the portions that had been read and burned them. But Geremia dictated the predictions anew to Baruch and added new ones, also proclaiming the ignominious end of the impious monarch (Ier. 36). In fact, once Nabuchodonosor had put affairs in Mesopotamia in order, he 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 submit and pay tribute (Flavio Giuseppe, Antiq. Iud., X, 6, 1–2). As for the king of Judah, it seems that the hand of the new master was felt more harshly, if the report transmitted only by II Par. 36, 6 ff. is to be referred to this occasion: Nabuchodonosor put King I. in chains and plundered the Temple. It seems that Nabuchodonosor, aware of I.’s pro-Egyptian policy, initially treated him harshly, but then, having obtained a promise of loyalty, released him and restored him to the throne (in this sense the report of Dan. 1, 1 would also be consistent: in the third year of I.’s reign, Nabuchodonosor besieged Jerusalem, seized the king himself, and carried away the furnishings of the Temple; but the chronological indication, as it seems, is attributable to a copyist’s error, and perhaps the original text read “eighth year” rather than “third year”: cf. G. Ricciotti, p. 482).
But the forced vassalage to Babylon lasted only a short time. I., taking Geremia’s repeated warnings into account, continued inwardly to side with Egypt, secretly devising his plans for that counteroffensive which, after three years, became open rebellion against the Chaldean empire. At first Nabuchodonosor confined himself to sending against the rebellious king of Judah armed bands of Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites, together with some Chaldean units (II Reg. 24, 2); a few months later he himself came to besiege Jerusalem. But he found that King I. had died shortly before (at the age of 36), perhaps a violent death (either in combat or as the result of a conspiracy). After barely three months Jerusalem fell (597 B.C.), Ioachin (v.), or Iechonia, surrendered to Nabuchodonosor.