Eliakim - UPDV Updated Bible Version

The name Eliakim ("God will establish") is borne by several distinct figures in the UPDV. One stood at Hezekiah's right hand during the Assyrian crisis and received an oracle of personal elevation; another was a son of Josiah whose throne-name was changed at Egyptian command and whose reign ended in Babylonian fetters; others appear in priestly lists and in the genealogy of Jesus.

Eliakim son of Hilkiah, over the household

In the reign of Hezekiah, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah held the office "over the household." When the Rabshakeh of Sennacherib came up against Jerusalem and called for the king, "there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder" (2Ki 18:18). The same delegation appears in the parallel narrative in Isaiah: "Then came forth to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder" (Isa 36:3).

Faced with the Rabshakeh's taunts in the hearing of the people on the wall, the three men asked him to switch languages: "Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray you, to your slaves in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and don't speak to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people who are on the wall" (Isa 36:11). When the Rabshakeh refused, the delegation withdrew in mourning: "Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh" (Isa 36:22).

Hezekiah's response was to send the same officials to the prophet Isaiah: "And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz" (2Ki 19:2). The Isaian narrative records the mission in identical terms: "And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz" (Isa 37:2).

The oracle of Eliakim's elevation

Standing behind these crisis narratives is a Yahweh-oracle that names Eliakim as the displacer of Shebna. Yahweh declares: "And it will come to pass in that day, that I will call my slave Eliakim the son of Hilkiah" (Isa 22:20). The summons makes Eliakim Yahweh's chosen "slave" — the same household office Eliakim already holds is here ratified from above as a divine appointment.

Eliakim renamed Jehoiakim, king of Judah

A different Eliakim, the son of Josiah, was raised to the throne of Judah by Egyptian fiat after Pharaoh-necoh deposed his brother Jehoahaz. "And Pharaoh-necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim: but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there" (2Ki 23:34). The Chronicler tells the same story with the same name-change: "And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt" (2Ch 36:4).

Once renamed, the king is Jehoiakim throughout the rest of the OT. His reign ran eleven years and was judged evil: "Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of Yahweh to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the disgusting things that he did, and that which was found in him, look, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead" (2Ch 36:5-8). Kings adds the Babylonian vassalage and rebellion: "In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his slave three years: then he turned and rebelled against him" (2Ki 24:1).

Jehoiakim in the dating of Jeremiah

Jehoiakim's reign is the chronological frame for a large block of Jeremiah's oracles. Jeremiah's ministry is dated through it: "It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month" (Je 1:3). Specific oracles open with Jehoiakim regnal-year time-stamps: "The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon)" (Je 25:1); "In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, saying," (Je 26:1); "And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying," (Je 36:1).

The same fourth year of Jehoiakim is the historical setting for the oracle against Egypt: "Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh-neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah" (Je 46:2). Jeremiah's lament-oracle over the king predicts no public mourning at his death: "Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: they will not lament for him, [saying,] Ah my brother! Ah best brother! They will not lament for him, [saying,] Ah lord! Ah his excellence!" (Je 22:18). When Jehoiakim's name reappears in the closing summary of Zedekiah's reign, it is as the standard of evil: "And he did that which was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done" (Je 52:2).

Eliakim in the genealogy of Jesus

A later Eliakim appears in the post-exilic genealogy that Matthew traces from Zerubbabel to Joseph: "and Zerubbabel begot Abiud; and Abiud begot Eliakim; and Eliakim begot Azor" (Mt 1:13). Luke's genealogy also names an Eliakim, several generations earlier in its descent: "the [son] of Symeon, the [son] of Judas, the [son] of Joseph, the [son] of Jonam, the [son] of Eliakim," (Lu 3:30).

Eliakim the priest