It was customary in ancient times for conquering rulers to change the names of the puppet kings of their vassal states. They also changed the names of the people they took captive from conquered territories. This was done to establish the conquering king's authority over the people and the change in name often reflected the religious beliefs of the conquering king. We will see examples of that later in the Old Testament when the king of Babylon conquers Judah and renames the captives in the names of his own gods. In the case of Eliakim/Jehoiakim, however, his change of name does not involve a reference to a foreign god. Eliakim meant "God will establish/God will raise up" and Jehoiakim means "Jah (Yahweh) will establish". This has caused some scholars to conclude that Necho did not actually choose the replacement name but merely insisted on a change of name to drive home the point that the king of Judah is now subject to him.
Jehoiakim is not a godly man whom we would expect to choose a name that reflects faith in the God of Israel but perhaps he chose his replacement name simply because it had the same meaning as his original name. The Bible does not indicate that he held the God of Israel in reverence; quite the contrary. "Jehoakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done." (2 Kings 23:36-37, 2 Chronicles 36:5) In comparing him to his predecessors the authors are comparing him to his idolatrous predecessors. He, like his brother Jehoahaz, reverted back to the ways of some of their forefathers instead of being faithful to the Lord like their father Josiah.
It's interesting to note that King Jehoakim's mother is not the same woman as his brother Jehoahaz's mother. We don't know whether Josiah had more than one wife or whether, since Jehoakim was older than Jehoahaz, his mother died quite young (perhaps in childbirth) and Josiah remarried soon after her death. Josiah was a godly man but even the godly kings of Judah and Israel usually had more than one wife. The Lord warned the kings in Deuteronomy 17:17 that they weren't to take "many" wives because these wives would lead the kings' hearts away from God. This was primarily because taking "many" wives would include taking many foreign concubines who worshiped pagan deities. But it was never the Lord's best plan for marriage for there to be more than one husband or one wife in it. He clearly demonstrated His best plan for marriage when He joined together Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We have previously discussed the primary reasons that ancient kings usually took more than one wife, such as for the purpose of making political alliances and for the purpose of ensuring the continuation of their royal lineage, for infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates were very high in those times. The more sons a king could have, the more likelihood that at least one of them would survive to adulthood to eventually succeed his father as king.
Assyria has been the reigning world power for some time and it was Assyria that invaded and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. But Assyria is on the decline and Babylon has made repeated successful attacks on it, desiring to get out from under the control of Assyria. Several times in the Old Testament we have found the fall of Judah foretold but the nation that will cause the fall will not be Assyria but Babylon. Jehoiakim began his reign as a subject of the nation of Egypt but, as Babylon gains control over former world powers such as Egypt and Assyria, Jehoiakim finds himself subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. "During Jehoiakim's reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years." (2 Kings 24:1a)
As we continue our study of the reign of King Jehoakim we will take a look at the political and historical events that led to him becoming subject to and eventually taken captive by the king of Babylon.
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