Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim was the King of Judah from 608 to 598. He was first Known as Eliakim but pharaoh Necho II deposed his brother in throne, making Eliakim king in his place. He is known for being a ruthless and not faithful ruler, he is know for burning one of the scroll of prophecies of the prophet Jeremiah. acording to 2 Kings 23:35 Jehoiakim ruled originally as a vassal of the Egyptians, paying a heavy tribute. To raise the money he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments. However, after the defeat of the Egyptian empire by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. Jehoiakim swiftly changed factions to avoid being destroyed and deposed.to be able to be spared by the Babylonians he accepted to pay tribute and gave to the Babylonians some precious artifacts from the temple and handed over some members of the royal family as hostages.Jehoiakim served as a vassal for king Nebuchadnezzar II for three years until one of the campaigns of  Nebuchadnezzar II to conquer Egypt failed, making Jehoiakim optimistic to come back under the Egyptian rule and hoping for the defeat of Babylon. However,  Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege  over Jerusalem for three months. Jehoiakim died short before the siege ended, and it is know that his body was taken out and thrown outside the city walls. in conclusion Jehoakim was not a very good king and all the mistakes he made ended in the destruction of the city and the plunder of the temple.