1 Chronicles 3 · a question people ask
Who were Josiah's sons, and why does Zedekiah come twice?
This chapter names four: "the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, and the fourth Shallum" (3:15). The next verse has "The sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah his son" (3:16), so a Zedekiah comes in both verses. 2 Kings tells of "Jehoahaz the son of Josiah" (2 Kings 23:30), of "Eliakim the son of Josiah", whose name was changed to Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:34), and of Mattaniah, "Jehoiachin’s father’s brother", whose name was changed to Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17). 2 Chronicles says Nebuchadnezzar brought Jehoiachin to Babylon "and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 36:10). Jeremiah speaks of "Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father" (Jeremiah 22:11), and 2 Kings says the people made Jehoahaz "king in his father’s place" (2 Kings 23:30). Kings names no son of Josiah called Johanan (tap Johanan). The Bible doesn't say how these lists fit together, and they are left here as they stand.
The verses
“The sons of Josiah: the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, and the fourth Shallum. The sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah his son.”
“His servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.”
“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.”
“The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.”