2 Kings — Chapter 24

In his days Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up, and Joakim became his servant three years; and then he revolted against him. Lapide: The successive Babylonian invasions under Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah are the final stages of God's chastisement threatened since the days of Manasseh. Lapide follows Josephus in tracing the political narrative in detail, but his theological summary is decisive: \"This was done by the word of the Lord against Juda, to remove them from before him, for the sins of Manasseh\" (v. 3).

He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the strong men of the army, ten thousand captives; and every craftsman and smith; none remained, except the poor people of the land. Lapide: The selective deportation of all the military, noble, craftsman, and priestly classes, leaving only the poorest behind, was Nebuchadnezzar's policy to prevent future revolt. Among those taken in this deportation was the young Daniel with his companions — the beginning of a spiritual reversal, in which those taken captive for punishment became the bearers of God's revelation to the nations.