What Does 1 Chronicles 3:15 Mean?

(15) **And the sons of Josiah.**—The regular succession by primogeniture ceases with Josiah. **The firstborn Johanan** (*Iahweh bestowed*) never ascended the throne of his fathers. He may have died early. He is not to be identified with Jehoahaz, who was two years younger than Jehoiakim (2Kings 23:31; 2Kings 23:36), and therefore could not have been the *firstborn* of Josiah. **The second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.**—The order of succession to the throne after Josiah was this:—First, Shallum (= Jehoahaz, 2Kings 23:30; comp. Jeremiah 22:11); then Jehoiakim (= Eliakim, 2Kings 23:34; Jeremiah 22:18); then Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakini (= Jehoiachin, Jeremiah 22:24); and, lastly, Zedekiah (= Mattaniah, 2Kings 24:17), **The third Zedekiah.**—Zedekiah was much younger than Shallum. Shallum was twenty-three when he came to the throne, which he occupied eleven years. Zedekiah succeeded him at the age of twenty-one (2Kings 23:31; 2Kings 24:18). The order of 1Chronicles 3:15 is not wholly determined by seniority any more than by the actual succession. If age were considered, the order would be Jehoiakim, Shallum, Zedekiah; if the actual succession, it would be, Shallum, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah. The order of the text may have been influenced by the two considerations—(1) That Jehoiakim and Zedekiah each enjoyed a reign of eleven years, while Shallum reigned only three months; (2) That Shallum and Zedekiah were full brothers, both being sons of Hamutal, whereas Jehoiakim was born of another of Josiah’s wives, viz., Zebudah.