Chapter 23 is the chapter of King Yoshiyahu's great revolution: the forging of the covenant, the eradication of idolatry from every corner of the land, and the making of the Pesach. In the final part of the chapter, which we will address here, the text reaches the climax of its praise for Yoshiyahu ("and there was no king like him before him"), and immediately afterward comes the harsh tiding that even all this repentance did not suffice to annul the decree. From there we move to Yoshiyahu's tragic death at Megiddo, and to the decline of the kingdom in the days of his sons Yehoachaz and Yehoyakim.
וְגַם אֶת־הָאֹבוֹת וְאֶת־הַיִּדְּעֹנִים וְאֶת־הַתְּרָפִים וְאֶת־הַגִּלֻּלִים וְאֵת כָּל־הַשִּׁקֻּצִים אֲשֶׁר נִרְאוּ בְּאֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה וּבִירוּשָׁלַיִם בִּעֵר יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ, לְמַעַן הָקִים אֶת־דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַכְּתֻבִים עַל־הַסֵּפֶר אֲשֶׁר מָצָא חִלְקִיָּהוּ הַכֹּהֵן בֵּית יְהֹוָה. - And also the Ovot and the Yidonim, the terafim and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Yehudah and in Yerushalayim, did Yoshiyahu eradicate, in order to fulfill the words of the Torah written on the scroll that Chilkiyahu the Kohen found in the House of Hashem.
Part of the purification of Yerushalayim and its surroundings from idolatry was also the eradication of the Ovot and Yidonim. These were people who, through powers of sorcery, would know all sorts of hidden things. The Yidoni is named after the bone of an animal called "yadua," which they would place under the armpit, and through it he would speak of hidden matters. The "terafim" were something like a human skull over which they would stretch the skin of the dead, dry it out, and insert into it matters of impurity, and through this the terafim would speak. The "gilulim" and "shikutzim" are types of idolatry. And all this Yoshiyahu did "in order to fulfill the words of the Torah written on the scroll that Chilkiyahu the Kohen found," whose central demand concerned the sin of idolatry.
וְכָמֹהוּ לֹא־הָיָה לְפָנָיו מֶלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר־שָׁב אֶל־יְהֹוָה בְּכָל־לְבָבוֹ וּבְכָל־נַפְשׁוֹ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדוֹ כְּכֹל תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה, וְאַחֲרָיו לֹא־קָם כָּמֹהוּ. - And there was no king like him before him, who returned to Hashem with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moshe, and after him none arose like him.
First let us consider the expression "who returned to Hashem": returned from what? We do not find that Yoshiyahu acted wickedly. There is an opinion among Chazal that Yoshiyahu did in fact sin at first and then repented. This is not stated explicitly in the verses, but from the language "who returned" we understand that in the past he acted wickedly and then turned back. And there is another opinion among Chazal that he never acted wickedly, so what is "who returned"? That every judgment he rendered from age eight until age eighteen he reversed, and he went and paid out of his own pocket to those people whom he had obligated to pay. He said: perhaps I rendered a judgment that was not true and just, perhaps I ruled contrary to halachah. He was not entirely certain of himself. Therefore he did not take from one and give to the other, for he was not certain that the winner truly deserved to have it taken from the defendant, but he was also not certain that the defendant deserved to lose. Therefore he went and paid out of his own pocket to everyone whom he had obligated to pay money. This was, of course, possible, since there were judges and there was a "record": everything was written down, and it was known who was judged and how the case was decided, all according to the king.
From the language of the verse, "and there was no king like him before him... and after him none arose like him," it seems he was a unique king in history. The Radak explains: indeed, we have seen righteous kings, but in each of them there was a shortcoming. Many of them did not remove the bamot, and the people still burned incense and offered sacrifices on the bamot. True, the kings did not allow idol worship, but on the bamot they worshiped in the name of Hashem, and this many kings did not abolish. Furthermore: regarding Asa it is written that he leaned on the king of Aram and sent him from the treasures of his silver, and it is written that even in his illness he did not seek out Hashem. Regarding Yehoshafat, who was a righteous king, it is written that he aided the kings of Israel and married into their family, into Achav's. Regarding Chizkiyahu it is written, "but Chizkiyahu did not repay according to the benefit done to him, for his heart grew haughty, and wrath came upon him and upon Yehudah and Yerushalayim." In each of them we found a shortcoming, whereas of Yoshiyahu it is said "according to all the Torah of Moshe" - that he lacked nothing.
The Malbim brings the interpretation of the Abarbanel, an interpretation we have already seen above: of Chizkiyahu it is said, "in Hashem the God of Israel he trusted, and after him there was none like him," and here it is said of Yoshiyahu that before him there was none like him. This seems to be a contradiction: who was more righteous, Chizkiyahu or Yoshiyahu? The Abarbanel explains that each of them was, in a particular point, at a level of righteousness so immense that there was none like it before him or after him. Chizkiyahu surpassed all the kings in the trait of trust: we saw what perfect trust he had in Hashem, that he went to sleep in his bed at the moment Sancheriv was about to destroy the city, and said that he did not even have the strength to sing praise, rather I am going to sleep and You will act. In such a trait of trust, after him there was none like him. And of Yoshiyahu it is said that before him there was no king who returned to Hashem - in the level of repentance there was no king of his stature. This one in the level of trust and that one in the level of repentance.
But as to the actual language "who returned to Hashem with all his heart," the Malbim says that there is no necessity to interpret it as the Gemara does, that the repentance was over judgments he rendered or over acting wickedly and turning back. According to the plain meaning of the text one can explain: the kings before him did not eradicate idolatry completely, and he did do so. "Who returned" means that he repented relative to all the kings before him - he turned away from all their ways and conducted himself in a new manner, eradicating all the idolatry, all the altars, and even the bamot on which they burned incense in the name of Hashem. There is no talk here of a personal sin of his, but of the people as a whole: he and the people repented and changed everything that had existed until his era. And Chazal say that indeed until Yoshiyahu's days there were still altars of idolatry, even in the periods of the righteous kings, as we saw the altars on the rooftop upper chamber of Achaz.
The Gemara says: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to make Chizkiyahu the Mashiach and Sancheriv Gog and Magog, but sin caused it not to be. The Malbim explains that from the moment the Ten Tribes were exiled in the first exile, this was already a time ripe for redemption: had they repented, the Holy One, blessed be He, would have gathered in the dispersed of Israel and brought the Mashiach, and there would have been a complete redemption. This is the first time from which it was already possible to begin to see the redemption, and this is the concept the Sages expressed as "achishenah" (I will hasten it) - that if we had merited, we would have merited then, in the sense of "I will hasten it." This is why we find that Yirmiyahu went and brought back the Ten Tribes, for Yirmiyahu reasoned thus: behold, now is the time ripe for redemption, now is the time to gather in the dispersed of Israel. And when was this? In the era of Yoshiyahu, for since Yoshiyahu repented with a complete repentance, there was an opportunity here to bring them all back. And yet the hour did not stand in their favor and they did not merit redemption. The reason, as we will see further on: Yoshiyahu himself was righteous, but the people were not in full alignment with his level.
אַךְ לֹא־שָׁב יְהֹוָה מֵחֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ הַגָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר־חָרָה אַפּוֹ בִּיהוּדָה, עַל כָּל־הַכְּעָסִים אֲשֶׁר הִכְעִיסוֹ מְנַשֶּׁה. - But Hashem did not turn from His great fierce anger, with which His anger burned against Yehudah, because of all the provocations with which Menasheh had provoked Him.
The prophet tells us: know that despite all the wondrous and immense repentance that Yoshiyahu did, Hashem did not turn from His great fierce anger that burned against Yehudah. And he also reminds us of the reason: "because of all the provocations with which Menasheh had provoked Him." Here the Abarbanel is puzzled, and the Malbim brings him: first, we see here that they repented. Second, why the mention of Menasheh? After all, we saw that Menasheh stood in repentance for thirty three years, and it is said of him "and He was entreated by him and heard his prayer," and as for Yoshiyahu himself there is no doubt that he was entirely righteous. But the Malbim already explained above that Menasheh's repentance was partial: first, he repented while the people did not. Second, he repented from the sin of idolatry, but something else is said of him - that Menasheh filled Jerusalem with blood from end to end. From the sin of murder, in whose wake murderers multiplied and killing became legitimized in Jerusalem in his days, from this he did not repent. Therefore these sins from the days of Menasheh remained in place. And although Yoshiyahu repented - as stated, he personally repented and uprooted idolatry, but the people remained clinging to idolatry in secret, as we will see explicitly in the words of the Sages.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה: גַּם אֶת־יְהוּדָה אָסִיר מֵעַל פָּנַי כַּאֲשֶׁר הֲסִרֹתִי אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּמָאַסְתִּי אֶת־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר בָּחַרְתִּי אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, וְאֶת־הַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתִּי יִהְיֶה שְׁמִי שָׁם. - And Hashem said: Yehudah too I will remove from before My presence, as I removed Israel, and I will reject this city that I chose, Jerusalem, and the House of which I said My name shall be there.
"Yehudah too I will remove" - meaning in addition to Israel, in addition to Shomron. Just as He removed Israel, so too I will remove Jerusalem, and also the House - that the House will be destroyed.
וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, הֲלֹא־הֵם כְּתוּבִים עַל־סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה. בְּיָמָיו עָלָה פַרְעֹה נְכֹה מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַיִם עַל־מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר עַל־נְהַר־פְּרָת, וַיֵּלֶךְ הַמֶּלֶךְ יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ לִקְרָאתוֹ, וַיְמִיתֵהוּ בִמְגִדּוֹ כִּרְאֹתוֹ אֹתוֹ. - And the rest of the acts of Yoshiyahu and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehudah. In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up against the king of Ashur to the Euphrates river, and King Yoshiyahu went to meet him, and he put him to death at Megiddo when he saw him.
Here we have only a single verse describing the war and the killing of Yoshiyahu by Pharaoh Necho. We have no detailed account of exactly what happened there and what the reasons were, and this appears in Divrei HaYamim.
וַיַּרְכִּבֻהוּ עֲבָדָיו מֵת מִמְּגִדּוֹ וַיְבִאֻהוּ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם וַיִּקְבְּרֻהוּ בִּקְבֻרָתוֹ, וַיִּקַּח עַם־הָאָרֶץ אֶת־יְהוֹאָחָז בֶּן־יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ וַיִּמְשְׁחוּ אֹתוֹ וַיַּמְלִיכוּ אֹתוֹ תַּחַת אָבִיו. - And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb, and the people of the land took Yehoachaz son of Yoshiyahu and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
They take him and bury him in Yerushalayim, and let us note that what the Holy One, blessed be He, told him is fulfilled: that he would come to his fathers in peace. What is meant by "in peace"? We already explained: that he would not witness the evil that would come upon Yerushalayim. For in the end we see that he was killed and did not die in his bed, so the meaning is that he would not witness the calamity, for here it says that the Holy One, blessed be He, rejected this city and it was decreed and sealed with Him to bring upon it what He had spoken. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, took Yoshiyahu beforehand, so that he would not witness the distress of Israel.
Let us also note the expression "and the people of the land took Yehoachaz." Why "took"? Because by law Yehoyakim was older than him and was the one fit to reign, yet they took Yoshiyahu's younger son, Yehoachaz, and made him king. Therefore we see later that when they did this, they came from Egypt and annulled this reign, and took Yehoachaz from here and made Yehoyakim king, since they had done something that should not have been done according to the law.
In Divrei HaYamim II chapter 35 there is a more detailed account: "After all this, when Yoshiyahu had prepared the House, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Karkemish by the Euphrates, and Yoshiyahu went out to meet him." After Yoshiyahu prepared the House, as we saw that he strengthened the repair of the House, Necho went up to fight at Karkemish by the Euphrates. Scripture testifies that the king of Egypt had no intention of fighting Yoshiyahu and the people of Israel; rather his intention was against the king of Ashur. And he wanted to shorten the route: the Euphrates is in the north and Egypt is in the south, and in order to fight in the north he had to cross the Land of Israel. And to this Yoshiyahu was not willing to agree.
וישלח אליו מלאכים לאמר: מה לי ולך מלך יהודה, לא עליך אתה היום כי אל בית מלחמתי, ואלהים אמר לבהלני, חדל לך מאלהים אשר עמי ואל ישחיתך. - And he sent messengers to him saying: What have I to do with you, king of Yehudah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has told me to hasten; refrain from opposing God who is with me, that He not destroy you.
Necho sends messengers and says: What have I to do with you, king of Yehudah, why do you come to delay me? "I am not coming against you this day" - I am not going to fight you, "but against the house with which I am at war," against the king of Ashur with whom I have a war. "And God has told me to hasten" - the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were urged me to go out to this battle, and told me to go quickly to fight Ashur. And do not fear that my intention is to conquer your land, for I am in a hurry. "Refrain from opposing God who is with me, that He not destroy you" - I am going to war by the word of God. And we must understand: where did God tell him to go out to this war, and why does Yoshiyahu oppose it and put his head between two lions?
ולא הסב יאשיהו פניו ממנו כי להלחם בו התחפש, ולא שמע אל דברי נכו מפי אלהים, ויבא להלחם בבקעת מגדו. - And Yoshiyahu did not turn his face away from him, for he disguised himself to fight against him, and he did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and he came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
Yoshiyahu thought that Necho was disguising himself, from the word disguise: making himself appear as if going to fight the king of Ashur, that he would reach the center of the land, and the moment he was inside he would spread out over everything and conquer us all. A kind of Trojan horse, to bring the soldiers into the city and at the moment of truth conquer it. And as is known, this was a good and sufficient reason for kings to go out and fight a king seeking to enter their land. Therefore "Yoshiyahu did not turn his face away from him" - he was not willing to accept his words, and even the claim "God has told me to hasten" he did not accept, and he said: if you enter, I will go out to fight you.
ויורו היורים למלך יאשיהו, ויאמר המלך לעבדיו: העבירוני כי החליתי מאד. ויעבירוהו עבדיו מן המרכבה וירכיבוהו על רכב המשנה אשר לו ויוליכוהו ירושלים, וימת ויקבר בקברות אבותיו, וכל יהודה וירושלים מתאבלים על יאשיהו. ויקונן ירמיהו על יאשיהו, ויאמרו כל השרים והשרות בקינותיהם על יאשיהו עד היום, ויתנום לחוק על ישראל, והנם כתובים על הקינות. - And the archers shot at King Yoshiyahu, and the king said to his servants: Take me away, for I am badly wounded. And his servants took him from the chariot and set him in his second chariot which he had, and brought him to Yerushalayim, and he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Yehudah and Yerushalayim mourned for Yoshiyahu. And Yirmeyahu lamented over Yoshiyahu, and all the singers, men and women, spoke of Yoshiyahu in their laments to this day, and they made them an ordinance in Israel, and behold they are written in the Laments.
"And the archers shot" - those who shoot with the bow. And then he said to his servants: take me out of the battle, take me aside to be healed, for I am badly wounded and cannot ride. His servants took him and set him in the second chariot, that is, an additional chariot that he had, from the word "second," and brought him to Yerushalayim and buried him in the tombs of his fathers, and everyone mourned for him and lamented over him with laments customarily said over the destruction. "And all the singers, men and women" are the male and female lamenters. And where do they lament over him "to this day"? For we are on the eve of Tisha B'Av, and this evening we too will lament over Yoshiyahu. The Sages say: "How is the gold dimmed, the fine gold changed" and so on, this entire chapter Yirmeyahu spoke over the death of Yoshiyahu, a special chapter he composed over his passing. And this is "they made them an ordinance in Israel" - that they should say it as a fixed ordinance every Tisha B'Av, among the laments, that they should also say the special lament said over Yoshiyahu.
And the Sages say that this is what is stated in Amos: "And I will make the sun set at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight" - this is the day of Yoshiyahu, who died at the age of thirty nine, in the middle of his days, for it is written "the days of our years are seventy years." And there it also says: "And I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your songs into lamentation... and I will make it like the mourning for an only child, and its end like a bitter day," and this prophecy was said over the passing of this righteous king, over whom all lamented.
ויתר דברי יאשיהו וחסדיו ככתוב בתורת ה', ודבריו הראשונים והאחרונים הנם כתובים על ספר מלכי ישראל ויהודה. - And the rest of the acts of Yoshiyahu and his kindnesses, as written in the Torah of Hashem, and his acts, the first and the last, behold they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Yehudah.
"And his kindnesses" - the good deeds he performed, "as written in the Torah of Hashem," as we said, that he did not turn from the Torah of Moshe in any of his ways. "And his acts, the first and the last" - all that he did throughout his days. And notice that there is support here for the view that Yoshiyahu sinned and then repented: "the first" when he did not walk in Hashem's way, "and the last" when he returned in repentance. And also according to the explanation that he returned the judgments he had ruled and paid from his own pocket, this phrasing fits it: what he did at first and what he later rectified. And it can also be explained simply, without his having sinned at all: "the first" before he found the scroll in the House of Hashem, "and the last" after he found it, for the entire revolution we saw came about following the discovery of the Torah scroll that had been hidden in the House of Hashem.
In the Gemara in Tractate Taanit, page 22b, they ask about "take me away, for I am gravely wounded": what is "for I am gravely wounded"? Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, this teaches that they made his entire body like a sieve. And in the Midrash it is written that they shot three hundred arrows into him, and made his body like a strainer. And Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: why was Yoshiyahu punished, seeing that he was a righteous king? Because he said: the Holy One, blessed be He, said "and no sword shall pass through your land." About what was this said? If about a sword that is not of peace, it is already stated "and I will grant peace in the land," and obviously no sword would pass through. Rather, the Sages expound: even a sword of peace - a sword that does not come to fight you but only passes through your land in order to fight another king. About this the Torah promised that when we are righteous no sword will pass through our land. And what was his mistake? "And he did not know that his generation was not deserving" - he did not know that his generation was not at the fitting level before the Holy One, blessed be He. And in this there was here a defiance of the word of Yirmeyahu, for Yirmeyahu told him not to go.
And where do we see that the Holy One, blessed be He, told him about Necho? This is in Midrash Eichah Rabbah, chapter 1, section 18. The Midrash asks: who said to Pharaoh "refrain from opposing God who is with me, that He not destroy you... from the mouth of God"? It was Yirmeyahu the prophet who said it to him. And likewise Yeshayahu said "and I will incite Egypt against Egypt" - so there is a prophecy here to go and fight Ashur. Yoshiyahu said to him: Moshe, the master of your master, said "and no sword shall pass through your land," even a sword of peace. That is: the prophet utters a prophecy, and the king of Egypt tells him that he has a prophecy from Hashem to go, "which He said, to hurry me," but Yoshiyahu has a difficulty from the verse. "And Yoshiyahu did not know that his whole generation were worshipping idolatry."
Now hear how cunning they were. What did the scoffers of the generation do? Half an image on this door and half an image on that door - they had two doors that would open, and the idol was drawn half on one door and half on the other. And Yoshiyahu would send two Torah scholars to eradicate idolatrous images from their houses, something like modesty patrols, and they would pass from house to house to see who had an idol, who had idolatry, in order to eradicate it - he was a righteous king. And when they would enter, the doors would open and both would be pressed against the wall, and each image would be split into halves. They would search and turn everything over and find nothing. And when they would leave, the homeowners would say to them: close the door behind you. And they would close it, and then the idolatry was found complete on the inside. And Yoshiyahu was certain: I sent people, they checked, they searched, they found nothing. He was certain that that entire generation was righteous, and did not know that there were wicked ones among them.
And the Gemara in Taanit continues: when Yoshiyahu fell ill, after they had shot three hundred arrows into him, Yirmeyahu saw his lips moving and murmuring. He said: perhaps, God forbid, he said something improper out of his pain? He drew near in order to listen to what he was saying, bent down and heard that he was accepting the justice of the verdict upon himself, and saying: "Hashem is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word." See what a righteous man Yoshiyahu was even at the final moment! He died at a young age, and even though he had performed such righteous deeds, he said: I rebelled against His word, Hashem said do not go and I nonetheless went.
And why in truth did he not accept Necho's words "refrain from opposing God who is with me"? The Midrash says: he understood "God" in the sense of my deity, and thought - you go with your deity? My God is stronger than it, so I can prevail against you. And he did not know that his intent was to Hashem, blessed be He, who had truly sent him through Yirmeyahu. And when he saw that he was harmed, he understood his mistake and said: Hashem is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word. At that moment Yirmeyahu opened with a lament about him and said: "the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem, was caught in their corruptions." Why was Yoshiyahu caught, seeing that the Holy One, blessed be He, had wished to make him the Mashiach? "In their corruptions" - in the sins of that generation, for that generation was not deserving, those who would close the door with the idolatry there. Because of their corruptions Yoshiyahu did not in the end merit to be the Mashiach.
בֶּן־עֶשְׂרִים וְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנָה יְהוֹאָחָז בְּמָלְכוֹ, וּשְׁלֹשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלָיִם, וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ חֲמוּטַל בַּת־יִרְמְיָהוּ מִלִּבְנָה. וַיַּעַשׂ הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂוּ אֲבֹתָיו. - Yehoachaz was twenty three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Yerushalayim, and his mother's name was Chamutal daughter of Yirmeyahu from Livnah. And he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, according to all that his fathers had done.
"His fathers" does not refer to Yoshiyahu, for Yehoachaz was the son of the righteous Yoshiyahu, but rather refers to his ancestors, namely Achaz and Menasheh and Amon and those like them, all those who acted wickedly.
וַיַּאַסְרֵהוּ פַרְעֹה נְכֹה בְרִבְלָה בְּאֶרֶץ חֲמָת מִמְּלֹךְ בִּירוּשָׁלָיִם, וַיִּתֶּן־עֹנֶשׁ עַל־הָאָרֶץ מֵאָה כִכַּר־כֶּסֶף וְכִכַּר זָהָב. - And Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him in Rivlah in the land of Chamat, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed a penalty on the land of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
What did Pharaoh Necho want from him? The Radak explains, though he does not bring it in the name of Chazal but rather as what appears reasonable, that Yehoachaz, when he rose to the throne, wanted to avenge his father's death, who had been killed by Pharaoh Necho. He therefore went and invaded the land of Egypt and struck them a great blow. When he returned, Pharaoh Necho confronted him, defeated him, captured him and imprisoned him, and through this imposed a tax: "and he imposed a penalty on the land of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold." According to the Malbim, however, it was not about this matter at all, but rather he punished the land because they had crowned the younger before the elder, and therefore he went and crowned the one fit according to the law, Elyakim son of Yoshiyahu, who is Yehoyakim.
וַיַּמְלֵךְ פַּרְעֹה נְכֹה אֶת־אֶלְיָקִים בֶּן־יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ תַּחַת יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ אָבִיו, וַיַּסֵּב אֶת־שְׁמוֹ יְהוֹיָקִים, וְאֶת־יְהוֹאָחָז לָקָח וַיָּבֹא מִצְרַיִם וַיָּמָת שָׁם. - And Pharaoh Necho made Elyakim son of Yoshiyahu king in place of Yoshiyahu his father, and he changed his name to Yehoyakim, and he took Yehoachaz and brought him to Egypt, and he died there.
He takes Elyakim son of Yoshiyahu and appoints him as king. And their practice was that when a king appointed someone on his behalf, he would change that person's name, so that through the change of name he would be subordinate to him, for a name expresses one's essence, and by changing it he becomes submissive to the king. Like Yosef, who was called Tzafnat Paneach, and Shifrah and Puah who were Yocheved and Miriam and were called by other names, and Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah who were called Shadrach, Meshach and Aved Nego, and Daniel who was called Belteshatzar, and so on. Thus he changed his name from Elyakim to Yehoyakim. And Yehoachaz he took to Egypt, where he died.
וְהַכֶּסֶף וְהַזָּהָב נָתַן יְהוֹיָקִים לְפַרְעֹה, אַךְ הֶעֱרִיךְ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ לָתֵת אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף עַל־פִּי פַרְעֹה, אִישׁ כְּעֶרְכּוֹ נָגַשׂ אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף וְאֶת־הַזָּהָב אֶת־עַם הָאָרֶץ לָתֵת לְפַרְעֹה נְכֹה. - And the silver and the gold Yehoyakim gave to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land to give the silver according to Pharaoh's command, each man according to his assessment; he exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Necho.
This was a punishment, and he had no choice but to give the king everything he had imposed upon him. Here the Malbim explains how he collected the money: in Yoshiyahu's treasuries there was no silver, for it is inconceivable that Yoshiyahu would transgress the word of Hashem stated in the Torah, "and he shall not accumulate for himself excessive silver and gold." And if now silver and gold were required, what choice was there? To impose another tax. We recognize this: whenever money is needed, another tax is imposed. And upon whom did he impose it? The Malbim says he made a compromise and divided it: the silver he took from the whole land, and the gold he took only from the "people of the land." That is, the "whole land" are the poorer people, and the "people of the land" are the more prominent ones, and from them he took the gold. He divided the payment properly, so that too heavy a burden would not fall on part of the people.
בֶּן־עֶשְׂרִים וְחָמֵשׁ שָׁנָה יְהוֹיָקִים בְּמָלְכוֹ, וְאַחַת עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלָיִם, וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ זְבוּדָּה בַת־פְּדָיָה מִן־רוּמָה. וַיַּעַשׂ הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂוּ אֲבֹתָיו. - Yehoyakim was twenty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Zevudah daughter of Pedayah from Rumah. And he did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, like all that his fathers had done.
Chapter 23 presents us with the great paradox: a king unlike any before or after him, who destroyed all idolatry, the mediums and the soothsayers, who was willing to pay from his own pocket for every judgment he rendered lest he erred, and in whose days the time was ripe for redemption to the point that Yirmeyahu brought back the ten tribes - and yet "Hashem did not turn back from His burning anger." And the reason is one: the generation. Menashe's repentance had remained partial, the sin of bloodshed had not been erased, and the people continued to worship idols in secret, half an image on this door and half an image on that door. Yoshiyahu, who relied on the promise "and no sword shall pass through your land," did not know that his generation was not truly worthy, and therefore "the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem, was caught in their corruptions." And in his true greatness, even as his body was riddled like a sieve, he justified the judgment and said "Hashem is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word." Over his death Yirmeyahu composed the scroll of Eichah, and this lamentation is recited among Israel as a fixed practice every Tisha B'Av. And immediately afterward the monarchy declines: Yehoachaz for three months, a heavy tax upon the land, a change of name to Yehoyakim, and both of them did evil in the eyes of Hashem - the road to destruction is open.