Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim (meaning the LORD establishes or the LORD raises up), originally named Eliakim, was king of Judah (c. 609–598 B.C.), appointed by Pharaoh Neco after deposing his brother Jehoahaz. He was a vassal first to Egypt then to Babylon and is among the most negatively portrayed kings in the Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah repeatedly condemned him: he burned Jeremiah's scroll scroll as it was read to him in the winter house, cutting off sections and throwing them into the fire (Jeremiah 36), and he was guilty of forced labor, unjust building projects, and shedding innocent blood (Jeremiah 22:13-17).

Daniel and his companions were taken to Babylon in the first deportation during Jehoiakim's reign (Daniel 1:1-2). Jeremiah prophesied that Jehoiakim would be "buried with the burial of a donkey" — thrown outside Jerusalem's gates (Jeremiah 22:19). His eleven-year reign represents the accelerating spiritual and political collapse of the Judean state in the years before the final destruction of Jerusalem.