13 He also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
The oath of allegiance was taken when he was first installed in his kingdom. On Zedekiah's sin in breaking his oath, see Ezekiel 17:18-20; Ezekiel 21:25.
who had made him swear by God--Zedekiah received his crown on the express condition of taking a solemn oath of fealty to the king of Babylon (Ezekiel 17:13); so that his revolt by joining in a league with Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt, involved the crime of perjury. His own pride and obdurate impiety, the incurable idolatry of the nation, and their reckless disregard of prophetic warnings, brought down on his already sadly reduced kingdom the long threatened judgments of God. Nebuchadnezzar, the executioner of the divine vengeance, commenced a third siege of Jerusalem, which, after holding out for a year and a half, was taken in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah. It resulted in the burning of the temple, with, most probably, the ark, and in the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah (see on 2-Kings 25:1-7; Ezekiel 12:13; Ezekiel 17:16).
By God - Who had required him to swear fealty and constant obedience to him by the true God, whom he called upon to be a witness against him if he broke his oath. So his rebellion was aggravated with perjury, and horrid contempt of God.
*More commentary available at chapter level.