The last four verses in the books of kings report about the fate of Jehoiachin, the last (but one) king of Judah, in Babylonian exile. V. 27f. and V. 30 %l,M,h; taeme AL-hn"T.nI Atx'rua]w: contain a historic resemblance. Accordingly Jehoiachin was invited in the thirty-seventh year of his deportation by Amel-Marduk. The king of Babel, being enthroned just a short time before, assured Jehoiachin his alliance; this was expressed by the allocation of a throne, which - if V. 28bb is not a secondary addition - meant an equalization respect to the other vassal-kings. Most probably the assurance to provide Jehoiachin regularly with food (cf. V. 30*) - something, which Nebukadnecor II. himself had done already - was part of this friendship. It is impossible to date these events precisely; but maybe Amel-Marduk decided to take this step only a short time after his enthronisation. Accordingly Jehoiachin’s reprieve - the term indicates, that the king’s changed status owes to Amel-Marduk’s merciful care - falls in spring 561 B. C. The described primary text of 2 Reg 25,27-30 could be written a short time later and still in Babylonia. It is possible that the authors used a written definition of the friendship - a kind of treaty - or annals, which gave information about the events. The exact date V. 28 and the unusual vocabulary, which is influenced by the Akkadic or Neo-Babylonic, indicate this. Possibly the report about Jehoiachin’s reprieve was conceived as an addition to the books of kings right from the beginning (cf. V. 28 and 2 Reg 25,6b). But the intention of the authors was simply to show that better times began or would begin in Babylonian Golah. The events concerning Jehoiachin are not a reflection of a turning back to Jahweh and his renewed care but of the merciful care of a Babylonian king.