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What happened when King Jehoiakim rebelled against the Babylonians?

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Painting by Rembrandt van Rijn showing Jeremiah sitting in a dimly lit cave, head resting on his hand in sorrow, with Jerusalem burning in the background. — Jeremiah *Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem*, oil on panel by Rembrandt, 1630: in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

After King Jehoiakim of Judah rebelled against the Neo-Babylonian empire by withholding tribute around 601 BCE, the prophet Jeremiah warned the people of Judah that they would face destruction for resisting Babylonian authority.1

In response to the king's continued defiance, Nebuchadnezzar II sent an army to besiege Jerusalem. King Jehoiakim died during this siege in 598 BCE, though the specific circumstances of his death remain uncertain. He was succeeded by his son, Jehoiachin, who surrendered the city to the Babylonians on March 16, 597 BCE. Following the surrender, Jehoiachin, his court, and thousands of subjects were taken into exile in Babylonia, and the Babylonians installed Zedekiah as the new vassal king of Judah.1234