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| Yehoyakim's was THIS big! |
One sage (Rava), asked another sage (Rabbah bar Mari): Why did the early sages (Tannaim) not list king Yehoyakim as an evil king who has no share in the World to Come? Behold, scripture points out that he was evil: "Now the rest of the acts of Yehoyakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found upon him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead." (2 Chronicles 36:8)
The sages explained the words "and that which was found upon him" to mean that he had a tattoo of idolatry on his penis, and there are sages that derive from the words above that they found a tattoo with the name of God on his penis in order to jeer at the God of Israel. We see from here that Yehoyakim was a very evil person. If so, why did they not list him with the evil kings of Judah and Israel? Answered the sage: I didn't hear it and I don't know the answer to it. (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, 103b)
In the language of the Talmud:
Raba said to Rabbah b. Mari: Why did they not count Yehoyakim [amongst those who have no portion in the world to come], seeing that it is written of him, "Now the rest of the acts of Yehoyakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found upon him, etc.? (What is meant by that which was found upon him? — R. Yohanan and R. Eliezer differ: one maintained that he engraved the name of an idol upon his penis, and the other held that he engraved the name of Heaven thereon [as a gesture of contempt])? — He answered: I have heard no explanation concerning the kings [why Jehoiakim was not included]: but I have heard one concerning the commoners.
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