Foreign empires often secure their dominance not just through military might, but by manipulating the leadership of the nations they conquer. In the Kingdom of Judah, Pharaoh Necho establishes his imperial control by directly intervening in the royal succession. To mold the local monarchy to serve Egyptian interests, Pharaoh deposes the sitting king, Jehoahaz, and replaces him with his older brother, Eliakim son of Josiah [אברבנאל]. The decision to remove Jehoahaz is not necessarily a reaction to the king's personality or behavior. Rather, it is a calculated display of power; Pharaoh wants to assert his absolute authority, especially since he had no part in making Jehoahaz king in the first place [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Jehoahaz himself is taken captive and brought to Egypt, where he spends the remainder of his life [ביאור שטיינזלץ].
Upon elevating Eliakim to the throne, Pharaoh changes his name [מצודת ציון], granting him the new royal title of Jehoiakim [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This renaming is a deliberate tactic to show that the king is completely subject to Pharaoh's will and owes his crown entirely to the Egyptian ruler. Interestingly, despite this display of foreign dominance, the new name itself carries a meaning that indicates God has not rejected the king [רד״ק].
The reign of Jehoiakim brings both economic hardship and severe moral decay to Judah. To appease his Egyptian overlord, Jehoiakim imposes heavy taxes on the citizens, extracting money from every individual as a form of payment for the earlier, unauthorized crowning of his brother. Beyond the financial burden, Rabbinic tradition paints a deeply negative picture of Jehoiakim's character, detailing a life filled with abominations. According to the Midrash, he flagrantly violated religious law by wearing forbidden mixtures of fabrics and stretching his foreskin to hide the mark of his circumcision. Furthermore, he engaged in horrific incestuous acts, committing severe transgressions with his mother, his daughter-in-law, and his father's wife [אברבנאל].