2 Kingschapter 25
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Zedekiah's Sons Are Slaughtered before His Eyes — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
A.A breach by night, capture near Jericho, and eyes put outvv. 1-7
1 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. 2 And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. 4 Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah, 5 but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him. 6 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him. 7 And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
B.The house burned, the walls broken, the pillars carried awayvv. 8-17
8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. 10 And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population. 12 But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields. 13 Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service. 15 The captain of the guard also took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure. 17 Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall. The bronze capital atop one pillar was three cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its network, was similar.
C.Seventy at Riblah: so Judah was carried away out of his landvv. 18-21
18 The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as five royal advisors. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
D.Gedaliah at Mizpah, murdered by a man of the seed royalvv. 22-26
22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over the people he had left behind in the land of Judah. 23 When all the commanders of the armies and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite, as well as their men. 24 And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.” 25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people small and great, together with the commanders of the army, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans.
E.Jehoiachin lifted out of prison to eat at the king's tablevv. 27-30
27 On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life. 30 And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life.
Chapter summary
The ninth year, the tenth month, the tenth day: Nebuchadnezzar encamps against Jerusalem and builds forts round about, and the siege runs to the eleventh year, till famine leaves no bread in the city.
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Chapter summary
The ninth year, the tenth month, the tenth day: Nebuchadnezzar encamps against Jerusalem and builds forts round about, and the siege runs to the eleventh year, till famine leaves no bread in the city.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
The ninth year, the tenth month, the tenth day: Nebuchadnezzar encamps against Jerusalem and builds forts round about, and the siege runs to the eleventh year, till famine leaves no bread in the city. The wall is broken, the men of war flee by night, and Zedekiah is overtaken in the plains of Jericho. His sons slain before his eyes, his own eyes put out, and he bound in fetters to Babylon. Nebuzaradan burns the house of Jehovah and every great house and breaks down the walls. Gedaliah's brief governorship at Mizpah ends in murder. The last paragraph is a rumor of hope: Evil-merodach lifts up Jehoiachin's head out of prison and seats him at his table all his days.
Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.
Context
History · Jeremiah — 2 Kings overview
- A. 1–7 A breach by night, capture near Jericho, and eyes put out
- B. 8–17 The house burned, the walls broken, the pillars carried away
- C. 18–21 Seventy at Riblah: so Judah was carried away out of his land
- D. 22–26 Gedaliah at Mizpah, murdered by a man of the seed royal
- E. 27–30 Jehoiachin lifted out of prison to eat at the king's table
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
Jeremiah 527 verses
- Jeremiah 52:4So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.
- Jeremiah 52:8but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him.
- Jeremiah 52:12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 52:17Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.
- Jeremiah 52:21Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.
- Jeremiah 52:26Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
- Read Jeremiah 52: 1 more there →
Jeremiah 394 verses
- Jeremiah 39:8The Chaldeans set fire to the palace of the king and to the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 39:9Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away to Babylon the remnant of the people who had remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to him.
- Jeremiah 39:10But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.
- Jeremiah 39:14had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guard, and they turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So Jeremiah remained among his own people.
- Read Jeremiah 39 →
Jeremiah 403 verses
- Jeremiah 40:7When all the commanders and men of the armies in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest of the land and had not been exiled to Babylon,
- Jeremiah 40:11When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all the other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over them,
- Jeremiah 40:15Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah. “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah,” he said. “No one will know it. Why should he take your life and scatter all the people of Judah who have gathered to you, so that the remnant of Judah would perish?”
- Read Jeremiah 40 →
2 Kings 232 verses
- 2 Kings 23:27For the LORD had said, “I will remove Judah from My sight, just as I removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the temple of which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’”
- 2 Kings 23:33And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
- Read 2 Kings 23 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
1 Kings 72 verses
- 1 Kings 7:15He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.
- 1 Kings 7:47Solomon left all these articles unweighed, because there were so many. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.
- Read 1 Kings 7 →
1 Chronicles 62 verses
- 1 Chronicles 6:14Azariah was the father of Seraiah, and Seraiah was the father of Jehozadak.
- 1 Chronicles 6:15Jehozadak went into captivity when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
- Read 1 Chronicles 6 →
Ezekiel 332 verses
- Ezekiel 33:21In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
- Ezekiel 33:24“Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
- Read Ezekiel 33 →
Leviticus 262 verses
- Leviticus 26:17And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Leviticus 26:33But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Read Leviticus 26 →
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.