2 Kings 24:20
in 2 Kings 24For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For through the anger of Jehovah did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
KJV
For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
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This verse in 2 Kings 24
Commentary
7 notes on this verseZedekiah rebelled - This was in the eighth year of his reign: and he is strongly reproved for having violated the oath he took to the king of Babylon: see 2Ch 36:13. This was the filling up of the measure of iniquity; and now the wrath of God descends upon this devoted king, city, and people, to the uttermost. See the catastrophe in the next chapter.
This site's exposition
according to all that Jehoiakim
on 2 Kings 24:19-20
Zedekiah's evil is measured by the same standard as Jehoiakim's, the third king in this chapter judged by that formula, and Barnes calls him weak rather than wicked, a king who heard Jeremiah and would not obey him. Verse 20 names the cause behind the political history already told: through the anger of the Lord it came to pass, until he had cast them out from his presence, so the narrator gives the theological reading before the political fact, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Wesley reads the sequence as the people's own sin producing the wicked king who then brought their punishment, not the king producing the people's sin. The chapter ends on the edge of the siege that chapter 25 will finish, the oath sworn to Babylon already broken.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Came to pass - Thus the peoples sins were the true cause why God gave them wicked kings, whom he suffered to do wickedly, that they might bring the long-deserved, and threatened punishments upon themselves and their people.
), whose tributary he was, and so provoked him whom he was utterly unable to contend with, and who, if he had continued true to him, would have protected him. This was the most foolish thing he could do, and hastened the ruin of his kingdom.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 Surely at the commandment of the L ORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the L ORD would not pardon.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:92%@v3-4
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
through the anger of the Lord . . . he cast them out from his presence--that is, in the course of God's righteous providence, his policy as king would prove ruinous to his country.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
It came to pass - Some prefer “came this to pass:” in the sense. “Through the anger of the Lord was it that another had king ruled in Jerusalem and in Judah:” concluding the chapter with the word “presence;” and beginning the next chapter with the words, “And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.” Rebelled - The Book of Jeremiah explains the causes of rebellion. In Zedekiah’s early years there was an impression, both at Jerusalem Jer 28:1-11 and at Babylon Jer. 29:5-28, that Nebuchadnezzar was inclined to relent. By embassy to Babylon Jer 29:3, and a personal visit Jer 51:59, Zedekiah strove hard to obtain the restoration of the captives and the holy vessels. But he found Nebuchadnezzar obdurate. Zedekiah returned to his own country greatly angered against his suzerain, and immediately proceeded to plot a rebellion. He sought the alliance of the kings of Tyre, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Edom Jer 27:3, and made overtures to Hophra, in Egypt, which were favorable received Eze 17:15, whereupon he openly revolted, apparently in his ninth year, 588 B.C. Tyre, it must be remembered, was all this time defying the power of Nebuchadnezzar, and thus setting an example of successful revolt very encouraging to the neighboring states. Nebuchadnezzar, while constantly maintaining an army in Syria, and continuing year after year his attempts to reduce Tyre (compare Eze 29:18) was, it would seem, too much occupied with other matters, such, probably, as the reduction of Susiana Jer 49:34-38, to devote more than a small share of his attention to his extreme western frontier. In that same year, however (588 B.C.), the new attitude taken by Egypt induced him to direct to that quarter the main force of the Empire, and to take the field in person.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י׀ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַ֣ף | ʾaf | [the] anger of | H639 → | 276 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הָיְתָ֤ה | hayetah | it happened | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ | virushalim | in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| וּבִ֣יהוּדָ֔ה | uvihudah | and in Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הִשְׁלִכ֥וֹ | hishlikho | threw he | H7993 → | 125 times |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵעַ֣ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פָּנָ֑יו | panav | face his | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וַיִּמְרֹ֥ד | vaiyimrod | and he rebelled | H4775 → | 25 times |
| צִדְקִיָּ֖הוּ | tzidkiyahu | Zedekiah | H6667 → | 63 times |
| בְּמֶ֥לֶךְ | bemelekh | against [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| בָּבֶֽל׃ ס | bavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
כִּ֣י׀for
kiH3588 →4482 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַ֣ף[the] anger of
ʾafH639 →276 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הָיְתָ֤הit happened
hayetahH1961 →3559 times
בִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙in Jerusalem
virushalimH3389 →643 times
וּבִ֣יהוּדָ֔הand in Judah
uvihudahH3063 →819 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הִשְׁלִכ֥וֹthrew he
hishlikhoH7993 →125 times
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
מֵעַ֣לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
פָּנָ֑יוface his
panavH6440 →2123 times
וַיִּמְרֹ֥דand he rebelled
vaiyimrodH4775 →25 times
צִדְקִיָּ֖הוּZedekiah
tzidkiyahuH6667 →63 times
בְּמֶ֥לֶךְagainst [the] king of
bemelekhH4428 →2525 times
בָּבֶֽל׃ סBabylon
bavelH894 →262 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 1:20Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
it leads to
- Romans 1:22
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- Job 12:17
He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.
- 1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:19
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- Romans 1:22
Through
Deuteronomy 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as…
it leads to
- Numbers 21:23
But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.
- Exodus 4:21
The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that…
- Romans 9:17–23
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
- Exodus 11:10
Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.
- Numbers 21:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Kings

Who and where
4 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PersonExileZedekiahJudah's last king, who broke his oath to Babylon against Jeremiah's word; his sons slain before his eyes at Riblah, and the city a…
- PlaceBabil Governorate (archaeological site)BabylonAncient Mesopotamian city and imperial capital; site of the Israelite exile and a recurring biblical symbol of worldly power.
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
