2 Kings 25:12
in 2 Kings 25But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
KJV
But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
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This verse in 2 Kings 25
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
There was probably an intention of seating colonists into the country from some other part of the Empire, as the Assyrians had done in Samaria 2Ki 17:24.
This site's exposition
the rest of the people
on 2 Kings 25:11-12
The bulk of the surviving population is carried off, and the poorest of the land are left as vinedressers and husbandmen, recorded almost identically at Jer 39:10. Leaving the poor to work the vineyards and fields is the ordinary policy of the conqueror rather than mercy for its own sake, keeping the ground producing under a governor rather than lying wholly to waste. The land is emptied of its leadership and kept, not abandoned.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The glory of Jerusalem was, 1. That it was the royal city, where were set "the thrones of the house of David;" but that glory has now departed, for the prince is made a most miserable prisoner, the seed royal is destroyed (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The brazen vessels, and other appurtenances of the temple, are carried away, those of silver and gold being most of them gone before. Those two famous columns of brass, Jachin and Boaz, which signified the strength and stability of the house of God, were broken to pieces and the brass of them was carried to Babylon,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
His office as captain of the guard (Ge 37:36; 39:1) called him to execute the awards of justice on criminals; and hence, although not engaged in the siege of Jerusalem (Jer 39:13), Nebuzar-adan was despatched to rase the city, to plunder the temple, to lay both in ruins, demolish the fortifications, and transport the inhabitants to Babylon.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And the defectors. [Those] who obeyed Nevuchadnetzar and went out to him from the city, as in, “When he went to Tziklag, [members] of Menashe defected to him, etc.” 6 I Divrei Hayomim:21.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמִדַּלַּ֣ת | umiddalat | and some of [the] poor people of | H1803 → | |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הִשְׁאִ֖יר | hishir | he left behind | H7604 → | 133 times |
| רַב־ | rav- | [the] chief of | H7227 → | 454 times |
| טַבָּחִ֑ים | tabachim | [the] bodyguards | H2876 → | 32 times |
| לְכֹֽרְמִ֖ים | lekhoremim | to vinedressers | H3755 → | |
| וּלְיֹגְבִֽים׃ | uleyogevim | and to ploughmen | H3009 → |
וּמִדַּלַּ֣תand some of [the] poor people of
umiddalatH1803 →
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
הִשְׁאִ֖ירhe left behind
hishirH7604 →133 times
רַב־[the] chief of
rav-H7227 →454 times
טַבָּחִ֑ים[the] bodyguards
tabachimH2876 →32 times
לְכֹֽרְמִ֖יםto vinedressers
lekhoremimH3755 →
וּלְיֹגְבִֽים׃and to ploughmen
uleyogevimH3009 →
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
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…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 39:10
But 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 39:10
Through
2 Kings 24:14He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 52:28
These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
- Jeremiah 52:28
Through
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.
it leads to
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 33:24
Through
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…
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:2
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.
- Ezekiel 33:27
Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be…
- Acts 7:5
He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a…
- Ezekiel 36:4
therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and…
- Luke 3:8
Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up…
- Isaiah 51:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.