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2 Kings 25:5

in 2 Kings 25

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

KJV

And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.

This verse in 2 Kings 25

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
Jeremiah Jer 38:23 and Ezekiel Eze 12:13 had prophesied this capture; and the latter had also prophesied the dispersion of the troops 2Ki 25:14.

This site's exposition

the city was broken up

on 2 Kings 25:4-5

The escape route by the gate between two walls near the king's garden is recorded in nearly the same words at Jer 39:4, the two accounts running side by side at the moment the wall finally fails. Zedekiah runs for the plain toward Jericho and the army scatters from him, the net of Ezek 12:13 closing exactly as spoken: I will bring him to Babylon, yet shall he not see it. The flight answers a specific prophecy before the capture even lands.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Cyril of Jerusalem

Catechetical Lecture 2:17-19 · Written before 386.

What think you of Nebuchadnezzar? Have you not heard from Scripture that he was bloodthirsty, fierce, with the disposition of a lion? Have you not heard that he disinterred the kings? Have you not heard that he brought the people away into captivity? Have you not heard that he put the king's sons to the sword before Zedekiah's eyes and then blinded him? Have you not heard that he shattered the cherubim?

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

19 ), but that which he feared came upon him with a witness, and no doubt added much to his misery; for, as those that are deaf suspect that every body talks of them, so those that are blind suspect that every body laughs at them. By this two prophecies that seemed to contradict one another were both fulfilled.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

, His army was scattered from him ), so that there were very few left, who with the deserters, making in all but 832 persons (as appears, Jer. lii. 29 ), were carried away into captivity; only the poor of the land were left behind (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The army of the Chaldeans pursued - Zedekiah was taken, and brought captive to Riblah in Syria, where Nebuchadnezzar then lay, who ordered his sons to be slain before his face, and then put out his eyes; and having loaded him with chains, sent him to Babylon, (see Jer 39:4, Jer 39:7; Jer 52:7, Jer 52:11), thus fulfilling the prophetic declarations, that his eyes should see the eyes of the king of Babylon, Jer 32:4; Jer 34:3; but Babylon he should not see, though he was to die there; Eze 12:13.

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּרְדְּפ֤וּand they pursued

    vaiyirdefuH7291143 times

  • חֵיל־[the] army of

    cheil-H2428246 times

  • כַּשְׂדִּים֙[the] Chaldeans

    kasdimH377880 times

  • אַחַ֣רafter

    ʾacharH310715 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • וַיַּשִּׂ֥גוּand they overtook

    vaiyasiguH5381

  • אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him

    ʾotoH85310935 times

  • בְּעַרְב֣וֹתin [the] plains of

    bearvotH616061 times

  • יְרֵח֑וֹJericho

    yerechoH340557 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH36055413 times

  • חֵיל֔וֹarmy his

    cheiloH2428246 times

  • נָפֹ֖צוּthey were scattered

    nafotzuH6327

  • מֵעָלָֽיו׃from with <the> him

    mealavH59215755 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Isaiah 30:16

    “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 31:1

      Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…

    • Psalms 33:17

      A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.

    • Jeremiah 4:13

      Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!

  • Through

    Jeremiah 39:5

    But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of…

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 23:33

      And 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…

    • Joshua 5:10

      On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 24:8

    But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 43:1

      When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything that the LORD had sent him to say—

    • Jeremiah 37:17

      Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the…

  • Through

    Jeremiah 52:8

    but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 34:21

      And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

Zedekiah's Sons Are Slaughtered before His Eyes — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Zedekiah's Sons Are Slaughtered before His Eyes — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 2:17-19 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.