Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did that which was evil in Yahweh his God’s sight. He didn’t humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from Yahweh’s mouth. He also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted Yahweh’s house which he had made holy in Jerusalem. Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or gray-headed. He gave them all into his hand. All the vessels of God’s house, great and small, and the treasures of Yahweh’s house, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. They burned God’s house, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all of its valuable vessels. He carried those who had escaped from the sword away to Babylon, and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv12, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21 1 Kings 24:17,19; Jer. 52:2
1 Kings 24:17,19; Jer. 52:2
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 2Ch 36:11 Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old…
2Ch 36:11 Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
Ver. 11-13. {See Trapp on "2Ki 24:10"} {See Trapp on "2Ki 24:11"} {See Trapp on "2Ki 24:17"} {See Trapp on "2Ki 24:18"} {See Trapp on "2Ki 24:19"} {See Trapp on "2Ki 24:20"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21 Humbled not himself by repentance for his past errors,…
Humbled not himself by repentance for his past errors, and obedience to God’s express commands, which he would not yield to through the pride of his heart, as is intimated by this phrase, and expressed Jer 38:19.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v11 We have here an account of the destruction of…
We have here an account of the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. Abraham, God's friend, was called out of that country, from Ur of the Chaldees, when God took him into covenant and communion with himself; and now his degenerate seed were carried into that country again, to signify that they had forfeited all that kindness wherewith they had been regarded for the father's sake, and the benefit of that covenant into which he was called; all was now undone again. Here we have,
I. The sins that brought this desolation.
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1. Zedekiah, the king in whose days it came, brought it upon himself by his own folly; for he conducted himself very ill both towards God and towards the king of Babylon. (1.) If he had but made God his friend, that would have prevented the ruin. Jeremiah brought him messages from God, which, if he had given due regard to them, might have secured a lengthening of his tranquillity; but it is here charged upon him that he humbled not himself before Jeremiah, Ch2 36:12. It was expected that this mighty prince, high as he was, should humble himself before a poor prophet, when he spoke from the mouth of the Lord, should submit to his admonitions and be amended by them, to his counsels and be ruled by them, should lay himself under the commanding power of the word of God in his mouth; and, because he would not thus make himself a servant to God, he was made a slave to his enemies. God will find some way or other to humble those that will not humble themselves. Jeremiah, as a prophet, was set over the nations and kingdoms (Jer 1:10), and, as mean a figure as he made, whoever would not humble themselves before him found that it was at their peril. (2.) If he had but been true to his covenant with the king of Babylon, that would have prevented his ruin; but he rebelled against him, though he had sworn to be his faithful tributary, and perfidiously violated his engagements to him, Ch2 36:13. It was this that provoked the king of Babylon to deal so severely with him as he did. All nations looked upon an oath as a sacred thing, and on those that durst break through the obligations of it as the worst of men, abandoned of God and to be abhorred by all mankind. If therefore Zedekiah falsify his oath, when, lo, he has given his hand, he shall not escape, Eze 17:18. Though Nebuchadnezzar was a heathen, an enemy, yet if, having sworn to him, he be false to him, he shall know there is a God to whom vengeance belongs. The thing that ruined Zedekiah was not only that he turned not to the Lord God of Israel, but that he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning to him, that is, he as obstinately resolved not to return to him, would not lay his neck under God's yoke nor his heart under the impressions of his word, and so, in effect, he would not be healed, he would not live.
2. The great sin that brought this destruction was idolatry. The priests and people went after the abominations of the heathen, forsook the pure worship of God for the lewd and filthy rites of the Pagan superstition, and so polluted the house of the Lord, Ch2 36:14. The priests, the chief of the priests, who should have opposed idolatry, were ring-leaders in it. That place is not far from ruin in which religion is already ruined.
3. The great aggravation of their sin, and that which filled the measure of it, was the abuse they gave to God's prophets, who were sent to call them to repentance, Ch2 36:15, Ch2 36:16. Here we have, (1.) God's tender compassion towards them in sending prophets to them. Because he was the God of their fathers, in covenant with them, and whom they worshipped (though this degenerate race forsook him), therefore he sent to them by his messengers, to convince them of their sin and warn them of the ruin they would bring upon themselves by it, rising up betimes and sending, which denotes not only that he did it with the greatest care and concern imaginable, as men rise betimes to set their servants to work when their heart is upon their business, but that, upon their first deviation from God to idols, if they took but one step that way, God immediately sent to them by his messengers to reprove them for it. He gave them early timely notice both of their duty and danger. Let this quicken us to seek God early, that he rises betimes to send to us. The prophets that were sent rose betimes to speak to them, were diligent and faithful in their office, lost no time, slipped no opportunity of dealing with them; and therefore God is said to rise betimes. The more pains ministers take in their work the more will the people have to answer for if it be all in vain. The reason given why God by his prophets did thus strive with them is because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling-place, and would by these means have prevented their ruin. Note, The methods God takes to reclaim sinners by his word, by ministers, by conscience, by providences, are all instances of his compassion towards them and his unwillingness that any should perish. (2.) Their base and disingenuous carriage towards God (Ch2 36:16): They mocked the messengers of God (which was a high affront to him that sent them), despised his word in their mouths, and not only so, but misused the prophets, treating them as their enemies. The ill usage they gave Jeremiah who lived at this time, and which we read much of in the book of his prophecy, is an instance of this. This was an evidence of an implacable enmity to God, and an invincible resolution to go on in their sins. This brought wrath upon them without remedy, for it was sinning against the remedy. Nothing is more provoking to God than abuses given to his faithful ministers; for what is done against them he takes as done against himself. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Persecution was the sin that brought upon Jerusalem its final destruction by the Romans. See Mat 23:34-37. Those that mock at God's faithful ministers, and do all they can to render them despicable or odious, that vex and misuse them, to discourage them and to keep others from hearkening to them, should be reminded that a wrong done to an ambassador is construed as done to the prince that sends him, and that the day is coming when they will find it would have been better for them if they had been thrown into the sea with a mill-stone about their necks; for hell is deeper and more dreadful.
II. The desolation itself, and some few of the particular so fit, which we had more largely Kg2 25:1. Multitudes were put to the sword, even in the house of their sanctuary (Ch2 36:17), whither they fled for refuge, hoping that the holiness of the place would be their protection. But how could they expect to find it so when they themselves had polluted it with their abominations? Ch2 36:14. Those that cast off the dominion of their religion forfeit all the benefit and comfort of it. The Chaldeans not only paid no reverence to the sanctuary, but showed no natural pity either to the tender sex or to venerable age. They forsook God, who had compassion on them (Ch2 36:15), and would have none of him; justly therefore are they given up into the hands of cruel men, for they had no compassion on young man or maiden. 2. All the remaining vessels of the temple, great and small, and all the treasures, sacred and secular, the treasures of God's house and of the king and his princes, were seized, and brought to Babylon, Ch2 36:18. 3. The temple was burnt, the walls of Jerusalem were demolished, the houses (called here the palaces, as Psa 48:3, so stately, rich, and sumptuous were they) laid in ashes, and all the furniture, called here the goodly vessels thereof, destroyed, Ch2 36:19. Let us see where what woeful havock sin makes, and, as we value the comfort and continuance of our estates, keep that worm from the root of them. 4. The remainder of the people that escaped the sword were carried captives to Babylon (Ch2 36:20), impoverished, enslaved, insulted, and exposed to all the miseries, not only of a strange and barbarous land, but of an enemy's land, where those that hated them bore rule over them. They were servants to those monarchs, and no doubt were ruled with rigour so long as that monarchy lasted. Now they sat down by the rivers of Babylon, with the streams of which they mingled their tears, Psa 137:1. And though there, it should seem, they were cured of idolatry, yet, as appears by the prophet Ezekiel, they were not cured of mocking the prophets. 5. The land lay desolate while they were captives in Babylon, Ch2 36:21. That fruitful land, the glory of all lands, was now turned into a desert, not tilled, nor husbanded. The pastures were not clothed as they used to be with flocks, nor the valleys with corn, but all lay neglected. Now this may be considered, (1.) As the just punishment of their former abuse of it. They had served Baal with its fruits; cursed therefore is the ground for their sakes. Now the land enjoyed her sabbaths; (Ch2 36:21), as God had threatened by Moses, Lev 26:34, and the reason there given (v. 35) is, "Because it did not rest on your sabbaths; you profaned the sabbath-day, did not observe the sabbatical year." They many a time ploughed and sowed their land in the seventh year, when it should have rested, and now it lay unploughed and unsown for ten times seven years. Note, God will be no loser in his glory at last by the disobedience of men: if the tribute be not paid, he will distrain and recover it, as he speaks, Hos 2:9. If they would not let the land rest, God would make it rest whether they would or no. Some think they had neglected the observance of seventy sabbatical years in all, and just so many, by way of reprisal, the land now enjoyed; or, if those that had been neglected were fewer, it was fit that the law should be satisfied with interest. We find that one of the quarrels God had with them at this time was for not observing another law which related to the seventh year, and that was the release of servants; see Jer 34:13, etc. (2.) Yet we may consider it as giving some encouragement to their hopes that they should, in due time, return to it again. Had others come and taken possession of it, they might have despaired of ever recovering it; but, while it lay desolate, it did, as it were, lie waiting for them again, and refuse to acknowledge any other owners.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–20 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to…
And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers,.... The prophets of the Lord, to admonish them of their idolatries, and to reprove them for them, to warn them of the wrath of God that would come upon them on that account, unless they repented and reformed; these were at the beginning of their apostasy, and were successively continued unto this time, as Ahijah, Elijah, and others, in the first times of it; Amos, Isaiah, and others, in the middle of it; and Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Ezekiel, towards the close of it:
rising up betimes, and sending; which is either to be understood of the Lord, and as expressive of his care and diligence, like the master of a family, solicitous for the good of it; or of the messengers, the prophets, who made haste to go or send their prophecies and instructions to reclaim the people; the phrase is often to be met with in the prophecy of Jeremiah; see Gill on Jer 11:7,
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because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwellingplace; being unwilling they should come to ruin, and perish, and their city and temple be destroyed where they dwelt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 16, 17, 21 By God - Who had required him to swear…
By God - Who had required him to swear fealty and constant obedience to him by the true God, whom he called upon to be a witness against him if he broke his oath. So his rebellion was aggravated with perjury, and horrid contempt of God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv12, 19, 21 Verse 12. Did that which was evil] Was there…
Verse 12. Did that which was evil] Was there ever such a set of weak, infatuated men as the Jewish kings in general? They had the fullest evidence that they were only deputies to God Almighty, and that they could not expect to retain the throne any longer than they were faithful to their Lord; and yet with all this conviction they lived wickedly, and endeavoured to establish idolatry in the place of the worship of their Maker! After bearing with them long, the Divine mercy gave them up, as their case was utterly hopeless. They sinned till there was no remedy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21 2Ch 36:12. And humbled not himself — By repentance…
2Ch 36:12. And humbled not himself — By repentance for his past errors and obedience to God’s express commands, which he would not yield to, through the pride of his heart, as is intimated by this phrase, and expressed Jer 38:19.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21 On Zedekiah’s character, see 2Ki 24:19 note.
On Zedekiah’s character, see 2Ki 24:19 note.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21 By God, to be faithful. T. --- This enhances…
By God, to be faithful. T. --- This enhances his crime. C.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 21 ZEDEKIAH'S REIGN. (Ch2 36:11-21)
ZEDEKIAH'S REIGN. (Ch2 36:11-21)
Zedekiah--Nebuchadnezzar appointed him. His name, originally Mattaniah, was, according to the custom of Oriental conquerors, changed into Zedekiah. Though the son of Josiah (Ch1 3:15; Jer 1:2-3; Jer 37:1), he is called the brother of Jehoiachin (Ch2 36:10), that is, according to the latitude of Hebrew style in words expressing affinity, his relative or kinsman (see Kg2 24:18; 2Ki. 25:1-21).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v21 21. The word of the Lord by… Jeremiah —…
21. The word of the Lord by… Jeremiah — Jer_25:9-12; Jer_29:10; and the note on Ezr_1:1.
Until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths — See Lev_26:34-35; Lev_26:43. We need not assume that the observance of the sabbatic years had been neglected exactly seventy times in succession, or for the period of four hundred and ninety years preceding this exile. But it is probable that during the thousand years between Moses and the Babylonish exile as many as seventy sabbatic years had been neglected, and, at last, judgment that had seemed to slumber long, exacted all.
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THE PROCLAMATION OF CYRUS, 2Ch_36:22-23.
For exposition of these verses, see notes on Ezr_1:1-4.
As the books of Kings end with a notice of Jehoiachin’s release from prison, thus shedding a ray of light on Judah’s future, (see note on 2Ki_25:30,) so these Chronicles close with a recital of the proclamation of Cyrus, the Lord’s anointed shepherd, of whom Isaiah (Isa_44:28; Isa_45:1) had prophesied long years before as “saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” It was a sound of grace, the trumpet blast that shook the dry bones of fallen Israel, (Eze_37:1-14,) and raised the nation to a new and purer life. It was the opening of a new age, and our author felt he could not close his work without directing the eye of his reader across the dark gulf of his people’s exile to the dawn of a brighter era.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–21 11–19 (= 1Es_1:46-56; cp. 2Ki_24:18 to 2Ki_25:21; Jer_37:1 to…
11–19 (= 1Es_1:46-56; cp. 2Ki_24:18 to 2Ki_25:21; Jer_37:1 to Jer_39:8; Jer_52:1-27). Reign of Zedekiah. Destruction of Jerusalem
11. in Jerusalem] The Chronicler omits, as usual, his mother’s name. She was “Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah” (2Ki_24:18), and was mother of Jehoahaz also (ibid. 2Ki_23:31). Jehoiakim was by a different mother (ibid. 2Ki_23:36).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 ZEDEKIAH AND THE FINAL CATASTROPHE (2Ch_36:11-21). (Comp. 2Ki_24:18 to…
ZEDEKIAH AND THE FINAL CATASTROPHE (2Ch_36:11-21). (Comp. 2Ki_24:18 to 2Ki_25:21; Jeremiah 39, 52; Jeremiah 3 Esdr. 1:44-55.)
(11) Zedekiah was one and twenty.—So 2Ki_24:18, adding his mother’s name (Hamutal, who was also mother of Jehoahaz).
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Before Jeremian . . . mouth of the Lord.—Not in Kings. (Comp. Jeremiah 21, Jer_22:1-10, Jeremiah 27, 28, 32-34, 37, 38)
Two special sins of Zedekiah are mentioned in this and the next verse—viz., his disregard of Jeremiah’s counsel, and his perjury to Nebuchadnezzar.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11–21 Zedekiah; or the fall of Judah.
Vers. 11-21.
Zedekiah; or the fall of Judah.
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I AN EXAMPLE OF INSENSATE WICKEDNESS. (Vers. 11-16.)
1. On the part of the king. Seemingly the third, (1Ch_3:15) but in reality the fourth, son of Josiah, (cf. 2Ki_23:31, 2Ki_23:36) and the full brother of Jehoahaz, or Shallum. (2Ki_23:31 2Ki_24:18) but the half-brother of Jehoiakim, (2Ki_23:36) Mattanias, or Jehovah s gift, as he was originally called, ascended the throne of Judah in his twenty-first year, by the favour of Nebuchadnezzar his overlord (ver. 10). With his superior"s consent, like Jehoiakim, he adopted of his own accord, or had chosen for him by others (Cheyne), a special throne-name. Zedekiah, Zidkiah, meaning "Jehovah is righteous," or "Justice of Jehovah," had been the name of a former sovereign of Ascalon, whom Sennacherib had subdued (Schrader, "Die Keilinschriften," p. 291); and whatever may have been the object of Mattanias or his princes in selecting this as the designation of Judah"s last king, it is hardly possible not to be struck with its singular propriety. To a people who were frequently instructed by "signs" it was a double symbol first by way of contrast of the utter corruption of the nation, both prince and people; and second by way of prediction of coming doom for the kingdom. So far as the king was concerned, it was a grim satire on holy things to designate a creature like him Zedekiah. If his person and character were remarkable for anything, it was for the absence of righteousness.
(1) His devotion to idols was intense. He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God (ver. 12), by adhering to the heathen worship of his predecessors (2Ki_24:19; Jer_52:2)
(2) His unbelief was pronounced. He refused to believe Jeremiah the prophet speaking to him in Jehovah"s name. (Jer_37:2)
(3) His disobedience was flagrant. He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear (allegiance) by God (ver. 13; cf. Eze_17:13-19) a wickedness for which Jehovah declared he should die in Babylon. The reason of this revolt was the accession of a new Pharaoh, Hophrah in Scripture, (Jer_44:30) in the hieroglyphic inscriptions Uahibri, Oujafrh in the LXX, jApihv, or Apries, in Herodotus (2:161, 169; 4:159). To him Zedekiah, against Jeremiah"s advice, despatched ambassadors, hoping to obtain "horses and much people". (Eze_17:15) Nebuchadnezzar at once took the field, uncertain whether to march against Egypt or Jerusalem. By means of divination he decided for Jerusalem. (Eze_21:20-22) In the ninth year of Zedekiah"s reign, on the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar with his armies sat down before Jerusalem. (2Ki_25:1) Hearing, however, of Pharaoh-Hophra"s approach, he raised the siege. (Jer_37:5) This having excited false hopes as to Nebuchadnezzar"s final withdrawal from the city, (Eze_17:17) Jeremiah warned king and people that he would soon return. (Jer_37:8-10) This warning Zedekiah would not hear. (2Ch_36:16)
2. On the part of the people. Hardly second to their monarch were the priests, the princes, and the people.
(1) Their passion for idolatry was as great: "They trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the heathen" (ver. 14). "Like priest, like people a proverb applicable to kings and subjects, masters and servants, as well as ecclesiastics and worshippers.
(2) Their insolence was as high. "They polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem" (ver. 14). "Jeremiah (Jer_23:11) alludes to practices specially inconsistent with the holy place, and one of the Jewish,captives explains what they were. (Eze_8:11-17) There was
(a) an image of Asherah;
(b) totemistic animal-emblems on the wall of a temple-chamber;
(c) weeping for "Tammuz dearly wounded;
(4) sun-worship and the rite of holding up "the twig" to the nose (Cheyne, "Jeremiah: his Life" etc., pp. 166, 167).
(3) Their unbelief was as daring. Though Jehovah had "sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending them," yet had they "mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets" (vers. 15, 16) a degree of criminality beyond that of which the Israelites had been guilty when they laughed Hezekiah"s messengers to scorn, (2Ch_30:10) but not above that which hearers of the gospel may (Act_2:13 Act_17:32; Heb_10:29; 2Pe_2:3, 2Pe_2:4; Jud_1:18)
II AN INSTANCE OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION. (Vers. 17-21.) The moral and spiritual corruption of the community in Zedekiah"s time was so great that nothing remained but to pour out upon them the vials of long-threatened wrath. (Deu_28:21, Deu_28:36, 52 31:16-21; Jer_5:19 Jer_32:28-36) In the expressive language of the Chronicler, "there was no remedy," "no healing," more; nothing but fire and sword. After defeating Pharaoh-Hophra, or causing him to retreat, Nebuchadnezzar returned to his head-quarters at Riblah, on the east bank of the Orontes, thirty-five miles northeast of Baalbec, and despatched his captains, Nergalsharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sar-sechim, Rab-saris, Rab-mag, and others to resume the siege of Jerusalem, which, however, triumphantly withstood their assaults until the beginning of the eleventh year, when the supply of provisions began to fail. (Jer_52:6) On the ninth day of the fourth month, i.e. in July, B.C. 586, "there was no bread for the people of the land." The starving defenders of the city could no longer hold out. The horrors of the situation may be gathered from Lam_2:19 Lam_4:3; Eze_5:10 RAPC Bar 2:3. The besiegers eventually effected a breach in the north wall, and poured in like a destroying flood. Then ensued:
1. Merciless carnage. The Chaldean soldiers butchered all and sundry, young and old, lad and maiden, not even sparing such as had taken refuge in the temple (ver. 17). The massacre was wholesale, truculent, and pitiless, eclipsed in horror only by that which took place when Jerusalem was captured by Titus (Josephus, "Wars" 6:9. 4).
2. Ruthless sacrilege. They completely despoiled the temple of its sacred vessels, great and small, as well as pillaged the royal palaces, carrying off their treasures (ver. 18). Among the articles removed from the temple were the brazen and golden utensils of service, the two pillars, the brazen sea, and the vases which Solomon had made (2Ki_25:13-17; Jer_52:17-23)
3. Wholesale destruction. "They burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces" (ver. 19); which was pure vandalism. This appears to have been done not on the night of the city"s capture (tenth day of tenth month), but seven months after, on the tenth day of the fifth month, i.e. in February, B.C. 587, (Jer_52:12) andto have been carried out by one of Nebuchadnezzar"s generals, Nebuzaradan, captain of the king"s guards, or "chief of the executioners", (cf. Gen_39:1) despatched from Riblah for the purpose. What happened in the interval is narrated in 2 Kings (2Ki_25:4-7) and Jeremiah, (Jer_52:7-11) viz. the capture, near Jericho, of Zedekiah with his court and his forces, who had escaped when the city was taken, and their journey north to Riblah, the head-quarters of Nebuchadnezzar, where, after judgment held, (2Ki_25:6) Zedekiah"s sons and the princes of Judah were slain, and Zedekiah himself blinded according to an inhuman practice of the time (see "Records," etc., 3:50, 1. 117, "Of many soldiers I destroyed the eyes;" and comp. Herod., 7:18), and cast into bonds preparatory to being deported to Babylon. In Babylon he was cast into prison until the day of his death; (Jer_52:11) according to tradition, his work in prison was that of grinding in a mill like an ordinary slave (Ewald, "History of Israel," 4:273, note 5).
4. Pitiless expatriation. Those that had escaped the sword were driven off, like gangs of slaves, to become exiles in a strange land, and servants to the kings of Babylon, "until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths," viz. for three score and ten years (vers. 20, 21). Such transplantations of conquered populations were common in the ancient Orient. "Sargon transported the Samaritans to Gozan and Media; Sennacherib carried off two hundred thousand Jews from Judaea; Esarhaddon placed Elamites, Susianians, and Babylonians in Samaria. Darius Hystaspis brought the nation of the Paeonians from Europe into Asia Minor, removed the Barcaeans to Bactria, and the Eretrians to Ardericca near Susa" (Rawlinson, "Egypt and Babylon," pp. 45, 46).
LESSONS.
1. The incorrigible character of some sit, hers.
2. The offensiveness in God"s sight of pride and hardness of heart.
3. The heinousness of oath-breaking and of unjustifiable rebellion.
4. The hopelessness of reformation in a city or a land when all classes are in love with wicked ways.
5. The infinite compassion of God towards the worst of men.
6. The certainty that mercy despised will turn into wrath displayed.
7. The pitiless character of Heaven"s judgments upon them for whom there is no remedy.
8. The indifference God shows towards the external symbols of religion when the inner spirit is wanting.
9. The impossibility of God"s Word failing. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to…
2Ch_36:15-17
And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by is me messengers, rising up betimes.
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Presumptuous rebellion
I. We see here continued rebellion, which suggests--
1. That habits are easily commenced. There is little difficulty in forming habits. They are not acquired by one mighty bound, but by a series of almost imperceptible steps.
2. That habits are readily strengthened. Every step that is taken is planted with firmer grip. With every ripple that flows the stream becomes wider and swifter, fed as it were with other streamlets on the way. Every time an action is repeated the easier it becomes, and the more deeply rooted in the soul.
3. That habits are seldom eradicated. Can the Ethiopian change his skin? Yea, easier than a man unassisted by Divine help can break away from evil habits. They become part of the nature of the man himself.
II. We see the presumption of continued rebellion. We are constantly reminded of the fact that God is merciful. But there is a limit to the mercy and forbearance even of God. This is evident--
1. From the fact that it is impossible always to continue His warning and judgments on the impenitent. If the obstinacy of one person cannot be overcome it were unjust on that account to remove the chance of salvation from others.
2. From the inevitable progress of temporal affairs. Death comes on with his rapid step and cuts short the life and with it the opportunities of repentance from the obdurate spirit. Then the door of mercy must be shut for ever.
3. From the very nature of the refusal. Is it likely that He, the Lord of all, will continue offering heavenly treasures to human swine who only trample His gifts in the mire? Oh, it is a sad and an awful truth that man may presume too far even on infinite love!
III. We see the awful end of presumptuous sin. The consequences are at the last utter destruction and irretrievable loss. This stands to reason if we remember--
1. That God must vindicate His character.
2. That an example must be set to the world at large.
3. That the sinful must be removed out of the way. (Homilist.)
Unheeded warning
The island of Ischia was a favourite summer resort of Italians. In 1883 the sinking of water in wells, mutterings and rumblings underground, distinctly foretold a coming earthquake; these signs were noticed and understood, but through fear of frightening visitors, and so losing custom, hotel-keepers and others refrained from making public these warnings. Ruin and death ensued, involving those who knew and heeded not, and those who, through lack of warning, had unwittingly exposed themselves to peril.
Till there was no remedy.
No remedy
These words contain three facts of great importance.
1. That there was, at least at one time, a remedy.
2. That the remedy went on, and might have been used, for a very long period.
3. That there came a time when the remedy ceased.
I. All life is a remedy. The conditions of things require it. Life a great restorative process.
1. Comes that marvellous provision of God in Jesus Christ.
2. All providences have a curative character.
3. Every one carries within himself an antidote to evil. Conscience, till silenced, a sure antidote to evil.
II. Notice the word till. It shows how slow God is to take away the remedy. We may sin ourselves into a state, not in which there is no forgiveness, but no thought or desire to seek forgiveness. No remedy, not on Gods account, but your own; not in Gods want of will to save you, but in your own incapacity to will your own salvation. (J. Vaughan, M.A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v11 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
THE FALL OF JUDAH
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2Ch 36:11 - 2Ch 36:21.
Bigness is not greatness, nor littleness smallness. Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Judah was, in his eyes, one of the least important of his many victories, but it is the only one of them which survives in the world’s memory and keeps his name as a household word. The Jews were a mere handful, and their country a narrow strip of land between the desert and the sea; but little Judaea, like little Greece, has taught the world. The tragedy of its fall has importance quite disproportioned to its apparent magnitude. Our passage brings together Judah’s sin and Judah’s punishment, and we shall best gather the lessons of its fall by following the order of the text.
Consider the sin. There is nothing more remarkable than the tone in which the chronicler, like all the Old Testament writers, deals with the national sin. Patriotic historians make it a point of pride and duty to gloss over their country’s faults, but these singular narrators paint them as strongly as they can. Their love of their country impels them to ‘make known to Israel its transgression and to Judah its sin.’ There are tears in their eyes, as who can doubt? But there is no faltering in their voices as they speak. A higher feeling than misguided ‘patriotism’ moves them. Loyalty to Israel’s God forces them to deal honestly with Israel’s sin. That is the highest kind of love of country, and might well be commended to loudmouthed ‘patriot’s in modern lands.
Look at the piled-up clauses of the long indictment of Judah in 2Ch 36:12 - 2Ch 36:16. Slow, passionless, unsparing, the catalogue enumerates the whole black list. It is like the long-drawn blast of the angel of judgment’s trumpet. Any trace of heated emotion would have weakened the impression. The nation’s sin was so crimson as to need no heightening of colour. With like judicial calmness, with like completeness, omitting nothing, does ‘the book,’ which will one day be opened, set down every man’s deeds, and he will be ‘judged according to the things that are written in this book.’ Some of us will find our page sad reading.
But the points brought out in this indictment are instructive. Judah’s idolatry and ‘trespass after all the abominations of the heathen’ is, of course, prominent, but the spirit which led to their idolatry, rather than the idolatry itself, is dwelt on. Zedekiah’s doing ‘evil in the sight of the Lord’ is regarded as aggravated by his not humbling himself before Jeremiah, and the head and front of his offending is that ‘he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord.’ Similarly, the people’s sin reaches its climax in their ‘mocking’ and ‘scoffing’ at the prophets and ‘despising’ God’s words by them. So then, an evil life has its roots in an alienated heart, and the source of all sin is an obstinate self-will. That is the sulphur-spring from which nothing but unwholesome streams can flow, and the greatest of all sins is refusing to hear God’s voice when He speaks to us.
Further, this indictment brings out the patient love of God seeking, in spite of all their deafness, to find a way to the sinners’ ears and hearts. In a bold transference to Him of men’s ways, He is said to have ‘risen early’ to send the prophets. Surely that means earnest effort. The depths of God’s heart are disclosed when we are bidden to think of His compassion as the motive for the prophet’s messages and threatenings. What a wonderful and heart-melting revelation of God’s placableness, wistful hoping against hope, and reluctance to abandon the most indurated sinner, is given in that centuries-long conflict of the patient God with treacherous Israel! That divine charity suffered long and was kind, endured all things and hoped all things.
Consider the punishment. The tragic details of the punishment are enumerated with the same completeness and suppression of emotion as those of the sin. The fact that all these were divine judgments brings the chronicler to the Psalmist’s attitude. ‘I was dumb, I opened not my mouth because Thou didst it.’ Sorrow and pity have their place, but the awed recognition of God’s hand outstretched in righteous retribution must come first. Modern sentimentalists, who are so tenderhearted as to be shocked at the Christian teachings of judgment, might learn a lesson here.
The first point to note is that a time arrives when even God can hope for no amendment and is driven to change His methods. His patience is not exhausted, but man’s obstinacy makes another treatment inevitable. God lavished benefits and pleadings for long years in vain, till He saw that there was ‘no remedy.’ Only then did He, as if reluctantly forced, do ‘His work, His strange work.’ Behold, therefore, the ‘goodness and severity’ of God, goodness in His long delay, severity in the final blow, and learn that His purpose is the same though His methods are opposite.
To the chronicler God is the true Actor in human affairs. Nebuchadnezzar thought of his conquest as won by his own arm. Secular historians treat the fall of Zedekiah as simply the result of the political conditions of the time, and sometimes seem to think that it could not be a divine judgment because it was brought about by natural causes. But this old chronicler sees deeper, and to him, as to us, if we are wise, ‘the history of the world is the judgment of the world.’ The Nebuchadnezzars are God’s axes with which He hews down fruitless trees. They are responsible for their acts, but they are His instruments, and it is His hand that wields them.
The iron band that binds sin and suffering is disclosed in Judah’s fall. We cannot allege that the same close connection between godlessness and national disaster is exemplified now as it was in Israel. Nor can we contend that for individuals suffering is always the fruit of sin. But it is still true that ‘righteousness exalteth a nation,’ and that ‘by the soul only are the nations great,’ in the true sense of the word. To depart from God is always ‘a bitter and an evil thing’ for communities and individuals, however sweet draughts of outward prosperity may for a time mask the bitterness. Not armies nor fleets, not ships, colonies and commerce, not millionaires and trusts, not politicians and diplomatists, but the fear of the Lord and the keeping of His commandments, are the true life of a nation. If Christian men lived up to the ideal set them by Jesus, ‘Ye are the salt of the land,’ and sought more earnestly and wisely to leaven their nation, they would be doing more than any others to guarantee its perpetual prosperity.
The closing words of this chapter, not included in the passage, are significant. They are the first words of the Book of Ezra. Whoever put them here perhaps wished to show a far-off dawn following the stormy sunset. He opens a ‘door of hope’ in ‘the valley of trouble.’ It is an Old Testament version of ‘God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew.’ It throws a beam of light on the black last page of the chronicle, and reveals that God’s chastisement was in love, that it was meant for discipline, not for destruction, that it was educational, and that the rod was burned when the lesson had been learned. It was learned, for the Captivity cured the nation of hankering after idolatry, and whatever defects it brought back from Babylon, it brought back a passionate abhorrence of all the gods of the nations.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v15 1. The captivity (2Ch 36:15-21)
IV. THE CAPTIVITY AND THE EPILOGUE
CHAPTER 36:15-23
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1. The captivity (2Ch 36:15-21)
2. The epilogue (2Ch 36:22-23)
In infinite patience the Lord still waited for the return of His people. Judgment is His strange work, but He delighteth in mercy. He sent them messengers who exhorted them and brought the messages of God, because He had compassion. But they mocked the messengers, despised God’s gracious offers and misused His prophets, till there was no remedy. An awful statement. Apostasy and defiance of God increased to such an extent, till there was no remedy. The threatening clouds of judgment broke at last and the people were carried away into the captivity. “To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths, for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath to fulfill three-score and ten years.” And this age too is, with its rejection of God’s best, approaching a day when there will be no remedy and the judgment will fall.
The epilogue takes us after the seventy year captivity. Cyrus had been named by Isaiah almost two hundred years before he was born (Isa 44:28). God accomplished His purpose through this Persian king. We shall follow his history in Ezra and his work and what it foreshadows in Isaiah.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v11 Zedekiah’s Reign and the end of Judah
Zedekiah’s Reign and the end of Judah
v. 11. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. Cf 2Ki 24:18 to 2Ki 25:21; Jeremiah 52. All the nobles, artisans, and craftsmen of the people having been removed, there remained only the laboring class and the farmers and gardeners.
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v. 12. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, his God, persisting in idolatry in the face of the Lord’s punishment upon his predecessors, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah, the prophet, speaking from the mouth of the Lord. Cf Jeremiah 37.
v. 13. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God, taking a solemn oath of loyalty from him. wherefore his league with Pharaohhophrah of Egypt included the crime of perjury; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. That is the height of God’s judgment upon man when He permits self-hardening to take place and delivers man to his own evil way of thinking.
v. 14. Moreover, all the chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen, thus agreeing with the king in his idolatrous practices; and polluted the house of the Lord which He had hallowed in Jerusalem, by heathen sacrifices and customs.
v. 15. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, especially the prophets Isaiah, Micah, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah, rising up betimes and sending, that is, constantly and earnestly, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling-place, wishing to save the people from the punishment which they were inviting upon their own heads.
v. 16. But they mocked the messengers of God, as in the case of Jeremiah, Jer 5:12-13, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, Jer 32:3, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, like a fire eating through into a high flame, till there was no remedy, till the state of affairs was past healing.
v. 17. Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, Nebuchadnezzar undertaking a third siege of Jerusalem, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, so called because they had profaned the Temple by their idolatry, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age; He gave them all into his hand, namely, when the city was captured after a siege lasting a year and a half, in the year 587 B. C.
v. 18. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, those still remaining after the first sacking of the city, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, with the many presents of consecration, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, the entire contents of the royal treasury; all these he brought to Babylon.
v. 19. And they burned the house of God, for the floors and the inner walls of the Temple were of wood, and therefore very inflammable, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof, all those of value which they could not well transport to Babylon.
v. 20. And them that had escaped from the sword, during the siege and at the capture of the city, carried he away to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, 2Ki 25:9; Jer 39:8; Jer 27:7,
v. 21. to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; the Sabbatic years, as seasons of rest for all classes of people and for the land itself having been ignored for centuries, the Lord was now giving the land lest, Lev 26:34; for as long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath, for a mere handful of people remained in the land after Nebuchadnezzar’s campaign, and many of these went down into Egypt in the course of time, to fulfil threescore and ten years. It seems that no attempt was made to colonize the land in the interval, and that Judah was actually desolate for seventy years.
v. 22. Now, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jer 25:12-13, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, the Babylonian empire having meanwhile passed into the power of the Persian empire, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
v. 23. Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and He hath charged me to build Him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. This had been revealed to Cyrus either directly or by the mouth of some prophet. Who is there among you of all His people? The Lord, His God, be with him, and let him go up. It was a free invitation calling upon the Jews to return to the land of their fathers. Note the kindness and mercy of the Lord in reinstating a remnant of His people in their country, since the Redeemer was to come out of Zion, born in Bethlehem from the stock of David.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20 twenty-one years old ... eleven years
twenty-one years old ... eleven years
"21 years old ... 11 years" (See: Numbers)
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what was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God
Here "sight" represents judgment. Yahweh saw and did not approve of Zedekiah's actions. AT: "what Yahweh his God judged to be evil" or "what Yahweh his God considered to be evil" (See: Metaphor)
who spoke from the mouth of Yahweh
Here the word "mouth" represents the words that Yahweh spoke. AT: "who spoke the words that Yahweh spoke to him" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
humble
Jeremiah
prophet
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13, 19, 21 36:11-14 Although Jeremiah repeatedly urged Zedekiah to submit to…
36:11-14 Although Jeremiah repeatedly urged Zedekiah to submit to the Babylonians rather than look for help from Egypt (Jer 25:1-11; 27:1-22; 34:1-22; 37:1–38:28), Zedekiah refused to humble himself and rebelled, violating his oath.
36:11 Zedekiah reigned from 597 to 586 BC.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.