In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
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2 Kings 25:1-3 sits inside this longer paragraph.
In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah. But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him. They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
Parallel Translations
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In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it.
So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
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And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.
And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
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And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.
So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
Cross-references (32)
- Jeremiah 52:4-11 (v1) In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his…
- Leviticus 26:26 (v3) When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall…
- Deuteronomy 28:52-53 (v3) They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They…
- 1 Chronicles 6:15 (v1) Jehozadak went into captivity, when Yahweh carried Judah and Jerusalem away by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
- Isaiah 29:3 (v1) I will encamp against you all around you, and will lay siege against you with posted troops. I will raise siege works against you.
Show all 32 cross-references
- Jeremiah 34:1-6 (v1) The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, with all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth that…
- Jeremiah 38:2 (v3) “Yahweh says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out to the…
- Jeremiah 43:10 (v1) and tell them, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and…
- Jeremiah 52:6 (v3) In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the…
- Lamentations 4:4-10 (v3) The tongue of the nursing child clings to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask bread, and no one breaks it for them.…
- Ezekiel 5:12 (v3) A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fall by the sword…
- Ezekiel 7:15 (v3) “ ‘The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within. He who is in the field will die by the sword. He who is in the city will…
- Ezekiel 14:21 (v3) For the Lord Yahweh says: “How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, the famine, the evil animals, and…
- 2 Kings 24:1 (v1) In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
- 2 Kings 24:10 (v1) At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17-21 (v1) 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…
- Jeremiah 27:8 (v1) “ ‘ “ ‘It will happen that I will punish the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that…
- Jeremiah 32:24 (v1) “Behold, siege ramps have come to the city to take it. The city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of…
- Jeremiah 32:28 (v1) Therefore Yahweh says: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,…
- Jeremiah 37:21 (v3) Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard. They gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the…
- Jeremiah 39:1-10 (v1) In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem,…
- Jeremiah 39:2 (v3) In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city.
- Jeremiah 51:34 (v1) “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed…
- Ezekiel 4:1-8 (v1) “You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem. Lay siege against it, build forts…
- Ezekiel 4:9-17 (v3) “Take for yourself also wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel. Make bread of it. According to the…
- Ezekiel 5:10 (v3) Therefore the fathers will eat the sons within you, and the sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you; and I will…
- Ezekiel 21:22-24 (v1) In his right hand was the lot for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting,…
- Ezekiel 24:1-14 (v1) Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Son of man, write the name…
- Ezekiel 26:7 (v1) “For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, with…
- Daniel 4:1-18 (v1) Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. It has seemed…
- Zechariah 8:19 (v3) Yahweh of Armies says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and…
- Luke 19:43-44 (v1) For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, and will…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (25 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 That is, of Zedekiah.
That is, of Zedekiah.
Which the Hebrews call Tebet, and it containeth part of December, and part of January.
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Or, a mount.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–3 2Ki 25:1 And it came to pass in the…
2Ki 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, [that] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.
Ver. 1. In the tenth month, the tenth day of the month.] This was revealed to Ezekiel in Babylon. {Eze 24:1} And although this day of the tenth month was by the law appointed for a day of expiation or atonement, {Lev 16:29-31} yet now "an end was come, the end was come, it watched against them, behold, it was come, an evil, an only evil was come, was come," as Ezekiel hath it. {Eze 7:5-6} This the poor captives afterward bewailed in their anniversary fast on this day kept. {Zec 8:19}
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And they built forts against it round about.] Of the greatness of this army environing so great a city, see Jer 34:1.
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 vv1, 3 To chastise Zedekiah for his rebellion and perjury, 2Ch…
To chastise Zedekiah for his rebellion and perjury, 2Ch 36:13. They built forts against it round about; partly to keep all supplies of men or provisions from entering into the city; and partly that from thence they might shoot darts, or arrows, or stones into the city. See Jer 52:4; Eze 4:2; 17:17.
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 v1 We left king Zedekiah in rebellion against the king…
We left king Zedekiah in rebellion against the king of Babylon (Kg2 24:20), contriving and endeavouring to shake off his yoke, when he was no way able to do it, nor took the right method by making God his friend first. Now here we have an account of the fatal consequences of that attempt.
I. The king of Babylon's army laid siege to Jerusalem, Kg2 25:1. What should hinder them when the country was already in their possession? Kg2 24:2. They built forts against the city round about, whence, by such arts of war as they then had, they battered it, sent into it instruments of death, and kept out of it the necessary supports of life. Formerly Jerusalem had been compassed with the favour of God as with a shield, but now their defence had departed from them and their enemies surrounded them on every side. Those that by sin have provoked God to leave them will find that innumerable evils will compass them about. Two years this siege lasted; at first the army retired, for fear of the king of Egypt (Jer 37:11), but, finding him not so powerful as they thought, they soon returned, with a resolution not to quit the city till they had made themselves masters of it.
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II. During this siege the famine prevailed (Kg2 25:3), so that for a long time they ate their bread by weight and with care, Eze 4:16. Thus they were punished for their gluttony and excess, their fulness of bread and feeding themselves without fear. At length there was no bread for the people of the land, that is, the common people, the soldiers, whereby they were weakened and rendered unfit for service. Now they ate their own children for want of food. See this foretold by one prophet (Eze 5:10) and bewailed by another, Lam 4:3, etc. Jeremiah earnestly persuaded the king to surrender (Jer 38:17), but his heart was hardened to his destruction.
III. At length the city was taken by storm: it was broken up, Kg2 25:4. The besiegers made a breach in the wall, at which they forced their way into it. The besieged, unable any longer to defend it, endeavoured to quit it, and make the best of their way; and many, no doubt, were put to the sword, the victorious army being much exasperated by their obstinacy.
IV. The king, his family, and all his great men, made their escape in the night, by some secret passages which the besiegers either had not discovered or did not keep their eye upon, Kg2 25:4. But those as much deceive themselves who think to escape God's judgments as those who think to brave them; the feet of him that flees from them will as surely fail as the hands of him that fights against them. When God judges he will overcome. Intelligence was given to the Chaldeans of the king's flight, and which way he had gone, so that they soon overtook him, Kg2 25:5. His guards were scattered from him, every man shifting for his own safety. Had he put himself under God's protection, that would not have failed him now. He presently fell into the enemies' hands, and here we are told what they did with him. 1. He was brought to the king of Babylon, and tried by a council of war for rebelling against him who set him up, and to whom he had sworn fidelity. God and man had a quarrel with him for this; see Eze 17:16, etc. The king of Babylon now lay at Riblah (which lay between Judea and Babylon), that he might be ready to give orders both to his court at home and his army abroad. 2. His sons were slain before his eyes, though children, that this doleful spectacle, the last his eyes were to behold, might leave an impression of grief and horror upon his spirit as long as he lived. In slaying his sons, they showed their indignation at his falsehood, and in effect declared that neither he nor any of his were fit to be trusted, and therefore that they were not fit to live. 3. His eyes were put out, by which he was deprived of that common comfort of human life which is given even to those that are in misery, and to the bitter in soul, the light of the sun, by which he was also disabled for any service. He dreaded being mocked, and therefore would not be persuaded to yield (Jer 38:19), 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. Jeremiah prophesied that Zedekiah should be brought to Babylon, Jer 32:5; Jer 34:3. Ezekiel prophesied that he should not see Babylon, Eze 12:13. He was brought thither, but, his eyes being put out, he did not see it. Thus he ended his days, before he ended his life. 4. He was bound in fetters of brass and so carried to Babylon. He that was blind needed not be bound (his blindness fettered him), but, for his greater disgrace, they led him bound; only, whereas common malefactors are laid in irons (Psa 105:18; Psa 107:10), he, being a prince, was bound with fetters of brass; but that the metal was somewhat nobler and lighter was little comfort, while still he was in fetters. Let it not seem strange if those that have been held in the cords of iniquity come to be thus held in the cords of affliction, Job 36:8.
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 v1 And it came to pass in the ninth year…
And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign,.... Of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. From hence to the end of Kg2 25:7, the account exactly agrees with Jer 52:4.
.
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2 Kings 25:8
kg2 25:8
kg2 25:8
kg2 25:8And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month,.... In Jer 52:12 it is the tenth day of the month; which, how to be reconciled; see Gill on Jer 52:12.
which is the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar; who, according to Ptolemy's canon, reigned forty three years; Metasthenes (u) says forty five; and from hence, to the end of Kg2 25:12 facts are related as in Jer 52:12 whither the reader is referred.
(u) De Judicio Temp. & Annal. Pers. fol. 221. 2.
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 vv1, 3 Jerusalem is taken, ver. 1-4. Zedekiah taken and sentenced,…
Jerusalem is taken, ver. 1-4. Zedekiah taken and sentenced, ver. 5-7. Nebuzaradan burns the city, breaks down the walls, and carries away the spoils, with most of the people, ver. 3-17. The chief officers are put to death, ver. 18-21. The very remnant of the people is scattered, ver. 22-26. Jehoiachin is countenanced, after thirty seven years imprisonment, ver. 27-30.
Came - To chastise Zedekiah for his rebellion and perjury. Built - To keep all supplies of men or provisions from entering into the city: and that from thence they might shoot darts, or arrows, or stones.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem; it is taken, after having
CHAPTER XXV
Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem; it is taken, after having
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been sorely reduced by famine, c. and Zedekiah, endeavouring
to make his escape, is made prisoner, his sons slain before his
eyes; then, his eyes being put out, he is put in chains and
carried to Babylon, 1-7.
Nebuzar-adan burns the temple, breaks down the walls of
Jerusalem, and carries away the people captives, leaving only a
few to till the ground, 8-12.
He takes away all the brass, and all the vessels of the temple,
13-17.
Several of the chief men and nobles found in the city, he
brings to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, who puts them all to death,
18-21.
Nebuchadnezzar makes Gedaliah governor over the poor people that
were left, against whom Ishmael rises, and slays him, and
others with him; on which the people in general, fearing the
resentment of the Chaldeans, flee to Egypt, 22-26.
Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, releases Jehoiachin out of
prison, treats him kindly, and makes him his friend, 27-30.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXV
Verse 1. In the ninth year of his reign] Zedekiah, having revolted against the Chaldeans, Nebuchadnezzar, wearied with his treachery, and the bad faith of the Jews, determined the total subversion of the Jewish state. Having assembled a numerous army, he entered Judea on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah; this, according to the computation of Archbishop Usher, was on Thursday, January 30, A.M. 3414, which was a sabbatical year: whereon the men of Jerusalem hearing that the Chaldean army was approaching, proclaimed liberty to their servants; see Jer 34:8-10, according to the law, Ex 21:2; De 15:1-2; De 15:12: for Nebuchadnezzar, marching with his army against Zedekiah, having wasted all the country, and taken their strong holds, except Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem, came against the latter with all his forces. See Jer 34:1-7. On the very day, as the same author computes, the siege and utter destruction of Jerusalem were revealed to Ezekiel the prophet, then in Chaldea, under the type of a seething pot; and his wife died in the evening, and he was charged not to mourn for her, because of the extraordinary calamity that had fallen upon the land. See Eze 24:1-2, c.
Jeremiah, having predicted the same calamities, Jer 34:1-7, was by the command of Zedekiah shut up in prison, Jer 32:1-16.
Pharaoh Hophra, or Vaphris, hearing how Zedekiah was pressed, and fearing for the safety of his own dominions should the Chaldeans succeed against Jerusalem, determined to succour Zedekiah. Finding this, the Chaldeans raised the siege of Jerusalem, and went to meet the Egyptian army, which they defeated and put to flight. Joseph. Antiq., lib. 10, cap. 10. In the interim the Jews, thinking their danger was passed, reclaimed their servants, and put them again under the yoke Jer 34:8, &c.
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 vv1, 3 2Ki 25:1. Nebuchadnezzar came, and all his host, against…
2Ki 25:1. Nebuchadnezzar came, and all his host, against Jerusalem — To chastise Zedekiah for his rebellion and perjury: for, contrary to the solemn oath he had taken, he had been contriving and endeavoring to revolt from the king of Babylon, and shake off his yoke. They built forts against it round about — To keep all supplies of men and provisions from entering into the city, and that from thence, by such arts of war as they then had, they might batter the walls, shoot arrows, and throw darts or stones into it. Formerly Jerusalem was compassed with the favour of God as with a shield, but now their defence is departed from them, and their enemies surround them on every side. The siege lasted two years. At first the besieging army retired for fear of the king of Egypt, who came to help Zedekiah; and then Jeremiah endeavoured to get out of the city, to go into the land of Benjamin, but was hindered, seized, and imprisoned, Jer 37:11. The Chaldeans, finding that Pharaoh was not so powerful as they at first supposed, soon returned, as Jeremiah had foretold they would, with a resolution not to quit the siege till they had made themselves masters of the place.
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 vv1–2 In the ninth year ... - As the final…
In the ninth year ... - As the final catastrophe approaches, the historian becomes more close and exact in his dates, marking not only the year, but the month and the day, on which the siege began, no less than those on which it closed 2Ki 25:3. From Eze 24:1 we find that on the very day when the host of Nebuchadnezzar made its appearance before Jerusalem the fact was revealed to Ezekiel in Babylonia, and the fate of the city announced to him Eze 24:6-14. The army seems to have at first spread itself over all Judaea. It fought, not only against Jerusalem, but especially against Lachish and Azekah Jer 34:7, two cities of the south 2Ch 11:9, which had probably been strongly garrisoned in order to maintain the communication with Egypt. This division of the Babylonian forces encouraged Hophra to put his troops in motion and advance to the relief of his Jewish allies Jer 37:5. On hearing this, Nebuchadnezzar broke up from before Jerusalem and marched probably to Azekah and Lachish. The Egyptians shrank back, returned into their own country Jer 37:7; Eze 17:17, and took no further part in the war. Nebuchadnezzar then led back his army, and once more invested the city. (It is uncertain whether the date at the beginning of this verse refers to the first or to the second investment.)
Forts - Probably moveable towers, sometimes provided with battering-rams, which the besiegers advanced against the walls, thus bringing their fighting men on a level with their antagonists. Such towers are seen in the Assyrian sculptures.
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 vv1, 3 Day, the 30th of January, the year of the…
Day, the 30th of January, the year of the world 3414. (Usher) --- Some time after Nabuchodonosor left the siege, to attack the Egyptians; (Jeremias xxxvii. 3.) and the people of Jerusalem, (Haydock) supposing that he would return no more, took back their slaves, whom Jeremias had prevailed on them to liberate, according to the law, during the sabbatical year, Jeremias xxxiv. 8. (Usher) --- The prophet reproached them for it; and announced the destruction of the city so plainly, that he was thrown into prison, Jeremias xxi., and xxxiv., and xxxviii. --- It. The Babylonians had already taken all the towns of Juda, except Azeca and Lachis, Jeremias xxxiv. 7. (Calmet)
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 v3 on the ninth day of the fourth month the…
on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed--In consequence of the close and protracted blockade, the inhabitants were reduced to dreadful extremities; and under the maddening influence of hunger, the most inhuman atrocities were perpetrated (Lam 2:20, Lam 2:22; Lam 4:9-10; Eze 5:10). This was a fulfilment of the prophetic denunciations threatened on the apostasy of the chosen people (Lev 26:29; Deu 28:53-57; Jer 15:2; Jer 27:13; Eze 4:16).
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 vv1–3 1. Ninth year… tenth month… tenth day — Compare…
1. Ninth year… tenth month… tenth day — Compare also the specification of exact dates in 2Ki_25:3; 2Ki_25:8. “These dates,” says Bahr, “could be given thus accurately to the month and the day, because the Jews were accustomed during the exile to fast on the anniversary of these days of disaster.” See Zec_7:3; Zec_7:5; Zec_8:19. On this same day Ezekiel received and uttered his oracle of woe against Jerusalem. Eze_24:1.
He, and all his host — Nebuchadnezzar was, doubtless, present more or less during the two years of siege at Jerusalem, to counsel and direct the besieging army, but he seems to have had his own headquarters most of the time at Riblah. 2Ki_25:6; 2Ki_25:20. During this same campaign he also fought “against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.” Jer_34:7.
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Built forts against it round about — The word rendered forts (דיק) Michaelis explains as a wall or line of circumvallation. This is favoured by the Septuagint and the expression round about. But according to Gesenius the word means a watchtower, and is here to be taken collectively in the sense of towers erected by the besiegers to overlook and harass the city.
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 vv1–3 2Ki_25:1. in the ninth year of his reign] i.e.…
2Ki_25:1. in the ninth year of his reign] i.e. Of Zedekiah’s reign. How long before this, the neglect to pay the tribute, which was the usual indication of disaffection, had gone on we are not told. The Babylonian power might overlook the first omission, but perhaps not the second. So we may date the determination to revolt from about the seventh year of Zedekiah’s reign. Thus time would be given for such preparations as in the weak condition of the land he could make.
and pitched [R.V. encamped] against it] The verb is one of constant occurrence in the descriptions of the marches of the Israelites from Egypt. There ‘to pitch’ is a very suitable word, but the Babylonian armies did not intend to move till the city of Jerusalem was taken. So ‘encamp’, the general term for such a military ‘pitching’ of tents, seems preferable.
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built forts] To the precise character of these erections the word gives no clue by its derivation. It is always used for works built against a city by the attacking party. Hence we must suppose some line of enclosure to be intended, or erections from which the besiegers could with greater effect discharge missiles over the walls.
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 vv1–3 (1) And it came to pass.—With the account which…
XXV.
(1) And it came to pass.—With the account which follows comp. Jer_52:4 seq., Jer_39:1-10, Jeremiah 40-43.
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In the ninth year . . . tenth day.—Comp. the similarly exact dates in 2Ki_25:3; 2Ki_25:8. Eze_24:1-2, agrees with the present. The days were observed as fasts during the exile (Zec_7:3; Zec_7:5; Zec_8:19).
Came . . . against Jerusalem.—After taking the other strong places of Judah, as Sennacherib had done (Jer_34:7; comp. 2Ki_18:13; 2Ki_19:8), Zedekiah must have prepared for the siege, as it lasted a year and a half.
Forts.—The Hebrew word (dâyçq) occurs in Eze_4:2; Eze_17:17; Eze_21:27; Eze_26:8. Its meaning is some kind of siege work, as appears from the context in each case; but what precisely is not clear. The LXX. here has “wall” (τεῖχος); Syriac, “palisade” (qalqûmê, i.e., χαράκωμα).
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 vv1–3 Vers. 1-30. THE LAST SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. THE JEWS…
Vers. 1-30. THE LAST SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. THE JEWS LED INTO CAPTIVITY. HISTORY OF THE REMNANT LEFT BEHIND. RELEASE FROM PRISON OF JEHOIACHIN.
Vers. 1-10. LAST SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM. The open rebellion of Zedekiah was followed almost immediately by the advance into Judaea of a Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar in person, and the strict investment of the capital. We learn the circumstances of the siege from Jeremiah, in the prophecy which bears his name, and in the Book of Lamentations. It lasted one year and seven months, and was accompanied by a blockade so strict that the defenders were reduced to the last extremity, and, as in Samaria under Jehoram, (2Ki_6:29) and again in Jerusalem during the siege by Titus (Josephus, "Bell. Jud:," 6:3. mothers ate their children. (see Lam_2:20 Lam_4:10) When resistance was no longer possible, Zedekiah, with his men-at-arms, attempted to escape by night, and fled eastward, but were overtaken and captured in the plain of Jericho. (Jer_39:4, Jer_39:5) Meanwhile the city fell into the enemy"s hands, and was treated with all the rigors of war. The temple, the royal palace, and the great houses of the rich men were first plundered and then delivered to the flames (ver. 9). The walls of the city were broken down (ver. 10), and the gates laid even with the ground. (Lam_2:9) A great massacre of the population took place in the streets. (Lam_2:3, Lam_2:4)
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And it cams to pass in the ninth year of hisi.e. Zedekiah"sreign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month. Extreme exactness with respect to a date indicates the extreme importance of the event dated. In the whole range of the history contained in the two Books of the Kings, there is no instance of the year, month, and day being all given excepting in the present chapter, where we find this extreme exactness three times (vers. 1, 4, and 8). The date in ver. 1 is confirmed by Jer_52:10 and Eze_24:1. That Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem. "According to the description of the eye-witness, Jeremiah, the army was one of unusual magnitude. Nebuchadnezzar brought against Jerusalem at this time "all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people". (Jer_34:1) The march of the army was not direct upon Jerusalem; it at first spread itself over Judea, wasting the country and capturing the smaller fortified towns (.Josephus, "Ant. Jud:," 10:7. among them Lachish, so famous in the war against Sennacherib, (2Ki_18:14, 17 19:8) and Azekah. (Jer_34:7) The capture ofthese two places was important as intercepting Zedekiah"s line of communication with Egypt. Having made himself master of them, Nebuchadnezzar proceeded to invest the capital. And pitched against iti.e. , encamped, and commenced a regular siegeand they built forts against it round about. It has been argued that qyed; does not mean a "fort" or "tower," but a "line of circumvallation" (Michaelis, Hitzig, Thenius, Bahr). Jerusalem, however, can scarcely be surrounded by lines of circumvallation, which, moreover, were not employed in their sieges by the Orientals. Dayek (qyed) seems to be properly a "watchtower," from qWd, speculari, whence it passed into the meaning of a "tower" generally. The towers used in sieges by the Assyrians and Babylonians were movable ones, made of planks, which were pushed up to the walls, so that the assailants might attack their adversaries, on a level, with greater advantage. Sometimes they contained battering rams (see Layard, "Monuments of Nineveh," first series, pl. 19; Jer_52:4; Eze_4:2 Eze_17:17 Eze_26:8; Josephus, "Ant. Jud:," 10:8.
Vers. 1-10. The fall of Judah and Jerusalem a warning for all time to all nations.
Jerusalem had defied Zerah with his host of a minion men, (2Ch_14:9-15) and had triumphed over Sennacherib at the head of all the armed force of Assyria: (2Ki_19:35, 2Ki_19:36) why did she succumb to Nebuchadnezzar? It is quite certain that Babylon was not a stronger power than either Egypt or Assyria when in their prime. There is no reason to believe that Nebuchadnezzar was a better general than Sennacherib, or even than Zerah. The ground of the difference in the result of Judah"s struggle with Babylon, and her earlier struggles with Egypt and Assyria, is certainly not to be sought in the greater strength of her assailant, but in her own increased weakness. What, then, were the causes of this weakness?
I IT WAS NOT THE RESULT OF ANY DECLINE IN MILITARY STRENGTH, AS ORDINARILY ESTIMATED. The population of Judaea may have diminished, but under Josiah her dominion had increased, (2Ki_23:15-20) and it is probable that she could still put into the field as many men as at any former period. Even if there were a diminution in the number of her troops, the fact would not have been one of much importance, since her military successes had never been dependent upon the numerical proportion between her own forces and those of her adversaries, but had been most signal and striking where the disproportion had been the greatest (see Num_31:3 Num_31:47; Jud 7:7-22 8:4 12; 1Sa_14:11-16; 2Ch_14:8-12 2Ch_20:15-24, etc.)
II IT WAS NOT PRODUCED BY INTERNAL QUARREL OR DISSENSION. Ewald attributes the fall of Judah and Jerusalem mainly to the antagonism between the monarchy and the prophetical order, and to the violence employed by each against the other. "The kingdom of Judah was torn," he says, "with less and less hope of remedy, by the most irreconcilable internal divisions; and the sharpest dissensions at length made their way into the sanctity of every house." Violence on the part of the kings was met by violence on the part of the prophets; and "the sacred land went to ruin under the development of the element of force" ("History of Israel," vol. 4. p. 289). It is difficult to discover any sufficient support for this view in the sacred narrative, which shows us Hezekiah on the most friendly terms with Isaiah, Josiah on the same terms with Huldah, and Zedekiah certainly not on unfriendly terms with Jeremiah. In the closing scene the antagonism is not between prophetism and monarchy, but between prophetism and an aristocratical clique. Nor is it at all clear that the final result was seriously affected by the antagonism in question. It may have somewhat relaxed the defense; but we cannot possibly imagine that, if there had been no difference of view, no sharp dissension, a successful resistance could have been made, The resistance might, perhaps, have been prolonged had all Israelites been of one mind; but still Babylon would have prevailed in the end.
III IT WAS NOT FROM ANY TREACHERY OR DESERTION ON THE PART OF ALLIES. Allies had never done Judaea much good; and dependence on them was regarded as an indication of want of faith in Jehovah. But, so far as the matter of alliances went, Judah was in a superior, rather than in an inferior, position now than formerly. Her natural allies in any struggle with the dominant power of Western Asia were Phoenicia and Egypt; and at this time both Phoenicia and Egypt rendered her aid. Tyro was in revolt against Babylon from B.C. 598 to B.C. 585, and gave occupation to a considerable portion of the Babylonian forces while Jerusalem was being besieged. Egypt, under the enterprising Hophra (Apries), took the field soon after the siege began, and for a time succeeded in raising it. Babylon had to contend with the three allies, Tyro, Egypt, and Judea, at one and the same time, but proved equal to the strain, and overcame all three antagonists. Judaea"s weakness lay in this that she had offended God. From the time of Moses to that of Zedekiah, it was not her own inherent strength, or vigor, or energy, that had protected and sustained her, but the supporting hand of the Almighty. God had ever "gone forth with her armies". (Psa_60:10) God had given her "help from trouble." Through God she had "done valiantly." He it was who had "trodden down her enemies". (Psa_60:11, Psa_60:12) Many of their deliverances had been through actual miracle; others were the result of a divinely infused courage pervading their own ranks, or a panic falling upon their adversaries. It was only as God"s "peculiar people," enjoying his covenanted protection, that they could possibly hold their place among the nations of the earth, so soon as great empires were formed and mighty monarchs devised schemes of extensive conquests. God"s arm had saved them, from Egypt and from Assyria; he could as easily have saved them from Babylon. It is nothing with God to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power". (2Ch_14:11) He could have bridled Nebuchadnezzar as easily as Zerah or Sennacherib, and have saved the Jews under Zedekiah as readily as under Asa or Hezekiah. But Judah"s sins came between him and them. The persistent transgressions of the people from the time of Manasseh, their idolatries, immoralities, cruelties, and wickedness of all kinds, shortened God"s arm, that he could not interpose to save them. As the author of Chronicles puts it, "there was no remedy". (2Ch_36:16) "They had transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem... they had mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets"; (2Ch_36:14-16) and so "filled up the measure of their iniquities." Under such circumstances, God could not spare even his own children (Isa_1:4 Isa_63:16) his own people. Can, then, any sinful nation hope to escape? Ought not each to feel the fate of Judah a warning to itself? a warning to repent of its evil ways, and turn from them, and walk in the paths of righteousness, according to the exhortation of Isaiah? you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it". (Isa_1:16-20)
HOMILIES BY C.H. IRWIN. Vers. 1-21. The last days of Jerusalem.
The shameful story of Judah"s disobedience and sin is now drawing to a close. Here we have an account of the capture of Jerusalem and its king by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. Zedekiah, the king, was taken prisoner. His sons were first put to death before his eyes. Then his own eyes were put out. He was bound in fetters of brass, and carried sway to Babylon. Jerusalem itself, the city of David and Solomon, was a scene of desolation. Nebuzar-adan, captain of the Babylonian guard, burnt with fire the house of the Lord and the king"s house and all the principal houses of the city. The men of war had deserted their pests and fled from the city. All who remained there were taken captive. The poor of the land only were left to be vinedressers and husbandmen. What were the causes of this sad downfall.
I THE WICKEDNESS OF ITS RULERS. One after the other, the kings of Judah had done evil in the sight of the Lord.
1. They disobeyed God"s commands. They imitated the idolatry and the vices of the heathen.
2. They ill-treated God"s prophets. When men begin to despise and ill-treat God"s messengers, those who are trying to lead them to what is fight, they are blind to their own true interests. The treatment which the Prophet Jeremiah in particular received showed how low in degradation the kingdom of Judah had sunk. After the prophet"s fearless denunciations of national sin (Jeremiah 13-19.), Pashur, who was chief governor of the temple, smote Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks, or pillory, that was in the high gate of Benjamin, near the temple, where all men might see him and mock at his disgrace. We have seen how Jehoiakim cut the roll of Jeremiah"s prophecies with his penknife, and burned its leaves. Jeremiah"s last years at Jerusalem were years of increased suffering and persecution. Zedekiah actually put him in prison. The princes cast him to perish in a hideous pit in the prison-house, where he sank in the mire, but at the intercession of an Ethiopian officer, Ebed-Melech, the king rescued him. Wickedness in high places soon proves to be a nation"s ruin.
II THE CORRUPTION OF ITS PEOPLE. Unhappily, the people were just as corrupt and as godless as their rulers. A nation is responsible for its national sins. The sins of Judah cried aloud to Heaven for vengeance. And in the days of the Captivity they were taught to feel that there is a God that reigneth in the earth. We learn from the fate of Judah and Jerusalem:
1. The danger of forsaking God. They forsook God in the day of their prosperity. And when the hour of their need came, the gods whom they served were not able to deliver them.
2. The danger of disregarding God"s Word. How often, in these later years of Judah"s history, was the Law of God utterly neglected and forgotten: No life can be truly happy which is not based on the Word of God. No home can be truly happy where the Bible is not read. No nation can expect prosperity which disregards the Word of God.
3. The danger of despising God"s warnings. Every message God sends us is for our good. If it is worth his while to speak to us, it is worth our while to listen. Neglected warnings what guilt they revolve! what danger they threaten. Because I have called, and. ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded... I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh. C.H.I.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR Vers. 1-10. The fall and destruction of Jerusalem.
With this account of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar should be compared the narrative of its later destruction by Titus (A.D. 70). History does not always repeat itself; but in this instance it does so with marvelous fidelity. The close investment of the city, the desperate resistance, the horrors of famine within, the incidents of the capture, the burning of the temple, the demolition of the walls, and the captivity of the people, present striking parallels in the two cases. By one of those rare coincidences that sometimes occur, it was on the very same month and day of the month on which the temple was burned by Nebuchadnezzar, that the sanctuary was fired by the soldiers of Titus. The earlier destruction fulfilled the predictions of the prophets; the later the predictions of our Lord. (Mt 24)
I THE LAST SIEGE.
1. Fatal dates. The days which mark the different stages of this terrible siege of Nebuchadnezzar are minutely recorded and carefully remembered. "The ninth year" of Zedekiah, "in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month," Nebuchadnezzar came, he and his host, against Jerusalem (ver. 1); in the eleventh year of Zedekiah "on the ninth day of the fourth month the-famine prevailed in the city" (ver. 3), and a breach was affected; "in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar," the temple and other buildings were burned by Nebuzar-adan (ver. 8). We have the same careful dating in Jer_39:1, 2 52:4, 12. (in the latter passage "tenth" for "seventh" as above) These were dates which burned themselves into the very memories of the wretched people crowded in the city, and could never be forgotten. Indirectly they testify to the intensity of misery which was endured, which made them so well remembered. They were observed afterwards as regular days of fasting. (Zec_7:3, 5 8:19)
2. The enemy without. Nebuchadnezzar"s army came up against the city, and closely invested it, building forts against it round about. Eze 21 is a vivid prophecy of what was about to happen. The prophet announces the impending capture of the holy city. A sword was furbished which would work terrible destruction. Ezekiel is directed to mark off two ways along which this sword was to travel the one leading to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbath of Ammon. The scene changes, and we see the King of Babylon standing at the head of the ways, deliberating, which one he shall choose. He shakes the arrows, consults images, looks for omens m the liver of dead beasts. The decision given is for advancing first against Jerusalem. Now he is at its gates, and has appointed captains "to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort". (Eze_21:21, Eze_21:22)
3. The famine within. For a year and five months the weary siege dragged itself on, the people within well knowing that, when once it was captured, they could expect no mercy. The writings of Jeremiah give us a vivid picture of the city during this period. From the first the prophet held out no hope. When Zedekiah, at the beginning of the siege entreated him, "Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us," Jeremiah plainly told him that the city was delivered to the Chaldeans, and that Nebuchadnezzar would not spare them, "neither have pity, nor have mercy". (Jer_21:1-7) Life was promised, however, to those who should surrender themselves to the enemy (vers. 8-10). This strain was kept up throughout, in spite of imprisonment, threats, and the contrary testimony of false prophets (cf. Jer_32:1-5 Jer_34:1-7 Jer_37:6-21 Jer 38, etc.) At one point an Egyptian army came forth to arrest the Chaldeans, and great hopes were raised, but Jeremiah bade the people not deceive themselves, for the Chaldeans would prevail, as indeed they did, in spite of a temporary raising of the siege. (Jer_37:5-11) By-and-by, as in the previous long siege of Samaria by the Syrians, (2Ki_6:24-33) the misery of the people became extreme. The bread was "spent" in the city. (Jer_37:21) The Book of Lamentations gives vivid glimpses of the horrors the young children fainting for hunger at the top of every street; (Lam_2:11, Lam_2:19) crying to their mothers. Where is corn and; (Lam_2:12) and asking bread, and no mall breaking it to them; (Lam_4:4) the delicately nurtured lying on dunghills; (Lam_4:5) women eating their own offspring, (Lam_2:20) etc.
II THE FATE OF ZEDEKIAH. AS the vigor of the defense slackened, the besiegers redoubled their energies, till, on the ninth day of the fourth month, a breach was made in the walls, and Nebuchadnezzar"s princes penetrated as far as the middle gate. (Jer_29:1-3) The stages that follow are, as respects Zedekiah, those of:
1. Flight. The besiegers had entered by the north side of the city, and the king, with his men of war, feeling that all was lost, made their escape by night through a gate of the city on the south the gate between the two walls, which is by the king"s garden and, evading the Chaldeans in the darkness, fled towards the Jordan. By a symbolic action Ezekiel had foretold this flight, and the actual manner of the escape, down to its minutest details a singular instance of the unerring prescience of these inspired prophets. (Eze_12:1-16) What the king"s thoughts were as he fled that night with beating heart and covered face, who can tell? Jeremiah had been vindicated, and the prophets who had buoyed the people up with so many false hopes were now shown to be miserable deceivers.
2. Capture. The flight of the king was soon discovered, and a contingent of Chaldeans was dispatched in pursuit. It was not long ere they overtook the fleeing monarch, no doubt faint with hunger, unnerved by fear, and exhausted with the miles he had already traversed, unable therefore to make any defense. If his followers made any stand, they were speedily scattered, and the king was taken on the plains of Jericho. His hopes, his plans, his intrigues with Egypt, all had come to nothing. He stood there, a prisoner of the Chaldeans, as Jeremiah declared he would be. It is God"s Word that always comes true. Would that Zedekiah had believed it in time!
3. Punishment. The fate which awaited Zedekiah was not long deferred. With his sons, and the nobles who were with him, (Jer_39:6 Jer_52:10) he was taken to Riblah, to have judgment passed on him by Nebuchadnezzar. Little mercy had he to look for from the haughty, infuriate king, who had given him his throne, and whose covenant he had broken, entailing on him the trouble and delay of a sixteen months" siege. Tortures, perhaps, and death in protracted agonies. The wonder is that Zedekiah escaped as mercifully as he did. But his punishment was, nevertheless, heart-breaking in its severity.
(1) He saw his own sons slain before his eyes. It was the last spectacle he ever beheld; for
(2) his own eyes were next put out. Then
(3) he was bound with fetters of brass, and carried to Babylon, where he remained a prisoner all the rest of his life. (Jer_52:11; cf. Jer_34:5-8) The nobles of Judah were at the same time slain. (Jer_39:6 Jer_52:10) Life thus ended for Zedekiah when he was yet a young man of little over thirty years of age. His sons must have been mere boys, and their pitiable death would be a pang in his heart greater even than the pain of the iron which pierced his eyes. The joy of life was lost to him, like the darkness which had now fallen forever on the outer world. The dreary living death of the prison was all that was left to him. Miserable man, how bitterly he had to expiate his sin, and mourn over past errors and self-willed courses! Will it be otherwise with those who stand at the last before the judgment-seat of God, if their lives are spent in disobedience? If it was hard to face Nebuchadnezzar when he was "full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed", (Dan_3:19) how shall men endure "the wrath of the Lamb"? (Rev_6:16)
III JERUSALEM DESTROYED. A month elapsed before the destruction of the now captured city was carried out. It was probably during this interval that Jeremiah composed his passionate and pathetic Lamentations. When at length the work was taken in hand by Nebuzaradan, an officer deputed for the purpose, it was done with characteristic thoroughness, amidst the glee of Judah"s hereditary enemies, whose shouts, "Raze it, ruse it, even to the foundations thereof!", (Psa_137:7) stimulated the work of demolition. We see:
1. The temple burned. "He burnt the house of the Lord," etc. Thus came to an end the great and beautiful house of God, built by Solomon, consecrated by so many ceremonies and prayers, (1Ki 8) and whose courts had so often resounded with the psalms and shouts of the multitude that kept holy day. (Psa_42:5) But idolatry and hypocrisy had made "the house of prayer" into "a den of robbers" (Isa_56:7; Mat_21:13) and God"s glory had been seen by the prophet on the banks of the Chebar departing from it. (Eze_11:22, Eze_11:23) The temple had been the special boast of the godless people. They had trusted in lying words, saying, "The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these". (Jer_7:4) This was to make the temple a fetish, and, as Hezekiah had broken the brazen serpent in pieces when it began to be worshipped, (2Ki_18:4) it had become necessary to destroy the temple also.
2. The buildings burned. "The king"s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man"s house burnt he with fire." When the central glory of the city had perished, secular palaces and houses could not expect to escape. They also were set on fire, and the ruddy blaze, spreading from street to street, would consume most of the humbler houses as well. How faithfully had all this been foretold, yet none would believe it! Literally had Jerusalem now become heaps. (Mic_3:12)
3. The walls broken down. "All the army of the Chaldeans... brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about." This completed the catastrophe, made the holy city a heap of ruins, and rendered it impossible for inhabitants any longer to dwell in it. Gedaliah made his headquarters at Mizpah (ver. 23). The center of Judah"s nationality was destroyed. Jerusalem had been emptied, "as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down". (2Ki_21:13) One stands appalled at so complete a wreck of a city which God had once honored by making it the place of his abode, and for which he had done such great things in the past. But the lesson we are to learn from it is that nothing can reverse the action of moral laws. God is terrible in his justice. Though a person or place is as "the signet upon his right hand," yet will he pluck it thence, if it abandons itself to wickedness. (Jer_22:24, Jer_22:28) J.O.
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 v1 And it came to pass in the ninth year…
2Ki_25:1-21
And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign.
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Captivity of Judah
We have two prominent characters in this lesson--Zedekiah King of Judah, and Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. The latter was one of the remarkable men of the world, not only as a military conqueror, but as a ruler of great genius and executive power. Zedekiah was the youngest son of Josiah, and was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar at the age of twenty-one. He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord (2Ki_24:19). At length he revolted against the King of Babylon, and this revolt was the beginning of the end, which was the captivity of Judah. It was in the year 589 b.c., in the month of January, that the siege of Jerusalem commenced, and it lasted one year five months and twenty-seven days. During this time the besieging army, or a part of it, marched to meet the Egyptians, who were coming to the help of the Jews, and with the retreat of the Egyptians the siege was continued even more rigorously. As the Jews were accustomed to observe the anniversary of national disasters with lastings, the dates of such disasters were preserved accurately. (See Zec_7:3-5; Zec_8:19.) By turning to Jer_34:7 we learn that the army of Nebuchadnezzar also besieged the cities of Lachish and Azekah, which were the only strongholds remaining to the Jews, so that with their capture the victory was complete and the humiliation of Gods people perfected (verses 1-3). It is interesting to study the life of Jeremiah in connection with the events of this lesson (Jeremiah chaps, 37., 38.), for it was he who prevented for some time the revolt of the king against the yoke of Babylon by counselling submission and patience, and after the siege he urged Zedekiah to surrender to the enemy, assuring him, by the word of the Lord, that there was nothing to be gained by resistance, and that the end would be the burning of the city and the kings capture and death. And now commenced the afflictions of Zedekiah--afflictions which were the fulfilment of Divine prophecy, in which fulfilment the King of Babylon was unconsciously the instrument in Gods hand in the punishment of this wicked monarch of Judah. And notice how terrible the punishment was. In the first place, his sons were put to death before his eyes, the purpose being to put an end to the dynasty. Then we learn from Jer_12:10 that his daughters were carried into captivity. In addition to this, Zedekiah himself was bound in chains, fetters of brass, and double fetters too, so that he was bound hand and foot, making escape impossible. His trial took place in the royal camp at Riblah, but we may suppose that it was a mere form, since the guilt of Zedekiah in breaking his oath of allegiance to the King of Babylon was known to all. Now let us consider what sins Zedekiah had committed, which brought down upon him and his family and the people of God this terrible punishment.
1. We know from 2Ki_24:19 that he did not seek the glory of God in his reign. He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all which Jehoiakim had done. By studying the history of the reign of his brother Jehoiakim we know that this evil consisted in the fact that he did not oppose and overthrow idolatry in the kingdom. We have no evidence that Zedekiah was himself an idolater, but we are responsible to God not only for what we say and do, but for our influence over others.
2. Another sin of Zedekiahs was his revolt from the King of Babylon, and we learn from the punishment visited upon Judahs king the sacredness of an oath in Gods sight.
3. Zedekiah broke a solemn covenant which he had made with the people, that all Jews held in bondage should be set free. In accordance with the kings command, this degree of emancipation was carried out, and no Jew throughout Judah was a slave. But when it was known that the Egyptian army was coming to help them, then Zedekiah thought that he would not need the assistance of these freedmen in the battle with the enemy, and so the order of emancipation was revoked, and slavery was re-established in the land (Jer_34:16-17).
4. Zedekiahs treatment of the prophet was another cause which led to his overthrow. Although in the beginning of the national peril he had sent to Jeremiah with the urgent message, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us, yet we read (Jer_37:2), Neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. And not only did he refuse to follow the prophets advice, but he yielded to the enemies of this fearless man of God, and suffered them to imprison and maltreat him. There are some very solemn lessons which we learn from the sad life and tragic end of this last king of Judah.
They are--
1. The first and indispensable requisite to success is for one to gain the victory over his own lower nature. So long as we are slaves to sin, we cannot be great in any path of life, but he who keeps self under, who has conquered passions and appetites for the sake of God and His cause, is sure to live a royal life, though he may never sit on a throne.
2. The fact that any one is our enemy does not relieve us from the obligation to keep faith with him (Jos_9:19). Perjury is always a terrible sin.
3. If our trust is in God, we need never fear what our enemies may do, for with God on our side all must be well. Zedekiah feared his nobles because he had no faith in God.
4. The Christian is the only one who can be absolutely fearless of the future, for around him are the everlasting arms. Zedekiah put his trust in the fortifications around Jerusalem; if he had trusted in Jehovah and believed the words of Jeremiah, his life would have been safe and his kingdom would have been preserved. David sang: In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God.
5. We never gain by doing wrong. When we do evil that good may come, we are always disappointed.
6. God is not mocked. If He determines to punish, no walls or weapons can defeat His purpose. When He says to us that all other paths but the one which he has marked out lead to destruction, we may be sure that our disobedience will in the end prove His words to be true (Jer_2:17; Hos_13:9). (A. E. Kitteridge, D. D.)
The captivity of Judah
The destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the removal of the Jews into the Babylonish captivity, were a Divine judgment. Nebuchadnezzar was an unconscious agent of God in destroying, as Cyrus was in rebuilding and restoring. This judgment was not final Terrible as it was, it was a chastisement rather than a punishment. As such it illustrates some features of the Divine method in disciplinary judgment.
I. It is a Divine method to delay judgment, not only final, but also partial judgment. The instructions of Moses had been clear. His warnings had been full and explicit. He had gathered in the Book of Deuteronomy a complete presentation of the conditions upon which his people would alone be blessed; failing to comply with which they would be afflicted and cursed. When the people began to transgress, God began to afflict them; first, however, reviewing the warning of Moses by His prophetic messengers. He was prompt to chide them. As a father He chastised them.
II. The Divine judgments are certain. We do not know the time of them, but God does. It is delayed, but it is not indefinite. It is fixed. There are many hints in the Scripture at the exact timing of events in Gods government. The Saviour began early to speak of His hour. At times He said it was not yet come. The night was coming, but it had not come. Then the fateful announcement fell from His lips in a prayer: Father, the hour is come! One chapter in Ezekiel, pointing to the culmination of judgment upon Judah, has for its awful refrain, It is come. The notes of time in the history grow definite. Nebuchadnezzar came in the ninth year of Zedekiahs reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month. In the eleventh year, the fourth month, the ninth day, the supply of food gave out, and famine prevailed. In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzars reign, in the fifth month, in the seventh day of the month, the city was destroyed. The very hour when the Chaldeans broke into the city is recorded. So certain are the delayed judgments of God, if men do not repent. They impend. They are withheld. They may be withdrawn. God would withdraw them. It grieves Him to inflict them. But when a certain definite hour is reached, and His people is still incorrigible, they must fall. A thousand years may pass. Men may grow bold, and say, Since the fathers fell asleep, all things remain as they were from the beginning. But not when the hour strikes. Then, punctually, the fire falls upon the cities of the plain, and the floods of the deluge are poured out, and Shiloh falls, and Samaria falls, and Jerusalem falls. Here is a lesson for all nations, all families, all individuals, under the Divine government. To remain unsubmissive under the government of God is to expose ourselves to His judgments. These may be delayed. Not so, they will be delayed. But their time is not indefinite: it is fixed. When the hour is reached the blow will fall. It may be a trial; it may be an affliction! it may be a tragedy. It may be all these three, for disciplinary judgments are cumulative.
III. The judgments of God are thorough. It is true of those that are final, it is true also of those that are partial. When Nebuchadnezzar came, he had a force equal to his needs. He came in person with all his host. Jeremiah says more explicitly, All his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people. This immense host was the Lords messenger. It seemed, says Stanley, to those who witnessed it, like the rising of a mighty eagle, spreading out its vast wings, feathering with the innumerable colours of the variegated masses which composed the Chaldean host, sweeping over the different countries, and striking fear in his rapid flight. If this array had not been sufficient for the conquest, God would have brought new levies; for the day was come. The siege was thorough. The city was surrounded. It was assailed from huge mounds and towers built up for the purpose. For a year and a half it held out. Then its store of provisions failed. Fathers devoured the flesh of their own sons and daughters. The hands even of pitiful mothers have sodden their own children, the mere infants just born. When the city still stubbornly held out, the siege was pressed more fiercely. At last the wall was pierced. At midnight the breach was made. The Chaldeans swarmed in. The destruction was complete. The, ark now disappeared, to be seen no more. Tradition says that Jeremiah buried it. Probably the fire destroyed it. It could not have been taken to Babylon with the spoil of the temple, the pillars of Solomon, and the molten sea, whose loss Jeremiah so bitterly bewailed; for otherwise it would have been returned with the other temple furniture by Cyrus. It was not needed longer. Religion had not disappeared from the nation. It is of much consequence to observe, in the light of this history, that a certain proportion of religious life is necessary to save a nation or an individual. There were individuals like Jeremiah and Baruch and their friends. There were youths like Daniel and his companions. There were others, perhaps even numerous, who cherished the law so recently discovered by Josiah, and whose recovery was so joyfully regarded as an event of national importance. But it was not enough to save the nation that there were good men and women in it, or that it had the Bible.
IV. The purpose of a disciplinary judgment is kept ever in view. Though the judgment of Judah was terribly thorough it was not final. Its aim was to save the nation, if possible, and as many of its individual citizens as possible. A considerable remnant of the poorer classes was left on the land to keep it in tillage. Those taken into captivity were told that it should only be of limited duration. After seventy years they should return. They were permitted to have prophets and religious teachers with them in Babylon and in Judah. (Monday Club Sermons.)
Captivity of Judah
If we come to the fall of Jerusalem with the desire to see not merely a special judgment of God, but to gain lessons from the operation of what are commonly called natural causes, we shall discover three facts to which it was largely due.
1. Bad economic conditions. Judah fell into the hands of the Babylonians because her kings had wasted bet resources. David gave a united nation to Solomon, who in turn passed it, still entire, to Rehoboam. Under this its fourth king the nation was broken into two hostile kingdoms. The narrative gives the cause explicitly,--unendurable taxation. The glory of Solomon, his navy and palaces and harem and chariots, had been purchased at the price of great suffering on the part of the people. Had Rehoboam followed the advice of his older counsellors and lightened taxation, Jeroboam would never have become his rival, and the confederation of the twelve tribes, none too strong at best, would not have wasted its strength in civil war.
2. Moral degeneracy. But back of the bad financial policy of the nation lay its moral weakness. For a nation whose God was Jehovah, the Jews were wonderfully prone to idolatry. If we except a few years of Davids reign, there was not a moment, from the Call to the Return, when Israel was not itching to run after strange gods. Solomon was a typical eclectic in religion, permitting heathen divinities to be worshipped by the side of his great temple. The reforms of such kings as Hezekiah and Josiah were short-lived, and served but to set in strange contrast the popular worship in the high places and the groves.
3. Disregard of religious teachers. Nothing is more dramatic than the struggle between the prophets and the kings of Israel. Samuel with the gigantic Saul cowering at his feet; Elijah defying Ahab, slaying the prophets of Baal, and running from Jezebel; Elisha travelling up and down a half-converted land; Isaiah outspoken and dying a martyrs death; Jeremiah deep in the filth of his prison,--are but leaders in the noble army of prophets whom God sent to guide Israel through the paths of national success, in the face of the bitterest opposition. Each of them was faithful and spoke his message; but his words passed unheeded, or only excited anger and persecution. Neither people nor king cared to follow the stern words of their religious teachers except as they were threatened by some overwhelming disaster. Then perhaps, for a few days or months, the worship of Jehovah was reinstated in its proper place, and the prophetical office was again honoured. Judah is the type of the world. Had its king listened to Gods servants, the nation would have weathered its financial distress and been cured of its wickedness. In their words lay the only hope; and Judah laughed at them and stoned them. Jerusalem, the Zion of David, became the execution city of the prophets. Judah fell, just as any nation will fall that fails to apply religion to national problems. The one great lesson of the captivity of Judah is this: the fearless application of Christianity to living questions is the duty of both clergy and laymen, and the hope of the state. (S. Matthews.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
B.C. 586
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2Ki_25:1-21
"In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all nations."
- Zec_12:3
"An end is come, the end is come; it awaketh against thee: behold the end is come."
- Eze_7:6
"Behold yon sterile spot Where now the wandering Arabs tent Flaps in the desert blast; There once old Salems haughty fane Reared high to heaven its thousand golden domes, And in the blushing face of day Exposed its shameful glory."
- SHELLEY
AFTER the siege had lasted for a year and a half, all but one day, at midnight the besiegers made a breach in the northern city wall. It was a day of terrible remembrance, and throughout the exile it was observed as a solemn fast. {Zec_8:19}
Nebuchadrezzar was no longer in person before the walls. He had other warlike operations and other sieges on hand-the sieges of Tyre, Asekah, and Lachish-as well as Jerusalem. He had therefore established his headquarters at Lachish, and did not superintend the final operations against the city. But now that all had become practically hopeless, and the capture of the rest of Jerusalem was only a matter of a few days more, Zedekiah and his few best surviving princes and soldiers fled by night through the opposite quarter of the city. There was a little unwatched postern between two walls near the kings garden, and through this he and his escort fled, hoping to reach the Arabah, and make good his escape, perhaps to the Wady-el-Arish, which he could reach in five hours, through the wilds beyond the Jordan. The heads of the king and his followers were muffled, and they carried on their shoulders their choicest possessions. But he was betrayed by some of the mean deserters, and pursued by the Chaldaeans. His movements were doubtless impeded by the presence of his harem and his children. His little band of warriors could offer no resistance, and fled in all directions. Zedekiah, his family, and his attendants were taken prisoners, and carried to Riblah to appear before the mighty conqueror. Nebuchadrezzar showed no pity towards one whom he had elevated to the throne, and who had violated his most solemn assurances by intriguing with his enemies. He brought him to trial, and doomed him to witness with his own eyes the massacre of his two sons and of his attendants. After he had endured this anguish worse than death, his eyes were put out, and, bound in double fetters, he was sent to Babylon, where he ended his miserable days. To blind a king deprived him of all hope of recovering the throne, and was therefore in ancient days a common punishment. The LXX adds that he was sent by the Babylonians to grind a mill. This is probably a reminiscence of the blinded Samson. But thus were fulfilled with startling literalness two prophecies which might well have seemed to be contradictory. For Jeremiah had said, -{Jer_34:3}
"Thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the King of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon."
Whereas Ezekiel had said, {Eze_12:13} -
"I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldaeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there."
Henceforth Zedekiah was forgotten, and his place knew him no more. We can only hope that in his blindness and solitude he was happier than he had been on the throne of Judah, and that before death came to end his miseries he found peace with God.
The conqueror did not come to spoil the city. He left that task to three great officers, -Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, or chief executioner; Nebushasban, the Rabsaris, or chief of the eunuchs; and Nergalshareser, the Rabmag, or chief of the magicians. They took their station by the Middle Gate, and first gave up the city to pillage and massacre. No horror was spared. {Psa_79:2-3} The sepulchers were rifled for treasure; the young Levites were slain in the house of their Sanctuary; women were violated; maidens and hoary-headed men were slain. "Princes were hanged up by the hand, and the faces of elders were dishonored; priest and prophet were slain in the Sanctuary of the Lord," {2Ch_36:17; Lam_2:21; Lam_5:11-12} till the blood flowed like red wine from the winepress over the desecrated floor. The guilty city drank at the hand of God the dregs of the cup of His fury. It was the final vengeance. "The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion. He will no more carry thee away into captivity." {Lam_4:22} And, meanwhile, the little Bedouin principalities were full of savage exultation at the fate of their hereditary foe. {Psa_79:1} This was felt by the Jews as a culmination of their misery, that they became a derision to their enemies. The callous insults hurled at them by the neighboring tribes in their hour of shame awoke that implacable wrath against Gebal and Ammon and Amalek which finds its echo in the Prophets and in the Psalms. After this the devoted capital was given up to destruction. The Temple was plundered. All that remained of its often-rifled splendors was carried away, such as the ancient pillars Jachin and Boaz, the masterpieces of Hirams art, the caldron, the brazen sea, and all the vessels of gold, of silver, and of brass. Then the walls of the city were dismantled and broken down. The Temple, and the palace, and all the houses of the princes were committed to the flames. As for the principal remaining inhabitants, Seraiah the chief priest, perhaps the grandson of Hilkiah and the grandfather of Ezra, Zephaniah the second priest, the three Levitic doorkeepers, the secretary of war, five of the greatest nobles who "saw the kings face," {Comp. Est_1:14} and sixty of the common people who had been marked out for special punishment, were taken to Riblah, and there massacred by order of Nebuchadrezzar. With these Nebuchadrezzar took away as his prisoners a multitude of the wealthier inhabitants, leaving behind him but the humblest artisans. As the craftsmen and smiths had been deported, these poor people busied themselves in agriculture, as vine-dressers and husbandmen. The existing estates were divided among them; and being few in number, they found the amplest sustenance in treasures of wheat and barley, and oil and honey, and summer fruits, which they kept concealed for safety, as the fellaheen of Palestine do to this day. {Jer_41:8; Jer_40:12} According to the historic chapters added to the prophecies of Jeremiah, the whole number of captives carried away from Jerusalem by Nebuchadrezzar in the seventh, the eighteenth, and the twenty-third years of his reign were 4,600. The completeness of the desolation might well have caused the heartrending outcry of Psalms 79. "O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance; Thy holy Temple have they defiled; they have made Jerusalem a heap of stones. The dead bodies of Thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of heaven, and the flesh Of Thy saints unto the beasts of the land. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was no man to bury them."
Among the remnant of the people was Jeremiah. Nebuzaradan had received from his king the strictest injunctions to treat him honorably; for he had heard from the deserters that he had always opposed the rebellion, and had prophesied the issue of the siege. He was indeed sent in manacles to Ramah; but there Nebuchadnezzar gave him free choice to do exactly as he liked-either to accompany him to Babylon, where he should be well treated and cared for, or to return to Jerusalem, and live where he liked. This was his desire. Nebuchadnezzar therefore dismissed him with food and a present; and he returned. The LXX and Vulgate represent him as sitting weeping over the ruins of Jerusalem, and tradition says that he sought for his lamentations a cave still existing near the Damascus Gate. Of this Scripture knows nothing. But the melancholy prophet was only reserved for further tragedies. He had lived one of the most afflicted of human lives. A man of tender heart and shrinking disposition, he had been called to set his face like a flint against kings, and nobles, and mobs. Worse than this, being himself a prophet and priest, naturally led to sympathize with both, he was the doomed antagonist of both-victim of "one of the strongest of human passions, the hatred of priests against a priest who attacks his own order, the hatred of prophets against a prophet who ventures to have a voice and a will of his own." Even his own family had plotted against his life at humble Anathoth, {Jer_11:19-21} and when he retreated to Jerusalem, he found himself at the center of the storm. Now perhaps he hoped for a gleam of sunset peace. But his hopes were disappointed. He had to tread the path of anguish and hatred to the bitter end, as he had trodden it for nearly fifty years of the troubled life which had followed his call in early boyhood.
"But, in the case of Jerusalem," says Dean Stanley, "both its first and second destruction have the peculiar interest of involving the dissolution of a religious dispensation, combined with the agony of an expiring nation, such as no other people has survived, and, by surviving, carried on the living recollection, first of one, and then of the other, for centuries after the first shock was over."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 2Ki_25:1. In the ninth year of his reign—The revolt…
THE UTTER DESOLATION OF JERUSALEM
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
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2Ki_25:1. In the ninth year of his reign—The revolt of Zedekiah so incensed Nebuchadnezzar that he determined on the final act of the utter spoliation of Judah. With an immense army, which he conducted in person, he swept down upon the northern parts of the country, taking almost all the forced cries (Jer_34:7), and marched direct against Jerusalem to besiege it. He was drawn aside temporarily from the siege to oppose the coming of the Egyptian army to the relief of the Jews. This prolonged the siege to a year and a half. At length (date given in Jer_29:2), at midnight, in our month of July, B.C. 587, when the city was reduced to misery and starvation, an entrance was forced into the lower city on the north side. It was a moment for fearful slaughter (2Ch_36:17; Lam_1:15). Zedekiah, with his wives and children and guards, fled through an opening made in the wall (Eze_12:12), but were captured in the plains of Jericho, his troops scattered (Jer_52:8), he and his family manacled, and marched to Riblah to confront the wrathful Nebuchadnezzar (Jer_39:5). Doomed for his violation of his oath of allegiance to Babylon, Zedekiah was first made to behold the slaughter of his family and courtiers, then his own eyes were put out, and he was carried in chains to Babylon.
2Ki_25:8. Came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard—A month elapsed, during which the Chaldean princes had probably gone to Riblah to consult the king as to the fate of the city; and they then returned with orders to destroy Jerusalem with fire. While fire consumed the city, foul ravages were committed upon the inhabitants (Lam_5:11-12), and desecration heaped upon the dead.
2Ki_25:11. Did Nebuzar-adan carry away—Among these captives carried off to Ramah (Jer_39:9) was Jeremiah the prophet (Jer_40:1). Pilgrims from around afterwards came to wonder and bewail over the ruined city (Jer_41:5-6).
2Ki_25:21. So Judah was carried away out of their land—This was the end of the Israelitish monarchy; but the last king who occupied the throne of the House of David, and called himself “The Righteousness of God,” צִדְקִיָּהוּ (Tsidkiyahu), but falsified such a name, left the throne vacant until He should come who was truly “The Righteousness of God,” and the Eternal King, predicted by Jeremiah as יְהֹוָה צִדְקֶנוֹ (Jehovah Isidkener), “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 2Ki_25:22-26. Gedaliah’s rule—This Gedaliah had been Jeremiah’s firm and trusted friend through the period of the prophets’ struggles (comp.Jer_26:24), and is described by Stanley as “a man of a generous, genial nature, such as might have rallied the better spirits of the men around him, and taken the place of the fallen dynasty.” Against him Ishmael conspired. This Ishmael was the most conspicuous of a band of chiefs who fled across the Jordan during the siege. There he became closely leagued with Baalis, king of Ammon (Josephus, Antiq. x. 9, 2); and prompted by him, as well also as coveting Gedaliah’s power, he plotted his assassination (Jer_40:1). Then, contrary to Jeremiah’s dissuasions, the whole people turned to Egypt for protection against the Chaldean king.
2Ki_25:27. Evil-merodach did lift up the head of Jehoiachin—It was on the occasion of his accession to the throne of Babylon, upon Nebuchadnezzar’s death. Spake kindly to him, &c. (2Ki_25:26)—Gave him liberty upon parole. This kindness is traced to a record that Evil-merodach himself was a fellow-prisoner with Zedekiah, in consequence of some antipathy of Nebuchadnezzar towards him, and that a sympathetic goodwill towards the captive king was engendered. Yet had not God declared that though, for their apostasy the seed of David should be severely chastised, yet they should not be utterly abandoned (2Sa_7:14-15)? And to the captives in Babylon it was a promise of good things to come, when the term of their exiled lot should close, and merciful deliverance should reach them according to the good promises of the Lord God.—W. H. J.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki_25:1-30
THE LAST DISMAL SCENES IN A NATION’S OVERTHROW
Nothing of interest remains to be recorded of king or people. The historian is chiefly concerned in this chapter in relating how unmistakeably the Divine Word was fulfilled in the total overthrow of Jerusalem. The city was sacked, its palaces and public buildings demolished, and its massive walls pulled down. And the Temple—the house of Jehovah, the pride of the Hebrews, the pivot of their national history, the lament of the pious to this day—was pillaged, dismantled, burnt to the ground, and its sacred vessels and furniture broken and scattered.
I. Here we have all the horrors of siege and famine (2Ki_25:1-3). The Babylonish hosts, like a flock of vultures with outspread wings, closely invested the fated Jerusalem as if eager to devour it. The hour of final doom rapidly approached. A sword furbished, sharpened, and glittering, seemed to leap from the Divine scabbard, like that which, in the siege of Titus, was believed to flame across the heavens. The blockade was so complete that the besieged were reduced to great extremities. Hunger fastened upon them with its remorseless grip, and under its maddening torture the most inhuman atrocities were committed. The fathers ate their sons, and sons their fathers; and the pestilence consumed what hunger spared (Lam_2:20; Lam_2:22; Lam_4:9-10; Eze_5:10). In all this we see the dire fulfilment of the prophetic denunciations hurled against an apostate people (Lev_26:29; Deu_28:53-57; Jer_15:2; Jer_27:13; Eze_4:16).
II. Here we have a desperate but unavailing effort to escape (2Ki_25:4-6). The ponderous enginery of the Chaldees battered down the outer wall, and admitted a stream of the besieging forces into the northern part of the city. Seized with fear and weakened with famine, the king and his brave defenders made a night sally towards the Jordan Valley, with the hope of effecting an escape. But too many Chaldean eyes were awake, the retreat was cut off, and the king and his party captured. The toils of the Babylonian net were too thickly and widely spread to admit of successful flight; and the military strategy of Nebuchadnezzar was favoured by the avenging power of heaven.
III. Here we have a king cruelly degraded (2Ki_25:7). Perfidious and rebellious as Zedekiah undoubtedly was, his punishment was a horrible example of the barbarity of the times. The last sight on which he gazed was the butchery of his own sons, and then he was rendered for ever incapable of ruling by his eyes being gouged; that—as Bishop Hall strongly puts it—“his sons might be ever dying before him, and himself in their death ever miserable.” This painful incident fulfilled two prophecies that were apparently contradictory of each other: that Zedekiah should come to Babylon, but should not see it (Jer_32:5; Jer_34:3; Eze_12:13; Eze_17:16). The last vassal king of Judah perished in a Babylonian prison. His was a life of religious vacillation, of stirring incident, of frightful carnage, of suffering and shame.
IV. Here we have a great and world-famed city utterly demolished (2Ki_25:8-12). The Babylonian conqueror was not satisfied with the subjection of the Jewish people; his rage extended to the buildings in which they lived and worshipped. The celebrated buildings for which David had made such elaborate and wealthy preparations, and which Solomon had erected with infinite labour, and adorned with so much pomp and magnificence, were ruthlessly destroyed with fire and crowbar. Jerusalem, which was invincible, and had for centuries maintained a proud pre-eminence, while Jehovah was acknowledged and worshipped within its walls, was no sooner forsaken by that guardian Presence, than it shared the fate of many a great heathen city, and was levelled with the dust. The mightiest city cannot long survive the loss of virtue and religion; walls and bastions are no protection when the garrison is demoralised.
V. Here we have the sacred vessels of the Temple contemptuously broken, and the chief officers of religion savagely massacred (2Ki_25:13-21). Persons, places, and things lose the sacredness which, like the delicate bloom of fruit, was their adornment and glory, when they are Divinely abandoned. The blessing changes into a curse that blackens, disfigures, and destroys. Years before Jeremiah had predicted that even the vessels of the Temple should be carried away to Babylon; but, like Cassandra, though he spake the truth, he was fated not to be believed. Little did the sacrilegious Babylon care for the sacred uses and hallowed associations of the Temple furniture and little did he understand that he was, after all, to be the safe custodian of those relics till better days should dawn for Israel, when they should again resume their place and office in a purified temple (Jer_27:21-22). The priests and other temple officers were nothing in the eyes of the exasperated destructionists but so many rebels and instigators of sedition; and they shared the same fate as the shrine they had disgraced.
VI. Here we have, as the last record of the national remnant, a scene of conspiracy, assassination, and flight (2Ki_25:22-26). The sagacious Nebuchadnezzar did not leave the country without some form of government, and Gedaliah was perhaps, the best adapted for the post of governor or overseer. He saw it was infatuation to contend with the Chaldees, and was disposed to rule the land in submission to their authority. But the prospect of rest and peace was dissipated with the plottings of envy. Once more the land is torn with faction and stained with bloodshed. Stricken with fear and despair, the feeble remnant fled into Egypt, where their forefathers had been enslaved, and from which they had been miraculously delivered, and where greater troubles awaited them than those from which they sought to escape. Such is the grim irony of history; the people who had sprung from poverty and serfdom, after a brilliant career among the foremost nations of the earth, sank again into poverty and serfdom!
VII. Here we have, as a relief to the dismal series of panoramic pictures, a commendable instance of royal clemency towards a captive prince (2Ki_25:27-30). It could not but add bitterness to the grief of the exiles, as they sat by the waters of Babylon and wept, to know that two of their monarchs were miserable tenants in prison garments, in one of the dungeons of the city—the lamented Jehoiachin and the sightless Zedekiah. After thirty-seven years’ imprisonment, on the death of Nebuchadnezzar, his captor, Jehoiachin was released, and treated with great kindness and distinction by the successor to the Chaldean throne. It was some compensation for the dreary years of humiliation he had endured, that the last years of his life were spent amid brighter surroundings. Jehoiachin represented the faded glory of Israel; and the last reference made to him in the history suggests a faint hope of the future restoration and elevation of his unhappy people. “Doubtless, the improvement in Jehoiachin’s condition is to be traced to the overruling providence and grace of Him who still cherished purposes of love to the House of David” (2 Samuel 14, 15).—Jamieson. The longest, weariest, darkest night comes to an end, and the long looked for dawn breaks at length, bringing rest, and hope, and gladness with its expanding light.
LESSONS:—
1. The power of a great conqueror is sometimes used to inflict Divine punishment for sin.
2. The destruction of the most highly favoured nation does not frustrate the progress and triumph of the Divine purpose.
3. In national as in individual life, the greatest sufferings are not unmixed with blessings.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki_25:8-21
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
I. Was a calamity of world-wide significance. It was the grand catastrophe of the Jewish nation. The other cities of Palestine were insignificant: they were all subsidiary to, and received the law from, the great Metropolitan. Its influence dominated and governed the nation. In its midst the Temple reared its stately pile, the political and religions centre of the State, the basis and bond of the national unity. When the Temple fell, the national life was smitten, the national hope extinguished. The Jews fought with unexampled desperation, and endured incredible sufferings (2Ki_25:3; 2Ki_25:18-21) in defence of the holy city; and to the last clung with dogged pertinacity to the very ruins of the Temple (2Ki_25:18). Other great cities have fallen; but their loss has not been mourned with a pathos and a grief like that which is continued by the wailing Israelites to this day. The significance of such a downfall dilates itself through the centuries, and stands out as a warning-beacon to the great cities of modern times.
II. Was a Divinely-declared punishment for persistent disobedience. The decline and fall of great cities have been traced to the inevitable operation of natural and universal forces. Gibbon attributes the ruin of Rome to the injuries of time and nature, the hostile attacks of the barbarians and Christians, the use and abuse of the materials, and the domestic quarrels of the Romans; and thus he seeks to eliminate the Operation of a Divine retributive Providence. But the movements of the Divine Hand cannot be eliminated from the fall of Jerusalem, though we may trace the action of similar causes to those which have wrecked the fortunes of other great cities. While Israel remained true to Jehovah, the city was invincible and impregnable; and it was only after un-paralleled obstinacy in sin that Jerusalem was abandoned to its fate (Amo_3:2; Lev_26:2; 2Ch_36:14-17; Jer_25:8-9). This mournful truth is admitted by the Jews with sighs and tears.
III. Was a solemn and impressive proof to all ages of the Divine fidelity and justice. The promises and threatenings of the Divine Word have been faithfully fulfilled, and the Divine justice fully vindicated. “In the history of the Jewish State this great truth is clearly and powerfully impressed, that, as “righteousness exalteth a nation, so sin is the reproach of any people”—(Pro_14:34)—a lesson which, but for the immediate and extraordinary Providence displayed in this awful dispensation, could never have been so forcibly inculcated, or so clearly understood”—(Graves). The Jews are living witnesses to-day of the truth and faithfulness of God—
Amazing race! deprived of land and laws,
A general language, and a public cause;
With a religion none can now obey,
With a reproach that none can take away;
A people still, whose common ties are gone;
Who, mixed with every race, are lost in none.—Crabbe.
LESSONS:—
1. A city where piety predominates is a great power for God.
2. The most strongly-fortified city may become a tomb in which its wicked inmates are interred.
3. The holiest and most renowned city is degraded and ruined by sin.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki_25:3. Famine.
1. A more formidable enemy to contend with than an armed force.
2. Shows how rapidly consumption follows in the wake of production—it is like the Salt Sea swallowing the Jordan.
3. One of the most dreaded evils of war.
2Ki_25:7. A suffering captive.
1. To the humiliation of defeat is added the excruciating agony of destroyed eye-sight.
2. It would intensify the pangs of the sufferer that the last sight on which his eye rested was the cruel massacre of his own sons.
3. The man who acts the traitor and rebel exposes himself to severe penalties.
4. It tarnishes the reputation of the mightiest conqueror to needlessly torture his helpless victim.
5. War is a prolific source of human misery.
—The eyes of whose mind had been put out long before, else he might have foreseen and prevented this evil—as prevision is the best means of prevention—had he taken warning by what was foretold (Jer_32:4; Jer_34:3; Eze_12:13). The Dutchmen have a proverb: When God intends to destroy a man, He first puts out his eyes.—Trapp.
2Ki_25:8-17. Three other like events of parallel magnitude have been witnessed: the fall of Babylon, as the close of the primeval monarchies of the ancient world; the fall of Rome, as the close of the classical world; and, in a fainter degree, the fall of Constantinople, as the close of the first Christianized empire. But, in the case of Jerusalem, both its first and second destruction have the peculiar interest of involving the dissolution of a religious dispensation, combined with the agony of an expiring nation, such as no other people or city has witnessed, such as no other people have survived, and, by surviving, carried on the living recollection, first of one, then of the other, for centuries after the first shock was over.—Stanley.
2Ki_25:9. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the wonder of all times, the paragon of nations, the glory of the earth, the favourite of heaven, how art thou now become heaps of ashes, hills of rubbish, a spectacle of desolation, a monument of ruin! If later, yet no less deep hast thou now pledged that bitter cup of God’s vengeance to thy sister Samaria! Four hundred and thirty-six years had that temple stood, and beautified the earth, and honoured heaven; now, it is turned into rude heaps. There is no prescription to be pleaded for the favour of the Almighty: only that temple not made with hands is eternal in the heavens. Thither he graciously brings us, for the sake of the glorious High Priest, that hath once for all entered into that holy of holies.—Bp. Hall.
—Those of the captivity bewailed the destruction of Jerusalem by an annual fast (Zechariah 7.; Psalms 137.) The Jews at this day, when they build a house, leave one part of it unfinished, in remembrance that Jerusalem and the Temple lie desolate. At least they leave about a yard square of the house unplastered, on which they write in great letters: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, &c.;” or else the words, “The memory of the desolation.”—Trapp.
2Ki_25:13-17. The changing aspects of religious work.
1. That religious work is carried on with a great variety of instrumentalities (2Ki_25:14-15).
2. That the value of religious work depends on the strength and symmetry of moral character (2Ki_25:13; 2Ki_25:16-17).
3. That there are Chaldean enemies ever ready to destroy character and depreciate religious work (2Ki_25:13).
2Ki_25:18-21. Official responsibility.
1. Demands that the post of duty should be the more tenaciously held in time of danger.
2. Exposes to the first and fiercest attacks of the enemy.
3. Involves great suffering, and even death itself (2Ki_25:21), in trying times.
4. Often makes one long for the peace and security of the poor and obscure (2Ki_25:12).
2Ki_25:18. These likely were fired out of those secret corners of the temple where they lay hid. Our chroniclers tell us that William the Conqueror, firing the city Mayence in France, consumed a church there, in the walls whereof were enclosed an anchoret, who might but would not escape, holding it a breach of his religious vow to forsake his cell in that distress. At the last destruction of Jerusalem, certain Jews who had taken sanctuary in the Temple came forth when it was on fire, and besought the emperor Titus to give them quarter for their lives; but he refused so to do, giving this for a reason, which, indeed, was no reason—Ye deserve not to live, who will not die with the downfall of your Temple.—Trapp.
2Ki_25:21. “So Judah was carried away out of their land.” The curse and the blessing of the exile. I. The curse consisted in this, that the Lord removed the people from before his face (chap. 2Ki_23:27; 2Ki_24:3; 2Ki_24:20); that is, He removed them from the land of promise, in which he gave them his gracious blessings, and placed them in a distant country, where nothing was known of the true and living God. This curse, which had long been threatened (Lev_26:33; Deu_4:27; Deu_28:26; Dan_9:11) is a proof of the truth of the words, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, &c.” (Gal_6:7). God still does spiritually to individuals and to nations what he did to Judah—He removes them from before His face; He removes from them His word and His means of grace, if they do not repent, and leaves them to live in darkness, without Him. II. The curse became a blessing for this people. It humiliated itself and repented. It experienced that there was no greater curse than to live far from its gracious God, and it longed for the land of promise. When it had lost its earthly kingdom and its earthly king, it learned to look for the kingdom of heaven, and for that One in whom all God’s promises to man are fulfilled. The exile became a blessing for the whole world, for the Jewish nation was thereby made fit to fulfil its destiny in the redemptive plan of God. It was “a great opportunity, by which the name and glory of Jehovah were spread abroad, as a preparation for the preaching of the gospel of Christ” (Starke). “We all lay under the curse of the law, but Christ has redeemed us (Gal_3:13-14).—Lange.
—The mercy, the justice, and the wisdom of God are all equally displayed in this event. His mercy appears in bringing this judgment so gradually—from less to greater, during the space of twenty-two years—so that most ample warning was given, and abundant opportunity of repentance was afforded. That it was a most just punishment for their sins no one ever questioned, and the Jews themselves have constantly admitted it, even with tears. It was, in particular, a most righteous punishment of their idolatry, as Moses had long ago foretold in Leviticus 26., where the succession of the Divine judgments is most remarkably traced out. But the wisdom of God is also seen here. He did not mean utterly to cast off His people, and he therefore brought them under this great affliction, because, as had too plainly appeared, nothing less would suffice to purify them, and turn their hearts from the love of idols. It is certain that after this captivity—and under occasional inducements, as strong as any to which they had ever been subjected in former times—there was never among them the least tendency to idolatry, but the most intense and vehement abhorrence of it, as the true cause of all their ancient miseries—so deep and salutary was the impression made upon them by this great affliction, and so effectual the cure.—Kitto.
—While the work of destruction was carried on by the Chaldean army, it was viewed with malignant exultation by the nations which had so long chafed beneath the yoke of their kinsman Israel. The Ammonites cried “Aha!” against the sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity. Moab and Seir said, “Behold the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen.” The more active enmity, which was but natural in the Philistines, who “took vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred,” was emulated by Edom, the nearest kinsman and bitterest rival of his brother Israel. All these nations soon fell victims to the like fate, which the prophets again and again denounce upon them.—Dr. Smith’s Student’s Scrip. History.
2Ki_25:22-26. The last vestige of government in Judah.
1. Might have been an important rallying point for the scattered remnant.
2. Was destroyed by the blind infatuation of envy.
3. When destroyed, completed the desolation of the country.
2Ki_25:25. We see by the example of Israel, how envy and jealousy, pride in high descent, and destiny, and love of power, lead to the most utter ruin. Passion makes men fools. Ishmael could not hope with his small company to resist the Chaldean power.—Lange.
—Self-love and envy teach men to turn the glass to see themselves bigger and others lesser than they are.
—An envious spirit.
1. Cannot brook a superior.
2. Is disquieted with ambitious and wicked designs.
3. Does not hesitate to commit the worst crimes to attain its ends.
4. Loses the prize at which it clutches. (Jer_41:15).
2Ki_25:26. When the godless attempt to flee from a calamity they plunge themselves into it (Isa_24:17).—Starke.
—Jeremiah lived on in the land to see the misery and anarchy which followed the murder of Gedaliah; to tell the Jews who were flying to Egypt that if they stayed in the land they would be safe, that in Egypt they would meet with destruction—for that Egypt had been given up to the king of Babylon—finally to sing the future ruin of Babylon itself; the confusion and breaking in pieces of her idols, the deliverance of those in whose destruction and desolation she had rejoiced.—Maurice.
2Ki_25:27-30. The release and preferment of Jehoiachin suggestive of the future restoration of his exiled people.
1. Their captivity, like his, might be painful and prolonged.
2. As in his case, a prince might arise who would have compassion on their sufferings.
3. As in his experience, they might be restored to freedom and comparative prosperity.
4. The darkest distress is not without some ray of hope.
—The new king, Evil Merodach, having no such personal feeling against Jehoiachin as had swayed his father, strove to atone for the long sufferings of the unfortunate exile by setting him free, and entertaining him thenceforward at the royal table in suitable splendour. Legend has brightened the story of his last days, describing him as living on the Euphrates, in a sumptuous house, surrounded by a spacious paradise, and married to the fairest woman of his day, the chaste Susannah, the companion of the king of Babylon, and the chief personage of and high judge among the captives. It is added, moreover, that amidst all, he was still mindful of his native land, listening, with his brethren, to Baruch at he read the prophecies before them, and amidst weeping, fasting, and prayer, sending off help to the remnant of his people in Jerusalem. But this touching picture is only a creation of national pride, to adorn with a fictitious prosperity the closing years of the last direct heir to the Jewish crown.—Geikie.
2Ki_25:29. The like whereto befel Joseph, whose fetters one hour changed into a chain of gold, his rags into robes, his stocks into a chariot, his goal into a palace. So God turned again the captivity of Job, as the streams in the South.—Trapp.
2Ki_25:30. So is, or might be, every true believer’s portion; who should therefore “eat his bread with joy, and drink his wine with cheerfulness all the days of his life,” which are not to be numbered by the hours, but measured by spiritual mirth; as monies are not by tale, but by value.—Ibid.
Great principles illustrated in the books of Kings.
I. That the Divine purpose in raising up the Jewish nation as a means of conveying greater blessing to the world is steadily kept in view.
II. That the nation is prospered and strengthened in proportion to its fidelity to the Divine purpose.
III. That the ambition to form foreign alliances was contrary to the fundamental law of the theocracy, and led to the introduction of the idolatry which ultimately wrought the nation’s ruin.
IV. That a nation, as an individual, cannot be purged of great evils without great suffering.
V. That God is slow to punish, and delays the final blow till all possible means of reclamation are exhausted.
VI. That great emergencies bring to the front the noblest and most highly gifted talent of the nation.
VII. That the unfaithfulness and vice of the Jewish people did not prevent the carrying out of the Divine purpose.
VIII. That true religion can alone give greatness and permanent to national life.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v1 2 Kings
2 Kings
THE END
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2Ki 25:1 - 2Ki 25:12.
Eighteen months of long-drawn-out misery and daily increasing famine preceded the fall of the doomed city. The siege was a blockade. No assaults by the enemy, nor sorties by the inhabitants, are narrated, but the former grimly and watchfully drew their net closer, and the latter sat still in their despair. The passionless tone of the narrative here is very remarkable. Not a word escapes the writer to show his feelings, though he is telling his country’s fall. We must turn to Lamentations for sighs and groans. There we have the emotions of devout hearts; here we have the calm record of God’s judgment. It is all one long sentence, for in the Hebrew each verse begins with ‘and,’ clause heaped on clause, as if each were a footstep of the destroying angel in his slow, irresistible march.
The narrative falls into two principal parts-the fate of the king and that of the city. It is unnecessary to dwell on the details. The confusion of counsels, the party strife, the fierce hatred of God’s prophet, the agony of famine, are all suppressed here, but painted with terrible vividness in the Book of Jeremiah. At last the fatal day came. On the north side a breach was made in the wall, and through it the fierce besiegers poured-the ‘princes of the king of Babylon,’ with their idolatrous and barbarous names, ‘came in, and sat in the middle gate.’ It was night. The sudden appearance of the conquerors in the heart of the city shot panic into the feeble king and his ‘men of war’ who had never struck one blow for deliverance; and they hurried under cover of darkness, and hidden between two walls, down the ravine to the king’s garden, once the scene of pleasure, but waste now, and thence, as best they could, round or over Olivet to the road to Jericho. The king’s flight by night had been foretold by Ezekiel far away in captivity {Eze 12:12}; and the same prophet received on that very day a divine message announcing the fall of the city, and bidding him ‘write thee the name of the day, even of this selfsame day,’ as that on which the king of Babylon ‘drew close unto Jerusalem’ {Eze 24:1 et seq.}.
Down the rocky road went the flying host, with ‘their shaftless, broken bows’ closely followed by the avenging foe with ‘red pursuing spear.’ Where Israel had first set foot on its inheritance, the last king of David’s line was captured and his monarchy shattered. The scene of the first victory, when Jericho fell before unarmed men trusting in God, was the scene of the last defeat. The spot where the covenant was renewed, and the reproach of Israel rolled away, was the spot where the broken covenant was finally avenged and abrogated. The end came back to the beginning, and the cradle was the coffin.
Away up to Riblah, in the far north, under the shadow of Lebanon, the captive was dragged to meet the conqueror. The name of each is a profession of belief. The one means ‘Jehovah is righteousness’; the other, ‘Nebo, protect the crown.’ The idol seemed to have overcome, but the defeat of the unbelieving confessor of the true God at the hands of the idolater is really the victory of the righteousness which the name celebrated and the bearer of the name insulted. His murdered sons were the last sight which he saw before he was blinded, according to the ferocious practice of the East. It was ingenuity of cruelty to let him see for so long, and then to give him that as the last thing seen, and therefore often remembered. Note how the enigma of Ezekiel’s prophecy {Eze 12:13} and its apparent contradiction of Jeremiah’s {Jer 32:4; Jer 34:3} are reconciled, and learn how easily the fact, when it comes, clears the riddles of prophecy, and how easily, probably, the whole facts, if we knew them, would clear the difficulties of Scripture history. The blinded king was harmless, but according to Jewish tradition, was set to work in a mill {though that is probably only an application of Samson’s story}, and according to Jeremiah {Jer 52:11}, was kept in prison till his death. So ended the monarchy of Judah.
The fate of the city was not settled for a month, during which, no doubt, there was much consultation at Riblah whether to garrison or destroy it. The king of Babylon did not go in person, but despatched a force commanded by a high officer, to burn palace, Temple, the more important houses {the poorer people would probably be lodged in huts not worth burning}, and to raze the fortifications. In accordance with the practice of the great Eastern despotisms, deportation followed victory-a clever though cruel device for securing conquests. But some were left behind; for the land, if deserted, would have fallen out of cultivation, and been profitless to Babylon. The bulk of the people of Jerusalem, the fugitives who had joined the invaders during the siege, and the mass of the general population, were carried off, in such a long string of misery as we may still see on the monuments, and a handful left behind, too poor to plot, and stirred to diligence by necessity. So ended the possession by Israel of its promised inheritance.
Now this fall of Jerusalem is like an object-lesson to teach everlasting truth as to the retributive providence of God. What does it say?
It declares plainly what brings down God’s judgments. The terms on which Israel prospered and held its land were obedience to God’s law. We cannot directly apply the principles of God’s government of it to modern nations. The present analogue of Israel is the Church, not the nation. But when all deductions have been made, it is still true that a nation’s religious attitude is a most potent factor in its prosperous development. It is not accidental that, on the whole, stagnant Europe and America are Roman Catholic, and the progressive parts Protestant. Nor was it causes independent of religion that scattered a decaying Christianity in the lands of the Eastern Church before the onslaught of wild Arabs, who, at all events, did believe in Allah. So there are abundant lessons for politics and sociology in the story of Jerusalem’s fall.
But these lessons have direct application to the individual and to the Christian Church. All departure from God is ruin. We slay ourselves by forsaking Him, and every sinner is a suicide. We live under a moral government, and in a system of things so knit together as that even here every transgression receives its just recompense-if not visibly and palpably in outward circumstances, yet really and punctually in effects on mind and heart, which are more solemn and awful. ‘Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.’ Sin and sorrow are root and fruit.
Especially does that crash of Jerusalem’s fall thunder the lesson to all churches that their life and prosperity are inseparably connected with faithful obedience and turning away from all worldliness, which is idolatry. They stand in the place that was made empty by Israel’s later fall. Our very privileges call us to beware. ‘Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.’ That great seven-branched candlestick was removed out of its place, and all that is left of it is its sculptured image among the spoils on the triumphal arch to its captor. Other lesser candlesticks have been removed from their places, and Turkish oppression brings night where Sardis and Laodicea once gave a feeble light. The warning is needed to-day; for worldliness is rampant in the Church. ‘If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.’ The fall of Jerusalem is not merely a tragic story from the past. It is a revelation, for the present, of the everlasting truth, that the professing people of God deserve and receive the sorest chastisement, if they turn again to folly.
Further, we learn the method of present retribution. Nebuchadnezzar knew nothing of the purposes which he fulfilled. ‘He meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so.’ He was but the ‘axe’ with which God hewed. Therefore, though he was God’s tool, he was also responsible, and would be punished even for performing God’s ‘whole work upon Jerusalem,’ because of ‘the glory of his high looks.’ The retribution of disobedience, so far as that retribution is outward, needs no ‘miracle.’ The ordinary operations of Providence amply suffice to bring it. If God wills to sting, He will ‘hiss for the fly,’ and it will come. The ferocity and ambition of a grim and bloody despot, impelled by vainglory and lust of cruel conquest, do God’s work, and yet the doing is sin. The world is full of God’s instruments, and He sends punishments by the ordinary play of motives and circumstances, which we best understand when we see behind all His mighty hand and sovereign will. The short-sighted view of history says ‘Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem B.C. so and so,’ and then discourses about the tendencies of which Babylonia was exponent and creature. The deeper view says, God smote the disobedient city, as He had said, and Nebuchadnezzar was ‘the rod of His anger.’
Again, we learn the Divine reluctance to smite. More than four hundred years had passed since Solomon began idolatry, and steadily, through all that time, a stream of prophecy of varying force and width had flowed, while smaller disasters had confirmed the prophets’ voices. ‘Rising up early and sending’ his servants, God had been in earnest in seeking to save Israel from itself. Men said then, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’ and mocked His warnings and would none of His reproof; but at last the hour struck and the crash came. ‘As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord! when Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image.’ His judgment seems to slumber, but its eyes are open, and it remains inactive, that His long-suffering may have free scope. As long as His gaze can discern the possibility of repentance, He will not strike; and when that is hopeless, He will not delay. The explanation of the marvellous tolerance of evil which sometimes tries faith and always evokes wonder, lies in the great words, which might well be written over the chair of every teacher of history: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward.’ Alas, that that divine patience should ever be twisted into the ground of indurated disobedience! ‘Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.’
God’s reluctance to punish is no reason for doubting that He will. Judgment is His ‘strange work,’ less congenial, if we may so paraphrase that strong word of the prophet’ s, than pure mercy, but it will be done nevertheless. The tears over Jerusalem that witnessed Christ’s sorrow did not blind the eyes like a flame of fire, nor stay the outstretched hand of the Judge, when the time of her final fall came. The longer the delay, the worse the ruin. The more protracted the respite and the fuller it has been of entreaties to return, the more terrible the punishment. ‘Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God: towards them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Fall of Jerusalem
The Fall of Jerusalem
This chapter relates the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, the capture of king Zedekiah, and the deportation of most of the Jewish people.
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1. In the tenth day] The successive stages in the overthrow of the city are carefully marked by the historian: cp. 2Ki_25:3, 2Ki_25:8. Forts] perhaps movable towers for throwing troops upon the walls.
3. The famine] the sufferings of the besieged are described in Jer_21:7-9; Lam_4:8; Lam_5:10.
4. The city was broken up] RV 'a breach was made in the city.' Before this happened an Egyptian force had advanced to the relief of Jerusalem, and the Babylonians in consequence retired (Jer_37:5-11), but the relief was only temporary (as Jeremiah had predicted) and the siege was resumed. The king's garden] S. of the city near the pool of Siloam (Neh_3:15). The plain] RV 'the Arabah': i.e. the valley of the Jordan. The design of the fugitives was to cross the river by the fords of Jericho.
7. Put out the eyes] Zedekiah was taken to Babylon, but he did not see it, just as Ezekiel had predicted (2Ki_12:13). An Assyrian king is represented on one of his monuments as blinding a captive with the point of his own spear.
11. The rest of the people] i.e. those that remained in the country after the deportation related in 2Ki_24:14, 2Ki_24:15. Of the multitude] better, 'of the artificers.' In addition to this deportation in Nebuchadnezzar's 19th year Jeremiah (Jer_52:29) mentions one that occurred in his 18th year and another in his 23rd year, though the first of these may be identical with the one here described.
13. The pillars of brass, etc.] see 1Ki_7:15.; Jer_52:17-23, where some of the details are given differently.
15. In gold.. in silver] better, 'as so much gold.. as so much silver.'
18. The second priest] i.e. the high priest's deputy. For Zephaniah cp. Jer_29:25; Jer_29:29.
Keepers of the door] i.e. of the entrance of the Temple.
19. That.. presence] i.e. those of the king's ministers who enjoyed freedom of access to him. The principal scribe, etc.] RM 'the scribe of the captain of the host': i.e. the official who superintended the conscription. Nebuchadnezzar, instead of consigning the citizens to indiscriminate massacre, selected for punishment only the most responsible personages.
21. So Judah was carried away] The destruction of Jerusalem and the final deportation of its chief inhabitants took place in 586 b.c. The kingdom of Judah, like the kingdom of the ten tribes, now came to an end, as Jeremiah (Jer_20:4) had predicted; and its historian here brings his record to a close, only pausing to describe the arrangements made for the government of the desolated country and the treatment received from Nebuchadnezzar's successor by the captive Jehoiachin. The mention of the latter fact is probably due to the writer's desire to show that the divine mercy attended the house of David even in the time of its deepest humiliation.
22. The son of Ahikam] Ahikam had befriended Jeremiah when the people sought to put him to death (Jer_26:24).
23. And when all the captains, etc.] For a fuller account of the events recounted in 2Ki_25:23-26 see Jer_40:7 to Jer_43:13, from which it appears that Ishmael was instigated by Baalis the king of Ammon, and murdered Gedaliah treacherously. Mizpah] perhaps Mizpah in Benjamin (1Ki_15:22).
25. In the seventh month] subsequently observed as a fast (Zec_7:5).
26. Came to Egypt] In doing this the people acted in defiance of the counsel of Jeremiah, whom they took with them: see Jeremiah 42, 43.
27. Evil-merodach] son of Nebuchadnezzar, succeeding to his throne in 561 b.c. It was in the first year of his reign that he manifested to Jehoiachin the leniency here recorded.
Did lift up the head] i.e. showed favour to: cp. Gen_40:13.
28. The kings that were with him] possibly other captive sovereigns.
29. Did eat bread.. before him] i.e. was a guest at the royal table. For a like privilege see 2Sa_19:3; 1Ki_2:7.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 i.e. January.
tenth
i.e. January.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 3. The Siege of Jerusalem and Judah’s Complete Overthrow
3. The Siege of Jerusalem and Judah’s Complete Overthrow
CHAPTER 25
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1. The last siege and complete overthrow (2Ki 25:1-21; 2Ch 36:17-20)
2. Gedaliah (2Ki 25:22-26)
3. Jehoiachin’s captivity and release (2Ki 25:27-30)
Zedekiah’s rebellion was a great offence. He had sworn in Jehovah’s name to be loyal to Nebuchadnezzar (2Ch 36:13; Eze 17:13). We find more light thrown upon this king and his rebellion in the book of Jeremiah. Ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon came to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah (Jer. 27). A combined revolution was probably contemplated. Zedekiah sent at the same time a message to Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon (Jer 29:3); the prophet Jeremiah used this opportunity to send a God-given communication to the exiles in Babylon (Jer 29:1, etc.). The news of Zedekiah’s schemes must have reached the captives, for they expected an early return. (The prophet Ezekiel was especially used to warn against these false hopes. See annotations on Ezekiel.) False prophets, Satan’s instruments, gave them their lying messages. Prominent among them was Hananiah who received his deserved punishment for his lying words (Jer. 28). Once more the city was besieged. A great famine prevailed. What happened in the doomed city and Jeremiah’s great ministry as well as suffering may be learned from his prophecies. Consult especially the following passages: Jer. 21:1-2; 37:3; 34:2-6; 38. Jeremiah charged with treacherous designs had been cast into a dungeon, but was later delivered out of the miry pit and brought before the king, who declared himself willing to follow Jeremiah’s advice. What followed we give from Edersheim’s Bible History:
Meantime the siege was continuing, without hope of relief. Tyre suffered straits similar to those of Jerusalem, while Ammon, Moab, Edom and the Philistines had not only withdrawn from the alliance, but were waiting to share in the spoil of Judah (Ezek. 25). At length a gleam of hope appeared. An Egyptian army, under their King Hophra, the grandson of Necho, advanced through Phoenicia, and obliged the Chaldeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem (Jer 37:5-7). The exultation and reaction in Jerusalem may be imagined--and it was probably in consequence of it that Jeremiah, who still predicted calamity, was cast into prison (Jer 37:4). But the relief of Jerusalem was brief. The Egyptian army had to retire, and the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans was resumed, and that under even more disadvantageous circumstances to the besieged.
To the other calamities that of famine was now added (2Ki 25:3). Of the horrors of that time Jeremiah has left a record in the Book of Lamentations (comp. 1:19, 2:11, 12, 20; 4:3-10). The last resistance was soon overcome. On the ninth day of the fourth month (Tammuz), in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the enemy gained possession of the northern suburb (2Ki 25:4; Jer 39:2-3; Jer 52:6-7). Before the middle gate the Babylonian captains held a council of war (Jer 39:2-3). Then the king and all the regular army sought safety in flight during the darkness of the night (Jer 39:4). As the Chaldeans held the northern part of the city, they fled southwards. Between the two walls, through the Tyropoeon, then out of the “fountain-gate,” and through the king’s garden, they made haste to gain the Jordan.
But their flight could not remain unobserved. They were pursued and overtaken in the plains of Jericho. The soldiers dispersed in various directions. But the king himself and his household were taken captives, and carried to the headquarters at Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar himself was at the time. Here Zedekiah was formally arraigned and sentence given against him. His daughters were set free, but his sons were slain before him. It was the last sight the king saw. His eyes were put out; he was bound hand and feet with double fetters of brass, and so carried to Babylon. There he died in ward (Jer 52:11).
The remainder of this mournful tale is soon told. After the flight and capture of the king, the city could not long hold out. A month later, and on the seventh day of the fifth month (Ab) Nebuzar-adan (‘Nebo gave posterity’) penetrated into the city. The temple was set on fire, as well as the king’s palace. The whole city was reduced to ruins and ashes, and the walls which had defended it were broken down (2Ki 25:9-10). After three days the work of destruction was completed; and ever afterwards was the 10th (9th) of Ab mourned as the fatal day of Jerusalem’s fall (Jer 52:12; Zec 7:3; Zec 7:5; Zec 8:19). The rest of the people left in the city, and those who had previously passed to the enemy, together with the remnant of the multitude, were carried away (2Ki 25:11). We can scarcely be mistaken in regarding these captives as the chief part of the non-combatant population of Jerusalem and Judah.
Jeremiah’s history and how he was found in prison when Jerusalem fell we shall learn from his book.
The administration of the conquered country was then entrusted by Nebuchadnezzar to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam (2Ki 22:12; Jer 26:24). Gedaliah dwelt on Mizpah. He held his office only two months and was murdered by Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah (Jer 40:8-16; Jer 41:1-9).
Jehoiachin’s release needs no further comment. In the second book of Chronicles we shall follow again this mournful history. The seventy year captivity was on. The Word of the LORD through Jeremiah that “the land should enjoy her Sabbaths, for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill three score and ten years” (2Ch 36:21).
We add the words of another:
Again is the land keeping Sabbath, And again is it “stillness unto God,” till His voice shall waken land and people, Whose are land and people, dominion and peace: till He shall come who is alike the goal and the fulfillment of all past history and prophecy--”a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.”
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Judah Carried into Captivity
Judah Carried into Captivity
v. 1. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, when Zedekiah had rebelled against the Babylonian supremacy, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, encamped round about it; and they built forts against it round about, bulwarks with watch-towers, such as were used in besieging a city. Although Nebuchadnezzar was not present in person, or at least did not remain, yet he directed all the operations, carrying them forward with all energy.
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v. 2. And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, for the walls and fortifications of the city were very strong.
v. 3. And on the ninth day of the fourth month, after almost a year and a half, the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land, the common people were in such sore straits on account of the severity of the famine that they resorted to the most horrible means of sustaining life, Lam 2:11-19; Lam 4:3-10; Eze 5:10; Jer 37:21.
v. 4. And the city was broken up, the breach being made on the north side of the outer wall, Jer 39:3-5, and all the men of war, the soldiers who were defending the city, fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, the outer and the inner wall, which is by the king’s garden, in the lower part of the city, for they believed that escape to the south might still be possible; (now the Chaldees were against the city round about, although their lines may not have been so strong on this side;) and the king went the way toward the plain, Jer 39:4, the meadows of the Jordan near Jericho.
v. 5. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, for the king’s intention evidently was to escape beyond the river into the desert country; and all his army were scattered from him. Cf Eze 12:3-16.
v. 6. So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah, a city in a fruitful plain in the north, where the headquarters of Nebuchadnezzar had been established; and they gave judgment upon him, namely, a tribunal appointed by the king, since Zedekiah had broken his oath of allegiance and revolted.
v. 7. And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, for they were guilty with their father and might have continued the dynasty, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, they blinded him, probably by passing a heated metal rod over his open eyes, and bound him with fetters of brass, doubly fettered hand and foot, and carried him to Babylon. Thus Zedekiah was maimed for life and had to give up all hope of ever being able to rule again.
v. 8. And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, one of his chief officers and most trusted officials, unto Jerusalem;
v. 9. and he burned the house of the Lord, the wonderful Temple of Solomon, whose upper structure was all of wood, and the king’s house, the beautiful royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem, all the palaces of the rich, and every great man’s house burned he with fire, thus completing the taking of the city, and leaving houses only for the poor people of the land.
v. 10. And all the army of the Chaldees that were with the captain of the guard, placed under his command for this purpose, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about, the fortifications which had rendered the city almost impregnable.
v. 11. Now, the rest of the people that were left in the city, the few who had escaped the ravages of the sword and of famine, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, those who had deserted to the enemy during the siege, with the remnant of the multitude, probably the remaining able-bodied men who might have been able to bear arms, did Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, carry away.
v. 12. But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land, those without landed possessions, to be vine-dressers and husbandmen, they received orders to cultivate the vineyards and fields, lest the country revert to its wild state.
v. 13. And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, the two conspicuous hollow columns, 1Ki 7:15, and the bases, 1Ki 7:22, of which Ahaz had removed the borders, 2Ki 16:17, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, resting on a stone base since the oxen had been removed, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
v. 14. And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, those used in the service, of the altar of burnt offering in the court, took they away. Cf Exo 27:3; 1Ki 7:45-50.
v. 15. And the fire-pans, and the bowls, 1Ki 7:50, and such things as were of gold, the appointments used in the Sanctuary proper, in gold, and of silver, in silver, including all vessels made of precious metals, the captain of the guard took away.
v. 16. The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the brass of all these vessels was without weight; its amount was so great that it was useless to attempt to weigh it, 1Ki 7:47.
v. 17. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter, the capital,upon it was brass, and the height of the chapiter three cubits, or five cubits over all, 1Ki 7:16; 2Ch 3:15; Jer 52:22; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass, this artistic work making the columns very costly; and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work. Cf Jer 52:17-22.
v. 18. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, one of those ordinarily engaged in the work of sacrifice, but evidently a person of importance, and the three keepers at the door, the chief officers of the Temple guard, one of whom was stationed at each of the three main entrances, Cf Jer 38:14.
v. 19. And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, the commander of the city, and five men of them that were in the king’s presence, which were found in the city, of the king’s intimate counselors, and the principal scribe of the host, an officer in the direct service of the commander-in-chief, which mustered the people of the land, enrolling them for military service, these seven representing the civil population, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city, either the leaders in the rebellion or such as had distinguished themselves in the defense of the city;
v. 20. and Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon, to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar was still encamped.
v. 21. And the king of Babylon smote them, for participating in the rebellion, and slew them at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the Syrian province in the extreme northern part of Palestine. So Judah was carried away out of their land. This was the beginning of the great captivity, wherewith the ancient glory of Judah faded away, for it never again regained its position of independence and power. The destruction of Jerusalem is a type of the last great Judgment which will come upon the world.
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 v1 in the ninth year
in the ninth year
(See: Ordinal Numbers)
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in the tenth month, and on the tenth day of the month
This is the tenth month of the Hebrew calendar. The tenth day is near the end of December on Western calendars. This is during the cold season when there may be rain and snow. (See: Ordinal Numbers and Hebrew Months)
came with all his army against Jerusalem
The name "Jerusalem" is a metonym for the people who lived in it. AT: "came with his whole army to fight against the people of Jerusalem" or "came with his whole army to conquer Jerusalem" (See: Metonymy)
the ninth day of the fourth month
This is the fourth month of the Hebrew calendar. The ninth day is near the end of June on Western calendars. This is during the dry season when there is very little or no rain. (See: Ordinal Numbers and Hebrew Months)
the people of the land
These are the inhabitants of Jerusalem, including refugees from the surrounding villages that fled to Jerusalem when the war started.
translationWords
year
reign
king
Zedekiah
day
Nebuchadnezzar
Babylon
Jerusalem
siege
famine
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 v1 25:1 Siege ramps were characteristic of ancient Near Eastern…
25:1 Siege ramps were characteristic of ancient Near Eastern warfare. Attackers built tall earthen ramps and towers to give them a more advantageous position (see Jer 52:14; Ezek 21:22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.