2 Kings chapter 25
The Fall of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar destroys the temple and Jerusalem. The survivors are marched into exile.
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
SEE ALSO:
2 Kings 25:1-7. The Fall of Jerusalem
VERSE 1. 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.
In the ninth year of his reign. This is 587 BC.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came. This is king Nebuchadnezzar II.
VERSE 2. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. That is, the Jewish year 3175, or 587 BC.
VERSE 3. 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.
VERSE 4. 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 Kasdim were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah.
the men of war fled. They ran away. They are deserters.
VERSE 5. But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
VERSE 6. Then they captured the king and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him.
VERSE 7. They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Evil Zedekiah has no son to succeed him as king.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR DESTROYS THE TEMPLE AND JERUSALEM
VERSE 8. Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
VERSE 9. He burned the LORD’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned every great house with fire.
King Nebuchadnezzar II destroys the Temple of the Most High God.
This is one of the saddest verses in the Bible.
In hindsight, we know:
- Nebuchadnezzar is (unwittingly) carrying out the plan of the LORD God
- This will purify the nation of its evil practices
- This will bring about a greater good
We weep for the destruction of the temple.
VERSE 10. All the army of the Kasdim, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
broke down the walls around Jerusalem. King Nebuchadnezzar II destroys the Holy City of Jerusalem.
This too is one of the saddest verses in the Bible.
We weep for the destruction of the Holy City of Jerusalem.
THE SURVIVORS ARE MARCHED INTO EXILE
VERSE 11. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who were left in the city and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon—all the rest of the multitude.
carried away captive … to the king of Babylon. The survivors are marched into exile in far-away Babylon
VERSE 12. But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
VERSE 13. The Kasdim broke up the pillars of bronze that were in the LORD’s house and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the LORD’s house, and carried the bronze pieces to Babylon.
VERSE 14. They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered.
VERSE 15. The captain of the guard took away the fire pans, the basins, that which was of gold, for gold, and that which was of silver, for silver.
VERSE 16. The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the LORD’s house, the bronze of all these vessels was not weighed.
VERSE 17. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of bronze was on it. The height of the capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital around it, all of bronze; and the second pillar with its network was like these.
cubits. A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.
VERSE 18. The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold;
VERSE 19. and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.
VERSE 20. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
VERSE 21. The king of Babylon attacked them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
king of Babylon … put them to death. Nebuchadnezzar executes the entire ruling class.
VERSE 22. As for the people who were left in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor.
VERSE 23. Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Yochanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.
VERSE 24. Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Don’t be afraid because of the servants of the Kasdim. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”
VERSE 25. But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah so that he died, with the Jews and the Kasdim that were with him at Mizpah.
VERSE 26. All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Kasdim.
VERSE 27. In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison,
Evilmerodach. That is, Amel-Marduk. It means “man of Marduk.”
He is the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon.
He reigned from circa 562 to 560 BC.
VERSE 28. and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,
VERSE 29. and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life;
VERSE 30. and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him from the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.
next chapter »
(1 Chronicles chapter 1)
2 KINGS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Corrupt Leaders, Miracles, Horses and Chariots of Fire
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.