2 Kings 24:14

14 King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land.

2 Kings 24:14 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 24:14

And he carried away all Jerusalem
The inhabitants of it; not every individual of them, but the chief of them, the more honourable, rich, and useful; for the poorer sort were left, as afterwards expressed:

and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten
thousand captives;
which was the number of them in the whole; the particulars are after delivered:

and all the craftsmen and smiths;
besides the nobles and the soldiers, he took all the artificers that exercised any handicraft trade or business; carpenters and blacksmiths, as some interpret these two words; so that there were none left to make arms for them; the last word may be rendered "enclosers", and are by some interpreted of enclosers of jewels in metals, as gold and silver:

none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land;
who were left to till it, and to dress the vines; see ( 2 Kings 25:12 ) .

2 Kings 24:14 In-Context

12 Then King Jehoiachin, along with the queen mother, his advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, he took Jehoiachin prisoner.
13 As the LORD had said beforehand, Nebuchadnezzar carried away all the treasures from the LORD ’s Temple and the royal palace. He stripped away all the gold objects that King Solomon of Israel had placed in the Temple.
14 King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land.
15 Nebuchadnezzar led King Jehoiachin away as a captive to Babylon, along with the queen mother, his wives and officials, and all Jerusalem’s elite.
16 He also exiled 7,000 of the best troops and 1,000 craftsmen and artisans, all of whom were strong and fit for war.
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