Jeremiah 52:4

4 So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls.

Jeremiah 52:4 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 52:4

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign
Of Zedekiah's reign: in the tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month;
the month Tebet, which answers to part of December and part of January; hence the fast of the tenth month, on account of the siege of Jerusalem, ( Zechariah 8:19 ) ; [that] Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his army,
against Jerusalem;
from whence it appears that he came in person with his army at first to Jerusalem; but, during the siege, or some part of it, retired to Riblah; perhaps upon the news of the king of Egypt's coming to the assistance of the Jews: and pitched against it;
or encamped against it: and built forts against it round about;
wooden towers, as Jarchi and Kimchi explain it; from whence they could shoot their arrows and cast their stones.

Jeremiah 52:4 In-Context

2 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the LORD ’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done.

3 These things happened because of the LORD ’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls.

5 Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.

6 By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew on the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in Jeremiah can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This day was January 15, 588
• [b]. Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 52:12, 28, 29, 30 .