Ver. 18-21. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest The sagan, or deputy priest, who officiated for the high priest, when by any means he was rendered unfit and incapable; so Joseph, the son of Ellem, as Josephus F24 relates, officiated for Matthias, when defiled with a nocturnal pollution; and seven days before the day of atonement they always substituted one under the high priest, lest anything of this kind should happen to him F25. From hence, to the end of ( 2 Kings 25:21 ) the account is the same as in ( Jeremiah 52:25-27 ) , only here in ( 2 Kings 25:19 ) it is said, that five men that were in the king's presence were taken, there seven men; to account for which, (See Gill on Jeremiah 52:25).
FOOTNOTES:
F24 Antiqu. l. 17. c. 6. sect. 4. F25 Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 1.
16
As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weighing.
17
The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a bronze capital; the height of the capital was three cubits; latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were on the capital all around. The second pillar had the same, with the latticework.
18
The captain of the guard took the chief priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and the three guardians of the threshold;
19
from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the soldiers, and five men of the king's council who were found in the city; the secretary who was the commander 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.
20
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.