Jeremiah 52:1-11

1 Zedekiah was a son of one and twenty years (Zedekiah was twenty-one years old), when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremy of Libnah.

2 And he did evils before the eyes of the Lord, by all things which Jehoiakim had done. (And he did evil things before the Lord, like all the things that Jehoiakim had done.)

3 For the strong vengeance of the Lord was in Jerusalem, and in Judah, till he casted them away from his face. And Zedekiah went away from the king of Babylon. (And so the strong vengeance of the Lord was toward Jerusalem, and toward Judah, until he threw them away from his face. And then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.)

4 Forsooth it was done in the ninth year of his realm, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem; and they besieged it, and builded against it strongholds in compass. (And it was done in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem; and they besieged it, and built strongholds all around it.)

5 And the city was besieged, till to the eleventh year of the realm of Zedekiah. (And the city was besieged, until the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign.)

6 Forsooth in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, hunger held the city; and foods were not to the people of the land. (And by the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, hunger held the city, and there was no food for the people of the land.)

7 And (then) the city was broken (into), and all (the) men warriors thereof fled; and they went out of the city in the night, by the way of the gate, which is betwixt (the) two walls, and leadeth to the garden of the king, while [the] Chaldees besieged the city in compass (while the Chaldeans besieged the city on every side); and they went forth by the way that leadeth into (the) desert.

8 Soothly the host of Chaldees pursued the king; and they took Zedekiah in desert, which is beside Jericho, and all his fellowship fled away from him. (And the Chaldean army pursued the king; and they took hold of, or caught, Zedekiah in the desert, which is beside Jericho, and all his fellows, or all his soldiers, fled away from him.)

9 And when they had taken (hold of) the king, they brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath; and the king of Babylon spake dooms to him. (And when they had captured the king, they brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath; and the king of Babylon passed judgement upon him/and the king of Babylon spoke out his sentence, or his fate.)

10 And the king of Babylon strangled the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; but also he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah (and he also killed all the princes, or all the leaders, of Judah in Riblah).

11 And he putted out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in stocks; and the king of Babylon brought him into Babylon, and putted him in the house of the prison (and put him in the prison house), till to the day of his death.

Jeremiah 52:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 52

This chapter contains the history of the besieging, taking, and destroying of Jerusalem; the moving cause of it, the wicked reign of Zedekiah, Jer 52:1-3; the instruments of it, the king of Babylon and his army, which besieged and took it, Jer 52:4-7; into whose hands the king of Judah, his sons, and the princes of Judah, fell; and were very barbarously and cruelly used by them, Jer 52:8-11. Then follows an account of the burning of the temple, the king's palace, and the houses in Jerusalem, and the breaking down of the walls of it, Jer 52:12-14; and of those that were carried captive, and of those that were left in the land by Nebuzaradan, Jer 52:15,16; and of the several vessels and valuable things in the temple, of gold, silver, and brass, it was plundered of, and carried to Babylon, Jer 52:17-23; and of the murder of several persons of dignity and character, Jer 52:24-27; and of the number of those that were carried captive at three different times, Jer 52:28-30; and the chapter is concluded with the exaltation of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and of the good treatment he met with from the king of Babylon to the day of his death, Jer 52:31-34.