2 Kings 24:16

16 and all the men of valour seven thousand, and the artificers and the smiths a thousand, the whole [are] mighty men, warriors; and the king of Babylon bringeth them in a captivity to Babylon.

2 Kings 24:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 24:16

And all the men of might, even seven thousand
The particulars of the 10,000 carried captive are here given; 7000 of which were the principal men of the land:

and craftsmen and smiths one thousand;
which made 8000:

all that were strong, and apt for war;
of these consisted the other 2000; so Abarbinel reckons them; but, according to the Jewish chronologer ^F20, which Jarchi and other Jewish commentators follow, the 7000 were out of the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of the tribes, and the 3000 out of the tribe of Judah, which are supposed to be those Jeremiah speaks of, ( Jeremiah 52:28 ) ,

even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon;
among these were Ezekiel the prophet, and Mordecai, the uncle of Esther.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 25.

2 Kings 24:16 In-Context

14 And he hath removed all Jerusalem, and all the chiefs, and all the mighty ones of valour -- ten thousand [is] the removal -- and every artificer and smith, none hath been left save the poor of the people of the land.

15 And he removeth Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the mother of the king, and the wives of the king, and his eunuchs, and the mighty ones of the land -- he hath caused a removal to go from Jerusalem to Babylon,

16 and all the men of valour seven thousand, and the artificers and the smiths a thousand, the whole [are] mighty men, warriors; and the king of Babylon bringeth them in a captivity to Babylon.

17 And the king of Babylon causeth Mattaniah his father's brother to reign in his stead, and turneth his name to Zedekiah.

18 A son of twenty and one years [is] Zedekiah in his reigning, and eleven years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah,