Jeremiah 52:8

8 but the Babylonians were in full pursuit. They caught up with them in the Plains of Jericho. But by then Zedekiah's army had deserted and was scattered.

Jeremiah 52:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 52:8

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king
Not finding him in his palace, and being informed of his flight, and which way he took: and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho:
(See Gill on Jeremiah 39:5); and all his army was scattered from him;
when they saw the enemy pursuing them, and near unto them, they left him, as Josephus F17 says, and shifted for themselves.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 10. c. 8. sect. 2. Ed. Hudson.)

Jeremiah 52:8 In-Context

6 By the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was so bad that there wasn't so much as a crumb of bread for anyone.
7 Then the Babylonians broke through the city walls. Under cover of the night darkness, the entire Judean army fled through an opening in the wall (it was the gate between the two walls above the King's Garden). They slipped through the lines of the Babylonians who surrounded the city and headed for the Jordan into the Arabah Valley,
8 but the Babylonians were in full pursuit. They caught up with them in the Plains of Jericho. But by then Zedekiah's army had deserted and was scattered.
9 The Babylonians captured Zedekiah and marched him off to the king of Babylon at Riblah in Hamath, who tried and sentenced him on the spot.
10 The king of Babylon then killed Zedekiah's sons right before his eyes. The summary murder of his sons was the last thing Zedekiah saw, for they then blinded him. The king of Babylon followed that up by killing all the officials of Judah.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.