Jeremiah 52:6

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.

Jeremiah 52:6 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 52:6

And in the fourth month, in the ninth [day] of the month
The month Tammuz ^F15, which answers to part of June and part of July; hence the fast of the fourth month, for the taking of the city, ( Zechariah 8:19 ) ; the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the
people of the land;
for the common people; though there might be some in the king's palace, and in the houses of princes and noblemen, and officers of the army; yet none for the soldiers, and the meaner sort of people; who therefore were disheartened and enfeebled, that they could not defend the city, or hold out any longer: the famine had been before this time, but was now increased to a prodigious degree, so that the people had no bread to eat; see ( Jeremiah 38:9 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 T. Bab. Roshhashana, fol. 18. 2. & Taanith, fol. 28. 2.

Jeremiah 52:6 In-Context

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.

7 Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers fled. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, they waited for nightfall. Then they slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley.

8 But the Babylonian troops chased King Zedekiah and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew By the ninth day of the fourth month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign]. This day was July 18, 586 ; also see note on 52:4a .