2 Kings 25:8-21

Jerusalem Destroyed

8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.

9 He burned the Lord's temple, the king's palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down all the great houses.

10 The whole Chaldean army [with] the commander of the guards tore down the walls surrounding Jerusalem.^[a]

11 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population.

12 But the commander of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.^[b]

13 Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars of the Lord's temple, the water carts, and the bronze reservoir, which were in the Lord's temple,^[c] and carried the bronze to Babylon.

14 They also took the pots, the shovels, the wick trimmers, the dishes, and all the bronze articles used in [temple] service.

15 The commander of the guards took away the firepans and the sprinkling basins-whatever was gold or silver.

16 As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the Lord's temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.

17 One pillar was 27 feet^[d] tall and had a bronze capital on top of it. The capital, encircled by a grating and pomegranates of bronze, stood five feet^[e] high. The second pillar was the same, with its own grating.^[f]

18 The commander of the guards also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers.

19 From the city he took a court official who had been appointed over the warriors; five trusted royal aides^[g] found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and 60 men from the common people^[h] who were found within the city.

20 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

21 The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.^[i]

2 Kings 25:8-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 25

In this chapter is an account of the siege, taking, and burning of the city of Jerusalem, and of the carrying captive the king and the inhabitants to Babylon, 2Ki 25:1-12, as also of the pillars and vessels of the temple brought thither, 2Ki 25:13-17 and of the putting to death several of the principal persons of the land, 2Ki 25:18-22, and of the miserable condition of the rest under Gedaliah, whom Ishmael slew, 2Ki 25:23-26, and the chapter, and so the history, is concluded with the kindness Jehoiachin met with from the king of Babylon, after thirty seven years' captivity, 2Ki 25:27-30.

&c.] Of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. From hence to the end of 2Ki 25:7, the account exactly agrees with Jer 52:4-11. 18182-941226-1348-2Ki25.2

Footnotes

• [a]. 2 Ch 36:19
• [b]. Jr 39:8-10; 52:12-16
• [c]. 1 Kg 7:23,27
• [d]. Lit 18 cubits
• [e]. Lit three cubits
• [f]. 1 Kg 7:17
• [g]. Lit five men who look on the king's face
• [h]. Lit the people of the land
• [i]. Jr 52:17-27