Jeremiah 39:8

8 And [the] Chaldees burnt with fire the house of the king (And the Chaldeans burned down the palace), and the house(s) of the common people, and destroyed the wall of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 39:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 39:8

And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house
His palace: this was a month after the city was taken, as appears from ( Jeremiah 52:12 Jeremiah 52:13 ) ; and the houses of the people, with fire;
the houses of the common people, as distinct from the king's house, and the houses of the great men, ( Jeremiah 52:13 ) ; though Jarchi interprets of the synagogues. It is in the original text in the singular number, "the house of the people"; which Abarbinel understands of the temple, called, not the house of God, he having departed from it; but the house of the people, a den of thieves; according to Adrichomius F11, there was a house in Jerusalem called "the house of the vulgar", or common people, where public feasts and sports were kept; but the former sense seems best: and broke down the walls of Jerusalem;
demolished all the fortifications of it, and entirely dismantled it, that it might be no more a city of force and strength, as it had been.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 154.

Jeremiah 39:8 In-Context

6 And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah, before his eyes; and the king of Babylon (also) killed all the noble men of Judah.
7 Also he putted out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, that he should be led into Babylon. (And he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with fetters, so that he could be led to Babylon.)
8 And [the] Chaldees burnt with fire the house of the king (And the Chaldeans burned down the palace), and the house(s) of the common people, and destroyed the wall of Jerusalem.
9 And Nebuzaradan, the master of knights, translated into Babylon the residues of the people, that dwelled in the city, and the fleers-away, that had fled over to him, and the superfluous men of the common people, that were left. (And Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive to Babylon the rest of the people, who lived in the city, and the fleers-away, who had fled over to him, and the rest of the common people, who were left there.)
10 And Nebuzaradan, the master of knights, left in the land of Judah, of the people of poor men, and gave to them vineries and cisterns in that day. (But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left some of the poor people in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and cisterns on that day.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.