Jeremiah 52
52
The Fall of Jerusalem
1#sn This final chapter does not mention Jeremiah, but its description of the downfall of Jerusalem and exile of the people validates the prophet’s ministry. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal#tn Some textual witnesses support the Kethib (consonantal text) in reading “Hamital.” daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 2 He did what displeased the Lord#tn Heb “what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.” just as Jehoiakim had done.
3 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight.#tn Heb “Surely (or “for”) because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he drove them out from upon his face.” For the phrase “drive out of his sight,” see 7:15. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it.#tn Or “against.” They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.#sn This would have been January 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April). 5 The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 6 By the ninth day of the fourth month#sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months. the famine in the city was so severe the residents#tn Heb “the people of the land.” had no food. 7 They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden.#sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the city of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills. (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.#sn Heb “toward the Arabah.” The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape across the Jordan to Moab or Ammon. It appears from 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians. 8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho,#map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1. and his entire army deserted him. 9 They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah#sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him. in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. 10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. 11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains.#tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers. Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.
12 On the tenth#tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:8 has “seventh.” day of the fifth month,#sn The tenth day of the month would have been August 17, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning. in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard#tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1. who served#tn Heb “stood before.” the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor,#tn Heb “poor of the people.” the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But he#tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title. left behind some of the poor#tn Heb “poor of the land.” and gave them fields and vineyards.
17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the “The Sea.”#sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19. They took all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took the pots, shovels,#sn These shovels were used to clean the altar. trimming shears,#sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps. basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.#tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).” 19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers,#sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings. basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels.#sn These vessels were used for drink offerings. 20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands#tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.) was too heavy to be weighed. 21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet#tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half. high, about 18 feet#tn Heb “twelve cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half. in circumference, three inches#tn Heb “four fingers.” thick, and hollow. 22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet#tn Heb “five cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half. high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.
24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.#sn See the note at Jer 35:4. 25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens#tn Heb “men, from the people of the land” (also later in this verse). for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. 26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed#tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.” at Riblah in the territory of Hamath.
So Judah was taken into exile away from its land. 28 Here is the official record of the number of people#tn Heb “these are the people.” Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year,#sn This would be 597 b.c. 3,023 Jews; 29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,#sn This would be 586 b.c. 832 people from Jerusalem; 30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year,#sn This would be 581 b.c. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all 4,600 people went into exile.
Jehoiachin in Exile
31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth#sn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:28 has “twenty-seventh.” day of the twelfth month,#sn The twenty-fifth day would be March 20, 561 b.c. in modern reckoning. Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned#tn Heb “lifted up the head of.” King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than#tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 Jehoiachin#tn The subject is unstated in the Hebrew text, but Jehoiachin is clearly the subject of the following verb. took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 34 He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 52: NET
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC
Jeremiah 52
52
The Fall of Jerusalem
1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old#Literally “a son of twenty-one year” at his beginning to reign, and he reigned eleven years#Hebrew “year” in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh like all that Jehoiakim had done. 3For because of the anger#Literally “nose” of Yahweh this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until his casting them from his presence.#Literally “face” And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4And then#Literally “And it was” in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works#Literally “siege work” against it all around. 5So the city came under siege#Literally “into the siege” until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine in the city became severe and there was no food for the people of the land. 7Then the city was breached, and all the soldiers#Literally “the men of the battle” fled and went out from the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls that are at the garden of the king, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went in the direction of the Jordan Valley.#Or “Arabah” 8But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.#Literally “he spoke to him judgments” 10And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11Then he made blind the eyes of Zedekiah, and they tied him up with bronze fetters, and the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon. And he put him in prison#Literally “the house of the watch” until the day of his death.
12Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard,#Hebrew “guards” who stood before#Literally “to the face of” the king of Babylon, entered into Jerusalem. 13And he burned the temple#Literally “house” of Yahweh, and the palace#Or “house” of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he burned with fire. 14And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard#Hebrew “guards” broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. 15And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard#Hebrew “guards” deported some of the poor of the people, and the rest of the people who were left in the city, and the deserters who deserted to the king of Babylon, along with the rest of the craftsmen. 16But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard#Hebrew “guards” left some of the poor of the land to serve as vinedressers and farmers.
17And the Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that were in the temple#Literally “house” of Yahweh, and the kettle stands and the sea of bronze that were in the temple#Literally “house” of Yahweh, and they carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18And they took with them the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pans, and all the vessels of bronze which were used in temple service. 19And the captain of the guard#Hebrew “guards” took the bowls, and the firepans, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the pans, and the libation bowls, those made of solid gold#Literally “which gold gold” and those made of solid silver.#Literally “which silver silver” 20The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze oxen that were under the kettle stands which King Solomon had made for the temple#Literally “house” of Yahweh—there was not a weight for the bronze of all these vessels! 21Now the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits,#Hebrew “cubit” and a thread of twelve cubits#Hebrew “cubit” surrounded it, and its thickness was four fingers, hollowed out. 22And a capital upon it was bronze and the height of the one capital was five cubits, and latticework and pomegranates were on the capital on all sides, all of bronze. And like these was the second pillar with pomegranates. 23And there were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides;#Literally “breath” all the pomegranates on the latticework on all sides were a hundred.
24Then the captain of the guard#Hebrew “guards” took Seraiah the chief priest,#Literally “the priest of the head” and Zephaniah the second priest,#Literally “the priest of the second” and three keepers of the threshold. 25And from the city he took one high official who was chief officer over the soldiers,#Literally “the men of the battle” and seven men of the king’s advisors#Literally “those who see the face of the king” who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army who levied for military service the people of the land, and sixty men#Hebrew “man” of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard#Hebrew “guards” took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27And the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah left from its land.
28This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar deported: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Judeans; 29in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred and thirty-two persons#Hebrew “person” from Jerusalem; 30in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,#Hebrew “guards” deported seven hundred and forty-five Judean persons;#Hebrew “person” there were four thousand six hundred persons#Hebrew “person” in all.
An Allowance for Jehoiachin
31And then#Literally “and it was” in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, the king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and brought him out from prison.#Literally “the house of the imprisonment” 32Then he spoke with him kindly and gave his seat above the seats#Hebrew “seat” of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33So he changed the garments of his imprisonment and he ate food before him#Literally “to the face of him” continually all the days of his life. 34And his allowance, a continual allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon on a daily basis#Literally “a matter of a day in its day” all the days of his life up to the day of his death.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2010 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software