2 Kings 25:1-21--Fall and Captivity of Judah

2 Kings 25:1-21
English Standard Version

Fall and Captivity of Judah
25 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 And he burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

13 And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

​18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king's council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

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The "his" being referred to in the beginning of verses 1 is King Zedekiah (it points back to the previous section we studied at the end of chapter 24).  On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of King Zedekiah's reign, all the armies of Babylon were brought to bear against Jerusalem and the city was besieged until the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign.  At this point those inside the city were able to break through the wall and escape past the army that was surrounding the city.  At night, they fled and headed towards the Arabah (the low-lying wilderness between Mount Hermon and the Gulf of Akabah that is otherwise known as the plains south of the Dead Sea).  This would be the same general area that David went to when he was a fugitive from King Saul and he and his men hid there years.  There were many strongholds there that they could go to for refuge.

However, the Chaldeans pursued and caught up to king near the plains of Jericho, and all the army of Judah scattered at that point.  The Chaldeans brought Zedekiah back to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah where they passed sentence on him by making him watch the Babylonians kill all of his sons, then they gouged out his eyes so that his sons dying was the last thing he'd ever see (no one he gave birth to would be king of Judah ever again), and then they put him in chains and took him to Babylon as a captive (probably to show off how they had humiliated and defeated Judah to people of Babylon).

We can no longer use years that King Zedekiah has been reigning as a marker since his reign is now effectively over, so now our reference point changes to what year of King Nebuchadnezzar's reign it is.  On the seventh day of the fifth month that would have been during the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar's captain of his bodyguard, Nebuzaradan, came to Jerusalem.  Nebuzaradan burned down the Temple, the palace, and every other great house so that Jerusalem was broken down and became a smoldering heap of ruble (not that different than when Israel had defeated the Canaanite cities in the book of Joshua).  We are supposed to look at it what is left and get the feeling "You are never going to be able to rebuild this."  Anyone left in the city along with any of the people in the region who were deserters from the Babylonian army were rounded up and taken into captivity and exile.  Only some of the poorest people were left to be slaves to work as vinedressers and plowmen so that Babylon could make profit from the land by harvesting its produce.

The Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze and the sea of bronze from the Temple to take the bronze away to Babylon as well as all the bronze vessels and instruments used in the sacrifices to the LORD.  The articles of gold and silver were carried away by the captain of the guard, Nebuzaradan. The author cannot even estimate the weight of the bronze that was taken, but instead simply tries to tell what the size of the pillar and the sea of bronze were so we might get an idea of the volume that was taken.

The captain of the guard also rounded up all the religious leaders, political leaders, military leaders, and any other people from the city that could still up a rebellion and possibly lead a counter-offensive.  All these leaders were brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah.  All these leaders who were deemed guilty of helping lead the "rebellion" of the people of Judah against Babylon were executed at Riblah that day.  So Judah was taken into exile with Nebuchadnezzar imagining he had cut off the line of the kings and the priests (he forgot that he put the king in power that was not the rightful king and the rightful heir to the throne and his descendants are still alive as exiles in Babylon).