2 Kings
Chapter 25
Fall of Jerusalem
In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, marched with his entire army and laid siege to Jerusalem on the tenth day of the tenth month. They camped outside the city and built siege works all around it.
The city was under siege up to the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah.
On the ninth day of the fourth month, famine became a severe problem in the city, and throughout the land, there was no bread for the people.
When a breach in the wall opened the city, the Judean army fled through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden while the Chaldeans were still around the city. They fled towards the Arabah.
The Chaldeans followed in hot pursuit of King Zedekiah and caught up with him in the plains of Jericho. All his army deserted him and scattered.
The Chaldeans seized the king and led him away to Riblah in the territory of Hamath, where the king of Babylon passed a sentence on him.
There at Riblah, the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah in his presence. He then put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with a double bronze chain, and took him to Babylon.
On the seventh day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, commander of the captain of the royal guard and servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem and
set fire to the house of the Lord and the royal palace, as well as to all the houses in Jerusalem.
The Chaldean army, under the commander of the bodyguard, completely demolished all the walls around Jerusalem.
Nebuzaradan, commander of the bodyguard, carried off into exile the last of the Jews left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the remainder of the artisans.
But he left those among the very poor who could work in vineyards and cultivate the soil.
The Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars and the large bronze basin called the “Sea” in the house of the Lord and took all this bronze to Babylon.
They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, spoons, and all other bronze articles used in the temple service.
The guard captain took the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, spoons, and solid gold or silver bowls.
The two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands that King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—all this bronze was of immeasurable weight.
One pillar was eighteen cubits tall, topped with a bronze capital; its height was three cubits, with latticework and pomegranates made of bronze encircling the capital. The second pillar had the same latticework.
The commander of the bodyguard took captive Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the next priest in rank, as well as three doorkeepers.
He also took from those in the city a eunuch in command of the fighting men, five personal advisers to the king discovered in the city, the commander’s secretary, responsible for military conscription, and sixty of his men found in the city.
Nebuzaradan took all these away to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
There at Riblah, in the territory of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them put to death. So Judah was taken away captive from its own land.
Gedaliah
As for the remnant of the people Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had left behind, he appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as their governor.
When the commanders of the troops and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they went to him at Mizpah. These were Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, Johanan, son of Kareah, Seraiah, son of Tanhumeth, from Natophah, Jaazaniah, the Maakithite, with their men.
Gedaliah told them and their men most solemnly: “Do not be afraid of submitting yourselves to the Chaldeans. Live in the country, obeying the king of Babylon, and all will be well with you.”
In the seventh month, however, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, who belonged to the king’s family, came with ten of his men and killed Gedaliah, as well as the Judeans and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
Then all the people, from the greatest to the least, set out with the commanders of the troops and took refuge in Egypt, fearing the Chaldeans.
Amnesty
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin’s exile, Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, in the year he ascended the throne, pardoned Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and released him from prison.
He spoke kindly to him and treated him more honorably than the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
Jehoiachin removed his prison garment and ate at the king’s table for the rest of his life.
Every day, for as long as he lived, he was supported by the king of Babylon.
Commentaries
Fall of Jerusalem.
The Babylonian troops return to Jerusalem, which manages to resist for a while. When all seemed lost, the king opened a breach in the city wall and escaped at night, but he was captured by the Babylonians near Jericho and taken prisoner to Riblah. There, Nebuchadnezzar executed the sons of the king of Judah, gouged out the king’s eyes, and took him in chains to Babylon. Meanwhile, Jerusalem was destroyed, its walls torn down, and the Temple burned; the high priest was captured, and the rest of the population was deported, leaving only a few of the lowest social classes. “Thus Judah went into exile” (21).
Gedaliah.
To govern the conquered land of Judah, Babylon appointed Gedaliah, likely from a noble family in Jerusalem, as governor. Gedaliah settled in Mizpah, a city near the ruined capital, where he advised his fellow Israelites to stay obedient to their new ruler to prevent further shame. However, within a few months, he was murdered by a member of the anti-Babylonian faction. This act instilled fear among the Babylonians, prompting many to flee and seek refuge in Egypt. It’s essential to recall that during this escape, they took Jeremiah, the prophet who chose submission to Babylon over seeking help or shelter in Egypt.
Amnesty.
It was common among Mesopotamian kings to grant special favors to the people when they took the throne; there are even records of widespread debt forgiveness and the release of prisoners. It’s likely that Evil Merodach, Nebuchadnezzar’s successor, continued this tradition and granted amnesty not only to Jehoiachin, the king who had been taken to Babylon in the first group of deportees from Judah, but also to other captive kings. The Deuteronomist narrator mentions only Jehoiachin; the king promises him his favor, and his seat is the highest among those granted amnesty (28). With this, the narrator might be trying to give hope for a different future for Judah; he could see in Jehoiachin, now favored by the Babylonian king, the key to the continuation of the Davidic promise—specifically, the one from which the good and just king described in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 will descend.