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Texts -- Jeremiah 52:1-33 (NET)

Context
The Fall of Jerusalem
52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king , and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years . His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah , from Libnah . 52:2 He did what displeased the Lord just as Jehoiakim had done . 52:3 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 . Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon . 52:4 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. 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. 52:5 The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year . 52:6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food . 52:7 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 . (The Babylonians had the city surrounded .) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley . 52:8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king . They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho , and his entire army deserted him. 52:9 They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. 52:10 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 . 52:11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains . Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died . 52:12 On the tenth day of the fifth month , in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon , Nebuzaradan , the captain of the royal guard who served the king of Babylon , arrived in Jerusalem . 52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple , the royal palace , and all the houses in Jerusalem , including every large house . 52:14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem . 52:15 Nebuzaradan , the captain of the royal guard , took into exile some of the poor , the rest of the people who remained in the city , those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen . 52:16 But he left behind some of the poor and gave them fields and vineyards . 52:17 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 .” They took all the bronze to Babylon . 52:18 They also took the pots , shovels , trimming shears , basins , pans , and all the bronze utensils used by the priests . 52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls , censers , basins , pots , lampstands , pans , and vessels . 52:20 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 ) was too heavy to be weighed . 52:21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet high , about 18 feet in circumference , three inches thick , and hollow . 52:22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it . 52:23 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. 52:24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest , Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers . 52:25 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 for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city . 52:26 Nebuzaradan , the captain of the royal guard , took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah . 52:27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed at Riblah in the territory of Hamath . So Judah was taken into exile away from its land . 52:28 Here is the official record of the number of people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile : In the seventh year , 3,023 Jews ; 52:29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year , 832 people from Jerusalem ; 52:30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year , Nebuzaradan , the captain of the royal guard , carried into exile 745 Judeans . In all 4,600 people went into exile.
Jehoiachin in Exile
52:31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah , on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month , Evil-Merodach , in the first year of his reign , pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison . 52:32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon . 52:33 Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Zedekiah

    [ebd] righteousness of Jehovah. (1.) The last king of Judah. He was the third son of Josiah, and his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, and hence he was the brother of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:31; 24:17, 18...
    [smith] (justice of Jehovah). The last king of Judah and Jerusalem. He was the son of Josiah by his wife Hamutal, and therefore own brother to Jehoahaz. (2 Kings 24:18) comp. 2Kin 23:31 His original name was Mattaniah, which was ...
    [nave] ZEDEKIAH 1. Made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kin. 24:17, 18; 1 Chr. 3:15; 2 Chr. 36:10; Jer. 37:1. Throws off his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kin. 24:20; 2 Chr. 36:13; Jer. 52:3; Ezek. 17:12-21. Forms an allianc...

  • Siege

    [isbe] SIEGE - sej (matsor (Dt 28:52,53; 1 Ki 15:27; 2 Ki 25:2; Isa 29:3; Ezek 4:2); "to be besieged," "to suffer siege," ba-matsor bo' (Dt 20:19; 2 Ki 24:10; 25:2)): 1. In Early Hebrew History 2. In the Monarchy 3. Preliminaries t...
    [nave] SIEGE Offer of peace must be made to the city before begiing, Deut. 20:10-12. Conducted by erecting embankments parallel to the walls of the besieged city, Deut. 20:19, 20; Isa. 29:3; 37:33. Battering-rams used in, See: Ba...

  • NEBUCHADNEZZAR; NEBUCHADREZZAR

    [isbe] NEBUCHADNEZZAR; NEBUCHADREZZAR - neb-u-kad-nez'-ar, -rez'-ar: Nebuchadnezzar, the second king of Babylon of that name, is best known as the king who conquered Judah, destroyed Jerusalem, and carried the people of the Jews ca...

  • Babylon

    [nave] BABYLON City of Built by Nimrod, Gen. 10:10. In the land of Shinar, Gen. 10:10; 11:2. Tower of, Gen. 11:1-9. Capital of the kingdom of Babylon, Dan. 4:30; 2 Kin. 25:13; 2 Chr. 36:6, 7, 10, 18, 20. Gates of, Isa. 45:1, 2...

  • JEREMIAH (2)

    [isbe] JEREMIAH (2) - jer-e-mi'-a: 1. Name and Person 2. Life of Jeremiah 3. The Personal Character of Jeremiah 4. The Prophecies of Jeremiah 5. The Book of Jeremiah 6. Authenticity and Integrity of the Book 7. Relation to the Sept...

  • Kings, The Books of

    [ebd] The two books of Kings formed originally but one book in the Hebrew Scriptures. The present division into two books was first made by the LXX., which now, with the Vulgate, numbers them as the third and fourth books of Kings...

  • SEPTUAGINT, 2

    [isbe] SEPTUAGINT, 2 - VI. Reconstruction of Septuagint Text; Versions, Manuscripts and Printed Editions. The task of restoring the original text is beset with difficulties. The materials (MSS, VSS, patristic citations) are abundan...

  • Month

    [nave] MONTH Ancient use of, Gen. 7:11; 8:4. Twelve months reckoned to a year, 1 Chr. 27:1-15. 1. Abib (April). The Jewish calendar began with, Ex. 12:2; 13:4; Deut. 16:1. Passover instituted and celebrated in, Ex. 12:1-28; 23:1...

  • Nebuzar-adan

    [nave] NEBUZAR-ADAN Captain of the guard of King Nebuchadnezzar. Commands the Assyrian army which besieged Jerusalem and carried the inhabitants to Babylon, 2 Kin. 25:8-21; Jer. 39:9, 10; 43:6; 52:12-30. Protects Jeremiah, Jer. 39...

  • Jerusalem

    [ebd] called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the "city of God," the "holy city;" by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning "the holy;" once "the city of Judah" (2 Chr. 25:28). This name is in the original in the dual form, and means "posses...
    [nave] JERUSALEM Called Jebus, Josh. 18:28; Judg. 19:10; Zion, 1 Kin. 8:1; Zech. 9:13; City of David, 2 Sam. 5:7; Isa. 22:9; Salem, Gen. 14:18; Psa. 76:2; Ariel, Isa. 29:1; City of God, Psa. 46:4; City of the Great King, Psa. 48:2;...

  • Jehoiachin

    [ebd] succeeded his father Jehoiakin (B.C. 599) when only eight years of age, and reigned for one hundred days (2 Chr. 36:9). He is also called Jeconiah (Jer. 24:1; 27:20, etc.), and Coniah (22:24; 37:1). He was succeeded by his u...
    [isbe] JEHOIACHIN - je-hoi'-a-kin (yehoyakhin, "Yahweh will uphold"; called also "Jeconiah" in 1 Ch 3:16; Jer 24:1; yekhonyah, "Yahweh will be steadfast," and "Coniah" in Jer 22:24,28; konyahu, "Yahweh has upheld him"; 'Ioakeim): A...
    [nave] JEHOIACHIN King of Judah and successor to Jehoiakim, 2 Kin. 24:6-8; 2 Chr. 36:8, 9. Called Jeconiah, 1 Chr. 3:16; Jer. 24:1. Called Coniah, Jer. 22:24; 37:1. Wicked reign of, 2 Kin. 24:9; 2 Chr. 36:9. Nebuchadnezzar inva...

  • Zephaniah

    [ebd] Jehovah has concealed, or Jehovah of darkness. (1.) The son of Cushi, and great-grandson of Hezekiah, and the ninth in the order of the minor prophets. He prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah (B.C. 641-610), and w...
    [isbe] ZEPHANIAH - zef-a-ni'-a (tsephanyah, tsephanyahu, "Yah hath treasured"): (1) The prophet. See ZEPHANIAH, BOOK OF. (2) A Levite or priest (1 Ch 6:36 (Hebrew 6:21)), called in some genealogies "Uriel" (1 Ch 6:24; 15:5,11). (3)...
    [smith] (hidden by Jehovah). The ninth in order of the twelve minor prophets. His pedigree is traced to his fourth ancestor, Hezekiah, (Zephaniah 1:1) supposed to be the celebrated king of that name. The chief characteristics of thi...
    [nave] ZEPHANIAH 1. A priest in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. Sent by the king to Jeremiah with a message soliciting the prophet's intercession and prayers, Jer. 21:1, 2. Shows Jeremiah the false prophet's letter, Jer. 29:...

  • Temple

    [nave] TEMPLE. Solomon's Called also Temple of the Lord, 2 Kin. 11:10; Holy Temple, Psa. 79:1; Holy House, 1 Chr. 29:3; House of God, 1 Chr. 29:2; 2 Chr. 23:9; House of the Lord, 2 Chr. 23:5, 12; Jer. 28:5; Father's House, John 2...

  • Evil-merodach

    [ebd] Merodach's man, the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2 Kings 25:27; Jer. 52:31, 34). He seems to have reigned but two years (B.C. 562-560). Influenced probably by Daniel, he showed kindness to Jehoiachin...
    [isbe] EVIL-MERODACH - e-vil-me-ro'-dak; -mer'-o-dak 'ewil merodhakh; Septuagint Eueialmarodek; so B in K, but B in Jeremiah, and A and Q in both places much corrupted): The name of the son and immediate successor of Nebuchadnezzar...
    [nave] EVIL-MERODACH, son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar. Released Jehoiachin from prison, 2 Kin. 25:27-30; Jer. 52:31-34.

  • Riblah

    [ebd] fruitful, an ancient town on the northern frontier of Palestine, 35 miles north-east of Baalbec, and 10 or 12 south of Lake Homs, on the eastern bank of the Orontes, in a wide and fertile plain. Here Nebuchadnezzar had his h...
    [isbe] RIBLAH - rib'-la (ribhlah; Rheblatha, with variants): (1) Riblah in the land of Hamath first appears in history in 608 BC. Here Pharaoh-necoh, after defeating Josiah at Megiddo and destroying Kadytis or Kadesh on the Orontes...
    [nave] RIBLAH A border town of the promised land, Num. 34:10-11. King Jehoahaz overthrown in, by Pharaoh, 2 Kin. 23:33. Headquarters of Nebuchadnezzar in siege of Jerusalem, 2 Kin. 25:6, 20, 21; Jer. 39:5, 6; 52:9, 26.

  • Seraiah

    [isbe] SERAIAH - se-ra'-ya, se-ri'-a (serayahu, "Yah hath prevailed"; Septuagint Saraias, or Saraia): (1) Secretary of David (2 Sam 8:17); in 2 Sam 20:25 he is called Sheva; in 1 Ki 4:3 the name appears as Shisha. This last or Shas...
    [smith] The king?s scribe or secretary in the reign of David. (2 Samuel 8:17) (B.C. 1043.) The high priest in the reign of Zedekiah. (2 Kings 25:18; 1 Chronicles 6:14; Jeremiah 52:24) (B.C. 594.) The son of Tanhumeth the Ne...
    [nave] SERAIAH 1. Called also Sheva, Shisha, and Shavsha. David's scribe, 2 Sam. 8:17; 20:25; 1 Kin. 4:3; 1 Chr. 18:16. 2. Chief priest at time of taking of Jerusalem, 2 Kin. 25:18. Father of Ezra, Ezra 7:1. Slain by Nebuchadne...

  • Fast

    [ebd] The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called "the fast" (Acts 27:9). The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old Testament is in Zech. 7:1-7...

  • NEBUZARADAN

    [isbe] NEBUZARADAN - neb-u-zar-a'-dan, -zar'-a-dan (nebhuzar'adhan = Assyrian Nabu-zara-iddina, "Nebo has given seed"; Nebouzardan): Nebuchadnezzar's general at the siege of Jerusalem (2 Ki 25:8,11,20; Jer 52:12,15,26; 39:9,10,11,1...
    [smith] (chief whom Nebo favors), the Rab-tabbachim i.e. chief of the slaughterers (Authorized Version "captain of the guard"), a high officer in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. On the capture of Jerusalem he was left by Nebuchadnezzar ...

  • TEMPLE, A1

    [isbe] TEMPLE, A1 - tem'-p'l (hekhal, "palace"; sometimes, as in 1 Ki 6:3,5, etc.; Ezek 41:1,15 ff, used for "the holy place" only; bayith, "house," thus always in the Revised Version (British and American); hieron, naos): A. STRUC...

  • JACHIN AND BOAZ

    [ebd] the names of two brazen columns set up in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:15-22). Each was eighteen cubits high and twelve in circumference (Jer. 52:21, 23; 1 Kings 7:17-21). They had doubtless a symbolical import.
    [isbe] JACHIN AND BOAZ - ja'-kin (yakhin, "he shall establish"; bo`az, "in it is strength," 1 Ki 7:15-22; 2 Ki 25:16,17; 2 Ch 3:15-17; Jer 52:17): These were the names of the two bronze pillars that stood before the temple of Solom...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1965.Bromiley, Geoffrey W. God and Marriage. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980.Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Poe...
  • As in the first series of oracles, God's people occupy the fourth place in this second series, which points farther into the future, surrounded by the nations of the world. In the first series the Northern Kingdom was in view...
  • The biblical records of the times in which Jeremiah ministered are 2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chronicles 33-36. His contemporary prophets were Zephaniah and Habakkuk before the Exile, and Ezekiel and Daniel after it began.King Manas...
  • As has already been pointed out, Jeremiah gave the prophecies and composed the narratives that constitute this book at various times during his long ministry. The date at which the book reached the state in which it is today ...
  • I. Introduction ch. 1A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-191. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-102. Two confirming visions 1:11-19II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45A. Warnings of judgment on...
  • This passage probably dates from the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588-586 B.C. (vv. 2, 4; cf. 2 Kings 25). King Zedekiah sought advice from Jeremiah more than once (cf. 37:3-10, 17-21; 38:14-28). This passage consists of ...
  • This section contains two prophecies about this king (vv. 24-27 and 28-30) The historical setting is the three-month reign of eighteen year-old Jehoiachin in 598-597 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 24:8-17). Coniah was a shortened form of ...
  • This chapter contains three parts: Jeremiah's warning to the foreign messengers (vv. 1-11), his appeal to King Zedekiah (vv. 12-15), and his appeal to the priests and people of Jerusalem (vv. 16-22).27:1 Jeremiah received a m...
  • Jeremiah's symbolic act of wearing a yoke led to another symbolic act, the breaking of that yoke. Jeremiah's act brought a false prophet into direct confrontation with the true prophet.28:1 The following event took place in t...
  • This chapter continues the theme of the previous three, namely, controversies about false prophets. Jeremiah also had problems with the false prophets who were part of the 3,023 exiles who went into captivity in 597 B.C. (52:...
  • "The Book of Consolation has ended, and 34:1 confronts its readers with the full force of the invading imperial army. The destruction of Jerusalem and the remainder of Judah seems inevitable (v 3) because the LORD has made Ne...
  • 35:1 This oracle came to Jeremiah during King Jehoiakim's reign (609-598 B.C.) after the Babylonians had begun to invade Judah (v. 11). Second Kings 24:1-2 reads, "In his [Jehoiakim's] days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came...
  • 37:11-12 During the lifting of the siege of Jerusalem just described (v. 5), Jeremiah left the city to conduct some personal business concerning the purchase of some property in the territory of Benjamin. This may have been t...
  • What Jeremiah had predicted for so long finally became a reality for Judah. There are four chapters in the Bible that record the fall of Jerusalem reflecting the importance of this event (39; 52; 2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36).39:1...
  • This oracle is similar to the one in Isaiah 15 and 16.555Other oracles against Moab appear in Ezekiel 25:8-11, Amos 2:1-3, and Zephaniah 2:9, but this is the longest one. It is very difficult to say when Jeremiah gave this or...
  • Jeremiah wrote almost as much about Babylon's future as he did about the futures of all the other nations in his other oracles combined. The length of this oracle reflects the great importance of Babylon in his ministry as we...
  • This is one of four accounts of the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36:11-21; Jer. 39:1-14). The repetition underlines the importance of the event.52:1 Zedekiah (Mattaniah, 2 Kings 24:17) was ...
  • This section reprises the destruction of the temple just described. Before the Babylonians burned the temple, they looted it. This was the second time they had done this, the first being in 597 B.C. (27:16; 2 Kings 24:13; cf....
  • The number of exiles who went into captivity was important because it was with this group that the future of Israel lay. Their deportation also validated many of Jeremiah's prophecies that the people would go into captivity i...
  • This section is an almost verbatim repetition of 2 Kings 25:27-30. It closes the book on a note of hope.52:31 In 562 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar's son Evilmerodach (Awel-Marduk, lit. man of Marduk; 562-560 B.C.), who succeeded his fa...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
  • The following section of the lament falls into two parts marked by Jeremiah's use of the plural (vv. 41-47) and singular personal pronouns (vv. 48-66). In the first part he called on the Judahites to confess their sins to God...
  • 4:12 The overthrow of Jerusalem had surprised the leaders and people of other nations. Invaders had forced their way into it in the past (cf. 1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Kings 14:13-14; 2 Chron. 21:16-17), but the citizens had rebuil...
  • 5:1 Jeremiah called on Yahweh to remember the calamity that had befallen His people and to consider the reproach in which they now lived (cf. 3:34-36). The humbled condition of the Judahites reflected poorly on the Lord becau...
  • 11:1 The Spirit next lifted Ezekiel up in his vision and transported him to the east (main) gate of the temple courtyards where God's glory had moved (cf. 10:19). There the prophet saw 25 of the governing leaders of the peopl...
  • 12:1-2 The Lord came to Ezekiel with another message.190He told His servant that the people among whom he lived, the house of Israel, were rebellious against Him (cf. 2:3-8). Their blindness to the things that they saw and th...
  • 12:8-9 The morning after Ezekiel had performed this little drama the Lord spoke to him again. He reminded His servant that the Jews had asked him to interpret his symbolic acts.12:10 Ezekiel was to explain to them that the or...
  • The Lord instructed Ezekiel to note permanently the day this revelation came to him because it was the very day that Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem. This day fell on January 15, 588 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 25:1; Jer. 3...
  • 26:1 An oracle concerning Tyre came to Ezekiel on the first of an unspecified month in the eleventh year of the captivity, namely, 587-586 B.C.35326:2 Divine judgment would come on this city-state because its people rejoiced ...
  • 26:7-9 In an explanatory prophecy about Tyre's destruction, the Lord promised to send Nebuchadnezzar as an invader from the north (cf. 2 Kings 25:21; Jer. 52:9). He was a "king of kings"in that many rulers were subject to him...
  • One of the events that would occur before the realization of these great promises of blessing was Israel's exile, but the burden of this pericope is also future restoration.4:9 Micah, speaking for the Lord, addressed the Jews...
  • 1:15 This is the first verse of chapter 2 in the Hebrew Bible. Nahum called his audience to give attention. Someone was coming over the mountains with a message of peace. Consequently the people of Judah could celebrate their...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of th...
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