Text -- 2 Kings 25:8-30 (NET)

Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem

25:8 On the seventh 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. 25:9 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 25:10 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 25:11 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 25:12 But he left behind some of the poor of the land and gave them fields and vineyards. 25:13 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called the “The Sea.” They took the bronze to Babylon. 25:14 They also took the pots, shovels, trimming shears, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. 25:15 The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers and basins. 25:16 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple– including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands– was too heavy to be weighed. 25:17 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet high. The bronze top of one pillar was about four and a half feet high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it. 25:18 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 25:19 From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens for military service, and sixty citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city. 25:20 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 25:21 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So Judah was deported from its land.

Gedaliah Appointed Governor

25:22 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people whom he allowed to remain in the land of Judah. 25:23 All of the officers of the Judahite army and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. 25:24 Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.” 25:25 But in the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten of his men and murdered Gedaliah, as well as the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 25:26 Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, as well as the army officers, left for Egypt, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians might do.

Jehoiachin in Babylon

25:27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, King Evil-Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 25:28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 25:29 Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 25:30 He was given daily provisions by the king for the rest of his life until the day he died.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 2Ki 25:8

_So the Chaldeans did not put all to fire and sword, as soon as they had taken the city: but about a month after, orders were sent, to compleat the destruction of it. This space God gave them to repent after all the foregoing days of his patience. But in vain; they still hardened their hearts: and therefore execution is awarded to the utmost.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:9

One of the apocryphal writers tells us, that Jeremiah got the ark out of the temple, and conveyed it to a cave in mount Nebo, 2 Macc. 2:4-5. But this is like the other tales of that author, who has no regard either to truth or probability. For Jeremiah was at this time a close prisoner. By the burning of the temple God would shew, how little he cares for the outward pomp of his worship, when the life and power of religion are gone. About four hundred and thirty years the temple of Solomon had stood. And it is observed by Josephus, that the second temple was burnt by the Romans, the same month, and the same day of the month, that the first temple was burnt by the Chaldeans.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:11

Whom neither the sword nor famine had destroyed, who were eight hundred and thirty two persons, Jer 52:29, being members and traders of that city: for it is likely, there were very many more of the country people fled thither, who were left with others of their brethren to manure the land.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:11

Of the inhabitants of the country.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:12

So while the rich were prisoners in a strange land, the poor had liberty and peace in their own country! Thus providence sometimes humbles the proud, and favours them of low degree.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:21

This compleated their calamity, about eight hundred and sixty years after they were put in possession of it by Joshua.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:22

A righteous and good man, and a friend to the prophet Jeremiah.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:24

Assured them by his promise and oath, that they should be kept from the evils which they feared. This he might safely swear, because he had not only the king of Babylon's promise but also God's promise deliver'd by Jeremiah. And it might seem, a fair prospect was opening again. But how soon was the scene changed! This hopeful settlement is quickly dashed in pieces, not by the Chaldeans, but by some of themselves.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:25

Moved with envy to see so mean a person advanced into their place.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:25

Ten captains or officers, and under each of them many soldiers.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:26

And here they probably mixt with the Egyptians by degrees, and were heard of no more as Israelites.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:27

Or, on the twenty fifth day, as it is, Jer 52:31. For then the decree was made, which was executed upon the twenty seventh day.

Wesley: 2Ki 25:30

Let none say, they shall never see good again, because they have long seen little but evil. The most afflicted know not what blessed turn providence may yet give to their affairs.

JFB: 2Ki 25:18

Not mere porters, but officers of high trust among the Levites (2Ki 22:4; 1Ch 9:26).

JFB: 2Ki 25:19

That is, who belonged to the royal retinue. It is probable that there were five at first, and that other two were found afterwards (Jer 52:25).

JFB: 2Ki 25:22-26

The people permitted to remain were, besides the king's daughters, a few court attendants and others (Jer 40:7) too insignificant to be removed, only the peasantry who could till the land and dress the vineyards. Gedaliah was Jeremiah's friend (Jer 26:24), and having, by the prophet's counsel, probably fled from the city as abandoned of God, he surrendered himself to the conqueror (Jer 38:2, Jer 38:17), and being promoted to the government of Judea, fixed his provincial court at Mizpeh. He was well qualified to surmount the difficulties of ruling at such a crisis. Many of the fugitive Jews, as well as the soldiers of Zedekiah who had accompanied the king in his flight to the plains of Jericho, left their retreats (Jer 40:11-12) and flocked around the governor; who having counselled them to submit, promised them on complying with this condition, security on oath that they would retain their possessions and enjoy the produce of their land (Jer 40:9).

JFB: 2Ki 25:25

He had found refuge with Baalis, king of the Ammonites, and he returned with a bad design, being either instigated by envy of a governor not descended from the house of David, or bribed by Baalis to murder Gedaliah. The generous governor, though apprised of his intentions, refused to credit the report, much less to sanction the proposal made by an attached friend to cut off Ishmael. The consequence was, that he was murdered by this same Ishmael, when entertaining him in his own house (Jer 41:1).

JFB: 2Ki 25:26

In spite of Jeremiah's dissuasions (Jer 43:7-8) they settled in various cities of that country (Jer 44:1).

JFB: 2Ki 25:27

Corresponding with the year of Nebuchadnezzar's death, and his son Evil-merodach's ascension to the throne.

JFB: 2Ki 25:27

Gave him liberty upon parole. This kindly feeling is said to have originated in a familiar acquaintance formed in prison, in which Evil-merodach had lain till his father's death, on account of some malversation while acting as regent during Nebuchadnezzar's seven years' illness (Dan 4:32-33). But doubtless the improvement in Zedekiah's condition is to be traced to the overruling providence and grace of Him who still cherished purposes of love to the house of David (2Sa 7:14-15).

JFB: 2Ki 25:29

According to an ancient usage in Eastern courts, had a seat at the royal table on great days, and had a stated provision granted him for the maintenance of his exiled court.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:8

In the fifth month - On the seventh day of the fifth month, (answering to Wednesday, Aug. 24), Nebuzar-adan made his entry into the city; and having spent two days in making provision, on the tenth day of the same month, (Saturday, Aug. 27), he set fire to the temple and the king’ s palace, and the houses of the nobility, and burnt them to the ground; Jer 52:13, compared with Jer 39:8. Thus the temple was destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, the first of the XLVIIIth Olympiad, in the one hundred and sixtieth current year of the era of Nabonassar, four hundred and twenty-four years three months and eight days from the time in which Solomon laid its foundation stone.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:10

Brake down the walls - In the same fifth month, Jer 1:3, the walls of Jerusalem being razed to the ground, all that were left in the city, and all that had fled over formerly to Nebuchadnezzar, and all the common people of the city, with all the king’ s treasures, those of the nobles, and the whole furniture of the temple, did Nebuzar-adan carry off to Babylon. See Jer 39:8, Jer 39:9; Jer 52:14, Jer 52:23. And thus was Judah carried away out of her own land, four hundred and sixty-eight years after David began to reign over it; from the division of the ten tribes three hundred and eighty-eight years; and from the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, one hundred and thirty-four years; A.M. 3416, and before Christ five hundred and ninety. And thus ends what is called the fifth age of the world. See Usher’ s Annals.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:18

Seraiah the chief priest - Zephaniah - The person who is here called the second priest was what the Jews call sagan , a sort of deputy, who performed the functions of the high priest when he was prevented by any infirmity from attending the temple service. See on 2Ki 23:4 (note).

Clarke: 2Ki 25:19

And five men of them that were in the king’ s presence - These were principal counselors, and confidential officers

In Jer 52:25, it is said he took seven men who were near the king’ s person, and the same number is found in the Arabic in this place; and the Chaldee has no less than fifty men; but in Jeremiah this, as well as all the rest of the versions, reads seven. Probably they were no more than five at first, or, perhaps Jeremiah reckoned with the five the officer that was set over the men of war, and the principal scribe of the host mentioned here, as two with the five; and thus made seven in the whole.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:21

The king of Babylon smote them - He had, no doubt, found that these had counselled Zedekiah to revolt.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:22

Made Gedaliah - ruler - This was no regal dignity; he was only a sort of hind or overseer, appointed to regulate the husbandmen.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:23

To Mizpah - This is said to have been situated on the east side of the river Jordan, and most contiguous to Babylon, and therefore the most proper for the residence of Gedaliah, because nearest to the place from which he was to receive his instructions. But there were several places of this name, and we do not exactly know where this was situated.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:24

Gedaliah sware to them - He pledged himself in the most solemn manner to encourage and protect them.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:25

Smote Gedaliah - This was at an entertainment which Gedaliah had made for them; see Jer 41:1, etc. He was not content with this murder, but slew fourscore more, who were coming with offerings to the temple, and took several as prisoners, among whom were some of the king’ s daughters; and set off to go to the Ammonites: but Johanan, the son of Careah, hearing of these outrages, raised a number of men, and pursued Ishmael upon which Ishmael’ s prisoners immediately turned and joined Johanan; so that he, and eight of his accomplices, with difficulty escaped to the Ammonites. See Jer 41:1, etc. Baalis, king of the Ammonites, had sent Ishmael to murder Gedaliah; and of this he was informed by Johanan, who offered to prevent it, by taking away the life of this murderer. But Gedaliah could not believe that he harbored such foul designs, and therefore took no precaution to save his life. See Jer 40:13-16.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:27

And it came to pass - Nebuchadnezzar was just now dead; and Evil-merodach, his son, succeeded to the kingdom in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin: and on the seven and twentieth day [Jeremiah says five and twentieth] of the twelfth month of that year, (Tuesday, April 15, A.M. 3442), he brought the long captivated Jewish king out of prison; treated him kindly; and ever after, during his life, reckoned him among the king’ s friends. This is particularly related in the four last verses of the book of Jeremiah.

Clarke: 2Ki 25:30

A continual allowance given him of the king - He lived in a regal style, and had his court even in the city of Babylon, being supplied with every requisite by the munificence and friendship of the king. In about two years after this, Evil-merodach was slain in a conspiracy; and it is supposed that Jehoiachin, then about fifty-eight years of age, fell with his friend and protector. Thus terminates the catastrophe of the Jewish kings, people, and state; the consequence of unheard-of rebellions and provocations against the Majesty of heaven

TSK: 2Ki 25:8

in the fifth month : This answered to Wednesday, August 24; and three days after he reduced the temple to ashes, and carried Judah captive; in the 11th year of Zedekiah; the 19th of Nebuchadnezzar; 424 years, 3 months, and 8 days from the foundation of the temple; 468 years from the beginning of the reign of David; 388 years from the division of the ten tribes; and 134 years from their captivity. Jer 52:12-14; Zec 8:19

the nineteenth : 2Ki 25:27, 2Ki 24:12

Nebuzaradan : Jer 39:9-14, Jer 40:1-4, Jer 52:12-16; Lam 4:12

captain : or, chief marshal

TSK: 2Ki 25:9

he burnt : 1Ki 9:8; 2Ch 36:19; Psa 74:3-7, Psa 79:1; Isa 64:10, Isa 64:11; Jer 7:14, Jer 26:9; Lam 1:10, Lam 2:7; Mic 3:12; Luk 21:5, Luk 21:6; Act 6:13, Act 6:14

the king’ s : Jer 34:22, Jer 37:8, Jer 37:10, Jer 39:8, Jer 52:13; Amo 2:5

TSK: 2Ki 25:10

brake : Neh 1:3; Jer 5:10, Jer 39:8, Jer 52:14-23

TSK: 2Ki 25:11

the rest : Jer 15:1, Jer 15:2, Jer 39:9, Jer 52:12; Eze 5:2, Eze 12:15, Eze 12:16, Eze 22:15, Eze 22:16

fugitives : Heb. fallen away

TSK: 2Ki 25:12

left of the poor : 2Ki 24:14; Jer 39:10, Jer 40:7, Jer 52:16; Eze 33:24

TSK: 2Ki 25:13

the : 2Ki 20:17; 2Ch 36:18; Jer 27:19-22, Jer 52:17-20; Lam 1:10

pillars : Exo 27:3; 1Ki 7:15, 1Ki 7:27; 2Ch 4:12, 2Ch 4:13

bases : 1Kings 7:23-45; 2Ch 4:2-6, 2Ch 4:14-16

TSK: 2Ki 25:14

the pots : Exo 27:3, Exo 38:3; 1Ki 7:47-50; 2Ch 4:20-22, 2Ch 24:14

TSK: 2Ki 25:15

and such things : Exo 37:23; Num 7:13, Num 7:14; 1Ki 7:48-51; 2Ch 24:14; Ezr 1:9-11; Dan 5:2, Dan 5:3

TSK: 2Ki 25:16

one sea : Heb. the one sea

the brass : 1Ki 7:47

TSK: 2Ki 25:17

one pillar : 1Ki 7:15, 1Ki 7:16; Jer 52:21-23

TSK: 2Ki 25:18

captain : 2Ki 25:24, 2Ki 25:25, 2Ki 25:26

Seraiah : 1Ch 6:14; Ezr 7:1; Jer 52:24

Zephaniah : Jer 21:1, Jer 29:25, Jer 29:29

the second priest : Called by the Jews, sagan , who officiated for the high priest in case of any temporary incapacity.

door : Heb. threshold

TSK: 2Ki 25:19

officer : or, eunuch.

were in the king’ s presence : Heb. saw the king’ s face, Est 1:14

principal : or, scribe of the captain of the host

TSK: 2Ki 25:20

and brought : Jer 52:26, Jer 52:27; Lam 4:16

TSK: 2Ki 25:21

the king : These men were put to death as accessories to Zedekiah’ s rebellion; for the king of Babylon had no doubt found that they had counselled him to revolt.

So Judah : 2Ki 17:20, 2Ki 23:27; Lev 26:33-35; Deu 4:26, Deu 28:36, Deu 28:64; Jer 24:9, Jer 24:10, Jer 25:9-11; Eze 12:25-28, Eze 24:14; Amo 5:27

TSK: 2Ki 25:22

the people : Jer 40:5, Jer 40:6-12

Gedaliah : 2Ki 25:25; Jer 39:14, Jer 41:2

Ahikam : 2Ki 22:12; 2Ch 34:20; Jer 26:24

TSK: 2Ki 25:23

And when : Jer 40:7-9, Jer 40:11, Jer 40:12

Mizpah : There were several places of the name of Mizpah, or Mizpeh, and we do not certainly know which of them this was; but it is probable that it was that situated east of Jordan, in the mountains of Gilead (Gen 31:49), and most contiguous to Babylon; and therefore the most proper for the residence of Gedaliah.

TSK: 2Ki 25:24

sware to them : 2Sa 14:11, 2Sa 19:23; Jer 40:9, Jer 40:10; Eze 33:24-29

and it shall be : Jer 40:9, Jer 43:6

TSK: 2Ki 25:25

seventh : Zec 7:5, Zec 8:19

Ishmael : Jer 40:15, Jer 40:16, Jer 41:1-15

royal : Heb. of the kingdom, 2Ki 11:1

TSK: 2Ki 25:26

Jer 41:16-18, Jer 42:14-22, Jer 43:4-7

TSK: 2Ki 25:27

am 3442, bc 562

it came to pass : Jer 24:5, Jer 24:6, Jer 52:31-34

king of Babylon : Pro 21:1

lift up the head : Gen 40:13, Gen 40:20

TSK: 2Ki 25:28

kindly to him : Heb. good things with him

the throne : Jer 27:6-11; Dan 2:37, Dan 5:18, Dan 5:19

TSK: 2Ki 25:29

changed : 2Ki 24:12; Gen 41:14, Gen 41:42; Est 4:4, Est 8:15; Isa 61:3; Zec 3:4; Luk 15:22

he did eat bread : 2Sa 9:7

TSK: 2Ki 25:30

a daily rate : Neh 11:23, Neh 12:47; Dan 1:5; Mat 6:11; Luk 11:3; Act 6:1

all the days of his life : Gen 48:15, Gen 48:16

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Ki 25:8

The nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar - 586 B.C., if we count from the real date of his accession (604 B.C.); but 587 B.C., if, with the Jews, we regard him as beginning to reign when he was sent by his father to recover Syria and gained the battle of Carchemish (in 605 B.C.).

Captain of the guard - literally, "the chief of the executioners"Gen 37:36.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:9

He burnt the house of the Lord - Compare the prophecies of Jeremiah Jer 21:10; Jer 34:2; Jer 38:18, Jer 38:23. Psa 79:1-13 is thought to have been written soon after this destruction of the temple.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:11

The fugitives ... - It was from a fear of the treatment which he would receive at the hands of these deserters that Zedekiah persisted in defending the city to the last Jer 38:19.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:12

There was probably an intention of seating colonists into the country from some other part of the Empire, as the Assyrians had done in Samaria 2Ki 17:24.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:13

The pillars of brass ... - All the more precious treasures had been already removed from the temple 2Ki 24:13. But there still remained many things, the list of which is given in Jer 52:17-23 much more fully than in this place. Objects in brass, or rather bronze, were frequently carried off by the Assyrians from the conquered nations. Bronze was highly valued, being the chief material both for arms and implements. The breaking up of the pillars, bases, etc., shows that it was for the material, and not for the workmanship, that they were valued. On the various articles consult the marginal references.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:16

Without weight - The Babylonians did not take the trouble to weigh the brass as they did the gold and silver. In the Assyrian monuments there are representations of the weighing of captured articles in gold and silver in the presence of the royal scribes.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:17

Compare with this description the accounts in marginal references. The height of the capital ("three cubits") must be corrected, in accordance with those passages, to "five cubits."

Barnes: 2Ki 25:18

It devolved on Nebuzaradan to select for exemplary punishment the persons whom he regarded as most guilty, either in respect of the original rebellion or of the protracted resistance. Instead of taking indiscriminately the first comers, he first selected those who by their offices would be likely to have had most authority - the high priest; the second priest (2Ki 23:4 note); three of the temple Levites; the commandant of the city; five members of the king’ s Privy Council (or seven, see 2Ki 25:19 note); and the secretary (or adjutant) of the captain of the host. To these he added sixty others, who were accounted "princes."Compared with the many occasions on which Assyrian and Persian conquerers put to death hundreds or thousands after taking a revolted town, Nebuzaradan (and Nebuchadnezzar) must be regarded as moderate, or even merciful, in their vengeance. Compare Jer 40:2-5.

The three keepers of the door - Rather, "three keepers."The Hebrew has no article. The temple "door-keepers"in the time of Solomon numbered twenty-four 1Ch 26:17-18, who were probably under six chiefs. After the captivity the chiefs are either six Ezr 2:42; Neh 7:45 or four 1Ch 9:17.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:19

Out of the city - This clause shows that the five persons mentioned in 2Ki 25:18 were taken out of the temple.

Five men - Or, "seven men,"according to Jer 52:25. It is impossible to say which of the two numbers is correct.

Of them that were in the king’ s presence - See the margin. A mode of speech arising from the custom of Eastern rulers to withdraw themselves as much as possible from the view of their subjects.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:21

So Judah was carried away - The kingdom of the two tribes was at an end; and the task of the historian might seem to be accomplished. He still, however, desires to notice two things:

(1) the fate of the remnant 2Ki 25:22-26 left in the land by Nebuzaradan; and

(2) the fate of Johoiachin, who, of all those led into captivity, was the least to blame 2Ki 25:27-30.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:22

We may be allowed to conjecture that Jeremiah, in gratitude for Ahikam’ s service to himself Jer 26:24, recommended his son Gedaliah to Nebuzaradan, and through him to Nebuchadnezzar, for the office of governor.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:23

The captains of the armies - i. e., the officers of the troops who had fled from Jerusalem with Zedekiah 2Ki 25:4, and had then dispersed and gone into hiding 2Ki 25:5.

For Mizpah, see Jos 18:26 note.

The Netophathite - Netophah, the city of Ephai (compare Jer 40:8), appears to have been in the neighborhood of Bethlehem Neh 7:26; Ezr 2:21-22. The name is perhaps continued in the modern Antubeh, about 2 12 miles S. S. E. of Jerusalem.

A Maachathite - Maachah lay in the stony country east of the upper Jordan, bordering upon Bashan Deu 3:14.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:24

As rebels against the Babylonian king, their lives were forfeit. Gedaliah pledged himself to them by oath, that, if they gave no further cause of complaint, their past offences should be forgiven.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:25-26

Jeremiah gives this history with much fullness of detail Jer. 41\endash 43.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:27

The captivity of Jehoiachin commenced in the year 597 B.C. - the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar. It terminated 561 B.C. - the first year of Evil-merodach, the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar. He reigned only two years, being murdered by his brother-in-law, Neriglissar, or Nergal-shar-ezer. He is said to have provoked his fate by lawless government and intemperance.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:28

The kings that were with him - Probably captive kings, like Jehoiachin himself. Compare Jdg 1:7.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:29

Evil-merodach gave him garments befitting his rank. To dress a man suitably to his position was the first thought of an Oriental Gen 41:42; Est 8:15; Dan 5:29; Luk 15:22. So again, Oriental kings regarded it as a part of their greatness to feed daily a vast multitude of persons at their courts (see 1Ki 4:22-23). Of these, as here, a certain number had the special privilege of sitting actually at the royal board, while the others ate separately, generally at a lower level. See Jdg 1:7; 2Sa 9:13; 1Ki 2:7; Psa 41:9.

Barnes: 2Ki 25:30

Allowance - From the treasury, in order to enable him to maintain the state proper to his rank, and in addition to his food at the royal table. Jehoiachin, to the day of his death, lived in peace and comfort at the court of Babylon (compare Jer 52:34).

\brdrb \brdrs \brdrw30 \brsp20

Poole: 2Ki 25:8

On the seventh day of the month

Quest. How doth this agree with Jer 52:12 , where he is said to come thither on the tenth day?

Answ Either he came to Jerusalem on the seventh day, and burnt the temple on the tenth day; or this sacred writer speaks of the day of his departure from Riblah towards Jerusalem, and Jeremiah speaks of his coming to Jerusalem, which was about three days’ journey from Riblah.

Poole: 2Ki 25:9

He burnt the house of the Lord which had now stood about four hundred and fifty years.

Poole: 2Ki 25:11

The people that were left in the city whom neither the sword nor famine had destroyed, who were eight hundred and thirty-two persons, Jer 52:29 , being members and traders of that city; for it is likely that there were very many more of the country people who were fled thither, who were left with others of their brethren to manure the land, as it here follows.

The remnant of the multitude to wit, of the inhabitants of the country.

Poole: 2Ki 25:13

The pillars of brass the carriage whereof to Babylon was foretold, Jer 27:19,22 .

Poole: 2Ki 25:14

The shovels of these and the following words, See Poole "Exo 27:1" See 1Ki 6 1Ki 7 .

Poole: 2Ki 25:18

Seraiah the chief priest the high priest, grandson of that Hilkiah, of whom 2Ki 22:4 , and father of Jehozadak, who, as it seems, was taken with his father; and when his father was slain, 2Ki 25:21 , he was carried away to Babylon, as it is noted, 1Ch 6:14,15 .

Zephaniah the second priest who was the high priest’ s deputy, when he was hindered from the execution of his office: See Poole "Num 3:32" ; See Poole "2Sa 8:17"2Ki 23:4??? .

Poole: 2Ki 25:19

Of them that were in the king’ s presence i.e. of them who constantly attended upon the king’ s person: see 1Ki 10:8 Est 1:14 .

Object. These were seven , Jer 52:25 .

Answ Either five were first taken, and two after them; or two of the seven were of an inferior rank, who therefore are here omitted.

Threescore men of the people of the land who had been most forward or active in the rebellion.

Poole: 2Ki 25:22

A righteous and good man, and a friend to the prophet Jeremiah, Jer 26:24 .

Poole: 2Ki 25:23

The captains of the armies which escaped away when Zedekiah was taken. See Poole "2Ki 25:4" , See Poole "2Ki 25:5" .

Poole: 2Ki 25:24

Sware to them, and to their men assured them by his promise and oath, that they, doing what he required, should be kept from the evils which they feared. This he might safely swear, because he had not only the king of Babylon’ s promise and interest too, but also God’ s promise, for their indemnity, delivered by Jeremiah.

Poole: 2Ki 25:25

The seed royal and therefore moved with envy, to see so mean a person advanced into their place. See this history more fully described, Jer 41 .

Ten men to wit, ten captains or officers, and under each of them many soldiers; otherwise the attempt was ridiculous.

Poole: 2Ki 25:27

On the seven and twentieth day or, on the twenty-fifth day, as it is Jer 52:31 ; for then the decree was made, which was executed upon the twenty-seventh day.

Poole: 2Ki 25:28

It seems, though the power of these kings was taken away, yet some honour and respect was given to them, even in the place of their captivity, and to Jehoiachin more than to any of the rest.

Poole: 2Ki 25:29

i.e. In his presence, and at his table, the following allowance being given to him for the maintenance of his family and royal dignity. Compare 2Sa 9:10 .

Haydock: 2Ki 25:8

Seventh. Jeremias (lii. 12.) mentions the tenth; on which day Nabuzardan probably arrived, or begun to put his orders in execution. Yet the Jews keep the ninth as an annual fast, Zacharias vii. 3., and viii. 19. The temple was destroyed on Saturday, 27th August, the year of the world 3416, (Usher) after it had stood 424 years, 3 months, and 8 days. (Calmet) ---

Army. Hebrew, "of those who slay;" which may be fitly understood "of soldiers," as well as "of cooks," (Septuagint) "butchers." (Pagnin, &c.) (Menochius)

Haydock: 2Ki 25:9

Great. This word is supplied from Jeremias lii. 13., and Hebrew, "great man's house." (Protestants) But Jeremias xxxix. 8., we read, they burnt the houses of the people, (Haydock) even the meanest, destroyed the walls, and took the people to Babylon, only leaving some countrymen to cultivate the land. Jeremias was set at liberty by Nabuzardan, (ibid. xi.[Jeremias xxxix. 9.?]) and chose to continue with this remnant of the people, for their comfort and direction. (Haydock) ---

They applied to him to know whether they should retire into Egypt; and after ten days, he gave them God's injunction to the contrary: but they despised it, Jeremias xlii. 7., and xliii. 1. The prophet, and his secretary, Baruch, followed them into Egypt. Thus was the country abandoned, and the monarchy at an end, after it had subsisted 468 years from the commencement of David's reign. (Calmet) ---

Yet some little power remained in the family of David, even at Babylon; (ver. 27.) and the Jewish affairs were re-established, after the captivity, though not in such splendour as formerly, nor always under princes of the same royal family. (Haydock)

Haydock: 2Ki 25:14

Mazers. Hebrew yahim, "shovels." (Protestants) Septuagint retain the original word, which St. Jerome translates differently. See 3 Kings vii. 50., (Menochius) and Exodus.

Haydock: 2Ki 25:18

Saraias, father of Esdras, and of Josedeck, who succeeded in the Pontificate, 1 Esdras vii. 1., and 1 Paralipomenon vi. 14. (Tirinus) ---

Sophonias. He was perhaps chief of the fourth band of door-keepers, mentioned [in] 1 Paralipomenon ix. 17, 24., and vice-gerent of the High-priest, to supply his place, in case of any accident. We find no mention of such a priest in the law, but Eleazar possessed a similar power, Numbers iii. 32. (Calmet) ---

Keepers. These seem to have concealed themselves in the temple. (Menochius) ---

They were punished, as the counsellors of Sedecias, by being beheaded or crucified, Lamentations v. 12. (Tirinus)

Haydock: 2Ki 25:19

Eunuch. Protestants, "officer." (Haydock) ---

Five. Arabic and Jeremias lii. 25., read seven, as two were probably discovered afterwards, (Calmet) or had fled. (Du Hamel) ---

These were chief officers. ---

Sopher. Septuagint, "and the secretary of the general." Syriac, "the secretary and chiefs of the armies." (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "the principal scribe." (Haydock) ---

It is not clear whether the general have this title of sopher, "scribe," himself; or it rather designates his secretary, or scribe, Judges viii. 14. (Calmet) ---

Many date the 70 years captivity from the last year of Joachin. (Du Hamel)

Haydock: 2Ki 25:22

Godolias. The Rabbins say that he had gone over to the Chaldeans: Jeremias (xxxvii. 2, 17.) had advised all to do so, and Godolias was of an easy complying disposition. (Grotius) ---

But God did not suffer him to collect the remnants of his unhappy people, (Calmet) at least for any long time, as he was slain by Ismael, (Jeremias xl. 12., and xli. 1.; Haydock) who probably envied his dignity. (Josephus) (Salien)

Haydock: 2Ki 25:26

Chaldees. They went under the conduct of Johanan, in opposition to the declaration of Jeremias, xliii. 7., and xliv. 1. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Ki 25:27

Twentieth. Jeremias (lii. 31.) says the 25th, when Nabuchodonosor was buried, and (Du Hamel) the decree was made, though it was not put in execution till two days later. (Calmet) ---

Evilmerodach, whose proper name was Baltassar, (Daniel v. 1.; Tirinus) or the latter was his son. The Jews say that he had been confined in prison, with Joachin, because he had not administered the kingdom well, during the seven years' illness of his father Nabuchodonosor. Berosus (apud Josephus, contra Apion 1., and Eusebius, præp. ix. 40., who cites also Megasthenes) informs us that he reigned with insolence during two years, when he was treacherously murdered by his father-in-law, Neriglissor.

Haydock: 2Ki 25:28

Kings, who had been made captives. Adonibezec had 70, Judges i. 7. Alexander kept Porus and Taxilus at his court, as Cyrus and done Crœsus, whom he treated with great distinction. The prosperity of Joachin does not seem to have been of long continuance, as his benefactor did not reign above two (ver. 27.) or three years, Daniel. viii. 1.

Haydock: 2Ki 25:30

His life, may be referred to Evilmerodach, unless Joachin was involved in his disgrace, and perished at the same time. Perhaps the king of Juda did not always eat at the table of Evilmerodach, but received his meat from it, as was customary. (Syriac, &c.) (Calmet) ---

He received all that was necessary to support his household, daily. (Grotius) ---

In Jeremias lii. 34., until the day of his death, seems to be an useless "tautology," which is omitted here, and in "our oldest manuscript," says Kennicott; who observes that whoever will compare these passages, "will find many variations, and some corruptions." But most of them may be easily explained, ver. 3, 8, 27, &c. (Haydock)

Gill: 2Ki 25:8-12

And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month,.... In Jer 52:12 it is the tenth day of the month; which, how to be reconciled; see Gill on Jer 52:12.

which is the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar; who, according to Ptolemy's canon, reigned forty three years; Metasthenes ^u says forty five; and from hence, to the end of 2Ki 25:12 facts are related as in Jer 52:12 whither the reader is referred.

Gill: 2Ki 25:13-17

And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord,.... The two pillars in the temple, Jachin and Boaz. Benjamin of Tudela says ^w, that in the church of St. Stephen in Rome these pillars now are with the name of Solomon engraved on each; and the Jews at Rome told him, when there, (in the twelfth century,) that on the ninth of Ab (the day the temple was destroyed) every year sweat was found upon them like water; the one, I suppose, will equally be believed as the other, since it is here expressly said that the Chaldeans broke them in pieces. From hence, to the end of 2Ki 25:17 is the same with Jer 52:7, where it is rather more largely and fully expressed; only there is this difference here in 2Ki 25:17 the height of the chapiter of a pillar is said to be three cubits, there five cubits; for the reconciliation of which; see Gill on Jer 52:22.

Gill: 2Ki 25:18-21

And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest,.... The sagan, or deputy priest, who officiated for the high priest, when by any means he was rendered unfit and incapable; so Joseph, the son of Ellem, as Josephus ^x relates, officiated for Matthias, when defiled with a nocturnal pollution; and seven days before the day of atonement they always substituted one under the high priest, lest anything of this kind should happen to him ^y. From hence, to the end of 2Ki 25:21 the account is the same as in Jer 52:25, only here in 2Ki 25:19 it is said, that five men that were in the king's presence were taken, there seven men; to account for which; see Gill on Jer 52:25.

Gill: 2Ki 25:22-24

And as for the people that remained,.... That were left in the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen; over these the king of Babylon made Gedaliah governor, to whom the captains, with their scattered troops, came, and submitted for a time; of whom; see Gill on Jer 40:7; see Gill on Jer 40:8; see Gill on Jer 40:9.

Gill: 2Ki 25:25

And it came to pass in the seventh month,.... Not of Gedaliah's government, but of the year, the month Tisri or September, near two months after the destruction of Jerusalem; the Jews say fifty two days after it; of the death of Gedaliah, and the man that slew him, as here related; see Gill on Jer 41:1, Jer 41:2, Jer 41:3.

Gill: 2Ki 25:26

And all the people, both small and great,.... High and low, rich and poor, among whom were the king's daughters, committed to the care of Gedaliah, and also the prophets Jeremiah and Baruch, see Jer 41:16.

and the captains of the armies rose, and came to Egypt; contrary to the express command of God; these were Johanan, and the captain of the forces with him, Jer 43:4.

for they were afraid of the Chaldees; lest they should come and avenge the death of Gedaliah, appointed governor of Judea, see Jer 41:17.

Gill: 2Ki 25:27-30

And it came to pass in the thirty and seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah,.... Who must then be fifty five years of age:

in the twelfth month, on the twenty and seventh day of the month; in Jer 52:31 it is said to be the twenty fifth day; of the reason of which difference; see Gill on Jer 52:31,

that Evilmerodach king of Babylon; who is supposed, by some ^z", to be the same with Belshazzar, and his successor Neriglissar, the same with Darius the Mede in Daniel. From hence, to the end of the chapter, the same account is given of the kindness of this king to Jehoiachin, as in Jer 52:31. See Gill on Jer 52:31; see Gill on Jer 52:32; see Gill on Jer 52:33; see Gill on Jer 52:34.Metasthenes ^a calls him Amilinus Evilmerodach, and says he reigned thirty years, and makes Belshazzar, or Baltassar, as he calls him, his third son.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:8

¹ tn The parallel account in Jer 52:12 has “tenth.”

² sn The seventh day of the month would have been August 14, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.

³ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2, and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:9

¹ tn Heb “and every large house he burned down with fire.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:11

¹ tc The MT has “the multitude.” But הֶהָמוֹן (hehamon) should probably be emended to הֶאָמוֹן (he’amon).

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:12

¹ tn Heb “the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:13

¹ sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:14

¹ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

² sn These were used to trim the wicks.

³ tn Heb “with which they served [or, ‘fulfilled their duty’].”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:15

¹ sn These held the embers used for the incense offerings.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:16

¹ tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (vÿha-) on וְהַבָּקָר (vÿhabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (vÿhammÿkhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:17

¹ tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

² tn Heb “three cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:19

¹ tn The parallel passage in Jer 52:25 has “seven.”

² tn Heb “five seers of the king’s face.”

³ tn Heb “the people of the land.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:21

¹ tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”

² tn Heb “land.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:22

¹ tn Heb “And the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:23

¹ tn Heb “of the army.” The word “Judahite” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:24

¹ tn The words “so as to give them…some assurance of safety” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:25

¹ sn It is not altogether clear whether this is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (= early July; Jer 39:2) and Nebuzaradan came and burned the palace, the temple, and many of the houses and tore down the wall in the fifth month (= early August; Jer 52:12). That would have left time between the fifth month and the seventh month (October) to gather in the harvest of grapes, dates and figs, and olives (Jer 40:12). However, many commentators feel that too much activity takes place in too short a time for this to have been in the same year and posit that it happened the following year or even five years later when a further deportation took place, possibly in retaliation for the murder of Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah (Jer 52:30). The assassination of Gedaliah had momentous consequences and was commemorated in one of the post exilic fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem (Zech 8:19).

² tn Heb “[was] from the seed of the kingdom.”

³ tn Heb “and they struck down Gedaliah and he died.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:26

¹ tn Heb “arose and went to.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:27

¹ sn The parallel account in Jer 52:31 has “twenty-fifth.”

² sn The twenty-seventh day would be March 22, 561 b.c. in modern reckoning.

³ tn Heb “lifted up the head of.”

⁴ tn The words “released him” are supplied in the translation on the basis of Jer 52:31.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:28

¹ tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of.”

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:29

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiachin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 2Ki 25:30

¹ tc The words “until the day he died” do not appear in the MT, but they are included in the parallel passage in Jer 52:34. Probably they have been accidentally omitted by homoioteleuton. A scribe’s eye jumped from the final vav (ו) on בְּיוֹמוֹ (bÿyomo), “in his day,” to the final vav (ו) on מוֹתוֹ (moto), “his death,” leaving out the intervening words.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:8

And in the fifth month, on the ^{( f )} seventh [day] of the month, which [is] the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:

^{( f )} Jeremiah writes in (Jer 52:12) the tenth day, because the fire continued from the seventh day to the tenth.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:11

Now the rest of the people [that were] left in the city, and the fugitives that ^{( g )} fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.

^{( g )} While the siege endured.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:14

And the ^{( h )} pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

^{( h )} Of these read (Exo 27:3).

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:18

And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the ^{( i )} second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

^{( i )} That is, one appointed to act in the place of the high priest, if he were sick or otherwise detained.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:19

And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and ^{( k )} five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land [that were] found in the city:

^{( k )} Jeremiah makes mention of seven but here he speaks of those who were the chiefest.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:24

And Gedaliah ^{( l )} sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.

^{( l )} That is, he exhorted them in the Name of the Lord, according to Jeremiah's counsel, to submit themselves to Nebuchadnezzar, seeing it was the revealed will of the Lord.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:26

And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to ^{( m )} Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.

^{( m )} Contrary to Jeremiah's counsel in Jeremiah 40-42.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:27

And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of ^{( n )} Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth [day] of the month, [that] Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

^{( n )} This long were he, his wife and his children in Babylon, whom Nebuchadnezzar's son after his father's death preferred to honour: thus by God's providence the seed of David was preserved even to Christ.

Geneva Bible: 2Ki 25:30

And his ^{( o )} allowance [was] a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.

^{( o )} Meaning, that he had standing in the court.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Ki 25:1-30

1 Jerusalem is besieged.

4 Zedekiah taken, his sons slain, his eyes put out.

8 Nebuzar-adan defaces the city, carries the remnant, except a few poor labourers, into captivity;

13 and spoils and carries away the treasures.

18 The nobles are slain at Riblah.

22 Gedaliah, who was over them that remained, being slain, the rest flee into Egypt.

27 Evil-merodach advances Jehoiachin in his court.

MHCC: 2Ki 25:8-21

The city and temple were burnt, and, it is probable, the ark in it. By this, God showed how little he cares for the outward pomp of his worship, when the life and power of religion are neglected. The walls of Jerusalem were thrown down, and the people carried captive to Babylon. The vessels of the temple were carried away. When the things signified were sinned away, what should the signs stand there for? It was righteous with God to deprive those of the benefit of his worship, who had preferred false worships before it; those that would have many altars, now shall have none. As the Lord spared not the angels that sinned, as he doomed the whole race of fallen men to the grave, and all unbelievers to hell, and as he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, we need not wonder at any miseries he may bring upon guilty nations, churches, or persons.

MHCC: 2Ki 25:22-30

The king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah to be the governor and protector of the Jews left their land. But the things of their peace were so hidden from their eyes, that they knew not when they were well off. Ishmael basely slew him and all his friends, and, against the counsel of Jeremiah, the rest went to Egypt. Thus was a full end made of them by their own folly and disobedience; see Jeremiah ch. 40-45. Jehoiachin was released out of prison, where he had been kept 37 years. Let none say that they shall never see good again, because they have long seen little but evil: the most miserable know not what turn Providence may yet give to their affairs, nor what comforts they are reserved for, according to the days wherein they have been afflicted. Even in this world the Saviour brings a release from bondage to the distressed sinner who seeks him, bestowing foretastes of the pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore. Sin alone can hurt us; Jesus alone can do good to sinners.

Matthew Henry: 2Ki 25:8-21

Though we have reason to think that the army of the Chaldeans were much enraged against the city for holding out with so much stubbornness, yet they did not therefore put all to fire and sword as soon as they had taken the city (which is too commonly done in such cases), but about a month after (compare 2Ki 25:8 with 2Ki 25:3) Nebuzar-adan was sent with orders to complete the destruction of Jerusalem. This space God gave them to repent, after all the foregoing days of his patience, but in vain; their hearts (for aught that appears) were still hardened, and therefore execution is awarded to the utmost. 1. The city and temple are burnt, 2Ki 25:9. It does not appear that the king of Babylon designed to send any colonies to people Jerusalem and therefore he ordered it to be laid in ashes, as a nest of rebels. At the burning of the king's house and the houses of the great men one cannot so much wonder (the inhabitants had, by their sins, made them combustible), but that the house of the Lord should perish in these flames, that that holy and beautiful house should be burnt with fire (Isa 64:11), is very strange. That house which David prepared for, and which Solomon built at such a vast expense - that house which had the eye and heart of God perpetually upon it (1Ki 9:3) - might not that have been snatched as a brand out of this burning? No, it must not be fire-proof against God's judgments. This stately structure must be turned into ashes, and it is probable the ark in it, for the enemies, having heard how dearly the Philistines paid for the abusing of it, durst not seize that, nor did any of its friends take care to preserve it, for then we should have heard of it again in the second temple. One of the apocryphal writers does indeed tell us that the prophet Jeremiah got it out of the temple, and conveyed it to a cave in Mount Nebo on the other side Jordan, and hid it there (2 Macc. 2:4, 5), but that could not be, for Jeremiah was a close prisoner at that time. By the burning of the temple God would show how little cares for the external pomp of his worship when the life and power of religion are neglected. The people trusted to the temple, as if that would protect them in their sins (Jer 7:4), but God, by this, let them know that when they had profaned it they would find it but a refuge of lies. This temple had stood about 420, some say 430 years. The people having forfeited the promises made concerning it, those promises must be understood of the gospel-temple, which is God's rest for ever. It is observable that the second temple was burnt by the Romans the same month, and the same day of the month, that the first temple was burnt by the Chaldeans, which, Josephus says, was the tenth of August. 2. The walls of Jerusalem are demolished (2Ki 25:10), as if the victorious army would be revenged on them for having kept them out so long, or at least prevent the like opposition another time. Sin unwalls a people and takes away their defence. These walls were never repaired till Nehemiah's time. 3. The residue of the people are carried away captive to Babylon, 2Ki 25:11. Most of the inhabitants had perished by sword or famine, or had made their escape when the king did (for it is said, 2Ki 25:5, His army was scattered from him ), so that there were very few left, who with the deserters, making in all but 832 persons (as appears, Jer 52:29), were carried away into captivity; only the poor of the land were left behind (2Ki 25:12), to till the ground and dress the vineyards for the Chaldeans. Sometimes poverty is a protection; for those that have nothing have nothing to lose. When the rich Jews, who had been oppressive to the poor, were made strangers, nay, prisoners, in an enemy's country, the poor whom they had despised and oppressed had liberty and peace in their own country. Thus Providence sometimes remarkably humbles the proud and favours those of low degree. 4. The brazen vessels, and other appurtenances of the temple, are carried away, those of silver and gold being most of them gone before. Those two famous columns of brass, Jachin and Boaz, which signified the strength and stability of the house of God, were broken to pieces and the brass of them was carried to Babylon, 2Ki 25:13. When the things signified were sinned away what should the signs stand there for? Ahaz had profanely cut off the borders of the bases, and put the brazen sea upon a pavement of stones (2Ki 16:17); justly therefore are the brass themselves, and the brazen sea, delivered into the enemy's hand. It is just with God to take away his ordinances from those that profane and abuse them, that curtail and depress them. Some things remained of gold and silver (2Ki 25:15) which were now carried off; but most of this plunder was brass, such a vast quantity of it that it is said to be without weight, 2Ki 25:16. The carrying away of the vessels wherewith they ministered (2Ki 25:14) put an end to the ministration. It was a righteous thing with God to deprive those of the benefit of his worship who had slighted it so long and preferred false worships before it. Those that would have many altars shall now have none. 5. Several of the great men are slain in cold blood - Seraiah the chief priest (who was the father of Ezra as appears, Ezr 7:1), the second priest (who, when there was occasion, officiated for him), and three door-keepers of the temple (2Ki 25:18), the general of the army, five privy-counsellors (afterwards they made them up seven, Jer 52:25), the secretary of war, or pay-master of the army, and sixty country gentlemen who had concealed themselves in the city. These, being persons of some rank, were brought to the king of Babylon (2Ki 25:19, 2Ki 25:20), who ordered them to be all put to death (2Ki 25:21), when, in reason, they might have hoped that surely the bitterness of death was past. These the king of Babylon's revenge looked upon as most active in opposing him; but divine justice, we may suppose, looked upon them as ringleaders in that idolatry and impiety which were punished by these desolations. This completed the calamity: So Judah was carried away out of their land, about 860 years after they were put in possession of it by Joshua. Now the scripture was fulfilled, The Lord shall bring thee, and the king which thou shalt set over thee, into a nation which thou hast not known, Deu 28:36. Sin kept their fathers forty years out of Canaan, and now turned them out. The Lord is known by those judgments which he executes, and makes good that word which he has spoken, Amo 3:2. You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Matthew Henry: 2Ki 25:22-30

In these verses we have,

I. The dispersion of the remaining people. The city of Jerusalem was quite laid waste. Some people there were in the land of Judah (2Ki 25:22) that had weathered the storm, and (which was no small favour at this time, Jer 45:5) had their lives given them for a prey. Now see, 1. What a good posture they were put into. The king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah, one of themselves, to be their governor and protector under him, a very good man, and one that would make the best of the bad, 2Ki 25:22. His father Ahikam was one that countenanced and protected Jeremiah when the princes had vowed his death, Jer 26:24. It is probable that this Gedaliah, by the advice of Jeremiah, had gone over the Chaldeans, and had conducted himself so well that the king of Babylon entrusted him with the government. He resided not at Jerusalem, but at Mizpah, in the land of Benjamin, a place famous in Samuel's time. Thither those came who had fled from Zedekiah (2Ki 25:4) and put themselves under his protection (2Ki 25:23), which he assured them of if they would be patient and peaceable under the government of the king of Babylon, 2Ki 25:24. Gedaliah, though he had not the pomp and power of a sovereign prince, yet might have been a greater blessing to them than many of their kings had been, especially having such a privy-council as Jeremiah, who was now with them, and interested himself in their affairs, Jer 40:5, Jer 40:6. 2. What a fatal breach was made upon them, soon afterwards, by the death of Gedaliah, within two months after he entered upon his government. The utter extirpation of the Jews, for the present, was determined, and therefore it was in vain for them to think of taking root again: the whole land must be plucked up, Jer 45:4. Yet this hopeful settlement is dashed to pieces, not by the Chaldeans, but by some of themselves. The things of their peace were so hidden from their eyes that they knew not when they were well off, nor would believe when they were told. (1.) They had a good governor of their own, and him they slew, out of spite to the Chaldeans, because he was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, 2Ki 25:25. Ishmael, who was of the royal family, envying Gedaliah's advancement and the happy settlement of the people under him, though he could not propose to set up himself, resolved to ruin him, and basely slew him and all his friends, both Jews and Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar would not, could not, have been a more mischievous enemy to their peace than this degenerate branch of the house of David was. (2.) They were as yet in their own good land, but they forsook it, and went to Egypt, for fear of the Chaldeans, 2Ki 25:26. The Chaldeans had reason enough to be offended at the murder of Gedaliah; but if those that remained had humbly remonstrated, alleging that it was only the act of Ishmael and his party, we may suppose that those who were innocent of it, nay, who suffered greatly by it, would not have been punished for it: but, under pretence of this apprehension, contrary to the counsel of Jeremiah, they all went to Egypt, where, it is probable, they mixed with the Egyptians by degrees, and were never heard of more as Israelites. Thus was there a full end made of them by their own folly and disobedience, and Egypt had the last of them, that the last verse of that chapter of threatenings might be fulfilled, after all the rest, Deu 28:68, The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again. These events are more largely related by the prophet Jeremiah, ch. 40 to Jer 45:1-5. Quaeque ipse miserrima vidit, et quorum pars magna fuit - Which scenes he was doomed to behold, and in which he bore a melancholy part.

II. The reviving of the captive prince. Of Zedekiah we hear no more after he was carried blind to Babylon; it is probable that he did not live long, but that when he died he was buried with some marks of honour, Jer 34:5. Of Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, who surrendered himself (2Ki 24:12), we are here told that as soon as Evil-merodach came to the crown, upon the death of his father Nebuchadnezzar, he released him out of prison (where he had lain thirty-seven years, and was now fifty-five years old), spoke kindly to him, paid more respect to him than to any other of the kings his father had left in captivity (2Ki 25:28), gave him princely clothing instead of his prison-garments, maintained him in his own palace (2Ki 25:29), and allowed him a pension for himself and his family in some measure corresponding to his rank, a daily rate for every day as long as he lived. Consider this, 1. As a very happy change of Jehoiachin's condition. To have honour and liberty after he had been so long in confinement and disgrace, the plenty and pleasure of a court after he had been so long accustomed to the straits and miseries of a prison, was like the return of the morning after a very dark and tedious night. Let none say that they shall never see good again because they have long seen little but evil; the most miserable know not what blessed turn Providence may yet give to their affairs, nor what comforts they are reserved for, according to the days wherein they have been afflicted, Psa 90:15. However the death of afflicted saints is to them such a change as this was to Jehoiachin: it will release them out of their prison, shake off the body, that prison-garment, and open the way to their advancement; it will send them to the throne, to the table, of the King of kings, the glorious liberty of God's children. 2. As a very generous act of Evil-merodach's. He thought his father made the yoke of his captives too heavy, and therefore, with the tenderness of a man and the honour of a prince, made it lighter. It should seem all the kings he had in his power were favoured, but Jehoiachin above them all, some think for the sake of the antiquity of his family and the honour of his renowned ancestors, David and Solomon. None of the kings of the nations, it is likely, had descended from so long a race of kings in a direct lineal succession, and by a male line, as the king of Judah. The Jews say that this Evil-merodach had been himself imprisoned by his own father, when he returned from his madness, for some mismanagement at that time, and that in prison he contracted a friendship with Jehoiachin, in consequence of which, as soon as he had it in his power, he showed him this kindness as a sufferer, as a fellow-sufferer. Some suggest that Evil-merodach had learned from Daniel and his fellows the principles of the true religion, and was well affected to them, and upon that account favoured Jehoiachin. 3. As a kind dispensation of Providence, for the encouragement of the Jews in captivity, and the support of their faith and hope concerning their enlargement in due time. This happened just about the midnight of their captivity. Thirty-six of the seventy years were now past, and almost as many were yet behind, and now to see their king thus advanced would be a comfortable earnest to them of their own release in due time, in the set time. Unto the upright there thus ariseth light in the darkness, to encourage them to hope, even in the cloudy and dark day, that at evening time it shall be light; when therefore we are perplexed, let us not be in despair.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ki 25:8-21

Destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The people carried away to Babel (cf. Jer 52:12-27, and Jer 39:8-10). - In this section we have first a general account of the destruction of the temple and city (2Ki 25:8-10), and of the carrying away of the people (2Ki 25:11 and 2Ki 25:12), and then a more particular description of what was done with the metal vessels of the temple (2Ki 25:13-17), and how the spiritual and secular leaders of the people who had been taken prisoners were treated (2Ki 25:18-21).

2Ki 25:8-10

The destruction of Jerusalem, by the burning of the temple, of the king's palace, and of all the larger buildings, and by throwing down the walls, was effected by Nebuzaradan, the chief of the body-guard of Nebuchadnezzar, on the seventh day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Instead of the seventh day we have the tenth in Jer 52:12. This difference might be reconciled, as proposed by earlier commentators, on the assumption that the burning of the city lasted several days, commencing on the seventh and ending on the tenth. But since there are similar differences met with afterwards (2Ki 25:17, 2Ki 25:19) in the statement of numbers, which can only be accounted for from the substitution of similar numeral letters, we must assume that there is a change of this kind here. Which of the two dates is the correct one it is impossible to determine. The circumstance that the later Jews kept the ninth as a fast-day cannot be regarded as decisive evidence in favour of the date given in Jeremiah, as Thenius supposes; for in Zec 7:3 and Zec 8:19 the fasting of the fifth month is mentioned, but no day is given; and though in the Talmudic times the ninth day of the month began to be kept as a fast-day, this was not merely in remembrance of the Chaldaean destruction of Jerusalem, but of the Roman also, and of three other calamities which had befallen the nation (see the statement of the Gemara on this subject in Lightfoot, Opp. ii. p. 139, ed. Leusden, and in Köhler on Zec 7:3), from which we see that the Gemarists in the most unhistorical manner grouped together different calamitous events in one single day. The nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar corresponds to the eleventh of Zedekiah (see at 2Ki 24:12). Nebuzaradan is not mentioned in Jer 39:3 among the Chaldaean generals who forced their way into the city, so that he must have been ordered to Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar after the taking of the city and the condemnation of Zedekiah, to carry out the destruction of the city, the carrying away of the people, and the appointment of a deputy-governor over those who were left behind in the land. This explains in a very simple manner how a month could intervene between their forcing their way into the city, at all events into the lower city, and the burning of it to the ground, without there being any necessity to assume, with Thenius, that the city of Zion held out for a month, which is by no means probable, for the simple reason that the fighting men had fled with Zedekiah and had been scattered in their flight. רב־תבּחים = הטּבּחים שׂר in Gen 37:36; Gen 39:1, was with the Babylonians, as with the Egyptians, the chief of the king's body-guard, whose duty it was to execute the sentences of death (see at Gen 37:36). הטּבּחים answers to the הכּרתי of the Israelites (2Sa 8:18, etc.). In Jer 52:12 we have מלך לפני עמד instead of מלך עבד , without the אשׁר , which is rarely omitted in prose, and בּירוּשׁלם instead of ירוּשׁלם : he came into Jerusalem, not he forced a way into the real Jerusalem (Thenius). The meaning is not altered by these two variations.

2Ki 25:9-10

By the words, "every great house," יר כּל־בּתּי את is more minutely defined: not all the houses to the very last, but simply all the large houses he burned to the very last, together with the temple and the royal palaces. The victors used one portion of the dwelling-houses for their stay in Jerusalem. He then had all the walls of the city destroyed. In Jeremiah כּל is omitted before חומת , as not being required for the sense; and also the את before טבּחים רב , which is indispensable to the sense, and has fallen out through a copyist's oversight.

2Ki 25:11-12

The rest of the people he led away, both those who had been left behind in the city and the deserters who had gone over to the Chaldaeans, and the remnant of the multitude. ההמון יתר , for which we have האמון יתר in Jer 52:15, has been interpreted in various ways. As אמון signifies an artist or artificer in Pro 8:30, and העם יתר has just preceded it, we might be disposed to give the preference to the reading האמון , as Hitzig and Graf have done, and understand by it the remnant of the artisans, who were called והמּסגּר החרשׁ in 2Ki 24:14, 2Ki 24:16. But this view is precluded by Jer 39:9, where we find הנּשׁארים העם יתר instead of האמון יתר or ההמון . י These words cannot be set aside by the arbitrary assumption that they crept into the text through a copyist's error; for the assertion that they contain a purposeless repetition is a piece of dogmatical criticism, inasmuch as there is a distinction drawn in Jer 39:9 between בּעיר הנּשׁארים העם יתר העם ה﬿ and הנּשׁארים העם יתר . Consequently האמון is simply another form for ההמון ( ה and א being interchanged) in the sense of a mass of people, and we have simply the choice left between two interpretations. Either בּעיר הנּשׁארים העם יתר means the fighting people left in the city, as distinguished from the deserters who had fled to the Chaldaeans, and האמון = ההמון יתר in Jer 52:15, or הנּשׁארים העם יתר in Jer 39:9, the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; or בּעיר הנּשׁ העם יתר is the people left in Jerusalem (warriors and non-warriors), and ההמון יתר the rest of the population of the land outside Jerusalem. The latter is probably the preferable view, not only because full justice is thereby done to בּעיר in the first clause, but also because it is evident from the exception mentioned in 2Ki 25:12 that the deportation was not confined to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but extended to the population of the whole land. The "poor people,"whom he allowed to remain in the land as vine-dressers and husbandmen, were the common people, or people without property, not merely in Jerusalem, but throughout the whole land. הארץ דּלּת = עם־הארץ דּלּת (2Ki 24:14). Instead of מדּלּת we have in Jeremiah מדּלּות : the plural used in an abstract sense, "the poverty,"i.e., the lower people, "the poor who had nothing"(Jer 39:10). Instead of the Chethîb לגבים from גּוּב , secuit , aravit , the Keri has ליגבים from יגב , in the same sense, after Jer 52:16.

2Ki 25:13-17

The brazen vessels of the temple were broken in pieces, and the brass, and smaller vessels of brass, silver, and gold, were carried away. Compare Jer 52:17-23, where several other points are mentioned that have been passed over in the account before us. The pillars of brass (see 1Ki 7:15.), the stands (see 1Ki 7:27.), and the brazen sea (1Ki 7:23.), were broken in pieces, because it would have been difficult to carry these colossal things away without breaking them up. On the smaller vessels used in the worship (2Ki 25:14) see 1Ki 7:40. In Jer 52:18 המּזרקת are also mentioned. 2Ki 25:15 is abridged still more in contrast with Jer 52:19, and only המּחתּות and המּזרקות are mentioned, whereas in Jeremiah six different things are enumerated beside the candlesticks. כּסף ... זהב אשׁר , "what was of gold, gold, what was of silver, silver, the captain of the guard took away,"is a comprehensive description of the objects carried away. To this there is appended a remark in 2Ki 25:16 concerning the quantity of the brass of the large vessels, which was so great that it could not be weighed; and in 2Ki 25:17 a supplementary notice respecting the artistic work of the two pillars of brass. וגו העמּוּדים is placed at the head absolutely: as for the pillars, etc., the brass of all these vessels was not to be weighed. In Jer 52:20, along with the brazen sea, the twelve brazen oxen under it are mentioned; and in the description of the pillars of brass (Jer 52:21.) there are several points alluded to which are omitted in our books, not only here, but also in 1Ki 7:16. For the fact itself see the explanation given there. The omission of the twelve oxen in so condensed an account as that contained in our text does not warrant the inference that these words in Jeremiah are a spurious addition made by a later copyist, since the assumption that Ahaz sent the brazen oxen to king Tiglath-pileser cannot be proved from 2Ki 16:17. Instead of אמּה שׁלשׁ we must read אמּת המשׁ , five cubits , according to Jer 52:22 and 1Ki 7:16. The על־השּׂבכה at the end of the verse is very striking, since it stands quite alone, and when connected with וגו וכאלּה does not appear to yield any appropriate sense, as the second pillar was like the first not merely with regard to the trellis-work, but in its form and size throughout. At the same time, it is possible that the historian intended to give especial prominence to the similarity of the two pillars with reference to this one point alone.

2Ki 25:18-21

(cf. Jer 52:24-27). The principal officers of the temple and city, and sixty men of the population of the land, who were taken at the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuzaradan sent to his king at Riblah, where they were put to death. Seraiah , the high priest, is the grandfather or great-grandfather of Ezra the scribe (Ezr 7:1; 1Ch 6:14). Zephaniah , a priest of the second rank ( משׁנה כּהן ; in Jer. המּשׁנה כּהן : see at 2Ki 23:4), is probably the same person as the son of Maaseiah, who took a prominent place among the priests, according to Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25., and Jer 37:3. The "three keepers of the threshold"are probably the three superintendents of the Levites, whose duty it was to keep guard over the temple, and therefore were among the principal officers of the sanctuary.

2Ki 25:19-21

From the city, i.e., from the civil authorities of the city, Nebuzaradan took a king's chamberlain ( סריס ), who was commander of the men of war. Instead of פקיד הוּא אשׁר we find in Jer 52:25 / היה אשׁר , who had been commander, with an allusion to the fact that his official function had terminated when the city was conquered. "And five (according to Jeremiah seven ) men of those who saw the king's face,"i.e., who belonged to the king's immediate circle, de intimis consiliariis regis , and "the scribe of the commander-in-chief, who raised the people of the land for military service,"or who enrolled them. Although הסּפר has the article, which is omitted in Jeremiah, the following words הצּבא שׂר are governed by it, or connected with it in the construct state (Ewald, §290 d .). הצּבא שׂר is the commander-in-chief of the whole of the military forces, and וגו המּצבּא a more precise definition of הסּפר , and not of הצּבא שׂר , which needed no such definition. "And sixty men of the land-population who were found in the city."They were probably some of the prominent men of the rural districts, or they may have taken a leading part in the defence of the city, and therefore were executed in Riblah, and not merely deported with the rest of the people. - The account of the destruction of the kingdom of Judah closes with יהוּדה ויּגּל in 2Ki 25:21, "thus was Judah carried away out of its own land;"and in 2Ki 25:22-26 there follows merely a brief notice of those who had been left behind in the land, in the place of which we find in Jer 52:28-30 a detailed account of the number of those who were carried away.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ki 25:22-26

Installation of Gedaliah the governor. His assassination, and the flight of the people to Egypt. - Much fuller accounts have been handed down to us in Jer 40-44 of the events which are but briefly indicated here.

2Ki 25:22-23

Over the remnant of the people left in the land Nebuchadnezzar placed Gedaliah as governor of the land, who took up his abode in Mizpah. Gedaliah , the son of Ahikam, who had interested himself on behalf of the prophet Jeremiah and saved his life (Jer 26:24), and the grandson of Shaphan, a man of whom nothing more is known (see at 2Ki 22:12), had his home in Jerusalem, and, as we may infer from his attitude towards Jeremiah, had probably secured the confidence of the Chaldaeans at the siege and conquest of Jerusalem by his upright conduct, and by what he did to induce the people to submit to the judgment inflicted by God; so that Nebuchadnezzar entrusted him with the oversight of those who were left behind in the land-men, women, children, poor people, and even a few princesses and court-officials, whom they had not thought it necessary or worth while to carry away (Jer 40:7; Jer 41:10, Jer 41:16), i.e., he made him governor of the conquered land. Mizpah is the present Nebi Samwil , two hours to the north-west of Jerusalem (see at Jos 18:26). - On hearing of Gedaliah's appointment as governor, there came to him "all the captains of the several divisions of the army and their men,"i.e., those portions of the army which had been scattered at the flight of the king (2Ki 25:5), and which had escaped from the Chaldaeans, and, as it is expressed in Jer 40:7, had dispersed themselves "in the field,"i.e., about the land. Instead of והאנשׁים we have in Jer 40:7 the clearer expression ואנשׁיהם , "and their men,"whilst והאנשׁים in our text receives its more precise definition from the previous word החילים . Of the military commanders the following are mentioned by name: Ishmael, etc. (the ו eht( .cte ,l before ישׁמעאל , is explic., "and indeed Ishmael"). Ishmael, son of Mattaniah and grandson of Elishama, probably of the king's secretary mentioned in Jer 36:12 and Jer 36:20, of royal blood. Nothing further is known about the other names. We simply learn from Jer 40:13. that Johanan had warned Gedaliah against the treachery of Ishmael, and that when Gedaliah was slain by Ishmael, having disregarded the warning, he put himself at the head of the people and marched with them to Egypt, notwithstanding the dissuasions of Jeremiah (Jer 41:15.). Instead of "Johanan the son of Kareah,"we have in Jer 40:8 "Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah;"but it is uncertain whether ויונתן has crept into the text of Jeremiah from the previous יהוחנן merely through a mistake, and this mistake has brought with it the alteration of בּן into בּני (Ewald), or whether ויונתן has dropped out of our text through an oversight, and this omission has occasioned the alteration of בני into בן (Thenius, Graf, etc.). The former supposition is favoured by the circumstance that in Jer 40:13; Jer 41:11, Jer 41:16, Johanan the son of Kareah alone is mentioned. In Jer 40:8 עופי וּבני ( Chethîb עיפי ) stands before הנּטפתי , according to which it was not Seraiah who sprang from Netophah, but Ophai whose sons were military commanders. He was called Netophathite because he sprang from Netopha in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem (Neh 7:26; Ezr 2:22), the identity of which with Beit Nettif is by no means probable (see at 2Sa 23:28). The name יאזביהוּ is written יזניהוּ in Jeremiah; he was the son of the Maachathite, i.e., his father sprang from the Syrian district of Maacah in the neighbourhood of the Hermon (see at Deu 3:14).

2Ki 25:24

As these men were afraid of the vengeance of the Chaldaeans because they had fought against them, Gedaliah assured them on oath that they had nothing to fear from them if they would dwell peaceably in the land, be submissive to the king of Babel, and cultivate the land (cf. Jer 40:9 and Jer 40:10). "Servants of the Chaldees"are Chaldaean officials who were subordinate to the governor Gedaliah.

2Ki 25:25

In the seventh month, i.e., hardly two months after the destruction of Jerusalem, came Ishmael with ten men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and murdered him together with the Jews and Chaldaeans, whom he had with him as soldiers to do his bidding and for his protection. This occurred, according to Jer 41:1., when Gedaliah had received them hospitably and had invited them to eat with him. Ishmael was instigated to commit this murder by the Ammonitish king Baalis, and Gedaliah had previously been made acquainted with the intended crime and put upon his guard by Johanan, but had put no faith in the information (Jer 40:13-16).

2Ki 25:26

After Ishmael had performed this deed, and had also treacherously murdered a number of men, who had come to the temple with a sacrifice from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, he took the Jews who were at Mizpah prisoners, with some kings' daughters among them, intending to take them over to the Ammonites; but as soon as his deed became known, he was pursued by Johanan and the rest of the military chiefs and was overtaken at Gibeon, whereupon those who had been led away by him went over to Johanan, so that he was only able to make his escape with eight men and get away to the Ammonites (Jer 41:4-15). Johanan then went with the rest of the military commanders and the people whom he had brought back into the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, with the intention of fleeing to Egypt for fear of the Chaldaeans. There they did indeed have recourse to the prophet Jeremiah, to inquire of him the word of the Lord; but they did not allow themselves to be diverted from their intention by the word of the Lord which he announced to them, that if they remained in the land they need not fear anything from the king of Babel, but if they went to Egypt they should all perish there with sword, hunger, and pestilence, or by the prediction that the Lord would also deliver Pharaoh Hophra into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 42). They went to Egypt notwithstanding, taking the prophet himself with them, and settled in different cities of Egypt, where they gave themselves up to idolatry, and did not suffer themselves to be drawn away from it even by the severe judgments which the prophet Jeremiah predicted as sure to fall upon them (Jer 43:1-13 and 44). In the verse before us we have simply a brief allusion to the eventual result of the whole affair. "Because they were afraid of the Chaldaeans,"namely, that they might possibly take vengeance upon them for the murder of the governor.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ki 25:27-30

Jehoiachin delivered from prison, and exalted to royal honours (cf. Jer. 42:31-34). - In the thirty-seventh year after his deportation Jehoiachin was taken out of prison by Evil-merodach when he came to the throne. מלכו בּשׁנת , in the year of his becoming king, probably immediately after he had ascended the throne, for it was no doubt an act of grace at the commencement of his reign. את־ראשׁ נשׂא , to lift up a persons' head, i.e., to release him from prison and exalt him to civil honours and dignities (cf. Gen 40:13). On the coincidence of the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin's imprisonment and the commencement of the reign of Evil-merodach see the remarks at 2Ki 24:12. Instead of the 27th day of the month, the 25th is given in Jeremiah, again through the substitution of similar numeral letters (see at 2Ki 25:8). Evil-merodach: מרדך אויל , Εὔιαλ Μαρώδαχ or Εὐιαλμαρωδέκ (lxx); Ἰλλοαροόδαμος , possibly a copyist's error for Ἰλμαροόδακος , in the Can. Ptol. , and in other forms also: see M. v. Nieb. Gesch. Ass. p. 42, and Ges. thes. p. 41; compounded from the name of the Babylonian god Merodach (see at 2Ki 20:12) and the prefix Evil , which has not yet been explained with certainty. He reigned two years, according to Berosus in Jos. c. Ap. i. 20, and the Can Ptol. ; and according to the verdict of Berosus, προστὰς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀνόμως καὶ ἀσελγῶς ; and was murdered by his brother-in-law Neriglissor. The statement in Jos. Ant. x. 11, 2, to the effect that he reigned eighteen years, and that of Alex. Polyh. in Euseb. Chr. arm. i. p. 45, that he reigned twelve years, are evidently false.

2Ki 25:28

"He spake kindly to him (cf. Jer 12:6), and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babel."This is not to be understood literally, as signifying that he assigned him a loftier throne than the other kings (Hitzig, Thenius), but figuratively: loco honestiore eum habuit (Ros.). The "kings with him"were dethroned kings, who were kept at the court like Jehoiachin to add to its splendour, just as Cyrus kept the conquered Croesus by his side (Herod. i. 88).

2Ki 25:29-30

"And he (Jehoiachin) changed his prison garments,"i.e., took them off and put other regal clothing on (cf. Gen 41:42). "And ate continually before him all his life,"i.e., ate at the king's table (cf. 2Sa 9:7). Moreover a daily ration of food was supplied to him by the king for the maintenance of his retainers, who formed his little court. The חיּיו כּל־ימי of 2Ki 25:30, upon which Thenius throws suspicion without any reason, refers to Jehoiachin like that in 2Ki 25:29; for the historian intended to show how Jehoiachin had fared from the day of his elevation to the end of his life. At the same time, we cannot infer from this with any certainty that Jehoiachin died before Evil-merodach; for the favour shown to him might be continued by Evil-merodach's successor. We cannot make any safe conjecture as to the motives which induced Evil-merodach to pardon Jehoiachin and confer this distinction upon him. The higher ground of this joyful termination of his imprisonment lay in the gracious decree of God, that the seed of David, though severely chastised for its apostasy from the Lord, should not be utterly rejected (2Sa 7:14-15). At the same time, this event was also intended as a comforting sign to the whole of the captive people, that the Lord would one day put an end to their banishment, if they would acknowledge that it was a well-merited punishment for this sins that they had been driven away from before His face, and would turn again to the Lord their God with all their heart.

Constable: 2Ki 18:1--25:30

III. THE SURVIVING KINGDOM chs. 18--25

In this third major section of 1 and 2 Kings the writer showed that the captivity of Judah was also a natural consequence of not following the covenantal relationship with Yahweh. The remaining kings in 2 Kings all ruled over the Southern Kingdom. This part of the book concludes with events that happened in Judah immediately following the Babylonian Captivity in 586 B.C.

Constable: 2Ki 24:18--25:8

H. Zedekiah's Evil Reign 24:18-25:7

Zedekiah (Mattaniah) was Josiah's third son to rule over Judah. He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (v. 20) by making a treaty with Pharaoh Hophra (589-570 B.C.) under pressure from nationalists in Judah (cf. Jer. 37-38).

"Clearly, he lacks the moral fiber to be more than what he is, a man who gauges each situation by how long its results can keep him in power."¹⁴²

Jerusalem was under siege for about eighteen months (588-586 B.C.; 25:1-2). The resulting famine that the residents experienced (v. 3) was only one of many that the Israelites underwent for their rebellion against God. Yahweh again withheld fertility as a punishment for apostasy. Jerusalem finally fell in 586 B.C. The Babylonians captured King Zedekiah while he was trying to escape and took him to Riblah (cf. 23:33) where Nebuchadnezzar passed judgment on him. Nebuchadnezzar killed Zedekiah's heirs to the throne ending his fertility, blinded him (cf. Rev. 3:17), and bound him with bronze shackles (v. 7). All of these measures also represented the fate of the nation the king led. The Israelites were now without royal leadership, spiritually blind, and physically bound. The blinding of prisoners was a common practice in the ancient East.¹⁴³

"The lesson of Samaria's fall and exile should have been learned."¹⁴⁴

Constable: 2Ki 25:8-30

I. The Captivity of the Southern Kingdom 25:8-30

Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar's commander-in-chief, returned to destroy Jerusalem more thoroughly and to preclude any successful national uprising in Judah.

His burning of Yahweh's house (v. 9) was a statement that the Babylonians had overcome Yahweh as much as it was an effort to keep the remaining Judahites from worshipping Him. This act would have thoroughly demoralized even the godly in Judah since in the ancient Near East the condition of the house (temple) of a god reflected on that god's reputation. The breaking down of Jerusalem's walls (v. 10) prevented the inhabitants from defending themselves but also visualized the fact that Judah no longer had any defense. Yahweh had been her defense. The third deportation removed all but the poorest of the people from the land (vv. 11-12).

The writer's emphasis on the desecration of Yahweh's temple (vv. 13-17) illustrates God's abandonment of His people (cf. 1 Kings 9:7-9). His special interest in the pillars (v. 17) draws attention to the fact that Israel, which God had established (Jachin), had suffered destruction. Israel's strength (Boaz) had also departed from her because of her apostasy (cf. Samson). Most scholars believe the Babylonians either destroyed the ark of the covenant or took it to Babylon from which it never returned to Jerusalem (but cf. 2 Chron. 5:9). A few believe the Jews hid it under the temple esplanade.

The Babylonians also cut the priesthood back (vv. 18-21) so the people could not unite around it and rebel. Its temporary termination also meant that Israel was no longer able to worship God as He had prescribed because she had been unfaithful to Him. Access to God as the Mosaic Law specified was no longer possible. Both the temple furnishings and the priesthood that God had ordained for access to Himself were no longer available to the people. Israel could no longer function as a kingdom of priests as God had intended her to live (Exod. 19:5-6).¹⁴⁵

Gedaliah (v. 22) was a descendant of Josiah's secretary (of state? 22:3). He was a friend of Jeremiah (Jer. 39:14) who followed that prophet's advice to cooperate with the Babylonians. Ishmael (v. 25) possessed royal blood and evidently wanted to rule over Judah (cf. Jer. 41:2). Mizpah, the Babylonian provincial capital, was just seven miles north of Jerusalem (cf. 1 Sam. 7:5-12). It is ironic that the Judahites who rebelled against the Babylonians and God's will in an attempt to secure their independence ended up fleeing back to Egypt. Their forefathers had been slaves there, and God had liberated them from Egypt 850 years earlier (v. 26; cf. Deut. 28:68).

In 560 B.C. Evil-Merodack (562-560 B.C.) permitted Jehoiachin to enjoy a measure of freedom. Perhaps the writer of Kings chose to end his book on this note because in the Abrahamic Covenant God had promised He would never abandon His chosen people completely (Gen. 12:1-3, 7). In the Mosaic Covenant He also assured them that if they repented He would bring them back into their land (Deut. 30:1-5; cf. 1 Kings 8:46-53). God's mercy to Jehoiachin also points to the continuation of the Davidic dynasty that God had promised would never end (2 Sam. 7:16). God's mercy to His people is one of the persistently recurring motifs in Kings.

Guzik: 2Ki 25:1-30

2 Kings 25 - The Fall of Jerusalem and the Captivity of Judah

A. Jerusalem is conquered.

1. (1-3) Jerusalem under siege.

Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

a. They built a siege wall against it all around: Nebuchadnezzar used the common method of attack in those days of securely walled cities - a siege wall. A siege was intended to surround a city, prevent all business and trade from entering or leaving the city, and to eventually starve the population into surrender.

i. "The Babylonians relied initially on tight control using 'watch towers' rather than siege works, allowing those who wished to leave to do so (cf. 2 Kings 25:11; Jeremiah 38:19; 39:9), but starving out the city (Jeremiah 38:2-9)." (Wiseman)

ii. In the ninth year of his reign: "This is the first time in Kings that an event in the history of Israel is dated by a foreign era." (Dilday)

b. The famine had become so severe in the city: This was the intended goal of a siege. This indicates that Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians were at the point of victory over Jerusalem.

i. "The one and a half year siege may be due to (i) Nebuchadnezzar's absence at Riblah and concern with containing the Phoenician sea-ports and, (ii) his watchfulness against Egypt's potential intervention on behalf of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 37:5, 11)." (Wiseman)

2. (4-7) Zedekiah is captured and executed.

Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king's garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went by way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.

a. Then the city wall was broken through: At this desperate point for Judah at the siege of Jerusalem, Zedekiah made a last-chance effort to escape the grip of the nearly-completely successful siege. They planned a secret break through the city walls and the siege lines of the Babylonians, using a diversionary tactic.

i. "It seems that the army scattered to avoid capture; some link the prophecy of Obadiah 2-14 about Edom to this time." (Wiseman)

b. The army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho: This was a considerable distance from Jerusalem. Zedekiah probably thought that his strategy was successful, and that he had escaped the judgment that prophets such as Jeremiah had promised. Yet God's word was demonstrated to be true and he was captured in the plains of Jericho.

i. "It seems ironic that here, at the very spot where Israel first set foot on the Promised Land, the last of the Davidic kings was captured and his monarchy shattered. Here, where Israel experienced her first victory as the walls of Jericho feel before unarmed men who trusted God, was the scene of her last defeat." (Dilday)

c. Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah: The Babylonians were not known to be as cruel as the Assyrians who conquered the northern kingdom of Israel some 150 years earlier, but they were still experts in cruelty in their own right. They made certain that the last sight King Zedekiah saw was the murder of his own sons, and then he spent the rest of his life in darkness.

i. This fulfilled the mysterious promise God made through Ezekiel regarding Zedekiah shortly before the fall of Jerusalem: I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there. (Ezekiel 12:13)

ii. "This also fulfilled Ezekiel's prophecy that Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon but not see it (Ezekiel 12:13). Blinding prisoners was a rare occurrence (cf. Judges 16:21), for most were put to work. If Zedekiah had heeded the prophet's word he would have saved both Jerusalem and himself (Jeremiah 38:14-28), for he was to die in Babylon (Ezekiel 12:14)." (Wiseman)

iii. "With his eyes put out, and bound in fetters, he was carried to the court of the conqueror, the symbol of the people who had rebelled against God, and had been broken in pieces." (Morgan)

iv. "The eyes of whose mind had been put out long before; else he might have foreseen and prevented this evil - as prevision is the best means of prevention, - had he taken warning by what was foretold." (Trapp)

v. "Josephus (Antiquities x.8.8) says Nebuchadnezzar 'kept Zedekiah in prison until he died; and then buried him magnificently.' This agrees with Jeremiah 34:5." (Knapp)

3. (8-10) The destruction of Jerusalem.

And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around.

a. He burned the house of the LORD: Solomon's great temple was now a ruin. It would stay a ruin for many years, until it was humbly rebuilt by the returning exiles in the days of Ezra.

i. "The Talmud declares that when the Babylonians entered the temple, they held a two-day feast there to desecrate it; then, on the third day, they set fire to the building. The Talmud adds that the fire burned throughout that day and the next." (Dilday)

ii. "Thus the temple was destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, the first of the XLVIIIth Olympiad, in the one hundred and sixtieth current year of the era of Nabonassar, four hundred and twenty-four years three months and eight days from the time in which Solomon laid its foundation stone." (Clarke)

b. Broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around: The walls of Jerusalem - the physical security of the city - were now destroyed. Jerusalem was no longer a place of safety and security. The walls would remain a ruin until they were rebuilt by the returning exiles in the days of Nehemiah.

i. On Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard: "That title in Hebrew is literally, 'the chief executioner' or 'the slaughterer.' Methodically, he set about to demolish the beautiful city, burning the palace and the chief buildings, breaking down the walls, and wrecking the temple." (Dilday)

4. (11-17) The remainder is taken captive and plundered.

Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. The bronze pillars that were in the house of the LORD, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. The firepans and the basins, the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network.

a. Carried away captive the rest of the people who remained in the city: This was the third major wave of captivity, taking the remaining people all except for the poor of the land.

i. "Of the prominent men of Jerusalem, only Jeremiah and Gedaliah were left behind (2 Kings 25:22; cf. Jerusalem 39:11-14). Jeremiah's stand on the Babylonian issue was doubtless well-known." (Dilday)

ii. "In Hebrew, the first twelve verses of the chapter are one long sentence, each verse beginning with 'and.' Clause is heaped upon clause in a kind of cadence, as if each one were another tick of the clock counting down Jerusalem's final hours." (Dilday)

b. And carried their bronze to Babylon . . . the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away: As the remaining people were taken captive to Babylon, so also the remaining valuables from the temple were taken. Jerusalem was left desolate, completely plundered under the judgment of God.

i. Jeremiah 52:17-23 is a detailed inventory of all that the Babylonians looted from the temple.

5. (18-21) The authority of Nebuchadnezzar over Jerusalem and Judah.

And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the king's close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer 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. So Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.

a. The king of Babylon struck them and put them to death: These last leaders of Jerusalem and Judah were also captured and put to death. The king of Babylon had what seemed to be complete rule over the former Kingdom of Judah.

b. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land: This was the land God gave to His people, the tribes of Israel. They had possessed this land for some 860 years; they took it by faith and obedience but they lost it through idolatry and sin.

i. "The reader cannot help but be struck by the passionless tone of the narrative in this chapter. Note once does the author show his feelings, even though he is describing the tragic downfall of his country. We have to turn to the Book of Lamentations for weeping and groaning." (Dilday)

ii. "Thus the nation called to peculiar position of honor, became a people scattered and peeled, losing all their privileges because of their failure to fulfill responsibility." (Morgan)

iii. "Israel wanted to be as the other nations around her, imitating their organization, and allying herself now with one, and then with another; in consequence she was swept into captivity to the very nation whose fashions she most affected (Isaiah 39)." (Meyer)

iv. "And thus was Judah carried away out of her own land four hundred and sixty-eight years after David began to reign over it; from the division of the ten tribes three hundred and eighty-eight years; and from the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, one hundred and thirty-four years; A.M. 3416, and before Christ five hundred and ninety." (Clarke)

B. Judah and Jerusalem under the Babylonians.

1. (22-24) Gedaliah is made the governor.

Then he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left. Now when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, and said to them, "Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you."

a. The king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor: It seems that Gedaliah was a good and godly man, who was a friend of the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:24 and 39:14).

i. "Gedaliah had the reputation of being gentle and generous (Josephus, Antiquities x.9.1) and his enemies played on this." (Wiseman)

b. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you: It seemed unpatriotic and perhaps ungodly to do this, but it was the right thing to do. They best they could do under this situation of deserved and unstoppable judgment was to simply accept it from the hand of God and do the right thing under the Babylonians.

i. It was the right thing to do because although it was hard to accept, it was true that the Babylonians were doing the work of God in bringing this judgment upon the deserving Kingdom of Judah. In this situation, to resist the Babylonians was to resist God. It was better to humble one's self and to submit to the judgment of God brought through the Babylonians.

ii. This was the question that bothered the Prophet Habakkuk so much: Even though Judah was wicked and deserved judgment, how could God use an even more wicked kingdom like Babylon to bring judgment? Habakkuk dealt with these difficult questions in Habakkuk 1:5-2:8.

2. (25-26) The assassination of Gedaliah.

But it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah, the Jews, as well as the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. And all the people, small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

a. Came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah: Because Gedaliah led the remaining people of Judah to submit to the Babylonians (also here called the Chaldeans), he was assassinated as a traitor to the resistance movement against the Babylonians.

b. All the people . . . arose and went to Egypt: They did this because they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them in light of the assassination of Gedaliah the governor. In this case, going to Egypt was worse than submitted to the judgment of God brought through the Babylonians.

i. "The existence of the Jews in Egypt in the fifth century is now illustrated by the Elephantine Papyri." (Dilday)

3. (27-30) Jehoiachin's situation in Babylon improves.

Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

a. In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah: This King Jehoiachin was not the last king of Judah; Zedekiah came after him. But he was taken away to Babylon in bronze fetters (2 Kings 24:10-12). These last events of the Book of 2 Kings came when Jehoiachin had been a captive for many years.

i. "Since he was seemingly considered by the Judeans the last legitimate king, news of his later condition would be of great significance." (Dilday)

b. Released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison . . . spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat: The final words of the Book of 2 Kings describe small kindness and blessings given in the worst circumstances. Judah was still depopulated; the people of God were still exiled; and the King of Judah was still a prisoner in Babylon. Yet, looking for even small notes of grace and mercy as evidences of the returning favor of God, the divine historian noted that King Jehoiachin began to receive better treatment in Babylon.

i. "This resulted from an agreement (MT, 'spoke good (things) with him') rather than just generally spoke kindly to him." (Wiseman)

ii. "The Rabbins tell us that, his father returning to his right mind, after that he had for seven years' space been turned a-grazing among the beasts of the field, cast Evil-merodach into the same prison with Jehoiachin, who told him his case, and thereby found this favour with him." (Trapp)

iii. "This second appendix is added to remind the reader that while Jehoiachin was still in Babylon as the representative of David's dynasty God still preserved his people. Some see this as intended to end the history on a hopeful note, perhaps even of 'Messianic revival'." (Wiseman)

iv. This was small, but evidence nonetheless that God was not done blessing and restoring His people, foreshadowing even greater blessing and restoration to come.

v. "Is it to be supposed that the king of Babylon took more care of Jehoiachin than God will take care of us?" (Meyer)

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF KINGS, in the ancient copies of the Hebrew Bible, constitute one book. Various titles have been given them; in the Septuagint and the Vulgate they are called the Third and Fourth Books of Kings. The authorship of these books is unknown; but the prevailing opinion is that they were compiled by Ezra, or one of the later prophets, from the ancient documents that are so frequently referred to in the course of the history as of public and established authority. Their inspired character was acknowledged by the Jewish Church, which ranked them in the sacred canon; and, besides, it is attested by our Lord, who frequently quotes from them (compare 1Ki 17:9; 2Ki 5:14 with Luk 4:24-27; 1Ki 10:1 with Mat 12:42).

JFB: 2 Kings (Outline)

• MOAB REBELS. (2Ki 1:1)
• AHAZIAH'S JUDGMENT BY ELIJAH. (2Ki 1:2-8)
• ELIJAH BRINGS FIRE FROM HEAVEN ON AHAZIAH'S MESSENGERS. (2Ki 1:9-16)
• AHAZIAH DIES, AND IS SUCCEEDED BY JEHORAM. (2Ki 1:17-18)
• ELIJAH DIVINES JORDAN. (2Ki 2:1-10)
• HE IS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A CHARIOT OF FIRE. (2Ki 2:11-18)
• ELISHA HEALS THE WATERS. (2Ki 2:19-25)
• JEHORAM'S EVIL REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (2Ki 3:1-3)
• MESHA, KING OF MOAB, REBELS. (2Ki 3:4-5)
• ELISHA PROMISES WATER AND VICTORY OVER MOAB. (2Ki. 3:6-24)
• ELISHA AUGMENTS THE WIDOW'S OIL. (2Ki 4:1-7)
• PROMISES A SON TO THE SHUNAMMITE. (2Ki 4:8-17)
• RAISES HER DEAD SON. (2Ki. 4:18-37)
• PURIFIES DEADLY POTTAGE. (2Ki 4:38-41)
• SATISFIES A HUNDRED MEN WITH TWENTY LOAVES. (2Ki 4:42-44)
• NAAMAN'S LEPROSY. (2Ki 5:1-7)
• ELISHA SENDS HIM TO JORDAN, AND HE IS HEALED. (2Ki 5:8-15)
• ELISHA REFUSES NAAMAN'S GIFTS. (2Ki 5:15-19)
• GEHAZI, BY A LIE, OBTAINS A PRESENT, BUT IS SMITTEN WITH LEPROSY. (2Ki 5:20-27)
• ELISHA CAUSES IRON TO SWIM. (2Ki 6:1-7)
• DISCLOSES THE KING OF SYRIA'S COUNSEL. (2Ki 6:8-17)
• HIS ARMY SMITTEN WITH BLINDNESS. (2Ki 6:18-23)
• BEN-HADAD BESIEGES SAMARIA. (2Ki 6:24-33)
• ELISHA PROPHESIES INCREDIBLE PLENTY IN SAMARIA. (2Ki. 7:1-16)
• THE UNBELIEVING LORD TRODDEN TO DEATH. (2Ki 7:17-20)
• THE SHUNAMMITE'S LAND RESTORED. (2Ki 8:1-6)
• HAZAEL KILLS HIS MASTER, AND SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki 8:7-15)
• JEHORAM'S WICKED REIGN. (2Ki 8:16-23)
• AHAZIAH SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki 8:24)
• JEHU IS ANOINTED. (2Ki. 9:1-23)
• AHAZIAH IS SLAIN. (2Ki 9:27-35)
• JEZEBEL EATEN BY DOGS. (2Ki 9:36-37)
• JEHU CAUSES SEVENTY OF AHAB'S CHILDREN TO BE BEHEADED. (2Ki. 10:1-17)
• HE DESTROYS THE WORSHIPPERS OF BAAL. (2Ki 10:18-29)
• JEHOASH SAVED FROM ATHALIAH'S MASSACRE. (2Ki 11:1-3)
• HE IS MADE KING. (2Ki 11:4-12)
• ATHALIAH SLAIN. (2Ki 11:13-16)
• JEHOIADA RESTORES GOD'S WORSHIP. (2Ki 11:17-20)
• JEHOASH REIGNS WELL WHILE JEHOIADA LIVED. (2Ki. 12:1-18)
• HE IS SLAIN. (2Ki 12:19-21)
• JEHOAHAZ'S WICKED REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (2Ki 13:1-7)
• JOASH SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki. 13:8-25)
• AMAZIAH'S GOOD REIGN OVER JUDAH. (2Ki 14:1-6)
• HE SMITES EDOM. (2Ki 14:7)
• JOASH DEFEATS HIM. (2Ki 14:8-16)
• HE IS SLAIN BY A CONSPIRACY. (2Ki 14:17-20)
• AZARIAH SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki 14:21-22)
• JEROBOAM'S WICKED REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (2Ki 14:23-29)
• AZARIAH'S REIGN OVER JUDAH. (2Ki 15:1-7)
• ZECHARIAH'S REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (2Ki 15:8-16)
• MENAHEM'S REIGN. (2Ki 15:17-21)
• PEKAHIAH'S REIGN. (2Ki 15:22-24)
• PEKAH'S REIGN. (2Ki 15:27-31)
• JOTHAM'S REIGN OVER JUDAH. (2Ki 15:32-38)
• AHAZ' WICKED REIGN OVER JUDAH. (2Ki. 16:1-16)
• HE SPOILS THE TEMPLE. (2Ki 16:17-19)
• HOSHEA'S WICKED REIGN. (2Ki 17:1-6)
• SAMARIA TAKEN, AND ISRAEL FOR THEIR SINS CARRIED CAPTIVE. (2Ki. 17:7-41)
• HEZEKIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (2Ki 18:1-3)
• HE DESTROYS IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 18:4-37)
• SENNACHERIB BESIEGES JERUSALEM. (2Ki. 18:17-37)
• HEZEKIAH IN DEEP AFFLICTION. (2Ki 19:1-5)
• COMFORTED BY ISAIAH. (2Ki 19:6-7)
• SENNACHERIB SENDS A BLASPHEMOUS LETTER TO HEZEKIAH. (2Ki 19:8-13)
• HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER. (2Ki. 19:14-34)
• AN ANGEL DESTROYS THE ASSYRIANS. (2Ki 19:35-36)
• SENNACHERIB SLAIN. (2Ki 19:37)
• HEZEKIAH'S LIFE LENGTHENED. (2Ki 20:1-7)
• THE SUN GOES TEN DEGREES BACKWARD. (2Ki 20:8-20)
• MANASSEH'S WICKED REIGN, AND GREAT IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 21:1-18)
• AMON'S WICKED REIGN. (2Ki 21:19-26)
• JOSIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (2Ki 22:1-2)
• HE PROVIDES FOR THE REPAIR OF THE TEMPLE. (2Ki 22:3-7)
• HILKIAH FINDS THE BOOK OF THE LAW. (2Ki 22:8-15)
• JOSIAH CAUSES THE LAW TO BE READ. (2Ki 23:1-3)
• HE DESTROYS IDOLATRY. (2Ki. 23:4-28)
• JEHOIAKIM PROCURES HIS OWN RUIN. (2Ki 24:1-7)
• JEHOIACHIN SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ki 24:8-9)
• JERUSALEM TAKEN. (2Ki 24:10-16)
• ZEDEKIAH'S EVIL REIGN. (2Ki 24:17-20)
• JERUSALEM AGAIN BESIEGED. (2Ki 25:1-3)
• ZEDEKIAH TAKEN. (2Ki. 25:4-30)

TSK: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

The events detailed in these books (Kings) are highly interesting and important. The account of the wisdom, magnificence, and extended commerce of Solomon; the rash and impolitic conduct of Rehoboam; the disobedient prophet; the widow of Zarephath; Elijah and the prophets of Baal; Ben-hadad’s pride and defeat; Elijah’s assumption into heaven; Elisha’s succession to his ministry, and the series of illustrious miracles he performed; the panic flight of the Syrians; the history of Ben-hadad and Hazael; and the predicted death of Ahab and Jezebel, and their children, are all pregnant with instruction, and have furnished themes for frequent dissertation. We perceive in these impressive histories the characters and qualities of men painted with the utmost fidelity, and the attributes of God displayed with great effect. we contemplate the exact accomplishment of God’s promises and threatenings, the wisdom of his dispensations, and the mingled justice and mercy of his government. The particulars and circumstances are sketched out with a brief and lively description, and the imagination lingers with pleasure in filling up the striking outlines presented to our view. The authenticity of these books is attested by the prophecies they contain, which were subsequently fulfilled; by the citation of our Saviour and his Apostles; by their universal reception by the Jewish and Christian churches; and by the corresponding testimonies of profane authors and ancient sculptures.

TSK: 2 Kings 25 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Ki 25:1, Jerusalem is besieged; 2Ki 25:4, Zedekiah taken, his sons slain, his eyes put out; 2Ki 25:8, Nebuzar-adan defaces the city, carries the remnant, except a few poor labourers, into captivity; 2Ki 25:13, and spoils and carries away the treasures; 2Ki 25:18, The nobles are slain at Riblah; 2Ki 25:22, Gedaliah, who was over them that remained, being slain, the rest flee into Egypt; 2Ki 25:27, Evil-merodach advances Jehoiachin in his court.

Poole: 2 Kings 25 (Chapter Introduction)

KINGS CHAPTER 25

Jerusalem is besieged: Zedekiah taken; his sons slain; and his eyes put out, 2Ki 25:1-7 . Nebuzar-adan burneth Jerusalem and the temple; breaketh down the wall of the city; carrieth the remnant, except a few poor labourers, into captivity, and much treasure, 2Ki 25:8-17 ; slayeth the nobles at Riblah, 2Ki 25:18-21 . Gedaliah is made governor of Judah: he is slain: the rest flee into Egypt, 2Ki 25:22-26 . Evil-merodach advanceth Jehoiachin in his court, 2Ki 25:27-30 .

To chastise Zedekiah for his rebellion and perjury, 2Ch 36:13 . They built forts against it round about; partly to keep all supplies of men or provisions from entering into the city; and partly that from thence they might shoot darts, or arrows, or stones into the city. See Jer 52:4 Eze 4:2 17:17 .

MHCC: 2 Kings 25 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Ki 25:1-7) Jerusalem besieged, Zedekiah taken.

(2Ki 25:8-21) The temple burnt, The people carried into captivity.

(2Ki 25:22-30) The rest of the Jews flee into Egypt, Evil-merodach relieves the captivity of Jehoiachin.

Matthew Henry: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Book of Kings

This second book of the Kings (which the Septuagint, numbering from Samuel, called the fourth ) is a continuation of the former book; and, some think, might better have been made to begin with the fifty-first verse of the foregoing chapter, where the reign of Ahaziah begins. The former book had an illustrious beginning, in the glories of the kingdom of Israel, when it was entire; this has a melancholy conclusion, in the desolations of the kingdoms of Israel first, and then of Judah, after they had been long broken into two: for a kingdom divided against itself cometh to destruction. But, as Elijah's mighty works were very much the glory of the former book, towards the latter end of it, so were Elisha's the glory of this, towards the beginning of it. These prophets out-shone their princes; and therefore, as far as they go, the history shall be accounted for in them. Here is, I. Elijah fetching fire from heaven and ascending in fire to heaven, ch. 1 and 2. II. Elisha working many miracles, both for prince and people, Israelites and foreigners, ch. 3-7. III. Hazael and Jehu anointed, the former for the correction of Israel, the latter for the destruction of the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal, ch. 8-10. IV. The reign of several of the kings, both of Judah and Israel, ch. 11-16. V. The captivity of the ten tribes, ch. 17. VI. The good and glorious reign of Hezekiah, ch. 18-20. VII. Manassah's wicked reign, and Josiah's good one, ch. 21-23. VIII. The destruction of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon, ch. 24 and 25. This history, in the several passages of it, confirms that observation of Solomon, That righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is the reproach of any people.

Matthew Henry: 2 Kings 25 (Chapter Introduction)

Ever since David's time Jerusalem had been a celebrated place, beautiful for situation and the joy of the whole earth: while the book of psalms lasts that name will sound great. In the New Testament we read much of it, when it was, as here, ripening again for its ruin. In the close of the Bible we read of a new Jerusalem. Every thing therefore that concerns Jerusalem is worthy our regard. In this chapter we have, I. The utter destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, the city besieged and taken (2Ki 25:1-4), the houses burnt (2Ki 25:8, 2Ki 25:9), and wall broken down (2Ki 25:10), and the inhabitants carried away into captivity (2Ki 25:11, 2Ki 25:12). The glory of Jerusalem was, 1. That it was the royal city, where were set " the thrones of the house of David;" but that glory has now departed, for the prince is made a most miserable prisoner, the seed royal is destroyed (2Ki 25:5-7), and the principal officers are put to death (2Ki 25:18-21). 2. That it was the holy city, where was the testimony of Israel; but that glory has departed, for Solomon's temple is burnt to the ground (2Ki 25:9) and the sacred vessels that remained are carried away to Babylon (2Ki 25:13-17). Thus has Jerusalem become as a widow, Lam 1:1. Ichabod - Where is the glory? II. The distraction and dispersion of the remnant that was left in Judah under Gedaliah (2Ki 25:22-26). III. The countenance which, after thirty-seven years' imprisonment, was given to Jehoiachin the captive king of Judah (2Ki 25:27-30).

Constable: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Second Kings continues the narrative begun in 1 Kings. It opens with the translation of godly Elijah to heaven and closes with the transportation of the ungodly Jews to Babylon. For discussion of title, writer, date, and scope of 2 Kings, see the introductory section in my notes on 1 Kings.

Message¹

Second Kings is a sequel to 1 Kings. First Kings covers about one and a half centuries and 2 Kings about three centuries. In both books the two thrones are in view: the earthly and the heavenly.

First Kings emphasizes the facts of these thrones. The earthly throne consistently failed, but the heavenly throne consistently prevailed. Second Kings emphasizes the consequences that result from each of these situations. Its major value is its revelation of the failure of man and the victory of God.

The failure of man comes through the content of this book, but the victory of God comes through the pre-exilic prophets who wrote during the three centuries covered in 2 Kings. These prophets were Hosea, Amos, and Jonah in Israel. In Judah they were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.

Notice first the revelation of this book concerning human failure.

The reason the nations failed was the people lost their vision of Yahweh. We can see this quite clearly in the attitudes and actions of the kings. Most of the kings were evil because they had no vision of the throne in heaven. They did not appreciate their position under God. A few of them were good, but even these fell short of the standard of devotion to God that David had set. Some of them conducted reforms, but none of them removed the places of pagan worship in the land (the "high places"). Essentially they conducted state business with little concern for God. Idolatry and foreign alliances are the evidence that the people lacked a vision of God. Another evidence of this is the people's inability to perceive their national setbacks as divine discipline. The prophets were constantly trying to help the people see this.

The method by which the nations failed was the people forgot their national vocation. They developed, on the one hand, an improper exclusiveness. They did not believe God could have any pity or mercy on any other people but themselves. Jonah demonstrated this attitude. On the other hand, they failed to be exclusive as God meant them to be. They formed alliances with other nations contrary to God's will. God intended His people to be a blessing to all other people and to trust in Him alone. The people not only lost their vision of God, they also lost their vision of their own vocation as a unique nation in the world (Exod. 19:5).

The evidence that the nations failed was the people lost their spiritual sensitivity. It is amazing but true that the ministry of the writing prophets that occupies so much space in the Old Testament was very ineffective in their own day (e.g., Isa. 53:1). The religious reformations that did take place were fairly superficial (cf. 2 Kings 22:8-20). When Hezekiah began his reform it took 16 days simply to carry the accumulated rubbish out of the temple (2 Chron. 29:17). In Josiah's day not even one copy of the Law was available until someone discovered one among the debris in the temple. When the people heard it read they were completely unfamiliar with it (2 Chron. 34:14-21).

Notice too in this book the revelation concerning the victory of God. There is much evidence of this as well.

The reason for God's victory is traceable to His promise, with an oath, to bless Abraham's descendants (Gen. 22:16-18). He will allow nothing to keep Him from fulfilling that promise. His covenant with Abraham underlies all of His dealings with the Israelites that this book documents. Remember that the Davidic Covenant grew out of the Abrahamic Covenant. God's covenants rested on His love.

The method by which God accomplished victory was by using the prophets as His messengers to communicate with His people and by using direct intervention to control their history.

The evidence of God's victory is the continued existence of the physical seed of Abraham. The Jews still exist today. Arnold Toynbe, the historian, called the Jews a fossil race. God has preserved them to fulfill His purposes on the earth. So even though they failed Him, He has not failed them.

I would summarize the message of 2 Kings, therefore, as follows. Though people fail God, God will not fail people. This is foundational to the doctrine of eternal security that the New Testament expounds more fully.

The main reason the Israelites failed God was they lost sight of Him. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision (of God) the people cast off restraint." When people lose sight of God their ideals deteriorate. They turn to idolatry to fill the vacuum left by God's absence. Also, their purposes suffer defeat. They do not achieve fulfillment or realize their destiny. Furthermore their consciences become dead. They become unresponsive to the Word of God. You have a high calling. Point people to God.

On the other hand, God will never fail humanity (Isa. 42:1, 4). The man who said this, Isaiah, could do so because He did not lose sight of God. His vision of God was clear and great (Isa. 1:1; 6:1). It enabled him to maintain confidence in the throne in heaven when the throne on earth was failing terribly (Isa. 40:27-31). Is your confidence in God? Many evangelicals are wringing their hand in distress because the Christian cause seems to be suffering in America. God is still on His throne.

If we are to serve our generation faithfully, we must see God. When we do, we will find inspiration in the certainty of His ultimate victory. How can we keep God in our view? Read the Word daily. Pray. Bring Him into all your decisions, your worries, your fears. Do not lose sight of Him for one day. Do not forget your vocation in life (Matt. 28:19-20). Ask God to keep you spiritually sensitive.

Constable: 2 Kings (Outline)

Outline

(Continued from notes on 1 Kings)

3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:18

4. Jehoram's evil reign in Israel 2:1-8:15

5. Jehoram's evil reign in Judah 8:16-24

6. Ahaziah's evil reign in Judah 8:25-9:29

C. The second period of antagonism 9:30-17:41

1. Jehu's evil reign in Israel 9:30-10:36

2. Athaliah's evil reign in Judah 11:1-20

3. Jehoash's good reign in Judah 11:21-12:21

4. Jehoahaz's evil reign in Israel 13:1-9

5. Jehoash's evil reign in Israel 13:10-25

6. Amaziah's good reign in Judah 14:1-22

7. Jeroboam II's evil reign in Israel 14:23-29

8. Azariah's good reign in Judah 15:1-7

9. Zechariah's evil reign in Israel 15:8-12

10. Shallum's evil reign in Israel 15:13-16

11. Menahem's evil reign in Israel 15:17-22

12. Pekahiah's evil reign in Israel 15:23-26

13. Pekah's evil reign in Israel 15:27-31

14. Jotham's good reign in Judah 15:32-38

15. Ahaz's evil reign in Judah ch. 16

16. Hoshea's evil reign in Israel 17:1-6

17. The captivity of the Northern Kingdom 17:7-41

III. The surviving kingdom chs. 18-25

A. Hezekiah's good reign chs. 18-20

1. Hezekiah's goodness 18:1-12

2. Sennacherib's challenge to Hezekiah 18:13-37

3. Yahweh's immediate encouragement 19:1-13

4. Hezekiah's prayer 19:14-19

5. Yahweh's answer 19:20-37

6. Hezekiah's illness and recovery 20:1-11

7. The prophecy of Babylonian captivity 20:12-19

8. Hezekiah's death 20:20-21

B. Manasseh's evil reign 21:1-18

C. Amon's evil reign 21:19-26

D. Josiah's good reign 22:1-23:30

1. Josiah's goodness 22:1-2

2. Josiah's reforms 22:3-23:27

3. Josiah's death 23:28-30

E. Jehoahaz's evil reign 23:31-35

F. Jehoiakim's evil reign 23:36-24:7

G. Jehoiachin's evil reign 24:8-17

H. Zedekiah's evil reign 24:18-25:7

I. The captivity of the Southern Kingdom 25:8-30

Constable: 2 Kings

2 Kings

Bibliography

Ackroyd, Peter R. "An Interpretation of the Babylonian Exile: A Study of 2 Kings 20, Isaiah 38-39." Scottish Journal of Theology 27:3:(August 1974):329-52.

Albright, William F. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology series. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1956.

_____. "Seal of Eliakim." Journal of Biblical Literature 51 (1932):77-106.

Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed., New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.

Archer, Gleason L., Jr. "Old Testament History and Recent Archaeology From Solomon to Zedekiah." Bibliotheca Sacra 127:502 (July-September 1970):195-211.

_____. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Revised ed. Chicago: Moody Press, 1974.

Auld, A. Graeme. I & II Kings. Daily Study Bible series. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986.

_____. "Prophets and Prophecy in Jeremiah and Kings." Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 96:1 (1984):66-82.

B., J. G. Short Meditations on Elisha. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, n.d.

Baillie, Rebecca A., and Eugene Baillie. "Biblical Leprosy as Compared to Present-Day Leprosy." Christian Medical Society Journal 14:3 (Fall 1983):27-29.

Baker, Walter L. "Obadiah." In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 1453-59. Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1985.

Battenfield, James R. "YHWH's Refutation of the Baal Myth through the Actions of Elijah and Elisha." In Israel's Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, pp. 19-37. Edited by Avraham Gileadi. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988.

Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1965.

Beek, M. A. "The Meaning of the Expression The Chariots and the Horsemen of Israel' (II Kings ii 12)." Oudtestamentische Studiën 17 (1972):1-10.

Begg, Christopher T. "The Reading at 1 Kings XX 13." Vetus Testamentum 36:3 (July 1986):339-41.

Blake, Ian M. "Jericho (Ain es-Sultan): Joshua's Curse and Elisha's Miracles--One Possible Explanation." Palestine Exploration Quarterly 99 (1967):86-97.

Bright, John A. A History of Israel. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1959.

Brinkman, J. A. "Additional Texts from the Reigns of Shalmaneser III and Shamshi-Adad V." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 32 (1973):40-46.

Bronner, Leah. The Stories of Elijah and Elisha. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1968.

Buccellali, Giorgio. Cities and Nations of Ancient Syria. Rome: Universita Di Roma, 1966.

Burney, C. F. Judges and Kings. Reprint ed. New York: KTAV Publishing House, 1970.

Bury, J. B.; S. A. Cook; and F. E. Adcock, eds. The Cambridge Ancient History. 12 vols. 2nd ed. reprinted. Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1928.

Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. 8 vols. Dallas Seminary Press, 1947-48.

Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. "Joel." In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 1409-24. Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1985.

Constable, Thomas L. "Analysis of Bible Books--Old Testament." Paper submitted for course 685 Analysis of Bible Books--Old Testament. Dallas Theological Seminary, January 1967.

_____. "2 Kings." In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 537-88. Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1985.

Cogan, M., and H. Tadmor. II Kings. Anchor Bible series. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1988.

Crockett, William Day. A Harmony of the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1973.

Darby, John Nelson. Synopsis of the Books of the Bible. 5 vols. Revised ed. New York: Loizeaux Brothers Publishers, 1942.

Davis, John J., and John C. Whitcomb. A History of Israel. Reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980.

Day, John. "The Problem of So, King of Egypt' in 2 Kings 17:4." Vetus Testamentum 42:3 (July 1992):289-301.

de Vaux, Roland. Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions. 2 vols. Translated by John McHugh. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.

Eslinger, Lyle. "Josiah and the Torah Books: Comparison of 2 Kgs 22:1-23:28 and 2 Chr 34:1-35:19." Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986):37-62.

Farrar, F. W. The Second Book of Kings. Reprint ed. Minneapolis: Klock and Klock, 1981.

Fass, David E. "Elisha's Locks and the She-Bears." Journal of Reform Judaism 34:3 (Summer 1987):23-29.

Fensham, F. Charles. "A Possible Explanation of the Name Baal-Zebub of Ekron." Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenchaft 79 (1967):361-64.

Frangipane, Francis. The Three Battlegrounds. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Arrow Publications, 1989.

Freeman, Hobart E. An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets. Chicago: Moody Press, 1974.

Gaebelein, Arno C. The Annotated Bible. 4 vols. Reprint ed. Chicago: Moody Press, and New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1970.

Gates, John T., and Harold Stigers. "First and Second Kings." In The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, pp. 307-66. Edited by Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison. Chicago: Moody Press, 1962.

Gilchrist, Paul R. "Israel's Apostasy: Catalyst of Assyrian World Conquest." In Israel's Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, pp. 99-113. Edited by Avraham Gilendi. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988.

Gray, John. I & II Kings. Old Testament Library series. London: SCM Press, 1964; revised ed., Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1970.

Green, Alberto R. W. "The Identity of King So of Egypt--An Alternative Interpretation." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 52:2 (April 1993):99-108.

_____. "Regnal Formulas in the Hebrew and Greek Texts of the Books of Kings." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 42 (1983):167-80.

Hallo, W. W., and W. K. Simpson. The Ancient Near East: A History. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1971.

Harton, George M. "Fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28-30 in History and in Eschatology." Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1981.

Heater, Homer, Jr. "A Theology of Samuel and Kings." In A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, pp. 115-55. Edited by Roy B. Zuck. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991.

Hendricks, Howard G. Taking A Stand. Portland: Multnomah Press, 1983.

Herrmann, Siegfried. A History of Israel in Old Testament Times. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975.

Hickman, D. "The Chronology of Israel and Judah." Catastrophism and Ancient History 7:2 (July 1985):57-70; 8:1 (January 1986):5-23.

Hobbs, T. R. 2 Kings. Word Biblical Commentary series. Waco: Word Books, 1985.

House, Paul R. 1, 2 Kings. New American Commentary series. N.c.: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995.

Hubbard, R. L., Jr. First and Second Kings. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991.

Hurowitz, Victor. "Another Fiscal Practice in the Ancient Near East: 2 Kings 12:5-17 and a Letter to Esarhaddon (Las 277)." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 45:4 (October 1986):289-94.

Jones, Gwilym H. 1 and 2 Kings. 2 vols. New Century Bible Commentary series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., and London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1984.

Josephus, Flavius. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by William Whiston. Antiquities of the Jews. London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1866.

Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. Hard Sayings of the Old Testament. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1988.

Keil, C. F. The Books of the Kings. Translated by James Martin. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d.

Kenyon, Kathleen. Jerusalem. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.

Kitchen, K. A. The Bible In the World. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1977.

_____. "The Old Testament in its Context: 4 The Twin Kingdoms, Judah and Assyria (c. 930-640 BC)." Theological Students' Fellowship Bulletin 62 (1972):2-10.

_____. "The Old Testament in its Context: 5 Judah, Exile and Return." Theological Students' Fellowship Bulletin 63 (1972):1-5.

Krummacher, F. W. Elijah the Tishbite. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, n.d.

_____. Elisha. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976.

Lemaire, Andre. "Name of Israel's Last King Surfaces in a Private Collection." Biblical Archaeology Review 21:6 (November-December 1995):49-52.

Lange, John Peter, ed. Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. 12 vols. Reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960. Vol. 3: Samuel-- Kings, by Chr. Fr. David Erdmann and Karl Chr. W. T. Bahr. Translated, enlarged, and edited by C. H. Toy, John A. Broadus, Edwin Harwood, and W. G. Sumner.

LaSor, William Sanford. "The Prophets during the Monarchy: Turning Points in Israel's Decline." In Israel's Apostasy and Restoration, pp. 59-70. Edited by Avraham Gilendi. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988.

Livingston, J. Herbert. The Pentateuch in Its Cultural Environment. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974.

Long, B. O. 2 Kings. Forms of Old Testament Literature series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991.

Luckenbill, Daniel David, ed. Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia. 2 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1926-27.

Lundbom, Jack R. "Elijah's Chariot Ride." Journal of Jewish Studies 24:1 (Spring 1973):39-50.

Malamat, A. "The Last Kings of Judah and the Fall of Jerusalem." Israel Exploration Journal 18:3 (1968):137-56.

Margalit, Baruch. "Why King Mesha of Moab Sacrificed His Oldest Son." Biblical Archaeology Review 12:6 (November-December 1986):62-63, 76.

Martin, John A. "Isaiah." In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 1029-1121. Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1985.

McFall, Leslie. "A Translation Guide to the Chronological Data in Kings and Chronicles." Bibliotheca Sacra 148:589 (January-March 1991):3-45.

McNeely, Richard I. First and Second Kings. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1979.

Merrill, Eugene H. Kingdom of Priests. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987.

Meyer, F. B. Elijah and the Secret of His Power. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, n.d.

Miller, J. M. "The Fall of the House of Arab." Vetus Testamentum 17 (1967):307-24.

Monson, James M. The Land Between. Jerusalem: By the author, P.O. Box 1276, 1983.

Montgomery, James A. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Books of Kings. International Critical Commentary series. Edited by Henry Snyder Gehman. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1967.

_____. "Archival Data in the Books of Kings." Journal of Biblical Literature 53 (1934):46-52.

Morgan, G. Campbell. Living Messages of the Books of the Bible. 2 vols. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1912.

Na'aman, Nadav. "Historical and Chronological Notes on the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the Eighth Century B.C." Vetus Testamentum 36 (1986):83-91.

Nelson, Richard D. "The Altar of Ahaz: A Revisionist View." Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986):267-76.

Newsome, James D., Jr. ed. A Synoptic Harmony of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986.

Oded. B. "The Historical Background of the Syro-Ephraimitic War Reconsidered." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 34:2 (April 1972):153-65.

Olyan, Saul M. "2 Kings 9:31--Jehu as Zimri." Harvard Theological Review 78:1-2 (January-April 1985):203-7.

Oppenheim, A. L. "A Fiscal Practice of the Ancient Near East." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 6 (1947):116-20.

Parker, S. "Jezebel's Reception of Jehu." Maarav 1 (1978):67-78

Parrot, Andre. Babylon and the Old Testament. New York: Philosophical Library, 1956.

Patterson, Richard D., and Hermann J. Austel. "1, 2 Kings." In 1 Kings-Job. Vol. 4 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary. 12 vols. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and Richard P. Polcyn. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988.

Payne, J. Barton. "The Relationship of the Reign of Ahaz to the Accession of Hezekiah." Bibliotheca Sacra 125:501 (January-March 1969):40-52.

_____. The Theology of the Older Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962.

Pfeiffer, Charles F., and Howard F. Vos. The Wycliffe Historical Geography of Bible Lands. Chicago: Moody Press, 1967.

Piper, John. Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Portland: Multnomah Press, 1986.

Pritchard, James B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.

Rainey, Anson F. "The Saga of Eliashib." Biblical Archaeology Review 13:2 (March-April 1987):36-39.

Rendsburg, Gary. "A Reconstruction of Moabite-Israelite History." Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia University 13 (1981):67-73.

Robertson, O. Palmer. The Christ of the Covenants. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980.

Robinson, J. The Second Book of Kings. Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible series. Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1976.

Schwantes, Siegfried J. A Short History of the Ancient Near East. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1965.

Skinner, J. I and II Kings. Century Bible series. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1904.

Slotki, I. W. Kings. London: Soncino Press, 1950.

Smith, James E. "Prolegomena to the Study of Kings." Seminary Review 21:3 (September 1975):77-115.

Steinmann, Andrew E. "The Chronology of 2 Kings 15-18." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 30:4 (December 1987):391-97.

Student Map Manual. Jerusalem: Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est., 1979.

Thiele, Edwin R. A Chronology of the Hebrew Kings. Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives series. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981.

_____. "Coregencies and Overlapping Reigns Among the Hebrew Kings." Journal of Biblical Literature 93:2 (1974):174-200.

_____. The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1965.

Viviano, Pauline A. "2 Kings 17: A Rhetorical and Form-Critical Analysis." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 49 (October 1987):548-59.

Walvoord, John F. The Holy Spirit. Findlay, Ohio: Dunham Publishing Co., 1958.

Wiseman, Donald J. 1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Wood, Leon J. Elijah, Prophet of God. Des Plaines, Ill.: Regular Baptist Press, 1968.

_____. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.

_____. Israel's United Monarchy. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979.

_____. A Survey of Israel's History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970.

Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS.

INTRODUCTION.

This Book brings us to the conclusion of the kingdom of Israel, (chap. xvii.) and to the captivity of Juda, at Babylon, chap. xxv. We behold some virtuous princes reigning over the two tribes [of Juda and Benjamin], while the ten were uniformly governed by men of perverse morals. (Worthington) --- Yet there were some who adhered to the Lord in both kingdoms. David and his descendants (Haydock) occupy the throne near 480 years; and, after the captivity, continue in some degree of honour till the coming of Christ. (Worthington) --- But various families rule over Israel; some by usurpation, (Haydock) others by God's appointment: who thus chooses to chastise the wicked. He still watches over his Church, and sends his prophets for the instruction of all. (Worthington) --- We have enquired in the preface of the former Book, who composed this. (Haydock) --- The kingdom of Israel subsists about 250, (Worthignton) or 254 years. This Book contains the transactions of 308 years. (Calmet) --- But the chronology is extremely perplexed. To the sixth year of Ezechias, when Israel was led away captive, the kingdom of Juda seems to have lasted 260, and that of Israel only 241 years, though they both commenced at the same period. The errors regard the kings of Isreal, according to Houbigant, who would assign the following years to the respective kings of Juda and Israel. 1. Of Juda: Solomon, 40; Roboam, 17; Abiam, 3; Asa, 41, Josaphat, 25; Joram, 8; Ochozias, 1; (the same is said to have begun to reign in the preceding year, the 11th of Joram, 4 Kings ix. 29, incorrectly) Athalia, 6; Joas, 40; Amasias, 29p; (he reigns 15 after the death of Joas, king of Isreal) Azarias, 52; Joatham, 16; Achaz, 16; Ezechias, 6; in which year, the three hundredth from the commencement of Solomon's reign, and the two hundred and sixtieth of the kingdom of Juda, Samaria was taken. 2. The kings of Israel: Jeroboam, 22; Nadab, 2; Baasa, 24; Ela, 2; Zambri, 7 days; Amri, 12; Achab, 22; Ochozias, 2; Joram, 12; Jehu, 28; Joachaz, 17; Joas, 16; Jeroboam, 41; Zacharias, 10½; (in the text 10 is omitted.; Haydock) Sellum, 1 month; Manahem, 10; Phaceia, 2; Phacee, 30; (in the text, 20.; Haydock) Osee, 9; in all, 261½ years, (Houbigant, Chron. Sac.) or 261 years and 7 months. The variation of 19 months, which still appears, may be owing to some of the years being incomplete. (Haydock) --- 3. After a reign of 28 years over Juda, Ezechias is succeeded by Manasses, who reigns 55: Amon, 2; Josias, 31; Joachaz, a few months; Eliacim, or Joakim, 11; Joachin, Conias, or Jechonias, had reigned ten years with his father. After three months and ten days reigning alone, he is led away to Babylon with part of the people. Matthanias, or Sedecias, is appointed in his stead; but proving refractory, is also, after nine years, deprived of his sight, and conducted with 832 of his subjects to Babylon. Nabuchodonosor had already led away 3023, under Joachin. After the death of Godolias, who was left to govern the miserable remains of the people, the year of the world 3417, he made 745 more captives, and thus an end was put to the kingdom of Juda. The scourge had been retarded for some time, by the repentance of Manasses, and the prayers of the prophets. (Calmet)

Gill: 2 Kings (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS

This, and the preceding book, are properly but one book divided into two parts, because of the size of it, as the book of Samuel; it is a continuation of the history of the kings of Israel and Judah; and for a further account of it the reader is referred to the title of the preceding book.

Gill: 2 Kings 25 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 25

In this chapter is an account of the siege, taking, and burning of the city of Jerusalem, and of the carrying captive the king and the inhabitants to Babylon, 2Ki 25:1, as also of the pillars and vessels of the temple brought thither, 2Ki 25:13 and of the putting to death several of the principal persons of the land, 2Ki 25:18, and of the miserable condition of the rest under Gedaliah, whom Ishmael slew, 2Ki 25:23, and the chapter, and so the history, is concluded with the kindness Jehoiachin met with from the king of Babylon, after thirty seven years' captivity, 2Ki 25:27.