2 Kings 24:14-16

24:14 He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers (10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land. 24:15 He deported Jehoiachin from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with the king’s mother and wives, his eunuchs, and the high-ranking officials of the land. ¹  24:16 The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers (there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors. ² 

2 Kings 25:11

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. ³ 

2 Kings 25:2

25:2 The city remained under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

2 Kings 1:10

1:10 Elijah replied to the captain, ⁴  “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down ⁵  from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

2 Kings 1:1

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 27:20

27:20 He has already spoken about these things that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiakim’s son King Jeconiah of Judah and the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem away as captives. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 39:9

39:9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, ⁸  took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 52:11-15

52:11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains. ¹⁰  Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

52:12 On the tenth ¹¹  day of the fifth month, ¹²  in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard ¹³  who served ¹⁴  the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 52:14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 52:15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, ¹⁵  the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen.

Jeremiah 52:28-30

52:28 Here is the official record of the number of people ¹⁶  Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year, ¹⁷  3,023 Jews; 52:29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, ¹⁸  832 people from Jerusalem; 52:30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, ¹⁹  Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all 4,600 people went into exile.

Daniel 1:2

1:2 Now the Lord ²⁰  delivered ²¹  King Jehoiakim of Judah into his power, ²²  along with some of the vessels ²³  of the temple of God. ²⁴  He brought them to the land of Babylonia ²⁵  to the temple of his god ²⁶  and put ²⁷  the vessels in the treasury of his god.

¹ tn Heb “and he deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king and the wives of the king and his eunuchs and the mighty of the land he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.”

² tn Heb “the entire [group], mighty men, doers of war.”

³ tc The MT has “the multitude.” But הֶהָמוֹן (hehamon) should probably be emended to הֶאָמוֹן (he’amon).

⁴ tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”

⁵ tn Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew יָרַד, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (יָרַד) on the arrogant king’s officer.

⁶ sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.

⁷ tn 27:19-20 are all one long sentence in Hebrew. It has been broken up for the sake of English style. Some of the sentences still violate contemporary English style (e.g., v. 20) but breaking them down any further would lose the focus. For further discussion see the study note on v. 21.

⁸ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

⁹ tc The translation is based on an emendation of the text which leaves out “the rest of the people who were left” as a double writing of the same phrase at the beginning of the verse. Some commentators emend the phrase “the rest of the people who were left” (הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָעָם, hannish’arim vÿ’et yeter ha’am) to read “the rest of the craftsmen who were left” (וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָאָמוֹן הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, vÿ’et yeter ha’amon hannish’arim) on the basis of the parallel in Jer 52:15 (which does not have הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, hannish’arim). However, it is easier to explain the phrase as a dittography of the phrase at the beginning (which is exactly the same except הָעִיר [ha’ir] follows it). The text is redundant because it refers twice to the same group of people. The Hebrew text reads: “And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to him and the rest of the people Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon.” The text has also been divided up to create two shorter sentences to better conform with contemporary English style.

¹⁰ tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.

¹¹ tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:8 has “seventh.”

¹² sn The tenth day of the month would have been August 17, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.

¹³ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

¹⁴ tn Heb “stood before.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “poor of the people.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “these are the people.”

¹⁷ sn This would be 597 b.c.

¹⁸ sn This would be 586 b.c.

¹⁹ sn This would be 581 b.c.

²⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

²¹ tn Heb “gave.”

²² tn Heb “hand,” which is often used idiomatically for one’s power and authority. See BDB 390 s.v. יָד 2.

²³ tn Or “utensils”; or “articles.”

²⁴ tn Heb “house of God.”

²⁵ sn The land of Babylonia (Heb “the land of Shinar”) is another name for Sumer and Akkad, where Babylon was located (cf. Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9; Josh 7:21; Isa 11:11; Zech 5:11).

²⁶ tn Or “gods” (NCV, NRSV, TEV; also later in this verse). The Hebrew term can be used as a numerical plural for many gods or as a plural of majesty for one particular god. Since Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist, it is not clear if the reference here is to many gods or one particular deity. The plural of majesty, while normally used for Israel’s God, is occasionally used of foreign gods (cf. BDB 43 s.v. אֱלֹהִים 1, 2). See Judg 11:24 (of the Moabite god Chemosh); 1 Sam 5:7 (of the Philistine god Dagon); 1 Kgs 11:33 (of the Canaanite goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom); 2 Kgs 19:37 (of the Assyrian god Nisroch). Since gods normally had their own individual temples, Dan 1:2 probably refers to a particular deity, perhaps Marduk, the supreme god of Babylon, or Marduk’s son Nabu, after whom Nebuchadnezzar was named. The name Nebuchadnezzar means “Nabu has protected the son who will inherit” (HALOT 660 s.v. נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר). For a discussion of how temples functioned in Babylonian religion see H. Ringgren, Religions of the Ancient Near East, 77-81.

²⁷ tn Heb “brought.” Though the Hebrew verb “brought” is repeated in this verse, the translation uses “brought…put” for stylistic variation.