2 Kings 25:9-10

25:9 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. ¹  25:10 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

2 Kings 25:2

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

2 Kings 1:1

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. ² 

Jeremiah 26:18

26:18 “Micah from Moresheth ³  prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah. ⁴  He told all the people of Judah,

‘The Lord who rules over all ⁵  says,

“Zion ⁶  will become a plowed field.

Jerusalem ⁷  will become a pile of rubble.

The temple mount will become a mere wooded ridge.”’ ⁸ 

Jeremiah 39:8

39:8 The Babylonians ⁹  burned down the royal palace, the temple of the Lord, and the people’s homes, ¹⁰  and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 52:13

52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.

Micah 3:12

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ¹²  Zion will be plowed up like ¹³  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ¹⁴  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ¹⁵ 

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

² sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.

³ sn Micah from Moresheth was a contemporary of Isaiah (compare Mic 1:1 with Isa 1:1) from the country town of Moresheth in the hill country southwest of Jerusalem. The prophecy referred to is found in Mic 3:12. This is the only time in the OT where an OT prophet is quoted verbatim and identified.

⁴ sn Hezekiah was co-regent with his father Ahaz from 729-715 b.c. and sole ruler from 715-686 b.c. His father was a wicked king who was responsible for the incursions of the Assyrians (2 Kgs 16; 2 Chr 28). Hezekiah was a godly king, noted for his religious reforms and for his faith in the Lord in the face of the Assyrian threat (2 Kgs 18–19; 2 Chr 32:1-23). The deliverance of Jerusalem in response to his prayers of faith (2 Kgs 19:14-19, 29-36) was undoubtedly well-known to the people of Jerusalem and Judah and may have been one of the prime reasons for their misplaced trust in the inviolability of Zion/Jerusalem (see Ps 46, 76) though the people of Micah’s day already believed it too (Mic 3:11).

⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

⁶ sn Zion was first of all the citadel that David captured (2 Sam 5:6-10), then the city of David and the enclosed temple area, then the whole city of Jerusalem. It is often in poetic parallelism with Jerusalem as it is here (see, e.g., Ps 76:2; Amos 1:2).

⁷ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁸ sn There is irony involved in this statement. The text reads literally “high places of a forest/thicket.” The “high places” were the illicit places of worship that Jerusalem was supposed to replace. Because of their sin, Jerusalem would be like one of the pagan places of worship with no place left sacrosanct. It would even be overgrown with trees and bushes. So much for its inviolability!

⁹ tn Heb “Chaldean.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

¹⁰ tc The reading here is based on an emendation following the parallels in Jer 52:13 and 2 Kgs 25:9. The Hebrew text here does not have “the temple of the Lord” and reads merely “house of the people.” The text here is probably corrupt. It reads וְאֶת־בֵּית הָעָם (vÿ’et-bet ha’am, “and the house of the people”), which many explain as a collective use of בַּיִת (bayit). However, no parallels are cited by any of the commentaries, grammars, or lexicons for such a use. It is more likely that the words יְהוָה וְאֶת־בָּתֵּי (yÿhvah vÿ’et-bate) have fallen out of the text due to similar beginnings. The words וְאֶת־בֵּית יהוה (vÿ’et-bet yhwh) are found in the parallel texts cited in the marginal note. The Greek version is no help here because vv. 4-13 are omitted, probably due to the similarities in ending of vv. 3, 13 (i.e., homoioteleuton of מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל, melekh bavel).

¹¹ sn According to the parallels in 2 Kgs 25:8-9; Jer 52:12-13 this occurred almost a month after the wall was breached and Zedekiah’s failed escape. It took place under the direction of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s special guard who is mentioned in the next verse.

¹² tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

¹³ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

¹⁴ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

¹⁵ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”