Jeremiah 39:5

39:5 But the Babylonian ¹  army chased after them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho ²  and captured him. ³  They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah ⁴  in the territory of Hamath and Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him there.

Jeremiah 52:8

52:8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, ⁵  and his entire army deserted him.

Ezekiel 12:13

12:13 But I will throw my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans ⁶  (but he will not see it), ⁷  and there he will die. ⁸ 

Ezekiel 17:18

17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note ⁹  – he gave his promise ¹⁰  and did all these things – he will not escape!

Ezekiel 19:4-8

19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.

They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. ¹¹ 

19:5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost.

She took another of her cubs ¹²  and made him a young lion.

19:6 He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion.

He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.

19:7 He broke down ¹³  their strongholds ¹⁴  and devastated their cities.

The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

19:8 The nations – the surrounding regions – attacked him.

They threw their net over him; he was caught in their pit.

[39:5]  ¹ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[39:5]  ² map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[39:5]  ³ sn 2 Kgs 25:5 and Jer 52:8 mention that the soldiers all scattered from him. That is why the text focuses on Zedekiah here.

[39:5]  ⁴ sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.

[52:8]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[12:13]  ⁶ tn Or “Babylonians” (NCV, NLT).

[12:13]  ⁷ sn He will not see it. This prediction was fulfilled in 2 Kgs 25:7 and Jer 52:11, which recount how Zedekiah was blinded before being deported to Babylon.

[12:13]  ⁸ sn There he will die. This was fulfilled when King Zedekiah died in exile (Jer 52:11).

[17:18]  ⁹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.

[17:18]  ¹⁰ sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).

[19:4]  ¹¹ sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).

[19:5]  ¹² sn The identity of this second lion is unclear; the referent is probably Jehoiakim or Zedekiah. If the lioness is Hamutal, then Zedekiah is the lion described here.

[19:7]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads “knew,” but is apparently the result of a ר-ד (dalet-resh) confusion. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. However, Allen retains the reading “widows” as the object of the verb, which he understands in the sense of “do harm to,” and translates the line: “He did harm to women by making them widows” (p. 282). The line also appears to be lacking a beat for the meter of the poem.

[19:7]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads “widows” instead of “strongholds,” apparently due to a confusion of ר (resh) and ל (lamed). L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284) favors the traditional text, understanding “widows” in the sense of “women made widows.” D. I. Block, (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:602) also defends the Hebrew text, arguing that the image is that of a dominant male lion who takes over the pride and by copulating with the females lays claim to his predecessor’s “widows.”