This is one of four accounts of the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36:11-21; Jer. 39:1-14). The repetition underlines the importance of the event.
52:1 Zedekiah (Mattaniah, 2 Kings 24:17) was the last king of the Davidic dynasty to rule over Judah from Jerusalem. He was 21 years old when he began reigning in 597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar selected him to rule after his nephew Jehoiachin proved unfaithful (2 Kings 24:17). Zedekiah ruled as Nebuchadnezzar's vassal for 11 years until the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. His mother, the queen mother, was Hamutal, the daughter of a certain Jeremiah of Libnah. The queen mother exercised considerable authority and enjoyed great prestige, which accounts for her mention here (cf. 13:18).
52:2 Zedekiah was one of Judah's evil kings in Yahweh's estimation like Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.). Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim's immediate successor, was also a wicked king, but the writer probably did not mention Jehoiachin because he only ruled for three months (cf. 22:24-30).
52:3 The Lord brought hardships on Judah and Jerusalem during Jehoiakim's evil reign because of Judah's iniquity until He sent the king out of His presence into Babylon (cf. 2 Chron. 36:3). To compound Judah's troubles further, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar sometime before 588 B.C., the ninth year of his reign (2 Kings 24:29). Because God wanted Zedekiah to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah's rebellion was more significantly against Yahweh.
52:4-5 Consequently, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem with his army in 588 B.C. (32:24; 39:1; 2 Kings 25:1-7; Ezek. 24:1). The siege lasted until 586 B.C.
52:6 The people in Jerusalem ran out of food on the ninth day of the fourth month of 586 B.C. (38:9; 39:2; 2 Kings 25:3).
52:7 Shortly after that the Chaldeans broke into Jerusalem (39:2). The soldiers tried to flee by night by way of a concealed gate near the king's garden. They headed east for the Arabah (39:4-7).
52:8 However, the Chaldeans caught up with Zedekiah and his soldiers in the plains of Jericho, and the soldiers abandoned their king either deliberately or out of necessity (21:7; 32:4; 34:21; 37:17; 38:23; Lam. 4:19-20).
52:9 The Chaldeans took Zedekiah captive to Riblah, north of Damascus, where Nebuchadnezzar sentenced him (39:5-7; 2 Kings 25:5-7).
52:10-11 Nebuchadnezzar executed Zedekiah's sons as he watched as well as Zedekiah's officials who were present (cf. 39:6; 41:1). He then blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon where Zedekiah spent the rest of his life in prison.
52:12-14 In 586 B.C. Nebuzaradan, the captain of Nebuchadnezzar's bodyguard, came to Jerusalem and burned down the temple, the royal palace, and every sizable building.622The soldiers with Nebuzaradan also broke down the wall of the city to make it indefensible (cf. 1:10; 18:7; 31:28).
"The people of Judah had been guilty of the unthinkable, rebellion against their Babylonian suzerain, and thus suffered the consequences of their foolishness."623
52:15-16 Nebuzaradan then took some of the poorest Judahites, the rest of the residents of Jerusalem, the deserters who had defected to the Babylonians, and the remaining craftsmen captive to Babylon. However, he left some of the poorest Judahites in the land to take care of the vineyards and fields.
