Chapter 52

1 Zedekiah rebelleth. 4 Jerusalem is besieged and taken. 8 Zedekiah’s sons killed, and his own eyes put out. 12 Nebuzar-adan burneth and spoileth the city. 24 He carrieth away the captives. 31 Evil-merodach advanceth Jehoiachin.

1. Zedekiah. Verses 1–27, 31–34 are almost identical with 2 Kings 24:18–25:21, 27–30 (see comments there). This chapter was probably added to show the complete historical fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning the downfall of Judah. On the authorship of this chapter see p. 344.

One and twenty years old. At the time of the greatest crisis in her history, Judah had the misfortune of finding her leadership in the hands of a young, inexperienced, and vacillating king.

Hamutal. Zedekiah was a half brother of Jehoiakim (see 2 Kings 23:36), but a full brother of Jehoahaz (see 2 Kings 23:31), who years before had been taken from the throne by Necho II of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar’s great rival.

3. Anger of the Lord. This statement is not to be taken as meaning that Zedekiah’s rebellion against Babylon was the work of an angry God who desired thereby to bring destruction upon Judah. The perfidy of the Jewish king was of his own choice.

Zedekiah rebelled. See on 2 Kings 24:20. The young and inexperienced Zedekiah faced problems that would have overwhelmed many a ruler of stancher character and greater sagacity than he. He was placed upon the throne, not by legal succession, but by a dominant foreign power that held the rightful king, with many of the national leaders, in exile. He was surrounded by nations eager to revolt against Babylon and likewise eager for his adherence to their cause. His counsels were torn by strife between the pro-Babylonian party encouraged by Jeremiah and a popular nationalism backed by false prophets. He was continually intrigued by the phantom hope that Egypt might rescue his country from Babylonian oppression.

4. Ninth year. The siege of Jerusalem probably began Jan. 15, 588 b.c. (see on ch. 39:1), and lasted till July 18, 586 b.c., a period of two years and a half. However, the city was not under attack continuously for the entire time. At some point during the campaign the army of Apries, king of Egypt (Pharaoh-hophra, ch. 44:30), advanced toward Palestine, whereupon the Babylonians temporarily withdrew (see ch. 37:5–11).

Against Jerusalem. The present siege differed from the previous invasions in that it was now Nebuchadnezzar’s intention to destroy the nation. Past invasions of Judah had greatly diminished both the territory and the population of the country. One authority estimates that the number of people in the country had decreased by at least half to a pitiful total of perhaps 150,000 (W. F. Albright, The Biblical Archaeologist, IX:1 [February, 1946], p. 4). Now the Babylonians attacked “all the cities of Judah that were left,” including Lachish and Azekah (see on ch. 34:7).

7. Broken up. That is, a breach was made in the wall. The context seems to indicate that resistance collapsed because of famine.

8. Jericho. Zedekiah may have fled in the direction of the Jordan valley with the intention of escaping into Transjordan, where the Moabites and Ammonites were located. Earlier in his reign these nations had sought Zedekiah’s allegiance in a coalition against the Babylonians (see ch. 27:3).

11. Put out the eyes. Prisoners were commonly blinded by piercing the eyeballs with the point of a spear. Besides enduring the torture involved in the losing of his eyesight, Zedekiah suffered the mental anguish of having to remember throughout the rest of his life, as the last thing he ever beheld, the fearful sight of the execution of his sons.

12. Tenth day. That is, Aug. 17 or 18, 586 b.c. Two events are mentioned for this date: (1) Nebuzar-adan came into Jerusalem, and (2) he burned the Temple and many other buildings. According to 2 Kings 25:8, the parallel account, he arrived on the 7th of the month (Aug. 14 or 15, 586 b.c.). It is possible to harmonize these dates by assuming that the captain entered the city on the 7th and burned the Temple on the 10th. The possibility of a scribal error is less likely than the correctness of both dates. There would have had to be a considerable interval for removing the treasures from the city before the destruction. Another possibility is that the conflagration lasted for three days (see Vol. II, p. 98).

Nineteenth year. The change in dating introduced here, from a reckoning in terms of Zedekiah’s reign to one according to Nebuchadnezzar’s, is a tacit admission that the rulership had passed from the Judean to the Babylonian king. Modern scholars depend upon similar changes in the date lines of ancient tablets and other documents for much of their information regarding the approximate dates on which new Mesopotamian kings began their reigns (see Vol. III pp. 86–87).

13. Burned the house. The destruction of the Temple and other public buildings was not a result of the siege, but a deliberate act of the Babylonians, carried out one month after the fall of the city.

14. Brake down all the walls. On vs. 14–23 see on 2 Kings 25:10–17.

22. Five cubits. The height of the capitals of the pillars is given in 2 Kings 25:17 as three, not five, cubits. Here again we have the possibility of a scribal error (see on Jer. 52:12), but it is equally possible that the figures represent different methods of measuring. Concerning the metal objects taken from the Temple, Jer. 52 gives several independent details not found in Kings. One writer may have excluded and the other included, as part of the capital, a decorative band below or a top segment above the carved network of pomegranates. Those who work constantly with data from reference books know how often an apparent error or discrepancy is found to be a mere difference in point of view.

24. The chief priest. Not only the political leaders, but the religious heads of the nation as well, were destroyed. Only a short time prior to this, Zephaniah, the second priest, had heard Jeremiah predict the death of Jerusalem’s leaders (ch. 21:1, 7).

25. Seven men. 2 Kings 25:19 reads “five men.” More information as to the classification of the captives might clarify the apparent discrepancy.

28. The seventh year. This verse presumably describes a summer campaign in 598 (see on Jer. 52:29), the year preceding the captivity of Jehoiachin, which was in the 8th year, 597 (2 Kings 24:12).

29. The eighteenth year. This was the year preceding the capture of Jerusalem (Jer. 52:12), presumably in the summer of 587. The customary campaigning season was the spring and summer (see on 2 Sam. 11:1; also Vol. II, p. 109n.). Some scholars have assumed that this 18th year is the time of the fall of the city, and that Jer. 52:12 supplies an erroneous date (see Vol. III, p. 93, n. 6), but there is no reason to assume a contradiction. Verse 30 records an additional captivity in the 23rd year, which is not mentioned elsewhere. Obviously, then, there is no reason to doubt that in the 7th and 18th years numbers of Jews were taken also. Inasmuch as annual campaigns were common at that time, captives were doubtless taken frequently and repeatedly. The capture of 832 persons in the 18th year must not, therefore, be equated with the major captivity of the 19th year.

The record of the various deportations does not state whether the figures given represent the number of those who began the journey into exile or of those who survived the rigorous trip and actually arrived in Babylon. According to the records of ancient history the usual result of such deportations was that the ultimate survivors represented only a fraction of those who began the forced march. Thus if the records of the number of captives refer to the ones who actually arrived in Babylon, we must believe that a great many more were initially made captives by Nebuchadnezzar, but died before they reached Babylon. On the other hand, if the numbers given refer to those who set out in chains (see ch. 40:4) into exile, how pitifully small must have been the various groups who arrived at Babylon.

31. Five and twentieth day. 2 Kings 25:27 has the 27th day. Here again we have an event that took place in several steps that may or may not have occurred on the same day (see on Jer. 52:12). Hence it is impossible to say whether these differing figures represent a scribal error or two valid dates chosen by different writers to record the same general event.

Lifted up the head. Approximately 561 b.c. (see Vol. II, p. 161). On vs. 31–33 see on 2 Kings 25:27–29.

34. Continual diet. Rations issued to Yaukin (Jehoiachin), king of Judah, and his sons are mentioned on Babylonian records of 592 b.c., only a few years after his exile began (see Vol. II, p. 97). He was evidently free at first, but was later placed in prison, where he remained presumably until Evil-Merodach freed him and assigned him a food allowance until his death.

Ellen G. White comments

16      PK 460