2 Kings 25

Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem// 2 Chronicles 36:15–21; Jeremiah 39:1–10

¹So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. ²And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

• 2KI 25:1[FULFILLS]Yahweh will bring a nation against you from afar, from the ends of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, whose language you shall not understand; a nation of fierce countenance and 4 more ← DT 28:49-52; IS 3:25-26; EZK 4:1-3; EZK 21:21-22; EZK 24:1-2

³By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. ⁴Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden.

• 2KI 25:3[FULFILLS]A third would die of plague and famine, a third by sword, a third scattered ← EZK 5:12

They headed toward the Arabah, ⁵but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him. ⁶The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him. ⁷And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

• 2KI 25:4[FULFILLS]A day of trampling and broken walls would come on Jerusalem ← IS 22:5MEDIUM
• 2KI 25:4[FULFILLS]The prince would leave at dusk through a hole in the wall with his face covered ← EZK 12:12
• 2KI 25:6[FULFILLS]Zedekiah and the survivors would be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar ← JER 21:7
• 2KI 25:7[FULFILLS]Zedekiah would be brought to Babylon but not see it (his eyes blinded) ← EZK 12:13

The Temple Destroyed// Jeremiah 52:12–23

⁸On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. ⁹He burned down the house of Yahweh, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. ¹⁰And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

• 2KI 25:8[FULFILLS]God would raise up the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to punish Judah ← HAB 1:5-6
• 2KI 25:9[FULFILLS]Israel's cities and sanctuaries would be laid waste if they disobeyed and 10 more ← LEV 26:31-32; 1KI 9:7-8; 2KI 22:16-17; 2KI 23:27; JER 7:14; JER 13:9-10; JER 19:10-11; JER 37:7-8; AMOS 2:5; MIC 3:12; ZEPH 1:13

¹¹Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population. ¹²But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.

• 2KI 25:11[FULFILLS]Israel's eventual idolatry would lead to exile and scattering and 4 more ← DT 4:25-28; IS 5:13; IS 6:11-12; JER 20:4-6; MIC 4:10

¹³Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of Yahweh, and they carried the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service. ¹⁵The captain of the guard also took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

• 2KI 25:13[FULFILLS]The temple articles would be carried to Babylon and later brought back ← JER 27:21-22
• 2KI 25:13[FULFILLS]The wealth of Jerusalem would be plundered and its houses laid waste ← ZEPH 1:13

¹⁶As for the two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands that Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure. ¹⁷Each pillar was 27 feet tall. The bronze capital atop one pillar was 4½ feet high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its network, was similar.

• 2KI 25:17[TEXT]4½ OR 7½ FEET? 1 Kings 7:16 says 7½. A copy may have slipped.

Captives Carried to Babylon// Jeremiah 52:24–30

¹⁸The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁹Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as five royal advisors. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.

²⁰Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.

• 2KI 25:21[FULFILLS]Israel's eventual idolatry would lead to exile and scattering and 3 more ← DT 4:25-28; 1KI 9:7-8; 2KI 23:27; IS 6:11-12
• 2KI 25:21[FORESHADOW]Judah was taken into exile away from its land, a pattern of being scattered and brought back → Many Christians see this in the Jewish return to the land in 1948; others read it differently.MEDIUM

Gedaliah Governs in Judah// Jeremiah 40:1–16

²²Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over the people he had left behind in the land of Judah.

²³When all the commanders of the armies and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite, as well as their men. ²⁴And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

The Murder of Gedaliah// Jeremiah 41:1–10

²⁵In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶Then all the people small and great, together with the commanders of the army, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison// Jeremiah 52:31–34

²⁷On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. ²⁸And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

• 2KI 25:27[ARCHAEOLOGY]Evil merodach is Amel Marduk, king of Babylon, named in Babylonian records and on a vase found at Susa
• 2KI 25:27[NOTE]EVIL MERODACH is Amel Marduk, man of Marduk. It has nothing to do with the English word evil.

²⁹So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life. ³⁰And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life.

• 2KI 25:29[ARCHAEOLOGY]Jehoiachin Ration Tablets