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2 Kings 25
New English Translation

25 1 So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside[a] it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign.[b] 2 The city remained under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month[c] the famine in the city was so severe the residents[d] had no food. 4 The enemy broke through the city walls,[e] and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night.[f] They went through the gate between the two walls, which is near the king’s garden.[g] (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the rift valley.[h] 5 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with him in the rift valley plains of Jericho,[i] and his entire army deserted him. 6 They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah,[j] where he[k] passed sentence on him. 7 Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch.[l] The king of Babylon[m] then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem

8 On the seventh[n] day of the fifth month,[o] in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard,[p] who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.[q] 10 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.[r] 12 But he[s] left behind some of the poor of the land and gave them fields and vineyards.

13 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called “The Sea.”[t] They took the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took the pots, shovels,[u] trimming shears,[v] pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.[w] 15 The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers[x] and basins. 16 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple—including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,”[y] and the movable stands—was too heavy to be weighed. 17 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet[z] high. The bronze top of one pillar was about 4½ feet[aa] high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.

18 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five[ab] of the king’s advisers[ac] who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens[ad] for military service, and sixty citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed[ae] at Riblah in the territory[af] of Hamath. So Judah was deported from its land.

Gedaliah Appointed Governor

22 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people whom he allowed to remain in the land of Judah.[ag] 23 All the officers of the Judahite army[ah] and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. 24 Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety.[ai] He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.” 25 But in the seventh month[aj] Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family,[ak] came with ten of his men and murdered Gedaliah,[al] as well as the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, as well as the army officers, left for[am] Egypt, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians might do.

Jehoiachin in Babylon

27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh[an] day of the twelfth month,[ao] King Evil Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned[ap] King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him[aq] from prison. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than[ar] the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 Jehoiachin[as] took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 30 He was given daily provisions by the king for the rest of his life until the day he died.[at]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 25:1 tn Or “against.”
  2. 2 Kings 25:1 sn This would have been Jan 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).
  3. 2 Kings 25:3 tn The MT has simply “of the month,” but the parallel passage in Jer 52:6 has “fourth month,” and this is followed by almost all English translations. The word “fourth,” however, is not actually present in the MT of 2 Kgs 25:3.sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.
  4. 2 Kings 25:3 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
  5. 2 Kings 25:4 tn Heb “the city was breached.”
  6. 2 Kings 25:4 tn The Hebrew text is abrupt here: “And all the men of war by the night.” The translation attempts to capture the sense.
  7. 2 Kings 25:4 sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the City of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
  8. 2 Kings 25:4 sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿarabah) extends northward of the Dead Sea past Galilee and southward to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here the southern part of the Jordan Valley is in view with the intention to escape across the Jordan river to Moab or Ammon. It appears from Jer 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.
  9. 2 Kings 25:5 sn The rift valley plains of Jericho refer to the parts of the Jordan Valley in the vicinity of Jericho (see HALOT 880 s.v. עֲרָבָה). There the terrain is fairly level and slopes gently down to the Jordan, a descent of about 450 feet over five miles. Many translations render this as “the plains of Jericho” (ESV, NASB, NIV, KJV). See the note at Num 22:1.
  10. 2 Kings 25:6 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.
  11. 2 Kings 25:6 tn The Hebrew text has the plural form of the verb, but the parallel passage in Jer 52:9 has the singular.
  12. 2 Kings 25:7 tn Heb “were killed before his eyes.”
  13. 2 Kings 25:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. 2 Kings 25:8 tn The parallel account in Jer 52:12 has “tenth.”
  15. 2 Kings 25:8 sn The seventh day of the month would have been August 14, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  16. 2 Kings 25:8 tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2, and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.
  17. 2 Kings 25:9 tn Heb “and every large house he burned down with fire.”
  18. 2 Kings 25:11 tc The MT has “the multitude.” But הֶהָמוֹן (hehamon) should probably be emended to הֶאָמוֹן (heʾamon). See Jeremiah 52:15.
  19. 2 Kings 25:12 tn Heb “the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.
  20. 2 Kings 25:13 tn Heb “the bronze pillars that were in the Lord’s house and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the Lord’s house the Babylonians broke.”sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
  21. 2 Kings 25:14 sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.
  22. 2 Kings 25:14 sn These were used to trim the wicks.
  23. 2 Kings 25:14 tn Heb “with which they served [or, ‘fulfilled their duty’].”
  24. 2 Kings 25:15 sn These held the embers used for the incense offerings.
  25. 2 Kings 25:16 tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (veha) on וְהַבָּקָר (vehabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (vehammekhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.
  26. 2 Kings 25:17 tn Heb “18 cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
  27. 2 Kings 25:17 tn Heb “3 cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”
  28. 2 Kings 25:19 tn The parallel passage in Jer 52:25 has “seven.”
  29. 2 Kings 25:19 tn Heb “five men seeing the king’s face.”
  30. 2 Kings 25:19 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
  31. 2 Kings 25:21 tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”
  32. 2 Kings 25:21 tn Heb “land.”
  33. 2 Kings 25:22 tn Heb “And the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan.”
  34. 2 Kings 25:23 tn Heb “of the army.” The word “Judahite” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  35. 2 Kings 25:24 tn The words “so as to give them…some assurance of safety” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  36. 2 Kings 25:25 sn It is not altogether clear whether this is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (= early July; Jer 39:2) and Nebuzaradan came and burned the palace, the temple, and many of the houses and tore down the wall in the fifth month (= early August; Jer 52:12). That would have left time between the fifth month and the seventh month (October) to gather in the harvest of grapes, dates and figs, and olives (Jer 40:12). However, many commentators feel that too much activity takes place in too short a time for this to have been in the same year and posit that it happened the following year or even five years later when a further deportation took place, possibly in retaliation for the murder of Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah (Jer 52:30). The assassination of Gedaliah had momentous consequences and was commemorated in one of the post exilic fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem (Zech 8:19).
  37. 2 Kings 25:25 tn Heb “[was] from the seed of the kingdom.”
  38. 2 Kings 25:25 tn Heb “and they struck down Gedaliah and he died.”
  39. 2 Kings 25:26 tn Heb “arose and went to.”
  40. 2 Kings 25:27 sn The parallel account in Jer 52:31 has “twenty-fifth.”
  41. 2 Kings 25:27 sn The twenty-seventh day would be March 22, 561 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  42. 2 Kings 25:27 tn Heb “lifted up the head of.”
  43. 2 Kings 25:27 tn The words “released him” are supplied in the translation on the basis of Jer 52:31.
  44. 2 Kings 25:28 tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of.”
  45. 2 Kings 25:29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiachin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  46. 2 Kings 25:30 tc The words “until the day he died” do not appear in the MT, but they are included in the parallel passage in Jer 52:34. Probably they have been accidentally omitted by homoioteleuton. A scribe’s eye jumped from the final vav (ו) on בְּיוֹמוֹ (beyomo), “in his day,” to the final vav (ו) on מוֹתוֹ (moto), “his death,” leaving out the intervening words.
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2 Kings 25
Names of God Bible

The Fall of Jerusalem(A)

25 On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem with his entire army. They set up camp and built dirt ramps around the city walls. 2 The blockade of the city lasted until Zedekiah’s eleventh year as king. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth[a] month, the famine in the city became so severe that the common people had no food.

4 The enemy broke through the city walls that night. All Judah’s soldiers left on the road of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden. While the Babylonians were attacking the city from all sides, the king took the road to the plain of Jericho. 5 The Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and caught up with him in the plain of Jericho. His entire army had deserted him. 6 The Babylonians captured the king, brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons as he watched, and then they blinded Zedekiah. They put him in bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

8 On the seventh day of the fifth month of Nebuchadnezzar’s nineteenth year as king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, who was the captain of the guard and an officer of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned down Yahweh’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. Every important building was burned down. 10 The entire Babylonian army that was with the captain of the guard tore down the walls around Jerusalem.

11 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, captured the few people left in the city, those who surrendered to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. 12 The captain of the guard left some of the poorest people in the land to work in the vineyards and on the farms.

13 The Babylonians broke apart the bronze pillars of Yahweh’s temple, the stands, and the bronze pool in Yahweh’s temple. They shipped the bronze to Babylon. 14 They took the pots, shovels, snuffers, dishes, and all the bronze utensils used in the temple service. 15 The captain of the guard took all of the incense burners and bowls that were made of gold or silver. 16 The bronze from the two pillars, the pool, and the stands that Solomon had made for Yahweh’s temple couldn’t be weighed. 17 One pillar was 27 feet high and had a bronze capital on it that was 4½ feet high. The filigree and the pomegranates around the capital were all made of bronze. The second pillar and its filigree were the same.

18 The captain of the guard took the chief priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and the 3 doorkeepers. 19 From the city he also took an army commander, 5 men who had access to the king whom he found in the city, the scribe who was in charge of the militia, and 60 of the common people whom he found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon executed them at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So the people of Judah were captives when they left their land.

22 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, to govern the remaining people in the land of Judah. 23 When all the army commanders and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael (son of Nethaniah), Johanan (son of Kareah), Seraiah (son of Tanhumeth from Netophah), and Jaazaniah from Beth Maacah and their men. 24 Gedaliah swore an oath to them and their men. He said, “Don’t be afraid of the Babylonian officers. Live in this country, serve the king of Babylon, and you will prosper.”

25 In the seventh month Ishmael (son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a descendant of the kings) went with ten men to kill Gedaliah and the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then people of all classes and the army commanders left for Egypt because they were afraid of the Babylonians.

King Jehoiakin Released from Prison(B)

27 On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the imprisonment of King Jehoiakin of Judah, King Evil Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, freed King Jehoiakin of Judah from prison. 28 He treated him well and gave him a special position higher than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 Jehoiakin no longer wore prison clothes, and he ate his meals in the king’s presence as long as he lived. 30 The king of Babylon gave him a daily food allowance as long as he lived.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 25:3 Jeremiah 39:2; 52:6; Masoretic Text omits “fourth.”
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