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Jeremiah 52:2 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

2 And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done.

Cross Reference

1 Kings 14:22 BBE

And Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and made him more angry than their fathers had done by their sins.

2 Kings 24:19-20 BBE

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done. And because of the wrath of the Lord, this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had sent them all away from before him: and Zedekiah took up arms against the king of Babylon.

2 Chronicles 36:12-13 BBE

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did not make himself low before Jeremiah the prophet who gave him the word of the Lord. And he took up arms against King Nebuchadnezzar, though he had made him take an oath by God; but he made his neck stiff and his heart hard, turning away from the Lord, the God of Israel.

Jeremiah 26:21-23 BBE

And when his words came to the ears of Jehoiakim the king and all his men of war and his captains, the king would have put him to death; but Uriah, hearing of it, was full of fear and went in flight into Egypt: And Jehoiakim the king sent Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt. And they took Uriah out of Egypt and came back with him to Jehoiakim the king; who put him to death with the sword, and had his dead body put into the resting-place of the bodies of the common people.

Jeremiah 36:21-23 BBE

So the king sent Jehudi to get the book, and he took it from the room of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi gave a reading of it in the hearing of the king and all the rulers who were by the king's side. Now the king was seated in the winter house, and a fire was burning in the fireplace in front of him. And it came about that whenever Jehudi, in his reading, had got through three or four divisions, the king, cutting them with his penknife, put them into the fire, till all the book was burned up in the fire which was burning in the fireplace.

Jeremiah 36:29-31 BBE

And about Jehoiakim, king of Judah, you are to say, This is what the Lord has said: You have put this book into the fire, saying, Why have you put in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come, causing the destruction of this land and putting an end to every man and beast in it? For this reason the Lord has said of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, He will have no son to take his place on the seat of David: his dead body will be put out to undergo the heat of the day and the cold of the night. And I will send punishment on him and on his seed and on his servants for their evil-doing; I will send on them and on the people of Jerusalem and the men of Judah, all the evil which I said against them, but they did not give ear.

Ezekiel 17:16-20 BBE

By my life, says the Lord, truly in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he put on one side and let his agreement with him be broken, even in Babylon he will come to his death. And Pharaoh with his strong army and great forces will be no help to him in the war, when they put up earthworks and make strong walls for the cutting off of lives: For he put his oath on one side in letting the agreement be broken; and though he had given his hand to it, he did all these things; he will not get away safe. And so the Lord has said, By my life, truly, for my oath which he put on one side, and my agreement which has been broken, I will send punishment on his head. My net will be stretched out over him, and he will be taken in my cords, and I will send him to Babylon, and there I will be his judge for the wrong which he has done against me.

Ezekiel 21:25 BBE

And you, O evil one, wounded to death, O ruler of Israel, whose day has come in the time of the last punishment;

Commentary on Jeremiah 52 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 52

Jer 52:1-34. Written by Some Other than Jeremiah (Probably Ezra) AS AN Historical Supplement to the Previous Prophecies

(See on Jer 51:64). Jeremiah, having already (thirty-ninth and fortieth chapters) given the history in the proper place, was not likely to repeat it here. Its canonical authority as inspired is shown by its being in the Septuagint version. It contains the capture and burning of Jerusalem, &c., Zedekiah's punishment, and the better treatment of Jehoiachin under Evil-merodach, down to his death. These last events were probably subsequent to Jeremiah's time.

3. through … anger of … Lord … Zedekiah rebelled—His "anger" against Jerusalem, determining Him to "cast out" His people "from His presence" heretofore manifested there, led Him to permit Zedekiah to rebel (2Ki 23:26, 27; compare Ex 9:12; 10:1; Ro 9:18). That rebellion, being in violation of his oath "by God," was sure to bring down God's vengeance (2Ch 36:13; Eze 17:15, 16, 18).

4. forts—rather, towers of wood [Kimchi], for watching the movements of the besieged from the height and annoying them with missiles.

7. (See on Jer 39:4).

9. gave judgment upon him—as guilty of rebellion and perjury (Jer 52:3; compare Eze 23:24).

11. Eze 12:13: "I will bring him to Babylon … yet shall he not see it."

prison—literally, "the house of visitations," or "punishments," that is, where there was penal work enforced on the prisoners, such as grinding. Hence the Septuagint renders it "the house of the mill." So Samson, after his eyes were put out, "ground" in the Philistine prison-house (Jud 16:21).

12. tenth day—But in 2Ki 25:8, it is said "the seventh day." Nebuzara-dan started from Riblah on the "seventh" day and arrived in Jerusalem on the "tenth" day. Seeming discrepancies, when cleared up, confirm the genuineness of Scripture; for they show there was no collusion between the writers; as in all God's works there is latent harmony under outward varieties.

13. all the houses … and all the houses of the great—the "and" defines what houses especially are meant, namely, the houses of the great men.

15. poor of … people—added to the account in 2Ki 25:11. "The poor of the people" are of the city, as distinguished from "the poor of the land," that is, of the country.

17. brake—that they might be more portable. Fulfilling the prophecy (Jer 27:19). See 1Ki 7:15, 23, 27, 50. Nothing is so particularly related here as the carrying away of the articles in the temple. The remembrance of their beauty and preciousness heightens the bitterness of their loss and the evil of sin which caused it.

brass … brazen—rather "copper … of copper."

18. (Ex 27:3).

19. of gold in gold—implying that the articles were of solid gold and silver respectively, not of a different metal inside, or alloyed [Grotius]. Whole: not breaking them as was done to the "brass" (Jer 52:17).

20. bulls … under the bases—But the bulls were not "under the bases," but under the sea (1Ki 7:25, 27, 38); the ten bases were not under the sea, but under the ten lavers. In English Version, "bases," therefore, must mean the lower parts of the sea under which the bulls were. Rather, translate, "the bulls were in the place of (that is, 'by way of'; so the Hebrew, 1Sa 14:9), bases," or supports to the sea [Buxtorf]. So the Septuagint. 2Ki 25:16 omits the "bulls," and has "and the bases"; so Grotius here reads "the bulls (which were) under (the sea) and the bases."

21. eighteen cubits—but in 2Ch 3:15, it is "thirty-five cubits." The discrepancy is thus removed. Each pillar was eighteen common cubits. The two together, deducting the base, were thirty-five, as stated in 2Ch 3:15 [Grotius]. Other ways (for example, by reference to the difference between the common and the sacred cubit) are proposed: though we are not able positively to decide now which is the true way, at least those proposed do show that the discrepancies are not irreconcilable.

22. five cubits—so 1Ki 7:16. But 2Ki 25:17 has "three cubits." There were two parts in the chapiter: the one lower and plain, of two cubits; the other, higher and curiously carved, of three cubits. The former is omitted in 2Ki 25:17, as belonging to the shaft of the pillar; the latter alone is there mentioned. Here the whole chapiter of five cubits is referred to.

23. on a side—literally, (on the side) towards the air or wind, that is, the outside of the capitals of the pillars conspicuous to the eye, opposed to the four remaining pomegranates which were not seen from the outside. The pomegranates here are ninety-six; but in 1Ki 7:20 they are two hundred on each chapiter, and four hundred on the two (2Ch 4:13). It seems there were two rows of them, one above the other, and in each row a hundred. They are here said to be ninety-six, but immediately following one hundred, and so in 1Ki 7:20. Four seem to have been unseen to one looking from one point; and the ninety-six are only those that could be seen [Vatablus]; or, the four omitted here are those separating the four sides, one pomegranate at each point of separation (or at the four corners) between the four sides [Grotius].

24. Seraiah—different from the Seraiah (Jer 51:59), son of Neriah; probably son of Azariah (1Ch 6:14).

Zephaniah—son of Maaseiah (see on Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25).

25. seven men—but in 2Ki 25:19 it is "five." Perhaps two were less illustrious persons and are therefore omitted.

principal scribe of the host—(Isa 33:18). His office was to preside over the levy and enroll recruits. Rawlinson observes that the Assyrian records are free from the exaggerated expressions found in the Egyptian. A minute account was taken of the spoil. Two "scribes of the host" are seen in every bas-relief, writing down the various objects brought to them: the heads of the slain, the prisoners, cattle, sheep, &c.

28. seventh year—in 2Ki 24:12, 14, 16, it is said "the eighth year" of Nebuchadnezzar. No doubt it was in part about the end of the seventh year, in part about the beginning of the eighth. Also in 2Ki 24:1-20, ten thousand (Jer 52:14), and seven thousand men of might, and a thousand craftsmen (Jer 52:16), are said to have been carried away, But here three thousand twenty-three. Probably the latter three thousand twenty-three were of the tribe of Judah, the remaining seven thousand out of the ten thousand were of the other tribes, out of which many Israelites still had been left in the land. The thousand "craftsmen" were exclusive of the ten thousand, as appears, by comparing 2Ki 24:14 with Jer 52:16. Probably the three thousand twenty-three of Judah were first removed in the end of "the seventh year"; the seven thousand and a thousand craftsmen in the "eighth year." This was at the first captivity under Jehoiachin.

29. eighteenth year—when Jerusalem was taken. But in Jer 52:15, and 2Ki 25:8, "the nineteenth year." Probably it was at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth [Lyra].

eight hundred and thirty and two—The most illustrious persons are meant, who no doubt were carried away first, at the end of the eighteenth year.

30. Not recorded in Kings or Chronicles. Probably it took place during the commotions that followed the death of Gedaliah (Jer 41:18; 2Ki 25:26).

four thousand and six hundred—The exact sum-total of the numbers specified here, namely, three thousand twenty-three, eight hundred thirty-two, seven hundred forty-five, not including the general multitude and the women and children (Jer 52:15; Jer 39:9; 2Ki 25:11).

31. (2Ki 25:27-30).

five and twentieth day—but in 2Ki 25:27, it is "the twenty-seventh day." Probably on the twenty-fifth the decree for his elevation was given, and the preparations for it made by releasing him from prison; and on the twenty-seventh day it was carried into effect.

Evil-merodach—son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar [Lyra]; and the Hebrew writers say that during Nebuchadnezzar's exclusion from men among beasts, Evil-merodach administered the government. When Nebuchadnezzar at the end of seven years was restored, hearing of his son's misconduct and that he had exulted in his father's calamity, he threw him into prison, where the latter met Jeconiah and contracted a friendship with him, whence arose the favor which subsequently he showed him. God, in his elevation, rewarded his having surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar (compare Jer 38:17 with 2Ki 24:12).

lifted up … head—(Compare Ge 40:13, 20; Ps 3:3; 27:6).

32. set his throne above—a mark of respect.

the kings—The Hebrew text reads (the other) "kings." "The kings" is a Masoretic correction.

33. changed … garments—gave him garments suitable to a king.

did … eat bread before him—(2Sa 9:13).

34. every day a portion—rather, "its portion," (compare 1Ki 8:59, Margin).