1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, [that] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built turrets against it round about.
2 And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
3 On the ninth of the [fourth] month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 And the city was broken into; and all the men of war [fled] by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which [leads] to the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about); and they went the way toward the plain.
5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
6 And they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon unto Riblah; and they pronounced judgment upon him,
7 and slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the body-guard, servant of the king of Babylon, came unto Jerusalem;
9 and he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and every great [man's] house he burned with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the body-guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
11 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
12 But the captain of the body-guard left of the poor of the land for vinedressers and husbandmen.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Kings 25
Commentary on 2 Kings 25 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 25
Ever since David's time Jerusalem had been a celebrated place, beautiful for situation and the joy of the whole earth: while the book of psalms lasts that name will sound great. In the New Testament we read much of it, when it was, as here, ripening again for its ruin. In the close of the Bible we read of a new Jerusalem. Every thing therefore that concerns Jerusalem is worthy our regard. In this chapter we have,
2Ki 25:1-7
We left king Zedekiah in rebellion against the king of Babylon (ch. 24:20), contriving and endeavouring to shake off his yoke, when he was no way able to do it, nor took the right method by making God his friend first. Now here we have an account of the fatal consequences of that attempt.
2Ki 25:8-21
Though we have reason to think that the army of the Chaldeans were much enraged against the city for holding out with so much stubbornness, yet they did not therefore put all to fire and sword as soon as they had taken the city (which is too commonly done in such cases), but about a month after (compare v. 8 with v. 3) Nebuzar-adan was sent with orders to complete the destruction of Jerusalem. This space God gave them to repent, after all the foregoing days of his patience, but in vain; their hearts (for aught that appears) were still hardened, and therefore execution is awarded to the utmost.
2Ki 25:22-30
In these verses we have,