2 Kings Chapter 25    

“And in the ninth year of his reign.” This record is also in Jeremiah 52:4.

“On the ninth day of the fourth month.” The word “fourth” is supplied from Jeremiah 52:6.

“the way of the gate between the two walls.” There were likely two walls on the east and west side of the south end of the old city of David, but which place is not known.

“Chaldeans.” The word Chaldeans here likely refers to people who came from the southeast part of the Babylonian Empire, the heart of ancient Babylon.

“the way of the Arabah.” The Arabah in this context is the Jordan Valley east of Jerusalem, so Zedekiah was fleeing east. His likely destination was Ammon or Moab, where he might have thought he could find shelter.

“But the army of the Chaldeans.” Cp. Jer. 52:8.

“the plains of Jericho.” That would be still on the west side of the Jordan River, before Zedekiah could cross the Jordan River.

“Then they took the king.” Cp. Jeremiah 52:9.

“Riblah.” This is Riblah in Syria on the Orantes River. It is where Pharaoh Necoh had taken Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz the king of Judah, and judged him (2 Kings 23:33).

“and they pronounced judgment.” The “they” would be Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and his advisors, but Jeremiah has “he” because the final decision would have been made by Nebuchadnezzar. .

“and put out the eyes of Zedekiah.” The punishment of Zedekiah was especially severe because Zedekiah had sworn allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar in the name of God (2 Chron. 36:13; Jer. 52:10-11).

“and he bound him in fetters.” The “he” is Nebuchadnezzar, who gave the order to bind Zedekiah.

“on the seventh day.” Jeremiah 52:12 says the tenth day. One of the two dates is a copyist’s error, but it is unclear which date is wrong. Some scholars have dated this to August 14, 586 BC (cp. NET text note).

“the house of Yahweh.” Cp. Jer. 52:13. The house of Yahweh is the Temple, in this case the Temple that Solomon had built.

“and the king’s house.” The king’s house is the palace, and the palace of the kings of Judah goes back to when Solomon spent years and much money to build his palace.

“every great house.” The “great houses,” the large and magnificent houses, are mentioned separately because they might normally be spared, especially if Nebuchadnezzar planned to have an administrative center in Jerusalem. The burning of Jerusalem was so horrific and widespread that there is archaeological evidence of that burning being found in Jerusalem to this day.

“All the army of the Chaldeans.” Cp. Jer. 52:14, which is slightly different.

“the stands.” The stands were the stands that all the washing basins were set in (1 Kings 7:27). Cp. Jeremiah 52:17.

“the sprinkling-bowls.” Cp. 1 Kings 7:40.

“whatever was of gold, as gold, and whatever was of silver, as silver.” The idea was that whatever was of gold was taken away as gold, and the same with silver. So the Babylonians took away all the gold and silver before they burned Jerusalem to the ground. If they hadn’t, the gold and silver would have just melted into the ground. Compare the expanded list in Jeremiah 52:19.

“the latticework.” Cp. 1 Kings 7:18.

“Chief Priest.” This is the same position as the High Priest (cp. Jer. 52:24).

“and five men.” Jeremiah 52:25 says “seven men,” and there is no known reason for the difference.

“Those Who See The Kings Face.” That is, the advisors to the king. Most people were not allowed to see the king close up, but his close advisors were allowed to (Cp. Esther 1:14).

“present in the city.” The Hebrew text reads “found in the city,” but the use of “found” is idiomatic. The people were not necessarily hiding, they were still present in the city when the Babylonian officials came into the city.

“struck them down and put them to death.” This is written in such a way that there is no mistake as to what happened to these men. Nebuchadnezzar killed the leadership so that there would be no possibility of an organized rebellion (cp. Jer. 52:27).

“Riblah.” This is Riblah in Syria.

“Mizpah.” Thought to be the site about 8 miles north of Jerusalem in the tribal area of Benjamin.

“Do not be afraid to be servants of the Chaldeans.” The word “servants” is a noun (cp. Jer. 40:9. See also DBY; DRA; KJV; NET). This exhortation was important because the Jews were not supposed to be servants to a pagan king, but that seemed to be the necessity now because of their sin.

“It came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah.” There is a big jump in time between 2 Kings 25:26 and 25:27, about 25 years or so.

“Jehoiachin.” The Hebrew text reads “he,” but it seems to point to Jehoiachin. It would be the lesser king who would eat “before” or “in the presence of” the greater king, the king of Babylon.