seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jeremiah 52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.
Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 So 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 whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 5 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 7 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians[a] were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,[b] 8 but the Babylonian[c] army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 9 and he was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 10 There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. 11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.
12 On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 14 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen[d] and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 16 But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19 The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings—all that were made of pure gold or silver.
20 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 21 Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference[e]; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. 22 The bronze capital on top of one pillar was five cubits[f] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred.
24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. 25 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. 26 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.
So Judah went into captivity, away from her land. 28 This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:
in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,
832 people from Jerusalem;
30 in his twenty-third year,
745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.
There were 4,600 people in all.
31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 34 Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death.
a. Jeremiah 52:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 17
b. Jeremiah 52:7 Or the Jordan Valley
c. Jeremiah 52:8 Or Chaldean; also in verse 14
d. Jeremiah 52:15 Or the populace
e. Jeremiah 52:21 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference
f. Jeremiah 52:22 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
This ends the book of Jeremiah. The commentary in the easy English site tracked the people and dates better [IMHO].
Nebuchadnezzar had taken King Jehoiachin to Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah as ruler. Zedekiah's mother was Hamutal, from Libnah. Hamutal's father, Jeremiah, was not the same as Jeremiah, the prophet. Zedekiah was not suitable to be a king. He sinned against the LORD. He did not do what he had promised. He was not loyal to Nebuchadnezzar. He freed slaves. Then he allowed their owners to take back the slaves again. He did not prevent his officials when they tried to kill Jeremiah.
The Babylonian army began the siege of Jerusalem in January 588 BC. They continued until July 587 BC. July was the 4th month in the Babylonian year, which began in March or April. So the siege lasted for 18 months. It caused the people in Jerusalem to have great troubles.
Seriah was the grandson of Hilkiah, the high priest. Hilkiah had discovered the book of the law during Josiah's rule (2 Kings 22:8). Seriah was the grandfather of Joshua, son of Jehozadak (1 Chronicles 6:14). Joshua was high priest after the exile (Haggai 1:1). So Seriah's family continued after his death. Zephaniah was probably the priest who took messages to King Zedekiah . He read the letter to Jeremiah that Shemaiah sent from Babylon. The three men who guarded the doors were important priests. They were responsible for the security of the Temple.
Nebuzaradan took the most important officials in the government. He took 7 men who advised the king. He took the chief military officer. He took the secretary, who made people join the army. The 60 people might be people whom he had forced to join the army.
Nebuzaradan took all those prisoners to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Nebuchadnezzar would have ordered men to kill them all.
The record gives the number of prisoners that went into exile on three separate occasions.
1. 598 or 597 BC The 7th year of Nebuchadnezzar's rule. This was in the way that the Babylonians counted. The number 3,023 is different from that in 2 Kings 24:14, which says 10,000. This is possibly because 3,023 is the exact number of adult males. Probably 10,000 was a rough number that included everyone, families as well.
2. 587 or 586 BC The 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. This was in the way that the Babylonians counted. 832 is a much smaller number. But many people would have died when the enemy camped round the city, and in the final attack. And Nebuchadnezzar killed some people as a punishment.
3. 582 or 581 BC The 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar's rule. Nebuzaradan took 745 prisoners to Babylon. This may have been because they tried to oppose Babylon again. Or it may have been a late punishment because of the murder of Gedaliah.
The total of 4,600 seems small, even if it was only the adult males. But however small the number, those exiles would be the people from whom the LORD would build a new Israel.
The people who survived the siege..... the people who survived the months of forced marching..... the people who survived the king of Babylon..... the people who were left behind...... who survived the famine and the wild animals that would start to hunt the city when the humans were moved to Babylon...... those people would be held for 70 years..... [as long as my whole life].... in Babylon.... as slaves. Most of the people lost the memories of the old home.... those born in Babylon to the captives would never have seen Jerusalem. Jerusalem would sit...... 70 years.... with only the poorest of the poor, the least talented.... the unwanted.... to care for her. This book did not have a happy ending.So this ends the Book of Jeremiah. He spent years warning people for God. He spent years telling people God was tapping him on the shoulder with a message and the message was sorrowful. He kept warning the people to change their ways..... then he just kept warning the people about what was waiting for them.
Lament is a verb..... it means.... to mourn. Lament is also a noun.... it means.... a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. The next book is called Lamentations. It's going to be sad. Oh man..... and the holidays are coming up..... that should be pleasant. Oh well... the idea of reading the Bible from cover to cover was to get the complete story that might explain all the geopolitical stuff that is going on in the world today. The next book is going to be sad.... mournful.... but it's in the Bible.... so it must be a witness to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. 