JEREMIAH
52
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2003 James Melough
52:1.
“Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of
Jeremiah of Libnah.”
Zedekaih was the
last king of Judah, his youth and inexperience probably accounting in part at
least for his folly which brought disaster upon himself and the nation.
There is no
readily apparent reason for the giving of his mother’s name, nor does the
meaning of her name father-in-law of dew, shed any light on the
matter. The “Jeremiah of Libnah” of course, is not Jeremiah the prophet.
52:2.
“And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that
Jehoiakim had done.”
Jehoiakim, a son
of Josiah, was the name given Eliakim as a mark of vassalage by the Egyptian
king Pharaoh Necho II, a detailed account of his (Jehoiakim’s) activity being
recorded in 2 Ki 23-24 and 2 Chr 36.
52:3.
“For through the anger
of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cst them out
from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.”
This may mean
that God ceased to restrain Zedekiah from rebellion against Babylon, or that
He actively moved him to rebel, neither of these implying His predestination
of the king’s activity. The truth is that God may order circumstances to
accomplish His Own perfect designs without over riding man’s freedom of
choice, but by His omniscience foreknowing the choices man will make in
response to circumstances. So was it here. He foreknew that with His
protecting restraint removed, Zedekiah would of his own free will choose to
rebel against king Nebuchadnezzar, and in doing so choose his own and Judah’s
destruction.
Man seals his
own doom when he resists the striving of the Holy Spirit to the point where
God causes that preserving activity to cease, as it is written, “My spirit
shall not always strive with man,” Ge 6:3, and again, “He, that being often
reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy,” Pr 29:1.
52:4.
“And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in
the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and
all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts
against it round about.”
The reign
referred to here was that of Zedekiah, not of Nebuchadnezzar; and the “forts”
were wooden towers from which the attackers could look into the besieged city,
and harass the inhabitants with missiles.
52:5.
“So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.”
The city was
besieged for over two years.
52:6.
“And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore
in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.”
With all their
food gone the people in the city faced death by starvation.
52:7.
“Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out
of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was
by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:)” and
they went by the way of the plain.”
“... the city
was broken up” is taken by some to mean that the people in the city broke a
hole in the wall, through which they fled across the plain in the direction of
Jericho. No explanation is given as to how they
were able to cross the lines of the encircling Babylonians. It may have been
that the besiegers, not anticipating such a flight, hadn’t bothered to
maintain a strict watch. Others understand it to mean that the Babylonians
had succeeded in entering the city.
52:8.
“But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zekediah
in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.”
This pursuit
probably took place in the morning when daylight revealed the hole in the
wall. The fugitives were quickly overtaken while Zedekiah’s soldiers
deserted, each man seeking to save his own life.
52:9.
“Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to
Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.”
This Riblah is
probably the town located a few miles east of the northern end of the Sea of
Galilee where the Babylonians may have set up their field headquarters.
“... gave
judgment upon him” means that Nebuchadnezzar went through at least the motions
of giving Zedekiah a trial.
52:10.
“And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew
also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.”
52:11.
“Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in
chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his
death.”
The meaning of
these verses is so clear as to need no explanation.
52:12.
“Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the
nineteenth year of Nebuchadressar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain
of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,”
According to 2
Ki 25:8 Nebuzaradan arrived in the city on the seventh day of the fifth month,
the apparent discrepancy being explained by the fact that he probably arrived
in the city on the seventh day, but didn’t begin its destruction util the
tenth day.
52:13.
“And burned the house of the Lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of
Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:”
Just a month
after the evacuation of the city described in verse 7, Nebuzaradan, captain of
Nebuchadnezzar’s bodyguard, or chief of the royal executioners, arrived to
organize the complete destruction of Jerusalem, which included the burning of
all the principal buildings of the city.
52:14.
“And all the army of
the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the
walls of Jerusalem round about.”
The burning was
followed by the demolition of the city walls.
52:15.
“Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the
poor of the people (of the city), and the residue of the people that remained
in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and
the rest of the multitude.”
52:16.
“But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land
for vinedressers and for husbandmen.”
With the
exception of some of the poor who were left as vinedressers and laborers, all
the rest of the people were taken captive to Babylon.
52:17.
“Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases,
and the brazen sea (the Laver) that was in the house of the Lord, the
Chaldeans, brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon”
52:18.
“The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the
spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they
away.”
52:19.
“And basons, and the fire-pans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the
candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold,
and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.”
“... that which
was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver” is understood by
some to mean that the gold and silver vessels were melted down and removed,
not as individual vessels, but as lumps of each precious metal. Others
understand it to mean that the gold vessels were of solid gold, and the
silver, of solid silver respectively
52:20.
“The two pillars, one sea (the Laver), and twelve brazen bulls that were under
the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord: the brass of
all these vessels was without weight.”
The twelve
brazen bulls were those upon whose backs the Laver rested, the total amount of
brass being so great that no attempt was made to weigh it.
52:21.
“And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and
a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereoF was four
fingers: it was hollow.”
The pillars were
hollow, each 27 feet high, 18 feet in circumference, and 3 inches thick.
52:22.
“And the chapiter (capital) of brass was upon it; and the height of one
chapiter was five cubits (71/2 feet), with network and pomegranates upon the
chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the
pomegranates were like unto these.”
52:23.
“And there were ninety
and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were
an hundred round about.”
Taylor
translates verse 23, “There were 96 pomegranates on the sides, and on the
network round about there were 100 more.”
It is generally
believed that this detailed record of the Temple furniture carried to Babylon
was preserved to vindicate Jeremiah’s words, and to refute those of the false
prophet Hananiah who had predicted that what had already been taken would be
returned again within two years, see 28:3.
52:24.
“And the captain of the guard took Seriah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the
second priest, and the three keepers of the door:”
52:25.
“He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of
war; and seven men of them that were near the king’s person, which were found
in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of
the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the
midst of the city.”
52:26.
“So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the
king of Babylon in Riblah.”
52:27.
“And the king of
Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath.
Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.”
52:28.
“This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh
year three thousand Jews and three and twenty.”
52:29.
“In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from
Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:”
52:30.
“In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of
the guard carried away captive of theJews seven hundred forty and five
persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.”
This concludes
the record of those additional Jews who were carried captive to Babylon in the
years following the initial mass deportation of the people of Jerusalem and
Judah.
52:31.
“And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of
Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day
of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his
reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth
out of prison.”
Evil-merodach
was the son of Nebuchadnezzar.
52:32.
“And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings
that wre with him in Babylon,”
52:33.
“And changed his prison garments; and he did continually eat bread before him
all the days of his life.”
52:34.
“And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of
Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his
life.”
This release of
Jehoiachin is generally taken to be an encourgement to the people to believe
that just as the foretold threatened judgments had come, so would also the
foretold future restoration and blessings.
[The End]