The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 52
Chapter LII · Vol. III, pp. 1300–1303
1 Zedekiah rebelleth. 4 Jerusalem is besieged and taken. 8 Zedekiah's sons killed, and his own eyes put out. 12 Nebuzar-adan burneth and spoileth the city. 24 He carrieth away the captives. 31 Evil-merodach advanceth Jehoiachin.
1 Zedekiah was aone and twenty years old when he began to reign;1 and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.2
B.C. cir. 599.
a 2 Ki.24.18. 2 Ch.36.11.
1 Heb. reigned.
* The first 27 verses of this chapter are in substance, and to a great extent also in language, identical with 2 Ki.xxiv.18-xxv.21. The two passages are no doubt only different versions of the same document, and were written by the same author. It has been questioned by many whether Jeremiah could have been the author, as the short remark which precedes appears to convey the idea that they were composed by another. It seems to me highly probable that as the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations were originally one, the Book of the Prophecies concluded with ch. li., and ch. lii. formed the historical introduction to the Lamentations.—P.
A.M. cir. 3405. B.C. cir. 599.
2 See note * in first column.
2 And bhe did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, caccording to all that Jehoiakim had done.
b 2 Ki.24.19. 2 Ch.36.12. 2 Sa.11.27.
c 2 Ki.23.37. ch.xxii. xxvi. xxxvi.
3 For dthrough the anger of the LORD3 it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that eZedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
d 2 Ki.24.4. 2 Ch.30.14-16. Ps.81.11,12. Ro.1.21. 2 Th.2.11,12.
3 Was God, then, the author of Zedekiah's revolt? No. But being angry with Zedekiah on account of his sin, he adjudged him to be given over to his own pride, impatience, and evil counsel; stimulated by which, he devised the revolt against which he had been prophetically warned; and thus far, and no farther, 'through the anger of the Lord,' he 'rebelled.'—C.
4 And it came to pass in the gninth year of his reign, in the htenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, iand pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.
B.C. cir. 590.
g 2 Ki.25.1. ch.39.1.
h Zec.8.19.
i Le.26.25. De.28.52-57. Is.42.24,25. ch.4.6; 6.3-6; 21.2,4; 25.9; 32.2,24. Eze.4.1-7.
5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
6 And in jthe fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, kthe famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.4
B.C. cir. 588.
j ch.39.2. 2 Ki.25.3. Zec.8.19.
k Le.26.25-27. De.28.52-57; 32.24. Is.3.1. Eze.5.10. ch.15.2; 19.9; 21.9.
4 The people who had fled from the country for refuge in the city.—C.
7 Then lthe 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.
l See ch.39.2-4. 2 Ki.25.4. ch.19.3,12,15; 21.4-6; 24.10; 4.29.
8 But the army of the Chaldeans npursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
n Is.30.16,17; 24.18. La.4.18,19. Eze.12.12-14. ch.21.7; 24.8,9; 32.4; 34.21; 37.17; 38.23; 39.5. Am.2.14,15; 9.1-4. Eze.17.15-21.
9 Then othey 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.
o ch.32.4,5.
10 Andp the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
p See ch.39.5. 2 Ki.25.7,18-21. Eze.11.7-11.
11 Then qhe put out the eyes of5 Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in 6chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison7 till the day of his death.
12 Now in the rfifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard,8 which served9 the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,1
r Zec.7.3-5; 8.19. 2 Ki.25.8,9. ver.29; ch.39.9
8 Heb. chief of the executioners or slaughtermen; or chief-marshal. And so ver.14,15. Da.2.14.
9 Heb. stood before.
1 In 2 Ki. 25. 8 Nebuzar-adan is said to have come to Jerusalem on 'the seventh,' here he is said to have come 'on the tenth day of the month.' How may these apparent contradictions be reconciled? Most easily. He came on the seventh, and continued collecting the spoil day after day, retiring, it may be, from the city at night, till the tenth, when he again 'came' back and burned both the temple and the city. The Jews still keep two fasts in memory of these calamities.—C.
13 Ands 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.
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.
15 Thent Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, 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.
A.M. cir. 3416. B.C. cir. 588.
t See on ch.39.9,10; 40.1,7.
16 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land,2 for vine-dressers3 and for husbandmen.
2 'The poor of the land' were the peasants who lived in the country villages and hamlets, and were accustomed to the cultivation and training of vines. 'The poor of the people' who were carried away to Babylon, as recorded in the preceding verse, were a different class; they were inhabitants of the city, people of idle and turbulent habits, who had been allowed to remain when the rich were taken captive, but were now removed lest they should prove dangerous.—P.
3 Among the causes tempting Nebuchadnezzar to invade and subjugate Judea, it is by no means improbable that a desire to obtain a vinous country may have predominated, as much as a desire to obtain ports and commerce on the Mediterranean. Such is the secret power of luxury—the deification of an appetite—over the temporal and eternal destinies of man, Phi.3.19.—C.
17 Alsou the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
u 2 Ki.25.13-17. Da.1.2. ch.27.19,22. 2 Ki.24.13, with 1 Ki.7.15-45,50. 2 Ch.4.2-16. Ex.27.3.
18 The caldrons also, and the shovels,4 and the snuffers, and the bowls,5 and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass, wherewith they ministered, took they away.
4 Or, instruments to remove the ashes.
5 Or, basons.
19 And the basons, and the fire-pans,6 and the bowls, and the caldrons, vand 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.
6 Or, censers.
20 Thex two pillars, one sea, and twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass7 of all these vessels was without weight.
x 1 Ki.7.41-45,47. 2 Ch.4.12-15,18. 2 Ki.25.16.
7 Heb. their brass, 1 Ki.7.47. 1 Ch.22.14.
21 And concerning the pillars, ythe height of one pillar was eighteen cubits[≈ 8.2 m · 27 ft]; and a fillet8 of twelve cubits[≈ 5.5 m · 18 ft] did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.
y 1 Ki.7.15. 2 Ki.25.17. 2 Ch.3.15-17.
8 Heb. thread.
22 And a achapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits[≈ 2.3 m · 7 ft 6 in],9 with net-work and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass: the second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.
9 1 Ki.7.16. 2 Ch.3.13. 2 Ki.25.17. It was five cubits, counting the net-work and pomegranates, and three without it.
a 2 Ch.3.15.
23 And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the net-work were an hundred1 round about.
24 Andb the captain of the guard took Seraiahc the chief priest, and dZephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:2
25 He took also out of the city an 3eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person,4 which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host,5 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.
3 Or, officer, 2 Ki.25.19. ch.34.19.
4 Heb. saw the face of the king, 2 Ki.25.19. Es.1.14.
5 Or, scribe of the captain of the host.
26 So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
27 Ande the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in gRiblah, in the land of Hamath. Thus hJudah was carried away captive out of his own land.
e 2 Ki.25.21. ch.6.13-15. Eze.11.1-11; 14.1-4; 22.23-31.
g ch.39.5. 2 Ki.23.33. 2 Sa.8.9. Nu.13.21; 34.11.
28 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away 6captive: iin the seventh year, three thousand Jews and three and twenty:7
* In this narrative Jeremiah gives an account of three minor deportations, not elsewhere mentioned in Scripture. But there were three others greater than these. The first in the 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 1. 3-6; the second in the 8th, 2 Ki. 24. 12; and the third in the 19th, 2 Ki. 25. 8; which are sufficiently distinguished from those in the 7th, 18th, and 23d years. This view is presented by Usher, and adopted by Blayney and Greenfield, &c. C.——Henderson reconciles the statements in this passage with those in Kings as follows:—'According to 2 Ki.24.14 the number of captives taken along with Jehoiachin amounted to 10,000, with which the statement here made, that the number was 3023, may be reconciled by comparing 2 Ki. 24. 16, where we are informed that 7000 of the 10,000 specified, ver.14, were military, leaving the sum total to be completed by the addition of the round number of 3000, which our author, giving the exact number of 3023, states to have been Jews, understanding thereby the inhabitants, exclusive of the soldiers. To the number of 4600, specified in ver. 30 before us, as the amount of those who had been taken captive at three different times, must be added the 7000 soldiers of 2 Ki. 24. 14, so that the whole will come to 11,600; and regarding these as full-grown men, if we take into account the women and children, the total estimate of those carried away to Babylon will be, according to the computation of Michaelis, about 50,000 individuals.'—P.
6 At the lesser captivities, ch.6.9.
i 2 Ki.24.1-3. ch.25.1.
7 See note * in first column.
29 Inj the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:8
30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons:9 all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
B.C. cir. 584.
9 ver.15; ch.41.2. On three other occasions many more were carried captive, viz. Da.1.1-3. 2 Ki.24.12; 25.11.
31 And kit 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, llifted up1 the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,
B.C. cir. 562.
l Ge.40.13,20; 41.20,31.
1 To what personal qualities or political circumstances Jehoiachin was indebted for this relaxation and favour, we are not informed. It is not even stated that he had repented, so that it might appear that 'when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him,' Pr.16.17. The fact seems rather to be historically recorded as a specimen of what is prophetically foretold of the favour which the Gentiles will yet feel and extend towards the Jews, and of that final exaltation of the spiritual throne of their King above all the kingdoms of this world.—C.
32 And spake kindly2 unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
2 Heb. good things.
Notes
Reflections.—How corrupt dignified persons, churches, and nations sometimes become! But God casts out none from his church or protection till they first cast off him. If sinners wilfully depart from him he gives them up to their own folly; and often nothing more is necessary for their destruction. Iniquity not only deserves, but hastens men's ruin upon them. And however sweet rebellion against God be at first, it is dreadful and bitter in its fruits. And the folly of parents often plunges their children into ruin. Divine ordinances, long abused, are removed at last. And external privileges, instead of excusing our sins, or exempting from miseries, become a grievous aggravation of both. Nor can our unbelief make void God's promises any more than his threatenings.—In this world all things are in a perpetual revolution; new kings, new laws, new conditions, new frames. And long nights of trouble often usher in joyful deliverances. Our times are all in God's hand, as well as the hearts of all men with whom we deal. And he can make our most wicked and infatuated oppressors to favour us whenever he sees meet.
Concluding Remarks on the Book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah, as a prophet, 'hated without a cause,' or simply for telling the truth, for denouncing sin and exhorting to holiness; and persecuted to bonds, imprisonment, and most probably to a cruel and ignominious death, may justly be regarded as an eminent type of Messiah in his prophetic office. Each typical person is one who has just a certain measure of the Spirit of Christ bestowed upon him—is placed in circumstances, to a certain extent, similar to those in which Messiah is to be placed—and consequently exhibits a certain measure of the temper and character which, 'in the fulness of the time,' Christ was intended to exhibit, of the work he was fitted to accomplish, and of the suffering he was destined to endure. In all these respects Jeremiah was eminently a type of Messiah, whose day and kingdom he so clearly foresaw; see especially ch. 23. 5, 6; 33. 14-18. In one point of view, the character and circumstances of their respective times, there seems, no doubt, a wide difference; yet the sensual idolatry of the days of Jeremiah was not more idolatrous than the self-righteousness and traditions of the days of Christ, that had made 'void the law of God,' and converted the proud Pharisees into worshippers of themselves. The opposition, ingratitude, hatred, and cruelty with which Jeremiah was treated by his countrymen, are striking similitudes of their subsequent treatment of Messiah. All these things, however, the Lord bore patiently, and prayed for the forgiveness of them that crucified him; and here Jeremiah has been supposed to have come short, and has been accused of an impatience and vehemence indicative of the spirit of a mere man, rather than of an inspired prophet. That neither Jeremiah nor any other has ever attained the full 'measure of the stature of Christ,' will readily be admitted; but that the accusations against him are unfounded, the offspring rather of a spurious sentimentalism, than of the 'charity that thinketh no evil,' it is hoped the previous notes have demonstrated. And while it is neither right, necessary, nor permissible, to defend, or even to palliate, an error in the servants of God; it is right, and an imperative duty, to defend them against every unfounded accusation. In all the other attributes of a type Jeremiah will be seen a striking image of his future Lord, and especially in the following points:—(1) In the spirit of self-sacrifice, when he prefers the companionship of his wretched and ungrateful kindred to all the splendour and respect so generously proffered at the court of Babylon. (2) In the grief of heart he was called to endure. How accurately does he therein resemble the 'Man of Sorrows,' when he longs to weep 'day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people!' (3) In the unshrinking boldness with which he denounced sin, and the affectionate earnestness with which he called sinners to repentance. (4) In the untiring energy with which, during a long and turbulent period, he continued to prosecute the work of his ministry; so that, like his Lord, he might well nigh say, 'The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.' All these, with other graces, combined to shadow out in the servant, what his Master would be at his appearing. And 'all these things happened for our ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come,' 1 Co. 10. 11.
As an internal evidence of the antiquity of the book, it is not unworthy of remark that the months are reckoned by numbers; first, second, &c., a mode which was not used after the captivity, for during the seventy years the Jews had learned, and afterwards continued to use, the Chaldaic names.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.