Jeremiah 52:1-34 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

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Bible Comments

An Account Of The Taking And Destruction Of Jerusalem Which Is Then Followed By The Part Restoration Of The Davidic King (Jeremiah 52:1-34).

In this narrative, which on the whole is a repetition of 2 Kings 24:18 to 2 Kings 25:30, there appear to be certain emphases:

· King Zedekiah, and the people with him, ‘did what was evil in the sight of YHWH'. This phrase always indicates participation in idolatry and gross disobedience to the covenant. It explains all that follows (Jeremiah 52:2).

· YHWH was angry and was determined to cast them out of His presence (Jeremiah 52:3).

· King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon arrived with his army, besieged Jerusalem, bringing the people to starvation level, and thereby took it (Jeremiah 52:4-6).

· King Zedekiah was taken, and was blinded, having witnessed the execution of his sons, along with other dignitaries, after which he was taken to Babylon and was kept in prison until he died (Jeremiah 52:9-11).

· YHWH's House was burned down, along with the palace and all the great houses of Jerusalem, and the walls of Jerusalem were broken down (Jeremiah 52:13-14).

· The cream of the people were carried off to Babylon, whilst the poorest of the land (who would have been much more numerous) were left to tend the land (Jeremiah 52:15-16).

· All that was valuable in the house of YHWH was carried off to Babylon (Jeremiah 52:17-23).

· A number of dignitaries were executed, and the cream of the people were then carried off to Babylon. This latter fact is emphasised by an enumeration of people taken to exile in Babylon in three main exiles, something not included in the account in 2 Kings (24-30).

· Jehoiachin, the true Davidic king of Judah, is released from prison and raised to a position of honour in Babylon (31-34).

It will be seen that in a number of ways this narrative emphasises the fulfilment of the prophecies of Jeremiah, and explains why it was all necessary. The House of YHWH had been dishonoured and tainted by idolatrous worship and therefore had to be destroyed (Jeremiah 7:2-15; Jeremiah 26:6), and then time had to be allowed while it lay in ruins for the taint of dishonour to evaporate (time is required for ‘sanctifying'. Compare how when a man washed himself he was not clean ‘until the evening' e.g. Leviticus 15:16-22; Numbers 19:8). King Zedekiah and his associates had to be punished for the evil that they had done. The cream of the people had to share in that punishment as they had shared in the dishonour. They too were to be removed from the land so that it could be purified. But through it all YHWH would not forget His people or the Davidic house, something indicated by the restoration of Jehoiachin, giving hope for the fulfilment of Jeremiah's prophecies concerning the Davidic house (Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 30:9; Jeremiah 33:15-21; etc.).

We have, of course, no way of knowing when this narrative was added to Jeremiah's prophecies but it would appear that it was done in order to stress, at least in part, their historical fulfilment. Nor do we know what its source (and the source of the passage in 2 Kings) was. Only that it was ‘prophetic'. The restoration of Jehoiachin indicates a date after that event, which took place in around 562 BC. It is possible that it was Jeremiah himself who added it in his old age, especially if, as Jewish tradition suggests, he authored the book of Kings. Others suggest Baruch under Jeremiah's guidance.

Related Commentaries of Jeremiah 52:1

Jeremiah 52:1-34

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.

2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

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.

5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

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.

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.

8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

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.

10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

11 Then he put outa 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.

12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captainb of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,

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:

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 Then Nebuzaradan 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.

16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

17 Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

18 The caldrons also, and the shovels,c and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

19 And the basons, and the firepans,d 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.

20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brasse of all these vessels was without weight.

21 And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a filletf of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.

22 And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.

23 And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.

24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:g

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 nearh 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.

26 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

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.

28 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:

29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:i

30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

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 Evilmerodach 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,

32 And spake kindlyj unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

33 And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.

34 And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, everyk day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.