Jeremiah 39:4 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

It should seem that the city was taken by a surprise; the Chaldeans battering the walls incessantly with their rams and engines of war, on a sudden made such a breach as gave them a liberty to enter in. The king either heard of it, or possibly might be in some place where he might see it; then he begins to think of escaping, but for greater privacy stayeth till he had the covert of the night, and then goeth out towards the plains of Jericho, for there the Chaldeans overtook him, as we read in the next verse. He is said here to have gone by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls. It is very hard for us at this distance of time to pretend to any certainty in determining the way by which he made his escape. They seem to judge most probably that think that the king had prepared for himself a private passage out of his garden betwixt two walls, leading to the wall of the city, which they had before so weakened, as on a sudden they might dig it through. Possibly these particulars are the rather set down, to show us how God verified what he had revealed in this matter to the prophet Eze 12; where God set the prophet, Ezekiel 12:3, to prepare stuff for removing, and to remove by day in the sight of the people from his own place to another place; and, Ezekiel 12:4, to go out at even in their sight, as they that go out into captivity: Ezekiel 12:5, to dig through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby: Ezekiel 12:6, in their sight to bear it on his shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight; to cover his face, so as not to see the ground: and he told him, that in all this he was to be a sign; and, Ezekiel 12:10, tells him, this burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem (who was that Zedekiah). Ezekiel 12:12, And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to go out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.