He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war,.... The master-master-general of the army:
and seven men of them which were near the king's person which were found in the city; or, "saw the face of the king": or rather, "made to see [his] face" h; these were ministers of state, who were always at court, and assisted in councils of state, and introduced persons into the king's presence; in 2 Kings 25:19; they are said to be but "five"; but Josephus i has seven, as here; perhaps two of them were of less note, and so not reckoned, as Jarchi observes: some will have it, that the two scribes of the judges are left out; but others, more probably, Jeremiah and Baruch, who were first taken, and afterwards dismissed:
and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; or the scribe of the prince of the army, as the Targum; the general's secretary:
and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city: persons of prime note, who, upon the invasion, betook themselves from the country to the city of Jerusalem with their effects, and to defend it. Josephus k calls them rulers or governors.
h מראי פני המלך "ex videntibus facies, [vel] faciem regis", Montanus, Piscator; "de videre facientibus facies regis", Schmidt. i Antiqu. l. 10. c. 8. sect. 5. k Ibid.