# 2 Kings 25 đź“–: Jerusalem Falls to Babylon
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
[[#Verse 01.]] So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign.
[[#Verse 02.]] The city remained under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.Â
[[#Verse 03.]] By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food.Â
[[#Verse 04.]] The enemy broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls, which is near the king’s garden. (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the rift valley.Â
[[#Verse 05.]] But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with him in the rift valley plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him.Â
[[#Verse 06.]] They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where he passed sentence on him.Â
[[#Verse 07.]] Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.
### Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem
[[#Verse 08.]] On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.Â
[[#Verse 10.]]Â The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.Â
[[#Verse 11.]]Â Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.Â
[[#Verse 12.]] But he left behind some of the poor of the land and gave them fields and vineyards.
[[#Verse 13.]] The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called “The Sea.” They took the bronze to Babylon.Â
[[#Verse 14.]] They also took the pots, shovels, trimming shears, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.Â
[[#Verse 15.]] The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers and basins.Â
[[#Verse 16.]] The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple—including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands—was too heavy to be weighed.Â
[[#Verse 17.]] Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet high. The bronze top of one pillar was about 4½ feet high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.
[[#Verse 18.]]Â The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.Â
[[#Verse 19.]] From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens for military service, and sixty citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city.Â
[[#Verse 20.]]Â Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.Â
[[#Verse 21.]] The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So Judah was deported from its land.
### Gedaliah Appointed Governor
[[#Verse 22.]]Â Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people whom he allowed to remain in the land of Judah.Â
[[#Verse 23.]] All the officers of the Judahite army and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite.Â
[[#Verse 24.]] Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.”Â
[[#Verse 25.]] But in the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten of his men and murdered Gedaliah, as well as the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.Â
[[#Verse 26.]] Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, as well as the army officers, left for Egypt, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians might do.
### Jehoiachin in Babylon
[[#Verse 27.]] In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, King Evil Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.Â
[[#Verse 28.]] He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon.Â
[[#Verse 29.]] Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life.Â
[[#Verse 30.]]Â He was given daily provisions by the king for the rest of his life until the day he died.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
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###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
###### Verse 30.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Jerusalem fell in 586 BC (some date it to 587), after a siege of about eighteen months (25:1-4).
2. Zedekiah was captured in the plains of Jericho (25:5).
3. Zedekiah was blinded after watching his sons die and was taken to Babylon (25:7). Ezekiel had said he would be brought to Babylon but would not see it (Ezekiel 12:13).
4. The temple was burned in the fifth month (25:8-9). Jews still remember its destruction on the fast of Tisha B'Av.
5. The bronze pillars, each about twenty-seven feet tall (eighteen cubits), were broken up and carried away (25:13, 17). They had been named Jachin and Boaz (1 Kings 7:21).
6. Gedaliah, grandson of Shaphan, was appointed governor at Mizpah (25:22) and later assassinated (25:25).
7. The book of Lamentations mourns the fall of Jerusalem described in this chapter.
8. Jeremiah 52 tells the fall of Jerusalem in almost the same words.
9. Evil-Merodach (Amel-Marduk) was Nebuchadnezzar's son and ruled Babylon from about 562 to 560 BC (25:27).
10. Clay tablets found in Babylon list oil rations given to "Jehoiachin, king of Judah" and his sons, matching the allowance in 25:30.
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the hope that shines at the end of exile. Judah's story closes with David's heir lifted out of prison to eat at the king's table (25:27-30). In Jesus, the Son of David, God invites us to eat at His table in His kingdom (Luke 22:29-30).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. Jerusalem fell just as the prophets had warned (25:8-10). What does this teach about the seriousness of ignoring God's Word?
2. Zedekiah tried to run but could not escape (25:4-7). Why is running from God never a real solution?
3. The book ends with Jehoiachin released and given a seat at the king's table (25:27-30). Where do you need to see a small light of hope in a dark season?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 9: The Babylonians burn the Lord's temple, the palace, and the houses of Jerusalem.
- đź“– verse 21: Judah is taken into exile away from its land.
- đź“– verses 27-29: Jehoiachin is released from prison and eats at the king's table.
## đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đź”— [[Luke 22#Verse 29.|Luke 22:29-30]] - You will eat and drink at My table in My kingdom.
- đź”— [[2 Samuel 09#Verse 07.|2 Samuel 9:7]] - Mephibosheth eats at the king's table.
- đź”— [[Lamentations 03#Verse 22.|Lamentations 3:22-23]] - The Lord's mercies are new every morning.
- đź”— [[Jeremiah 29#Verse 10.|Jeremiah 29:10-11]] - God's plans for His people in exile.
- đź”— [[Jeremiah 52#Verse 31.|Jeremiah 52:31-34]] - Jehoiachin is released from prison.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[2 Kings 25 - SOAP|Flashlights in the Dark]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes