# Jeremiah 52 đź“–: Jerusalem Destroyed
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[[-Jeremiah Overview]] | [[Jeremiah 51]] | [[Lamentations 01]]
> [!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)
### The Fall of Jerusalem
[[#Verse 01.]] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.Â
[[#Verse 02.]] He did what displeased the Lord just as Jehoiakim had done.
[[#Verse 03.]] What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.Â
[[#Verse 04.]] 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 that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.Â
[[#Verse 05.]] The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year.Â
[[#Verse 06.]] By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food.Â
[[#Verse 07.]] They 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 that is near the king’s garden. (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the rift valley.Â
[[#Verse 08.]] But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there.Â
[[#Verse 10.]] The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah.Â
[[#Verse 11.]] He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains. Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.
[[#Verse 12.]] On the tenth 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 13.]] He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.Â
[[#Verse 14.]]Â The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.Â
[[#Verse 15.]] Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.Â
[[#Verse 16.]] But he left behind some of the poor and gave them fields and vineyards.
[[#Verse 17.]] The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” They took all the bronze to Babylon.Â
[[#Verse 18.]] They also took the pots, shovels, trimming shears, basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.Â
[[#Verse 19.]] The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels.Â
[[#Verse 20.]] The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands) was too heavy to be weighed.Â
[[#Verse 21.]] Each of the pillars was about 27 feet high, about 18 feet in circumference, three inches thick, and hollow.Â
[[#Verse 22.]] The bronze top of one pillar was about 7½ feet high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it.Â
[[#Verse 23.]]Â There were 96 pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were 100 pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.
[[#Verse 24.]]Â The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.Â
[[#Verse 25.]] From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city.Â
[[#Verse 26.]]Â Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.Â
[[#Verse 27.]] The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile away from its land.Â
[[#Verse 28.]] Here is the official record of the number of people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;Â
[[#Verse 29.]] in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;Â
[[#Verse 30.]] in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all, 4,600 people went into exile.
### Jehoiachin in Exile
[[#Verse 31.]] In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth 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 32.]] He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon.Â
[[#Verse 33.]] Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life.Â
[[#Verse 34.]]Â He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
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###### Verse 08.
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###### Verse 21.
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###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
###### Verse 30.
###### Verse 31.
###### Verse 32.
###### Verse 33.
###### Verse 34.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Jeremiah 52 is almost identical to 2 Kings 24:18-25:30.
2. Zedekiah was twenty-one when he began to reign and reigned eleven years (52:1).
3. Zedekiah's mother was Hamutal, daughter of a different Jeremiah from Libnah (52:1).
4. By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in Jerusalem was severe (52:6).
5. The temple was burned in the fifth month (52:12-13). Jewish tradition remembers its destruction on Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of the month of Av.
6. Each bronze pillar was eighteen cubits high, about 27 feet, and twelve cubits around (52:21).
7. The pillars had a hundred pomegranates around their capitals (52:23).
8. The chief priest Seraiah and the second priest Zephaniah were executed at Riblah (52:24-27).
9. The deportations listed in 52:28-30 total 4,600 people. These numbers likely count only adult men.
10. Evil-merodach (Amel-Marduk), son of Nebuchadnezzar, released Jehoiachin in the thirty-seventh year of his exile (52:31), around 561 BC.
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the Son of David through whom God kept His promise alive. Jeremiah ends with Jehoiachin, David's heir, released from prison and eating at the king's table (52:31-34), and his line leads to Jesus (Matthew 1:12-16).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. Jeremiah 52 records the fulfillment of everything Jeremiah warned about. How does this chapter strengthen your confidence in God's Word?
2. The temple's beautiful bronze furnishings were broken up and carried away (52:17-23). What do we learn when the things we treasure are lost?
3. The book ends with Jehoiachin freed and honored (52:31-34). Why is it significant that Jeremiah ends with a small sign of grace?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 3: Because of the Lord's anger, Jerusalem and Judah were cast from His presence.
- đź“– verse 13: The house of the Lord, the king's palace, and all the great houses were burned.
- đź“– verses 31-33: Jehoiachin is released from prison, given a seat above other kings, and eats at the king's table.
## đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đź”— [[Matthew 01#Verse 12.|Matthew 1:12-16]] - Jehoiachin's line leads to Jesus.
- đź”— [[2 Kings 25#Verse 27.|2 Kings 25:27-30]] - Jehoiachin released from prison.
- đź”— [[Luke 14#Verse 13.|Luke 14:13-15]] - Those invited to the king's table.
- đź”— [[Lamentations 03#Verse 22.|Lamentations 3:22-23]] - His mercies are new every morning.
- đź”— [[2 Samuel 09#Verse 07.|2 Samuel 9:7]] - Mephibosheth eats at the king's table.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[Jeremiah 52 - SOAP|Hope in Hard Times]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes