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| 1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built turrets against it round about. |
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Ninth year of his reign – This refers to the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, not the ninth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. |
| 2 And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. |
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| 3 On the ninth of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. |
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| 4 And the city was broken into; and all the men of war fled by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which leads to the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about); and they went the way toward the plain. |
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| 5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. |
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| 6 And they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon unto Riblah; and they pronounced judgment upon him, |
They took the king – As nearly as we can tell, it was the year 606 BC. R5564:2
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| 7 and slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, and carried him to Babylon. |
Carried him to Babylon – Fulfilling two very remarkable prophecies: That Zedekiah would be taken captive to Babylon and die there, yet never see the city (Ezek. 12:13); and, contrary to this, tee his eyes. (Jer. 32:4, Jer. 34:3) R2402:1; PD47/59
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| 8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the body-guard, servant of the king of Babylon, came unto Jerusalem; |
The seventh day – The 10th day, according to Jer. 52:12. HG105:2
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| 9 and he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and every great man's house he burned with fire. |
Burnt the house – Nebuchadnezzar utterly destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple with fire. PD48/59
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| 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the body-guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. |
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| 11 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. |
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| 12 But the captain of the body-guard left of the poor of the land for vinedressers and husbandmen. |
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| 13 And the brazen pillars that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the brass thereof to Babylon.
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To Babylon – Symbol of Babylon the Great. C120
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| 14 The cauldrons also and the shovels and the knives and the cups, and all the vessels of copper wherewith they ministered, they took away. |
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| 15 And the censers and the bowls, that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the body-guard took away. |
As were of gold – Symbolic of precious truths. C120
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| 16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah: for the brass of all these vessels there was no weight. |
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| 17 The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital upon it was brass, and the height of the capital three cubits; and the network and the pomegranates, upon the capital round about, all of brass: and similarly for the second pillar with the network. |
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| 18 And the captain of the body-guard took Seraiah the high priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. |
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| 19 And out of the city he took a chamberlain that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the host, who enrolled the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city. |
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| 20 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah; |
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| 21 and the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his land. |
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| 22 And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left behind, over them he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. |
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| 23 And all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, and they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. |
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| 24 And Gedaliah swore unto them and to their men, and said to them, Fear not to be servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. |
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| 25 And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. |
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| 26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. |
And all the people – Thus beginning the seventy years desolation. B52; R2402:1, R1372:5
Came to Egypt – Therefore, in reckoning the time to the desolation of the land, all periods up to the close of Zedekiah's reign should be counted in. B52; R3437:3, R1372:5
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| 27 And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; |
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| 28 and he spoke kindly to him, and set his seat above the seat of the kings that were with him in Babylon. |
Spake kindly to him – In spiritual Israel the unfaithful, like Jehoiachim, might be chastened and afterwards treated with leniency. R3623:3
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| 29 And he changed his prison garments; and he ate bread before him continually all the days of his life; |
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| 30 and his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life. |
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