2 Kings 25:1-10 - Exposition

LAST SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM . The open rebellion of Zedekiah was followed almost immediately by the advance into Judaea of a Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar in person, and the strict investment of the capital. We learn the circumstances of the siege from Jeremiah, in the prophecy which bears his name, and in the Book of Lamentations. It lasted one year and seven months, and was accompanied by a blockade so strict that the defenders were reduced to the last extremity, and, as in Samaria under Jehoram ( 2 Kings 6:29 ), and again in Jerusalem during the siege by Titus (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud.,' 6.3. § 4), mothers ate their children (see Lamentations 2:20 ; Lamentations 4:10 ). When resistance was no longer possible, Zedekiah, with his men-at-arms, attempted to escape by night, and fled eastward, but were overtaken and captured in the plain of Jericho ( Jeremiah 39:4 , Jeremiah 39:5 ). Meanwhile the city fell into the enemy's hands, and was treated with all the rigors of war. The temple, the royal palace, and the great houses of the rich men were first plundered and then delivered to the flames (verse 9). The walls of the city were broken down (verse 10), and the gates laid even with the ground ( Lamentations 2:9 ). A great massacre of the population took place in the streets ( Lamentations 2:3 , Lamentations 2:4 ).