TEXT [Commentary]

1. The fall of Jerusalem (24:20b–25:7)

20 These things happened because of the LORD’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile.

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

CHAPTER 25

1 So on January 15,[*] during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 2 Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.

3 By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,[*] the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 4 Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,[*] the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped[*] through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley.[*]

5 But the Babylonian[*] troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. 6 They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 7 They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.

NOTES

24:20b Zedekiah. The NLT (cf. NIV, NRSV), probably correctly (see the note on 24:20a), starts the new section here.

rebelled. Many commentators suggest that renewed interest in Egypt led Zedekiah’s advisors to urge him to break his oath of allegiance to Babylon (cf. Jer 27–28); the “triumphal progress” of Psammeticus II (Psamtek II, son of Neco) to “show the flag” in Philistia and in Phoenicia in 592 BC probably helped whet that curiosity (Cogan and Tadmor 1988:322-323; Kitchen 1996:407). Jeremiah himself resolutely counseled again and again against any such rebellion (e.g., in Jer 27:6 he labeled Nebuchadnezzar “Yahweh’s servant”). Several times Zedekiah asked Jeremiah for advice (Jer 21:1-10; 37:1-10, 17-21; 38:14-28; cf. Mariottini 2009c:971-972); but the weak-willed king, under much pressure from the court, eventually rejected Jeremiah’s unwavering pro-Babylonian perspective and, with a new, more aggressive pharaoh on the throne in 589 BC (Pharaoh Apries, also known as Hophra [cf. Jer 37:5; 44:30], son of Psammeticus), Zedekiah broke his covenant (or treaty) with Nebuchadnezzar and entered into alliance with Egypt, requesting horses and a large army (cf. Ezek 17:15). Nebuchadnezzar in turn marched into Judah, conquered the Judahite cities (except Lachish and Azekah [cf. Jer 34:7; also the so-called “Lachish letters,” which almost certainly date from this time; for their text, see e.g. ANET 321]), and put Jerusalem under siege. During a lull in the siege, probably due to the advance of the Egyptian army (reminiscent of Tirhakah’s role in Hezekiah’s time; see the note on 19:9), Zedekiah and some of the rich people in Judah infamously re-enslaved some Israelites whom they had previously emancipated, presumably to help fight against the Babylonians (cf. Jer 34:8-22). But the Egyptian appearance proved only to delay the inevitable (Jer 37:1-10; cf. ABD 3.286), and by the summer of 586 BC Jerusalem was firmly in Babylonian hands. Thus, in summary, much history has been subsumed under the laconic phrase found here, “Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.”

25:1 January 15. This assumes a date of 586 BC for the actual exile (the “eleventh year” of 25:2). Some scholars still prefer 587 BC, but the NLT does represent the majority consensus (cf. Cogan and Tadmor 1988:317; Barnes 1991:158 note v).

King Nebuchadnezzar. See the first note on 24:1 for details concerning this most significant Babylonian king.

25:3 famine. Sweeney (2007:466) calculates that the city had been under siege some 16 months, which at this point would have represented two lost harvest seasons.

25:4 a section of the city wall was broken down. Sweeney (2007:466) points out that it was probably the northern wall that was breached, inasmuch as the ground is more level there and susceptible to sappers (also see the first note on 14:13).

Babylonians. Concerning the translation of “Chaldean” as “Babylonian,” see Cogan and Tadmor 1988:306.

between the two walls behind the king’s garden. This was apparently a southern escape route near En-rogel Spring (cf. the first note on 1 Kgs 1:9 for its strategic location).

the Jordan Valley. Lit., “the Arabah” (cf. NLT mg); cf. the third note on 14:25. As Sweeney (2007:467) points out, the Deuteronomistic History thus brings Israel’s history “full circle,” beginning and ending “on the plains of Jericho” (25:5; cf. Josh 2–6; also cf. Joshua’s prophecy [Josh 6:26], fulfilled by Hiel of Bethel, who rebuilt the city of Jericho at the cost of two sons [see note on 1 Kgs 16:34]).

25:6 Riblah. See the second note on 23:33.

25:6-7 pronounced judgment . . . gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. This is not a trial, but an arraignment before a superior, during which the covenant violator is rebuked and faces punishment (Cogan and Tadmor 1988:317-318). A subtle, but perhaps intentional, parallel is to be found with Hiel of Bethel (see the fourth note on 25:4), who also saw two of his children die. Blinding was a common punishment for rebellious slaves in the ancient Near East (Cogan and Tadmor; cf. 1 Sam 11:2, also the longer text in the NLT found after 1 Sam 10:27).

COMMENTARY [Text]

With the death of Zedekiah’s sons, it surely seems that the end has come. No more children, no more hope. Still, the Deuteronomistic writer probably understood (and maybe even quietly approved of) the severe “justice” behind Nebuchadnezzar’s actions, even if they seem sadistic by modern standards. Alas, how much more sadly literal can it be that the “sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” (cf. the commentary on 14:1-22). The brutal truth is that when parents sin, their children often suffer (cf. the popular, sarcastic proverb about “sour grapes” cited by the contemporary prophets Jeremiah [Jer 31:29] and Ezekiel [Ezek 18:2]); how much more is this the case when the parents are in prominent positions of leadership. Thankfully, we now experience the “new covenant” of Jeremiah 31:31-40, where, at least theologically, circumstances have changed significantly (cf. Ezek 18:3-4, “The person who sins is the one who will die”).