So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. The siege continued about eighteen months; from the tenth day of the tenth month, in the ninth of Zedekiah's reign, to the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year of his reign; as follows: read more
So the city was besieged - It held out one year and six months. read more
The siege and capture of Jerusalem. I. GENERAL LESSONS OF THE SIEGE . 1 . God will perform his threats. The capture of Jerusalem had been long and frequently predicted. The accumulated prophecies were now fulfilled. 2 . Delay of judgment is no reason for expecting it to be permanently withheld. The fate of Jerusalem seemed to be long postponed. But at length it came. 3 . Previous immunity is no security for the future. The Jews fondly idolized Jerusalem as a... read more
Days whose duties are indelible. Note the particularity of the dates given in each of these verses. Not the year only, but the month; and not the month only, but the day; and sometimes not the day only, but the hour, whether morning or evening, during the light or dark. Now— I. THERE ARE SUCH DAYS . In the record of the Flood we have such exactness of date. And in the later history of Jerusalem, the story of its decline and fall under its last kings, we again and again, as in... read more
The march of doom. These verses tell of the awful progress of the judgment of God on the doomed city of Jerusalem, her king, and people. To all who imagine that God is too full of love and graciousness to sternly judge and punish men, the contemplation of the events told of here may be painful, but assuredly they will be salutary also. We are shown the Babylonian armies gathering round the city; the long and dreadful siege; the gaunt famine that fastens upon the besieged; the walls broken... read more
Jeremiah 52:1-11. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old The first three verses of this chapter are word for word the same with 2 Kings 24:18-20, where see the notes; and for the six following verses, see those on 2 Kings 25:1-6. Where he gave judgment upon him Namely, for rebelling against him when he had taken an oath of allegiance to him. Of Nebuchadnezzar’s slaying the sons of Zedekiah, putting out his eyes, binding him with chains, &c., see note on 2 Kings 25:7. read more
52:1-34 HISTORICAL APPENDIXThis appendix is similar to 2 Kings 24:18-25:30. The probable reason for its inclusion is to show how Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning Jerusalem’s last days were fulfilled.Judah’s king during its last tragic years was Zedekiah. He was a weak king, whose reign was characterized throughout by religious failure and political indecision. Finally, after years of uncertain plotting, he decided to rebel openly against his overlord Babylon (52:1-3). Nebuchadnezzar could be... read more
A. The fall of Jerusalem and the capture of Zedekiah 52:1-16This is one of four accounts of the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; Jeremiah 39:1-14). The repetition underlines the importance of the event. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 52:1-11
This narrative begins no higher than the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, though there were two captivities before, one in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the other in the first of Jeconiah; but probably it was drawn up by some of those that were carried away with Zedekiah, as a reproach to themselves for imagining that they should not go into captivity after their brethren, with which hopes they had long flattered themselves. We have here, 1. God's just displeasure against Judah and... read more