Jeremiah 52:17

THE TEMPLE WAS LOOTED AND TOTALLY DESTROYED

"The pillars of brass that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases and the brazen sea that were in the house of Jehovah, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon. The pots also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the basins and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered took they away. And the cups, and the firepans, and the basins, and the pots, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the bowls - that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver, - the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah - the brass of all these vessels was without weight. And as for the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow. And a capital of brass was upon it; and the height of one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of brass: and the second pillar also had like unto these, and pomegranates. And there were ninety and six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network round about."

"That which was of gold, in gold ... of silver, in silver" (Jeremiah 52:19). This means that all the vessels made of silver or gold were melted down and carried away as precious metal.

"The brass ... was without weight ..." (Jeremiah 52:20). It was simply too heavy, and there was too much of it to be weighed. There were no scales in that day adequate for such a task as weighing many tons of brass.

The significance of this paragraph is seen in the light of Jeremiah's words in Jeremiah 27:16-22. In that passage, Jeremiah specifically named many of the things mentioned here, stating that they would all indeed be carried to Babylon. Practically everything in this chapter has the utility of listing the events that fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecies to the letter.

"Ornaments of the brazen pillars (Jeremiah 52:23) are listed nowhere else in the Old Testament."[6]