Ezekiel 33:21

On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of the Jews’ exile, namely, on January 19, 585 B.C., word reached the exiles from refugees who had come from Jerusalem. [Note: Parker and Dubberstein, p. 28.] They announced that Jerusalem had fallen to Nebuchadnezzar. The siege of Jerusalem began on the tenth month, the tenth day, and the ninth year of King Zedekiah’s reign (2 Kings 25:1; 588 B.C.). The city fell on the fourth month, the ninth day, and the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign (2 Kings 25:2-7; 586 B.C.). Thus the siege lasted 18 months. The news of Jerusalem’s fall reached the exiles in Babylon about five months after the city fell in 586 B.C. According to one method of reckoning, it took 18 months for news of Jerusalem’s fall to reach the exiles, but it seems more probable that it took about five months, which was apparently the normal time it took to make this trip (cf. Ezra 7:6-9). [Note: See the commentators for a more detailed study of the problem.]