2 Kings 25:9 - Exposition

And he burnt the house of the Lord. After it had stood, according to Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 2 Kings 10:8 . § 5), four hundred and seventy years six months and ten days. This calculation, however, seems to exceed the truth. Neither the Assyrians nor the Babylonians had any regard for the gods of other nations. They everywhere burnt the temples, plundered the shrines, and carried off the images as trophies of victory. In the temple of Jerusalem they would find no images except those of the two cherubim ( 1 Kings 6:23-28 ), which they probably took away with them. And the king's house (see 1 Kings 7:1 , 1 Kings 7:8-12 ; 2 Kings 11:16 ). The royal palace was, perhaps, almost as magnificent as the temple; and its destruction was almost as great a loss to art. It doubtless contained Solomon's throne of ivory ( 1 Kings 10:18 ), to which there was an ascent by six steps, with two sculptured lions on each step. And all the houses of Jerusalem. This statement is qualified by the words of the following clause, which show that only the houses of the princes and great men were purposely set on fire. Many of the remaining habitations may have perished in the conflagration, but some probably escaped, and were inhabited by "the poor of the land." And every great man's house burnt he with fire .