2 Kings 25:29

_AND CHANGED HIS PRISON GARMENTS: AND HE DID EAT BREAD CONTINUALLY BEFORE HIM ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE._ He did eat bread continually before him - i:e., according to an ancient usage in Eastern courts, had a seat at the royal table on great days, and had a stated provision granted him for the maintenance of his exiled court....

22-30 The king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah to be the governor and protector of the Jews left their land. But the things of their peace were so hidden from their eyes, that they knew not when they were well off. Ishmael basely slew him and all his friends, and, against the counsel of Jeremiah, the rest went to Egypt. Thus was a full end made of them by their own folly and disobedience; see Jeremiah chap. 40 to 45. Jehoiachin was released out of prison, where he had been kept 37 years. Let none say that they shall never see good again, because they have long seen little but evil: the most miserable know not what turn Providence may yet give to their affairs, nor what comforts they are reserved for, according to the days wherein they have been afflicted. Even in this world the Saviour brings a release from bondage to the distressed sinner who seeks him, bestowing foretastes of the pleasu...

Evil-merodach gave him garments befitting his rank. To dress a man suitably to his position was the first thought of an Oriental Genesis 41:42; Esther 8:15; Daniel 5:29; Luke 15:22. So again, Oriental kings regarded it as a part of their greatness to feed daily a vast multitude of persons at their courts (see 1 Kings 4:22). Of these, as here, a certain number had the special privilege of sitting actually at the royal board, while the others ate separately, generally at a lower level. See...

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 25:1 THE LAST SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. THE JEWS LED INTO CAPTIVITY. HISTORY OF THE REMNANT LEFT BEHIND. RELEASE FROM PRISON OF JEHOIACHIN. 2 KINGS 25:1 LAST SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM. The open rebellion of Zedekiah was followed almost immediately by the advance into J

2 Kings 25:27...

3. THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM AND JUDAH'S COMPLETE OVERTHROW CHAPTER 25 _ 1. The last siege and complete overthrow (2 Kings 25:1; 2 Chronicles 36:17)_ 2. Gedaliah (2 Kings 25:22) 3. Jehoiachin's captivity and release (2 Kings 25:27) Zedekiah's rebellion was a great offence. He had sworn in Jehovah's name to be loyal to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chronicles 36:13; Ezekiel 17:13). We find more light thrown u

JEHOIACHIN RESTORED TO HONOUR. Nebuchadrezzar succeeded his father 605 B.C., and reigned till 562 B.C. The first captivity took place thirty-seven years before Jehoiachin's release, or about 598 B.C. Evil-Merodach, the successor of Nebuchadrezzar, only reigned two years, till 560 B.C. There is no record of the year of Jehoiachin's death, and consequently of the earliest possible date of the Book of Kings in its present form....

DID EAT BREAD. He was. guest at the royal table, Compare 2 Samuel 19:33; 1 Kings 2:7. This chapter, compared with the last chapter of Jeremiah, points to his authorship. The (one) book of Kings brings the history of Israel and Judah down to the Captivity, and ends there. See the Structure, p. 413. The (one) book of Chronicles begins from Adam, and leads on from the Captivity to the book of Ezra-Nehemiah....

_And changed_[R.V. HE CHANGED] _his prison garments_ For the subject is Jehoiachin, not Evil-merodach. So R.V. omits -he" in the next clause. _did eat bread continually before him_ R.V. BEFORE HIM CONTINUALLY. i.e. He himself was a constant guest at the royal table....

C. THE RELEASE OF KING JEHOIACHIN 25:27-30 TRANSLATION (27) And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon in his accession year lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from the prison. (28) And he spoke kindly with him, and he put his throne above the kings which were with him in Babylon. (29) And he changed his prison garments, and did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. (30) And his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king day by day all the days of his life. COMMENTS The Book of Kings closes with an account of the release of King Jehoiachin who had been taken to Babylon in 597 B.C. Until the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Judah was kept in prison. But when the Great King died i...