2 Kings 25:7

_AND THEY SLEW THE SONS OF ZEDEKIAH BEFORE HIS EYES, AND PUT OUT THE EYES OF ZEDEKIAH, AND BOUND HIM WITH FETTERS OF BRASS, AND CARRIED HIM TO BABYLON._ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THIS VERSE....

1-7 Jerusalem was so fortified, that it could not be taken till famine rendered the besieged unable to resist. In the prophecy and Lamentations of Jeremiah, we find more of this event; here it suffices to say, that the impiety and misery of the besieged were very great. At length the city was taken by storm. The king, his family, and his great men escaped in the night, by secret passages. But those deceive themselves who think to escape God's judgments, as much as those who think to brave them. By what befell Zedekiah, two prophecies, which seemed to contradict each other, were both fulfilled. Jeremiah prophesied that Zedekiah should be brought to Babylon, Jeremiah 32:5; Jeremiah 34:3; Ezekiel, that he should not see Babylon, Ez...

BEFORE HIS EYES - This refinement of cruelty seems to have especially shocked the Jews, whose manners were less barbarous than those of most Orientals. It is noted by Jeremiah in two places Jeremiah 39:6; Jeremiah 52:10. AND PUT OUT THE EYES OF ZEDEKIAH - Blinding has always been among the most common of secondary punishments in the East (compare Judges 16:2 l). The blinding of Zedekiah reconciled in a very remarkable way prophecies, apparently contradictory, which had been made concerning him. Jeremiah had prophesied distinctly that he would be carried to Babylon Jer

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 25:1...

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

2 Kings 24:18 to 2 Kings 25:7. ZEDEKIAH. DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLE AND CITY. This event is related more fully in Jeremiah. Zedekiah seems to have been well-meaning but weak, and inclined to favour Jeremiah when not hindered by his nobles. The siege of Jerusalem, which lasted nearly two years (2 Kings 25:1), is more fully related in Jeremiah 37:1 to Jeremiah 39:7. 2 Kings 24:6. and they gave judgement upon him: Zedekiah's offence was intriguing with Egypt and

THEY SLEW THE SONS OF ZEDEKIAH. Usually, in those days, the children were involved in the hapless fate of the father. They were slain before his eyes in order to add to the bitterness of his punishment. Pity was not. characteristic of an oriental monarch. AND PUT OUT THE EYES OF ZEDEKIAH. Not until he had seen his sons slain. Blinding was. common Eastern punishment. The Philistines blinded Sampson, an Assyrian sculpture represents Sargon blinding. prisoner, the Shahs of Persia, until. recent period, blinded their brothers, when they ascended the throne. Ezekiel declared (12:13) that Zedekiah should not "see" Babylon, and Jeremiah (32:5) declared that he should be carried there. Both predictions were fulfilled....

PUT OUT THE EYES. So that he did not "see" Babylon, though he was to die there (Ezekiel 12:13). But he did "see" the king of Babylon, according to Jeremiah 32:4; Jeremiah 34:3. See note on Genesis 19:11....

_slew the sons of Zedekiah_ This was done to prevent the rise of a new revolt under a successor. To do it in the sight of the father was to break down all his hope of any rightful successor taking his throne. The narrative in Jeremiah adds that Nebuchadnezzar -slew all the nobles of Judah". Not only was the royal family destroyed, but the men of power and influence were all extinguished. _put out the eyes of Zedekiah_ This punishment the Philistines inflicted on Samson (Judges 16:21) before they put him in the prison-house. The LXX. had this instance so much in mind that they say Zedekiah was put εἰς οἰκίαν μύλωνος. The deprivation of the eyes was not uncommon in the East as a punishment (cf. Herod. 2 Kings 7:18). It is very striking to put side by side the two prophecies concerning Zedekiah u