Jeremiah 52:24

And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: SERAIAH THE CHIEF PRIEST - different from the Seraiah () son of Neraiah, who was sent to Babylon in the fourth year of Zedekiah, and who is described as "a quiet prince." Probably son of Azariah, sprung from Eleazar and Aaron (). ZEPHANIAH - son of Maaseiah (notes, ; )....

24-30 The leaders of the Jews caused them to err; but now they are, in particular, made monuments of Divine justice. Here is an account of two earlier captivities. This people often were wonders both of judgment and mercy....

Verse Jeremiah 52:24. _THE SECOND PRIEST_] 2 Kings 25:18. _THE THREE KEEPERS_] The priests who stood at the door to receive the offerings of the people, see 2 Kings 20:9; 2 Kings 23:4....

EXPOSITION The contents of this chapter prove that it is not an independent narrative, but the concluding part of a history of the kings of Judah. It agrees almost word for word with 2 Kings 24:18-12, from which we are justified in inferring that it is taken from the historical work which the editor of the Books of Kings closely followed. It is most improbable that Jeremiah was the author. Would the prophet have contented himself with the meagre statement that Zedekiah "did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord" (verse 2), or with such a summary description of the siege of Jerusalem? Apparently the editor who attached Jeremiah 52:1. as an appendix to the Book of Jeremiah omitted the account of Gedaliah (preserved in...

AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD TOOK SERAIAH THE CHIEF PRIEST,.... That is, out of the temple, where he was ministering, or fled for safety; this is supposed to be the father of Ezra, 1 Chronicles 6:14; AND ZEPHANIAH THE SECOND PRIEST: or deputy priest: the "sagan" of the priests, as the Targum calls him, who was deputed to minister for the high priest, in case anything happened which hindered him from officiating; such an one there always was in later times on the day of atonement, as appears from the Misna f; this man is thought to be the same with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, Jeremiah 21:1; AND THE THREE KEEPERS OF THE DOOR; that is, of the temple. The Targum calls them three "amarcalin"; who had, as Jarchi says, the keys of the court committed

CHAPTER S 50-51 BABYLON These two final Chapter s contain a great prophecy concerning Babylon, her overthrow and doom. The fifty-first chapter closes with the statement “thus far are the words of Jeremiah.” There is a direct statement that Jeremiah wrote all these words. We find it at the close of Jeremiah 51:59. “Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.” It would be a brazen infidelity which says Jeremiah did not write all these words. Yet the almost universally accepted view of the critics is that these Chapter s cannot be the work of Jeremiah. The German infidel, Professor Eichhorn, the man who coined the phrase “higher criticism,” started this denial; Kuenen, Budde and others have followed in his steps. Others have modified this radical view and concede the possibility that Jeremiah may have b

JEREMIAH 52. HISTORICAL APPENDIX. This is taken from 2 Kings 24:18 ff., and gives an account of the capture of Jerusalem, etc., in 586, _i.e._ of the fulfilment of Jeremiah's repeated declarations. Except for Jeremiah 52:28, this chapter has been taken, virtually verbatim, from its source, which should be consulted for the commentary (see _mgg.)._ The differences of text are of minor importance, _e.g._ the addition here of Jeremiah 52:10 b, and the last clause of Jeremiah 52:11, the reading tenth, for seventh (2 Kings 25:7)

SERAIAH. See 2 Kings 25:18; 1 Chronicles 6:14. Compare Jeremiah 51:59. DOOR. threshold....

Severities following upon the capture 12. From this to Jeremiah 52:23, a part of the narrative which has been summarized in Jeremiah 39:8-10, we find in almost verbal accord with 2 Kings 25:8-17. _in the fifth month_ See Zechariah 7:3 for the commemorative fast. _tenth_ 2 Kgs has _seventh_. We have no grounds whereby to decide between the two dates. _captain of the guard_ See on Jeremiah 39:9. _stood before_ See on...

II. EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM Jeremiah 52:24-34 A. The Execution of the Princes Jeremiah 52:24-27 TRANSLATION (24) And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold. (25) He also took from the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men who were personal advisers of the king who were found in the city, the secretary of the captain of the host who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. (26) And the king of Babylon smote them and had them killed at Riblah in the land of Hamath and deported Judah from upon his land. COMMENTS...