Nebuzaradan

Biblical Record

Nebuzaradan was the captain of the guard of Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. The captain of the guard was the commander of the royal bodyguard that protected the king. The Hebrew title is sometimes interpreted as originally meaning "chief of the slaughterers (or cooks)." His name appears in 2 Kings 25 and in chapters 39–41, 43, and 52 of the Book of Jeremiah.

According to 2 Kings 25:8-12, he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month of the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. He burned the house of the LORD, the king's house, and the great houses of the city, and the army under his command broke down the walls. He carried away the people who remained in the city but left the poorest of the land behind to tend the vineyards and fields. He also took away the bronze pillars and the vessels of the temple. He then brought Seraiah the chief priest and other leaders to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they were put to death (2 Kings 25:18-21).

The Book of Jeremiah records that, at the king's command, he released Jeremiah (Jeremiah 39:11-14; 40:1-6). He freed Jeremiah at Ramah, where the prophet was being led away bound in chains. In doing so, he stated that this calamity had come because the people had sinned against the LORD, and that the LORD had brought it to pass just as He had spoken. He then told Jeremiah that he was free either to go with him to Babylon or to remain, as he wished, and after giving him provisions and a gift, sent him to Gedaliah the governor. Jeremiah 52:30 also records that in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away another 745 Jews into captivity.

Significance in the Bible

In the account of the judgment the prophets had warned of coming to pass, Nebuzaradan appears as the one who carries it out. The scene in which a foreign official acknowledges God's judgment is read as showing that Jeremiah's prophecy had been fulfilled. The fifth month, in which the temple was burned, became a time of fasting and mourning for the people of Judah during the Babylonian exile (Zechariah 7:3-5). His name does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Issues

• Discrepancy in dates: The date of his arrival is given as the seventh day of the fifth month in 2 Kings 25:8 but as the tenth day in Jeremiah 52:12. Some interpret this as distinguishing the day of his arrival from the day the burning began, while others regard it as a variation that arose in the course of transmission.
• His words to Jeremiah: Many interpreters do not regard these words as a confession of faith on his part. They view them either as a political statement in which a conqueror explained his conquest by appealing to the will of the defeated nation's god, or as words recorded by the biblical writer to emphasize the fulfillment of prophecy. Differences among denominations on this point are not especially pronounced.
• The name and extrabiblical sources: The name is understood to render the Akkadian Nabû-zēr-iddin ("Nabu has given offspring"). A high-ranking official of the same name appears in a list of Babylonian court officials from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and some identify him with the biblical Nebuzaradan.
• Later traditions: The Jewish Talmud preserves a story that he repented after seeing the blood shed in the temple and converted to Judaism. This is a later tradition not found in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Nebuzaradan is not often treated as a subject in his own right. He is mentioned mainly in expository preaching on 2 Kings or Jeremiah, or in sermons and Bible studies that explain the fall of Judah and the capture of Jerusalem.