2 Kings 25

This is the final chapter of 2 Kings. After Jehoiachin was carried into captivity in 2 Kings 24, Zedekiah became king and rebelled against Babylon; this chapter recounts the result of that rebellion: the destruction of Jerusalem.

Outline

• Verses 1–7 On the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem, and by the ninth day of the fourth month in the eleventh year, the food in the city is exhausted. The king flees by night but is captured in the plains of Jericho and brought to Riblah, where his sons are killed before his eyes; his eyes are then put out, and he is taken to Babylon.
• Verses 8–12 On the seventh day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, burns the temple, the royal palace, and the houses, breaks down the city walls, and carries the people away captive. Only the poorest of the land are left to farm.
• Verses 13–17 The two bronze pillars of the temple, the bases, the bronze sea, and various vessels are broken up or carried away.
• Verses 18–21 Leaders including Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest are executed at Riblah, and Judah is carried away from its land.
• Verses 22–26 Gedaliah, who governed the remaining people, is killed by Ishmael in the seventh month, and the people and the army captains, fearing the Chaldeans, go to Egypt.
• Verses 27–30 In the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin's captivity, Evil-merodach releases him from prison, gives him a seat of honor, and has him eat at the king's table for the rest of his life.

Key Verses

• 2 Kings 25:9 "And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house" — records the destruction of the first temple, built by Solomon.
• 2 Kings 25:21 "So Judah was carried away out of their land" — summarizes the end of the history of the kingdom of Judah.
• 2 Kings 25:27 "did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison" — the scene that closes the entire book.

People and Places

• Zedekiah: The last king of Judah.
• Nebuchadnezzar: King of Babylon.
• Nebuzaradan: The Babylonian captain of the guard who burned Jerusalem and carried the people away.
• Seraiah: The chief priest. He is named as an ancestor of Ezra in Ezra 7.
• Gedaliah: Son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan; appointed by Babylon to govern the land of Judah.
• Ishmael: Grandson of Elishama, of the royal line; the man who killed Gedaliah.
• Jehoiachin: King of Judah before Zedekiah, held captive in Babylon.
• Evil-merodach: King of Babylon who succeeded Nebuchadnezzar.
• Solomon: Mentioned as the king who made the bronze pillars and the bronze sea.
• Jerusalem, Jericho, Babylon, Egypt, Temple in Jerusalem
• Riblah: A place in the land of Hamath where the king of Babylon had his camp.
• Mizpah: Where Gedaliah resided.

Points for Reflection

• The content of this chapter is nearly identical to Jeremiah 52, and the same events also appear in Jeremiah 39–41 and 2 Chronicles 36. There are differences in details such as dates and numbers, and the height of the pillar capitals in verse 17 (three cubits) also differs from the account in 1 Kings 7.
• Depending on the scholar, the fall of Jerusalem is dated to either 587 or 586 BC.
• Some interpreters read the closing verses 27–30 as a hopeful note showing that the royal line of the Davidic covenant had not been cut off, while others read them as a sober ending that simply records the continuation of the captivity. Jehoiachin's name is reported to appear in ration records excavated in Babylon.
• The fasts of the fifth and seventh months mentioned in Zechariah 7 are commonly interpreted as commemorating the destruction of the temple and the death of Gedaliah.
• In the New Testament, the genealogy in Matthew 1 mentions Jechonias (Jehoiachin) and the time "they were carried away to Babylon," and continues the line through his descendant Zerubbabel.