Jeremiah 52

Historical Appendix: Fall of Jerusalem and Exile

¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign. He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

²He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

³For through the LORD’s anger this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

⁴In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.

⁵So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

⁶In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

⁷Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden. Now the Chaldeans were against the city all around. The men of war went toward the Arabah,

⁸but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

⁹Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment on him.

¹⁰The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. He also killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

¹¹He put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.

¹²Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem.

¹³He burned the LORD’s house, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire.

¹⁴All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.

¹⁵Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the rest of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

¹⁶But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vineyard keepers and farmers.

¹⁷The Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that were in the LORD’s house and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the LORD’s house in pieces, and carried all of their bronze to Babylon.

¹⁸They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered.

¹⁹The captain of the guard took away the cups, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the spoons, and the bowls; that which was of gold, as gold, and that which was of silver, as silver.

²⁰They took the two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made for the LORD’s house. The bronze of all these vessels was without weight.

²¹As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits encircled it; and its thickness was four fingers. It was hollow.

²²A capital of bronze was on it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. The second pillar also had the same, with pomegranates.

²³There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network all around.

²⁴The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold,

²⁵and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and seven men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the middle of the city.

²⁶Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

²⁷The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.

²⁸This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Jews;

²⁹in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons;

³⁰in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty-five people. All the people numbered four thousand six hundred.

³¹In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and released him from prison.

³²He spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,

³³and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life.

³⁴For his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

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Jeremiah 52 serves as a historical appendix documenting the final destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile. The chapter chronicles King Zedekiah's rebellion against Babylon, the brutal siege that followed, and his tragic fate of witnessing his sons' execution before being blinded and imprisoned. It concludes with detailed accounts of the temple's destruction, the deportation of survivors, and the elevation of Jehoiachin in Babylonian captivity, fulfilling the prophetic warnings that dominated Jeremiah's ministry.

Context

This historical appendix parallels 2 Kings 24-25 and provides concrete fulfillment of the judgment prophecies that dominated the preceding 51 chapters of Jeremiah.

Key Themes

Outline

1-3
Zedekiah's Reign and Rebellion Introduction to Judah's last king and his evil actions that provoked God's judgment
4-11
Siege and Fall of Jerusalem The brutal Babylonian siege, Jerusalem's breach, and Zedekiah's capture and punishment
12-23
Destruction of the Temple Systematic destruction of Jerusalem's walls, temple, and palaces with detailed inventory of plundered items
24-27
Execution of Leaders Nebuchadnezzar's execution of Jerusalem's remaining religious and civic leadership
28-30
Census of Deportations Statistical summary of the three waves of Babylonian deportations over multiple years
31-34
Jehoiachin's Release The former king's elevation from prison to honored status in Babylon after 37 years

Historical Appendix: Fall of Jerusalem and Exile

52:1–52:34

narrative narration solemn

Historical account of Jerusalem's fall, Zedekiah's capture and punishment, and the beginning of the Babylonian exile as divine judgment for the nation's rebellion.

person_contrast

Zedekiah's eleven-year reign receives detailed chronological treatment here despite his consistent disobedience, suggesting the narrator prioritizes historical completeness over moral evaluation.

Insight Character Study

Zedekiah's eleven-year reign receives detailed chronological treatment here despite his consistent disobedience, suggesting the narrator prioritizes historical completeness over moral evaluation.