2 Kings 25 - NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

25:4 through the gate between the two walls. As the city wall of Jerusalem was being breached (probably on the northern side), Zedekiah managed to escape by night with his troops through an exit in the southeastern wall that is probably to be identified with the Fountain Gate of Ne 3:15. The mention of “two walls” likely alludes to the old wall of the City of David and the new wall built in the eighth century BC in order to enclose the western hill and the Pool of Siloam. fled toward the Arabah. Zedekiah’s plan was to flee to the Arabah (the great rift valley of Palestine that runs from the Sea of Galilee to the Red Sea and forms the barrier between Israel and Transjordan), apparently by way of the Wadi Kelt in the vicinity of Jericho to Jerusalem’s northeast. The Babylonians overtook him near Jericho, however, on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (v. 5).

25:8 Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard. He may also be named as a high official of Nebuchadnezzar’s court on a prism found in Babylon and now located in Istanbul: “I ordered the following court officials in exercise of their duties to take up position in my official suite: as mašennu-officials, Nabuzeriddinam.”

25:9–11 set fire to the temple . . . the royal palace and all the houses . . . broke down the walls around Jerusalem . . . carried into exile the people. The systematic destruction of the city, including prominent buildings such as the temple, the palace and the city defenses, was overseen by Nebuzaradan, a Babylonian officer who also organized the deportations (and indeed the executions, vv. 18–21). Jer 52:28–30 counts the number of the exiles taken to Babylon from Jerusalem at this time as totaling 832 people in all. It was a sizable deportation of people important for the independent rule and prosperity of Judah, and it was designed to have a detrimental effect on the ability of the Judahites in the future to organize for rebellion.

25:23 Mizpah. The site that Gedaliah chose for his new administrative center was Mizpah (located at Tell en-Nasbeh, about eight miles [almost 13 kilometers] from Jerusalem on Judah’s northern border)—a significant fortress that appears to have escaped destruction in the course of the Babylonian campaign. Jer 41:4–6 may imply that it became not only Judah’s new capital, but also its new worship center, for these verses describe a pilgrimage in order to offer grain and frankincense at the “house of the Lord”—perhaps in Mizpah itself. Jaazaniah. Among the archaeological discoveries at Mizpah is an onyx seal dating from the sixth century BC and inscribed “belonging to Jaazaniah, servant of the king.” This may be the person named in this verse.

25:27 Awel-Marduk. Nebuchadnezzar’s son and successor, ruling 562–560 BC. He is known for virtually nothing other than his release of the Judahite king Jehoiachin from prison.

25:29–30 Jehoiachin . . . ate regularly at the king’s table . . . a regular allowance as long as he lived. Jehoahaz was exiled to Egypt and died there (23:34), while the fate of Zedekiah in Babylon is never made clear (v. 7). But news of Jehoiachin at the end of the books of Kings seems designed to foster hope that the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its people does not mean that there is no future for the Davidic line. One of the most interesting extra-Biblical texts that touch on the deportation of Judahites to Babylon is in fact an administrative document that lists rations for Jehoiachin and his sons, apparently in captivity in Babylon.