2 Kings 25
2 Kings 25 is the twenty-fifth and final chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of recorded acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE; a supplement was added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, the fall of Jerusalem, the governorship of Gedaliah, and the release of Jehoiachin from prison in Babylon.
Text
This chapter was originally written in Biblical Hebrew. It is divided into 30 verses.Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.
Old Testament references
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Analysis
A parallel pattern of sequence is observed in the final sections of 2 Kings between 2 Kings 11-20 and 2 Kings 21-25, as follows:The fall of Jerusalem and exile of Judah (25:1–21)
King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon took the last of Solomon's accumulated masses of gold and silver as he burned Solomon's Temple, palace and much of the city of Jerusalem.The fall of Jerusalem parallels the fall of Samaria:
- Both cities were besieged three times, from two different enemies. Samaria was twice besieged by the Arameans and once by the Assyrians, whereas Jerusalem was besieged once by the Assyrians and twice by the Babylonians. Each city was ultimately destroyed in its third siege.
- The attacks happened after the kings of Israel and Judah revolted against powerful neighbouring regional states.
Verse 4
- Cross references: Jeremiah 39:4; Jeremiah 52:7; Ezekiel 12:12
- "The city was broken up": in Hebrew: "the city was breached".
- "The king’s garden": mentioned in Nehemiah 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the City of David, which is in the southern part of the city near the Tyropoeon Valley.
- "Plain" or "Arabah", the Jordan Valley; also called "the rift valley", extending northward of the Dead Sea past Galilee and southward to the Gulf of Aqaba, here the "plain" specifically refers to the southern part of the Jordan Valley, which has access to cross the Jordan River to Moab or Ammon.
Verse 7
- Cross references: Jeremiah 39:7; Jeremiah 52:11
- Huey notes the fulfillment of two prophecies in this verse:
- # Zedekiah would see the king of Babylon and then be taken to Babylon
- # Zedekiah would die in Babylon without being able to see that country
Verse [|8]
- "The fifth month, on seventh day": or the 7th of Av, was the start of the destruction of Jerusalem. According to the Talmud, the actual destruction of the First Temple built by King Solomon began on the [Tisha B'Av|Ninth of Av (month)|Av (Tisha B'Av)], and it continued to burn throughout the Tenth of Av. Gill interprets that Nebuzaradan departed from Riblah on the 7th and entered Jerusalem on the 10th. The Talmud reads:
- "Nebuzaradan" : mentioned in a Babylonian cuneiform inscription known as Nebuchadnezzar II's Prism.
Governorship of Gedaliah (25:22–26)
The aftermath of Jerusalem's defeat seemed to start promisingly, but ended disastrously when the Babylon-appointed governor, Gedaliah ben Ahikam ben Safan was killed by Ishmael ben Nethaniah ben Elishama of the royal family, causing the remaining inhabitants to flee to Egypt in fear of Babylonian reprisal.This passage probably is a summary of a more detailed report in Jeremiah 40–41.
Verse 25
The assassination of Gedaliah was commemorated in Fast of Gedalia, one of the fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem.Jehoiachin pardoned (25:27–30)
Shifting the view from the land of Judah and the community in Egypt to the situation in Babylonia, the books of Kings end with a sign of hope. King Jehoiachin who was in prison since his capture in 598 BCE was pardoned and received special honor from the king of Babylon. With this passage, the editors of the books wished to stress that the history of Davidic kingdom did not end with the fate of Zedekiah and his sons, but continue in Jehoiachin as a symbol of hope for freedom, a return to the homeland, and the restoration of the kingdom. The book of Ezekiel, written during the exile in Babylon, dated its prophecies according to Jehoiachin's regnal years. Among his sons and grandchildren, Zerubbabel emerged as a hopeful political figure after Babylon's decline. The conclusion of the book must have been written during the reign of Evil-Merodach, as it seems unaware of the Babylonian king's demise after only two years on throne.Verse 27
- "Seven and thirtieth year": This is 26 years after the destruction of Jerusalem. Jehoiachin would have been 55 years old when he was pardoned. Clay tablets discovered in the site of ancient Babylon provide information about the provision he received from the Babylonian administrators. According to Thiele's chronology, the date of Jehoiachin's release from prison was 2 April 561 BCE. Book of Jeremiah 52:31 records that Evil-Merodach ordered the release on the 25th day, but the physical release happened on the 27th.
Verse 30
In the parallel verse Jeremiah 52:34, there are words "until the day he died" before "all the days of his life".- "Rate": "ration", "portion", "provision" or "allowance". Tablets from the royal archives of Nebuchadnezzar II king of Babylon were unearthed in the ruins of Babylon near the Ishtar Gate that contain food rations paid to captives and craftsmen who lived in and around the city, and two of the tablets mentions "Ya’u-kīnu, king of the land of Yahudu", who is identified with Jeconiah, king of Judah, along with his five sons listed as royal princes.