Jeremiah 52

REVIEW OF CHAPTER TWENTY

I. Facts to Master

The age of Zedekiah when he began to reign in Judah (Jeremiah 52:1).

The length of the final siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52:4-6).

Place where Zedekiah was captured by the Chaldeans (Jeremiah 52:8).

Place where Zedekiah came face to face with Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:9).

The fate of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 52:11).

The officer who actually carried out the orders to destroy Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52:12).

The various deportations listed in Jeremiah 52:28-30.

The total number of captives taken according to Jeremiah 52:30.

The name of the Chaldean king who released Jehoiachin from prison (Jeremiah 52:31).

II. Questions to Ponder

Was Jeremiah 52 written by Jeremiah himself or by someone else?

Why was this historical appendix placed at the end of the Book of Jeremiah?

How many deportations of Jews to Babylon took place?

Can you offer any suggestion as to why Nebuchadnezzar dealt so harshly with Zedekiah?

On what day did Nebuzaradan burn the Temple? (Jeremiah 52:12; cf. 2 Kings 25:8).

Why does Jeremiah 52 go into so much detail about the fate of the Temple furnishings?

What archaeological discovery has shed light on Jehoiachin’s imprisonment?

JEREMIAH, THE RELUCTANT PREACHER[432]

[**432] **A sermon preached in the chapel of the Cincinnati Bible Seminary, November 24, 1970.

By ROGER CHAMBERS

Did you read about the time Jeremiah quit the ministry? He did not quit like Paul’s associate minister Demas did. Whatever reason Demas gave to Paul when he left, Paul knew the real cause of the defection. It was because .. he loved this present world. Jeremiah did not quit like those pure spirits who find the local church beneath their rarefied natures and who righteously burn their collection of sermon books, file their ordination certificates under old business and go sell tombstones or teach English. (And become experts on the local ministry!)

Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in His name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I cannot contain. (Jeremiah 20:9).

Jeremiah quit the ministry in the way a genuine preacher might resign on Monday morning. (One preacher observed that he was glad that salvation does not depend on one’s feelings, because if it did and the Lord returned on Monday, half the preachers in town would be lost.) Jeremiah tried to quit on God, but could not, and so he continued his prophetic ministry reluctantly. His was the reluctance of Moses who tried to quit before he began because he stuttered. His was the reluctance of Amos who admitted that he had not been born to nor trained for the office of the prophet. He was born to pinch fruit and chase sheep. But he allowed that since he was in this work, he would have to preach it straight and preach it true. His was the reluctance of Paul who confessed to the Corinthians that when he had been in their pulpit it had been with .. weakness, fear, and much trembling.

Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. if I do this willingly I have a reward, but if against my will (reluctantly), I have a stewardship entrusted to me. (1 Corinthians 9:16-17).

The ministry is spiritual work. Reluctance is a proper attitude. The alternative is to become a smooth, polished, confident, professional which is the shame of heaven and the joy of hell.

I. JEREMIAH WAS RELUCTANT BECAUSE OF THE PRESUMPTION OF PREACHING

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou tamest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.. Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. (Jeremiah 1:4 ff).

That is exactly what we are, Jeremiah, children! The sheer presumption, the unmitigated gall of a man who stands up to speak for God! How dare we casually saunter into such a ministry! We ought not reproduce the foolishness of the well-intentioned but careless Uzzah who grasped the Ark of the Covenant as it was being transported to Jerusalem. It is an awesome thing to preach the Word of God. We ought to handle the Word with the same reluctance with which an engineer handles dynamite.

And if we accept the ministry of preaching, we ought to have enough fear to stick to that divine task. Preach the Word, said Paul to Timothy. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. How dare we continually bless the congregation with our opinions and thereby cease to be preachers in favor of being commentators. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Corinthians 2:4).

The professors here at the Seminary have waged holy war against the practice of preaching without proper grammar and vocabulary. This is good and needful. It is a real possibility that people can be turned away from the gospel and be lost because of dangling participles and double negatives. But we have raised up a generation of preachers who are so articulate that the people cannot find out if they are saved or lost because the preacher is wandering around in Webster’s Unabridged. We have got so many three-dollar words that there is no issue so clear that it is not thoroughly clouded by the time we get through talking about it. We baptize our doubts in pseudo-sanctified jargon and then labor under the impression that we have changed something when at best we have only redefined it. (For example, many prefer the term unchurched to lost. What in the world does unchurched mean?) There is no situation so bad but what we can make it respectable by a storm of words. Our doubletalk is like that inscribed on a tombstone in a western frontier cemetery:

TO LEM S. FRAME

Who during his life shot 89 Indians, Whom the Lord delivered into his hands, And who was looking forward to making up His hundred before the end of the year, When he fell asleep in Jesus at his house At Hawk’s Ferry

March 27, 1843.

We need more than conversation, we need conversion! God promised Jeremiah that He would put His own words in the prophet’s mouth. Have you read lately the burning, direct, clinical, scathing language of Jeremiah? He was preaching desolation and misery and judgment while the certified prophets of his day were shouting peace, peace, peace. I can picture the professional clergy remonstrating with the prophet for his cutting oratory and devastating condemnations:

Enter the President of the SHALOM LEAGUE OF PROPHETS (S.L.O.P,).

President: Brother Jeremiah, should not the clergy be more careful in using the term, -Thus saith the Lord-’? Jeremiah: What do you think I am preaching, The Farmer’s Almanac?

President: But to suggest that God would say that everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife like corn-fed horses seems to malign the dignity of God. Jeremiah: I see you got the message! President: But the sight of a prophet running up and down the streets of Jerusalem saying that if he could find one honest man God would pardon the city looks bad to visitors from the outside. Jeremiah: By the way, if you see one, send him my way. My feet are killing me. President: But preacher, the people come to the temple for a restful dignified worship experience, and you tell them of God’s anger, they want a more positive message. Jeremiah: You can catch Rabbi Norman Vincent Peale at 3:00 P.M. on channel 7. President: NOW Jeremiah, about this word -repent.-’ I would be more comfortable using a phrase like: -Restudy your value systems-’. Jeremiah: Then you need to repent! President: But Sir, to describe Judah as a nation pursuing idols as a camel in heat pursues a mate is language unbefitting a gentleman and a scholar. Jeremiah: Funny you should say that. I told God he ought to get a gentleman and a scholar for this job, but he wanted me.

Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD: and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29).

For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).

The Word of God burns and shatters and exposes and meets man as he is in his most secret hideaway, and nothing eke will do that! So let us preach the Word! Let us stop feeding our people warmed-over Baptist pulpit pablum!

Let us not depend on the power of dynamics and Church factors to get the job done. Every preacher ought to be aware of those principles which lend themselves to a growing program. But do we not know that if we use the methods which touch universal human nature we can program people into the local congregation while we preach Mother Goose Rhymes? The sects are doing just that while preaching messages which make Old Mother Hubbard sound pretty good. If we do not preach the Word as it is, folk are not going to ask the right questions, face the real issues, and make the right kind of changes in their lives. When Jeremiah got through with his sermons, he was not very popular, but everyone had a pretty good idea of what he was getting at. Let us have done with this babel which produces a climate in which we cannot tell the difference between denominations and the Lord’s Church.

II. JEREMIAH WAS RELUCTANT BECAUSE OF THE PERIL OF PREACHING

What a scene as Jehoiakim sits in the winter palace cutting up Jeremiah’s written prophecy piece by piece and throws it in the fire. And there is Jeremiah up to his knees in mud in that dungeon where one would not put a dog. Picture the prophet as he waits out the last days of Jerusalem in the local jail. We have all thrown a few of our own sermons in the fire after we have preached them lest the Lord return and find us with the incriminating evidence. But in the main our preaching is pretty respectable. And that is just the peril of the preaching ministry, respectability! This is not to say that we ought not to be competent. Our preaching must be respectable in the sense of demonstrating the careful effort befitting a disciple of Jesus. I have preached some sermons so bad that it seems a miracle that the people could sit through them and come out the other side still believing in God. We all have our bad ones. But we do not have to be like the hen that swallowed the yo-yo and laid the same egg twenty times. The truth is never respectable in a world dominated by lies, and Christ is never respectable in a world under the influence of the spirit of anti-christ. The people were divided over Jeremiah’s preaching. Some hated his roes. sage, the rest hated him. The day of mercy is too far spent for us to be contented with anemic preaching from bloodless little Lord Fauntleroys who mean well. If our preaching produces neither positive nor negative reaction, then we can be sure it is not God’s Word that we are speaking. (The comment was heard from one pulpit, If I preached this sermon in Russia, I would be shot for it. Still, it would be nice to get some reaction.)

God save us from the harmless respectability of much modern preaching!

III. JEREMIAH WAS RELUCTANT BECAUSE OF THE PASSION OF PREACHING

My heart! My heart! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me. I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. (Jeremiah 4:19).

The prophet’s heart was broken by the scene of the destruction of Jerusalem which was to be so complete that it would be like creation in reverse. In the last few months of its operation, an average of 6,000 Jews a day were gassed at Auschwitz. The crematoria were unable to keep pace in reducing this daily number of corpses to ashes, and so pyres of a thousand corpses each were ignited in the open. The flames and smoke were visible for eighteen miles. A pall of smoke with the smell of burning flesh hung heavily over Auschwitz and drew swarms of flies! A microcosm of hell! How can we casually approach the task of preaching if we-’re really haunted by the prospect of uncounted millions being in hell for eternity?! We ought to approach the preaching ministry reluctantly because the heart from which all true preaching comes is a broken one. I am concerned about the rising sentiment that says that the gospel is a groovy thing, Christianity is fun. Jesus swings. Turn on with Christ. I am for enthusiasm and the joy that is in Christ. But let us not confuse the smiling-through-tears of Christianity with the painless giggle of the world. And what about the cross? And what about the lost? There is no greater contradiction under heaven than the preacher or the seminary student who is committed only to being cool. It is all right for Bill Cosby, but it is wrong for a Christian. The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. Jeremiah tried to quit that task which seems too great for any man. But despite the PRESUMPTION of preaching and the PERIL of preaching, the Word was still a fire shut up in his bones, and he went on because of the PASSION of preaching. Preach the Word!

Jeremiah 52:1-11

CHAPTER TWENTY

AN HISTORICAL APPENDIX

Jeremiah 52:1-34

Chapter 51 closes with an editorial note: Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. Whoever was responsible for appending chapter 52 to the book must have added these words so as to carefully distinguish between his own contribution and that of the great prophet. Just who the author of Jeremiah 52 was nobody knows. Some have tried to argue that Jeremiah himself was the author even though the note at the end of chapter 51 seems to clearly imply the contrary. The argument for the Jeremian authorship of the chapter is basically this: Jeremiah 52 was taken from the Book of Kings and appended to the book of the prophet. Since Jeremiah is said in Jewish tradition to have been the author of Kings he must also be the author of Jeremiah 52. But this argument assumes that the Jewish tradition which attributes the Book of Kings to Jeremiah is reliable. It further assumes that Jeremiah 52 was in fact borrowed from Kings. Finally the argument for the Jeremian authorship of this chapter ignores the plain implication of the editorial comment at the end of chapter 51. The most likely candidate for the authorship of Jeremiah 52 is Baruch the faithful secretary of Jeremiah. He, no doubt, was the one responsible for putting the Book of Jeremiah together and he it was in all probability who added chapter 52.

But why would Baruch add this historical appendix to the Book of Jeremiah? After all, the prophet himself is not mentioned a single time in the chapter, and most of the material can be found in the Book of Kings and, in an abridged form, in Jeremiah 39. Baruch probably had a two-fold purpose in this appendix. First, this chapter describes in detail the fall of Jerusalem, the event which vindicated the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah. What a fitting conclusion, to allow the facts of history to bear witness to the truth of the prophetic word. Second, Baruch wished to call attention to the release of Jehoiachin (Jeremiah 52:31-34) which gave promise that after the midnight tragedy of judgment a brighter day was beginning to dawna day which Jeremiah had foreseen and described in such grand style. Jeremiah 52, then, proclaims that God’s word of judgment has been fulfilled; His word of promise must surely follow.

1. THE FALL OF JERUSALEM Jeremiah 52:1-23

A. The Reign of Zedekiah Jeremiah 52:1-11

TRANSLATION

(1) Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign and he ruled over Jerusalem for eleven years. The name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. (2) And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD just as Jehoiakim had done. (3) For because of the anger of the LORD this condition continued to be in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. (4) And it came to pass in the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, he and all his army, came against Jerusalem and encamped against her and built siege-works against her on every side. (5) And the city was under siege until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. (6) In the ninth day of the fourth month famine gripped the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. (7) The city was breached and the men of war fled going out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the walls which lies beside the garden of the king (the Chaldeans were all around the city) and went off in the direction of the Arabah. (8) But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, all his army having been scattered from him. (9) And they took the king and brought him unto the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath who then pronounced sentence over him. (10) The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also slew all the princes of Judah at Riblah. (11) And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, took him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day if his death.

COMMENTS

Zedekiah was but twenty-one years old when he came to the throne of his country as the vassal of a foreign king (Jeremiah 52:1). Religiously he followed the same course that his brother Jehoiakim had followed in that he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord (Jeremiah 52:2). Abundant evidence exists within the Book of Jeremiah to substantiate this general charge against Zedekiah (cf. Jeremiah 37:2-3; Jeremiah 38:5; Jeremiah 38:24 etc.). A prophet of God with divine counsel was available to him, yet Zedekiah refused to submit to the program of God. Jeremiah advised submission to Babylon; Zedekiah plotted rebellion. Throughout his reign Zedekiah refused to give heed to the word of God. Because the political leaders and populace of Jerusalem repudiated the will of God, the Lord was angry with His people and saw to it that they were cast out of His presence (Jeremiah 52:3 a).

Yielding to the advice and pressure of his youthful advisers, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:3 b). Jeremiah 27 tells of his attempted conspiracy with neighboring nations. Zedekiah’s disastrous policy was apparently built on the false premise that the Lord would intervene and save Jerusalem as He had previously done in the reign of Hezekiah (cf. Jeremiah 21:2). How presumptuous for men to expect God to work miracles when they are not willing to submit themselves to His will! Nebuchadnezzar was not long in bringing his forces to punish the rebellious vassal. The tenth day of the tenth month became a date of infamy in the history of Judah (Jeremiah 52:4). For almost seventy years the Jews took note of that sad occasion by fasting (cf. Zechariah 8:19). Jerusalem withstood the Chaldean siege for eighteen months (Jeremiah 52:5). The sacred writer has shown amazing reserve[425] as he describes those last agonizing weeks: the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land (Jeremiah 52:6).

[425] The pathetic plight of the people is recorded in more detail in the Book of Lamentations (Lamentations 1:19-20; Lamentations 2:11-12; Lamentations 2:20; Lamentations 4:9-10).

In the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year (July 587 B.C.) the Chaldeans were successful in making a breach in the walls of the city. This day too for years was commemorated by a fast (see Zechariah 8:19). Zedekiah and the remnants of his army attempted to flee by night, thus unwittingly fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 12:12). The king and his men fled in the direction of the Arabah, the lowland region through which the river Jordan flows (Jeremiah 52:7). Perhaps they were attempting to escape across the Jordan to some friendly neighboring nation. When the Chaldeans caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho the bodyguard of the king deserted him; it was every man for himself (Jeremiah 52:8).

The Chaldeans dealt ruthlessly with Zedekiah. After his capture near Jericho, Zedekiah was taken some two hundred miles north to Riblah where he was brought face to face with the Great King to whom he had sworn allegiance eleven years earlier. There Nebuchadnezzar pronounced judgment upon his faithless vassal (Jeremiah 52:9). At the time a vassal treaty between two kings was ratified the vassal would pronounce horrible maledictions upon himself should he be unfaithful to his treaty obligations. It may well be that Nebuchadnezzar now read those maledictions to Zedekiah. If that be the case then Zedekiah pronounced judgment upon himself. Be that as it may the judgment upon king Zedekiah is one of the saddest recorded in the Bible. First he witnessed the execution of his own sons and also some of the princes of the land (Jeremiah 52:10). That turned out to be the last sight he saw, for Nebuchadnezzar had his eyes put out. Finally, he lost his freedom; he was carried to Babylon where he remained in prison until the day of his death (Jeremiah 52:11). Bitter are the consequences for that soul who neglects the will of the Almighty!

Jeremiah 52:12-16

B. The Destruction of Jerusalem Jeremiah 52:12-16

TRANSLATION

(12) In the tenth day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. (13) And he burned the house of the LORD and the house of the king; and all the houses of Jerusalem and every great house he burnt with fire. (14) And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. (15) Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, and the deserters who had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. (16) But Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and laborers.

COMMENTS

The account of the destruction of Jerusalem, already summarized in Jeremiah 39:8-10, is almost identical with 2 Kings 25:8-17. After the city of Jerusalem fell to the Chaldeans the soldiers awaited further instructions concerning the fate of the city. A month after the successful breaching of the walls, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard[426] arrived from Riblah with the orders of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:12). The English text of Kings and Jeremiah seems to present a contradiction as to the date that Nebuzaradan arrived at Jerusalem. According to the former account he arrived on the seventh day of the month while in the present narrative it is the tenth day of the month (cf. 2 Kings 25:8). The simpliest solution is that Nebuzaradan arrived at Jerusalem on the seventh day and for some unexplained reason did not enter Jerusalem until the tenth day of the month.[427] Nebuzaradan’s orders were to destroy Jerusalem and prepare its inhabitants for deportation to Babylon. The entire city including the Temple area was put to the torch (Jeremiah 52:13) and the walls were razed (Jeremiah 52:14). Both Psalms (Psalms 74:6-7) and Lamentations (Jeremiah 2:7-9) provide vivid poetic descriptions of this destruction. Those who had deserted to the Chaldeans during the siege, and the rest of the multitude (i.e., the country people)[428] were prepared for the long trip to Babylon (Jeremiah 52:15). Only the very poorest people were left in the land to serve as vinedressers and husbandmen (Jeremiah 52:16).

[426] On the title of Nebuzaradan see note on Jeremiah 39:9.

[427] In the Hebrew the word Jerusalem has no preposition attached to it in 2 Kings 25:8 but has the preposition beth in Jeremiah 62:12.

[428] Some prefer to translate the Hebrew word as artisans. In the light of the parallel passage 2 Kings 25:11 multitude is the best translation

Jeremiah 52:17-23

C. The Plunder of the Temple Jeremiah 52:17-23

TRANSLATION

(17) As for the bronze pillars which belonged to the house of the LORD, the bases, the bronze sea which was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans smashed them and carried away all the bronze to Babylon. (18) They also took with them the pots, shovels, snuffers, sprinkling bowls, forks and all the bronze utensils used in the service. (19) The captain of the guard took away the small bowls, the firepans, basins, the pots, lampstands, the incense bowls, the libation bowlsboth the ones that were of gold and the ones of silver. (20) As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve oxen of bronze which were under the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of the LORDthe bronze of all these vessels could not be measured. (21) As for the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, twelve cubits in circumference, and their thickness was four fingers (it was hollow). (22) Upon it was a bronze capital five cubits high; and all around the capital was a latticework with pomegranates, all of bronze. The second pillar also had similar decorations and pomegranates. (23) And there were ninety-six promeranates on the sides. In all there were a hundred pomegranates upon the latticework.

COMMENTS

The description of the fate of the Temple furniture is much fuller here than in the parallel passage in 2 Kings 25:13-17. In order to facilitate transportation, the larger items of Temple furniturethe brazen pillars, the bases and the seawere broken up (Jeremiah 52:17). The two eighteen cubit bronze pillars stood immediately in front of the Temple proper. When they were set in place back in the days of Solomon they were given names. One was called Jachin (He shall establish); the other Boaz (In it is strength). See 1 Kings 7:13-22. Just what purpose these pillars served is still debated. The bases were the supports of the ten portable lavers at which animals about to be offered as burnt-offerings were washed (1 Kings 7:27-37), The brazen sea was a huge laver at which the priests washed their hands and feet before offering sacrifice (1 Kings 7:23-26).

The smaller Temple vessels of brass, gold and silver were transported to Babylon where they became trophies of victory in the temples of the gods. In Jeremiah 52:18 the objects of brass are enumerated. The pots and the shovels were used in the Temple for carrying away the ashes after sacrifice. The basins were probably used in the sprinkling of the sacrificial blood (cf. Exodus 27:3; Exodus 38:3; Numbers 4:14). The spoons were incense-cups (cf. Numbers 7:14). The word translated snuffers is of uncertain meaning. In Jeremiah 52:19 the vessels of gold and silver are enumerated. The pots, basins and spoons (incense cups) are mentioned a second time in this verse simply because such utensils were made of gold and silver as well as brass. Of the new items mentioned in Jeremiah 52:19 the function of the cup is unknown. The firepan was used for transporting hot coals. Ten candlesticks or lampstands illuminated the interior of the Temple (1 Kings 7:49). The bowls of Jer 52:19 were connected with the table of showbread and were probably used for libations (Exodus 25:29; Exodus 37:16; Numbers 4:7). Now a problem arises with regard to the golden vessels. According to 2 Kings 24:13 all the vessels of gold were carried off to Babylon in 597 B.C. How then can it be said that the golden vessels were carried away by Nebuzaradan some ten years later? It is possible, of course, that the golden vessels were replaced after the deportation of 597 B.C. More likely, however, only the most valuable vessels were removed in 597 B.C. The golden vessels of less value were left in the Temple along with the silver utensils to await the plunder of 587 B.C.

The total amount of the brass carried away by the Chaldeans was so great that it seemed to merit the special emphasis given to it in Jeremiah 52:20. The mention of the twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases presents a two-fold difficulty for the Bible student. In the Book of Kings the bases were under the lavers, while the bulls supported the molten sea (1 Kings 7:25; 1 Kings 7:43). Furthermore, it is stated in 2 Kings 16:17 that Ahaz had already taken away the twelve bulls and sent them as tribute to Assyria more than a century earlier (2 Kings 16:17). The second difficulty is easier to cope with than the first. It is entirely possible and even likely that the twelve bulls had been replaced since the days of wicked king Ahaz, perhaps during the reforms of king Hezekiah. As for the first difficulty it is perhaps best to follow the reading of the Septuagint which reads: the twelve bulls which were under the sea. In other words, one Hebrew word may have dropped out of the standard Hebrew text during the course of its transmission.

Jeremiah 52:21-23 are in the nature of a supplement to the foregoing description of the loot taken by the Chaldean soldiers. The focus here is on the two pillars of brass already mentioned in Jeremiah 52:17. Each pillar was eighteen cubits (twenty-seven feet) high with a circumference of twelve cubits (eighteen feet). The pillars were hollow with the metal being about four inches (fingers) thick (Jeremiah 52:21). These pillars were crowned with capitals of brass which were an additional five cubits high (Jeremiah 52:22). A lattice work (network) surrounded the capital upon which were surmounted one hundred ornamental pomegranates, twenty-four on each side and one at each corner (Jeremiah 52:23). The account in 1 Kings 7:20 states that each pillar had two hundred pomegranates arranged in two rows. Either the account here ignores one of the rows of the pomegranates or else one row had been removed before this time.

Jeremiah 52:24-27

II. EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM Jeremiah 52:24-34

A. The Execution of the Princes Jeremiah 52:24-27

TRANSLATION

(24) And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold. (25) He also took from the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men who were personal advisers of the king who were found in the city, the secretary of the captain of the host who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. (26) And the king of Babylon smote them and had them killed at Riblah in the land of Hamath and deported Judah from upon his land.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah 52:10 alludes to the execution of the princes of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah; Jeremiah 52:24-27 expands upon that allusion by naming the princes who were slain. The passage is almost identical with 2 Kings 25:18-21. Nebuzaradan selected those who were highest in authority and therefore most responsible for the prolonged resistance of Jerusalem. At the head of these officials is Seraiah the chief of priests, who is not elsewhere mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. Seraiah comes from a noble line of priests. He was the grandson of the great priest Hilkiah who is famous for his participation in the reforms of king Josiah; he was grandfather of Joshua who was high priest when the Temple was rebuilt after the Exile (cf. 1 Chronicles 6:13-15; Haggai 1:1). Ezra the scribe also descended from this Seraiah (Ezra 7:1). After Seraiah, the priest Zephaniah is mentioned. He is probably the same Zephaniah who is mentioned several other times in the Book of Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 21:1; Jeremiah 29:25; Jeremiah 29:29; Jeremiah 37:3). Zephaniah is called the second priest and it is not entirely clear whether this is an office or an order. According to 2 Kings 23:4 there were several second priests. Three keepers of the threshold were also among those executed at Riblah. These must have been high-ranking clergy who supervised the four thousand Levites (1 Chronicles 23:5) whose duty it was to prevent any disturbance or desecration of the Temple (cf. 2 Kings 12:10; 2 Kings 22:4; 2 Kings 23:4; Jeremiah 35:4).

In the second category of those executed are certain officials of state. The first such official is not named but is designated as the officer that was set over the men of war. Some commentators have suggested that this gentleman was the general who commanded the city garrison; others propose that he was a civilian official equivalent to minister of defense or the like. Seven men who saw the king’s face i.e., who were part of the king’s personal entourage were also among the executed. The account in the Book of Kings gives the figure here as five instead of seven. Perhaps two additional court officers were executed shortly after that day on which Zedekiah saw his princes slain and then had his own eyes put out. Kings would be counting only those slain in the initial execution while Jeremiah 52 is giving totals, The scribe of the captain of the host is next listed among the officials who were slain. His job it was to muster the people of the land. A scribe in the Old Testament is not merely one who knows how to write or a stenographer. Scribe is a title given to the highest officers of state.[429] This particular scribe was likely the head of the war department of Judah.[430]

[429] Cf. 2 Samuel 8:7; 2 Samuel 20:25: 2 Kings 12:11; 1 Chronicles 18:16; 1 Chronicles 27:32

[430] In 2 Chronicles 26:11 it is expressly stated that Uzziah’s army went out by the hand of Jeiel the scribe i.e. Jeiel was the civilian official who organized and dispatched the host.

In addition to the priests and civilian officials, some sixty of the people of the land were also executed by Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:25). Frequently in the Old Testament the phrase people of the land has the meaning of landed gentry. However, since earlier in this verse the people of the land are the general populace who were mustered for military service, the expression likely has that same meaning here, In other words, sixty men were singled out from the, ranks of the conscripted soldiers for execution as a warning to the rest of the troops. The group that was destined for death was taken to Riblah to stand trial before Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:26). The king of Babylon smote them (perhaps had then flogged) and put them to death (Jeremiah 52:27).

Jeremiah 52:28-30

B. Details About the Deportations Jeremiah 52:28-30

TRANSLATION

(28) These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar took captive: In the seventh year 3,023 Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, from Jerusalem 832; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took captive 745 Jewsin all 4,600 persons.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah 52:28-30 have no parallel in the Book of Kings and the statistics given here are found nowhere else in Scripture. These verses speak of three deportations of Jews to Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. When one attempts to integrate the information contained in these verses with the data from the Book of Kings two problems arise one of which is chronological and the other, numerical. The two problems are really interrelated and difficult to treat separately.

1. The chronological problem

The basic chronological question is, How many times did Nebuchadnezzar deport Jewish captives to Babylon? Two facts are very clear. The first deportation took place in 605-604 B.C., the third year of the reign of king Jehoiakim (Daniel 1:1). This deportation in which Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon is not mentioned either in Kings or in Jeremiah 52. The last deportation took place in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar (582 B.C.), five years after the fall of Jerusalem. In this deportation, which is mentioned only in Jeremiah 52:30, 745 people were involved. Josephus states that in his twenty-third year Nebuchadnezzar deported Jews from Egypt, and the suggestion is made that in so doing he avenged the death of his governor Gedaliah. Now while the first and last deportations are fixed and acknowledged by all believing scholars, a real problem exists as to the deportations between 605 and 582 B.C. How many intervening deportations were there? When did they take place? No general agreement exists on these questions. The heart of the controversy is the interpretation of Jer 52:28-29.

Jeremiah 52 speaks of deportations in the seventh and eighteenth years of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:28-29) while earlier in this same chapter (Jeremiah 52:12), in 2 Kings 24:12; 2 Kings 25:8 the eighth and nineteenth years are given as the dates for the deportations. The question over which Bible believing scholars are in disagreement is whether these passages in Kings and Jeremiah speak of four, three or only two deportations.

The view that only two deportations are mentioned in these verses is based on what is known about dating methods in the ancient Near East. Two different systems were used in antiquity for dating the reign of kings. One systemthe so-called accession year systembegins numbering the years of a king’s reign on New Years day. The months which elapse between the day of the new king actually begins to reign and New Years day is called the accession year. The other system of dating starts numbering the years of a king’s reign from the day he ascended the throne. Under this system, year one would be the which elapsed (even if it were only a matter of months or weeks) between the day the king assumed control and New Years day. In other words, the accession year of the one system would be year one of the other system. If one assumes that in Jeremiah 52:28-29 the writer is using the accession year method of dating and in II Kings the writer is using the non-accession year method then the seventh and eighteenth year of Jeremiah 52 would be equivalent to the eighth and nineteenth years of II Kings. According to this view the second deportation occurred in 597 B.C. and the third in 587 B.C. As appealing as this explanation may be, a serious problem exists for those who advocate it. If 2 Kings and Jeremiah 52:28-29 refer to the same deportations, how can one explain the divergent figures given in the two accounts of those who were taken captive?

A second approach to the chronological problem avoids the difficulty of the divergent numbers. Some have proposed that the deportations of Jer 52:28-30 are included here because they have nowhere else been mentioned. According to this view Nebuchadnezzar deported Jewish captives to Babylon in his seventh year (598 B.C.), his eighth year (597 B.C.), his eighteenth year (588 B.C.), and his nineteenth year (587 B.C.). This explanation has the difficulty of trying to fit a Chaldean campaign and deportation into the known events of 598 B.C. The Babylonian Chronicle which gives a year by year account of the activities of Nebuchadnezzar makes no mention of a campaign in Syria-Palestine in 598 B.C. The Scriptures do not so much as hint that Jehoiakim was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar in the last year of his reign. Finally, it would be most strange that Jeremiah in his sermons would make no mention of a deportation involving 3,023 of his countrymen.

A third approach to the chronological problem must be mentioned because it has the support of some very able believing scholars. Keil and Streane suggest that originally Jeremiah 52:28 read seventeenth instead of seventh year. This would mean that one Hebrew wordthe word for tenhas dropped out of the text. The seventeenth year of Nebuchadnezzar would fall during the early part of the siege of Jerusalem. This deportation, so the theory goes on, consisted of those from the rural regions. In the next year, the eighteenth year, Jerusalem fell and another deportation took place (Jeremiah 52:29). According to this view, five deportations are recorded in Scripture: one in 605-604 B.C., one in 597 B.C., one in 588 B.C., one in 587 and one in 582 B.C. The possibility that the word ten has dropped out of the text cannot be denied. This is exactly what happened in II Chronicle Jeremiah 36:9 (cf. 2 Kings 24:8) and it may have happened here. But it is always a dangerous practice to play around with the text of Scripture. No manuscript evidence exists for the reading seventeenth year in Jeremiah 52:28.

Of the three approaches to Jeremiah 52:28-29 the first, it seems to this writer, is superior. But this raises the second major problem, the numerical one.

2. The numerical Problem

The deportation account in II Kings states more than 10,000 people were hauled off to Babylon in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:11-16); Jeremiah 52 states that 3,023 persons were carried away captive in the seventh year of that king (Jeremiah 52:28). If these two passages are referring to the same deportation how can the difference in the number of captives be explained? Several different proposals have been made by believing scholars.

1. The lower figure of 3,023 may be the males; the higher figure in Kings the total of all people deported.

2. The higher number represents the total taken captive in Jerusalem; the lower figure those who actually survived the long, rigorous journey.

3. The figure in Jeremiah 52:28 is a partial or supplemental figure to that mentioned in II Kings.

It is then possible at least three different ways to reconcile Jeremiah 52:28 and 2 Kings 24:11-16. However the figures are harmonized, the believing scholar must press for the accuracy of both Kings and Jeremiah 52 in regard to those taken captive in 597 B.C. The Babylonians, like the Assyrians, kept a tally of their captives and some such numerical record probably underlies the figures here in Jeremiah.

As regards the number taken captive in 587 B.C. when Jerusalem was captured a problem of a different kind exists. While no specific figures are given in Kings, one gets the impression that a rather sizeable portion of the population was carried away captive to Babylon in that year. Yet Jeremiah 52:29 numbers the deportees as 832. Even if this number represents only males of fighting age it still remains a rather pitifully small figure. Some explain the 832 as being persons outside the city of Jerusalem who were taken away to Babylon during the eighteen month siege. According to this view the 832 would be in addition to the vast throngs taken to Babylon after the city actually fell. John Bright explains the 832 as being only those from the urban population of Jerusalem. He suggests that the figure may have been taken from a Babylonian list giving the number of prisoners actually delivered i.e., those who survived the march.[431]

[431] Bright, op. cit., pp. L, LIII, notes 14 and 18.

A final numerical problem remains: How is the rather small total figure of 4,600 in Jeremiah 52:30 to be reconciled with the much larger number who returned with Zerubbabel in 537-36 B.C.? Three things must be kept in mind. (1) The figure in Jeremiah 52:30 does not include the deportation of 605-604 B.C. (2) It is not impossible that a constant emigration of Jews to Babylon took place in the later reign of Nebuchadnezzar. (3) A lapse of about two generations exists between the deportations and return thus allowing for the multiplication of the captives while in Babylon.

Jeremiah 52:31-34

C. The Release of Jehoiachin Jeremiah 52:31-34

TRANSLATION

(31) And it came to pass in the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, in his accession year showed favor to Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and released him from prison. (32) He spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. (33) So he changed his prison garments and ate bread continually before him all the days of his life. (34) As for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon on a daily basis until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

COMMENTS

The account of the release of Jehoiachin occurs with only slight variations in 2 Kings 25:27-30. King Jehoiachin, along with members of his family and court, had been carried away to Babylon in 597 B.C. Until the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Judah was kept in prison. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded on the throne by his son Amel-Marduk (man of Marduk) who was called by the Jews Evil-Merodach (stupid one of Marduk). He was able to hold the throne of Babylon for only two years (561-579 B.C.) before being assassinated. Within the first year of his reign Amel-Marduk lifted up the head of Jehoiachin i.e., restored him to royal favor and ordered him released from prison (Jeremiah 52:31). It may be that Daniel and the other highly esteemed Jews at the Babylonian court used their influence to secure the release of the imprisoned king. This might also account for the favor bestowed upon Jehoiachin when his throne was placed above the thrones of the other captive kings in Babylon (Jeremiah 52:32). The phrase above the thrones does not mean that Jehoiachin’s throne surpassed the others in height, but rather that he was privileged to sit nearer to the king of Babylon at the royal table. Thus after thirty-seven years Jehoiachin was permitted to put off his prison garments and eat at the royal table (Jeremiah 52:33). As long as he lived Jehoiachin received a daily allowance of all that he needed for himself and his family besides the food which he enjoyed at the royal table (Jeremiah 52:34). Contemporary economic documents discovered in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace contain lists of the daily rations of food given to the royal prisoners and hostages from various lands. Jehoiachin and his five sons are mentioned in these texts. Nebuchadnezzar provided for the king of Judah and his family ten measures of oil daily. In comparison to the quantity of rations given to other prisoners Jehoiachin and his sons faired very well indeed.

One footnote needs to be added to the discussion of Jehoiachin’s release. When the date given here for the release of Jehoiachin is compared with the date given in the Book of Kings a difficulty arises. Both accounts have the king released in the thirty-seventh year of his captivity during the twelfth month but the two accounts differ as to the day of the release. Kings states that Jehoiachin gained his freedom on the twenty-seventh day of the month; Jeremiah 52, the twenty-fifth day. Not being in possession of all the details concerning the matter it is most difficult to reconcile these two statements. Perhaps the one account speaks of the day when the official decree was issued which laid the legal foundation for the release; the other account would then refer to the actual day that king Jehoiachin left the prison.