Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 52:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 52:11. He put out the eyes of Zedekiah — Jeremiah 39:7.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

52:1-34 HISTORICAL APPENDIX

This appendix is similar to 2 Kings 24:18-30. The probable reason for its inclusion is to show how Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning Jerusalem’s last days were fulfilled.

Judah’s king during its last tragic years was Zedekiah. He was a weak king, whose reign was characterized throughout by religious failure and political indecision. Finally, after years of uncertain plotting, he decided to rebel openly against his overlord Babylon (52:1-3). Nebuchadnezzar could be patient with Zedekiah no longer and decided to crush Jerusalem once and for all. Soon his armies besieged the rebellious city (4-5).
Zedekiah had plotted his rebellion in cooperation with Egypt, and when Egypt eventually came to Jerusalem’s aid, Babylon temporarily lifted the siege. However, as Jeremiah had warned, the Babylonians soon forced the Egyptians to retreat. They then resumed their siege, with a determination to maintain it till the city fell (see 37:1-21).

The longer the siege lasted, the more desperate the situation in Jerusalem became. Throughout the city people were dying of disease and starvation (6; see Lamentations 2:10-12,Lamentations 2:19-21; Lamentations 4:4-5,Lamentations 4:7-9). After eighteen months of siege, the Babylonians broke through the city walls. With Jerusalem now doomed, Zedekiah and some of his men tried to escape, but were captured by enemy soldiers. Zedekiah was blinded, chained and taken off to prison in Babylon (7-11; see 39:1-7).

Babylonian soldiers then overran Jerusalem. They destroyed most of the city, including the temple, the palace and much of the city walls (12-14). They took most of the people into captivity, leaving behind only those that were of no use to them (15-16). They also stripped the temple of its valuable metals, taking its furnishings, decorations, vessels and utensils to Babylon. Things too large to carry whole were broken up so that they could be carried more easily (17-23). The leaders of the rebellion - the chief priests, top army officers and leading palace officials - were executed (24-27).
The writer concludes by recording the numbers of people taken into captivity at the times of the separate invasions. The smallness of his numbers, compared with those given in the book of 2 Kings, indicates that Jeremiah may have counted only the heads of the families. Some were taken captive in 597 BC, after Jehoiachin’s surrender (28; see 2 Kings 24:14-16); others in 587 BC, the year of the events recorded in this chapter (29); others later again, in 582 BC, after Ishmael’s assassination of Gedaliah (30; see Chapters 40-42).

In 561 BC, however, the new Babylonian king released the former Judean king Jehoiachin from prison and promoted him to a place of honour in the Babylonian palace. To the captive Jews this was a sign that God had not forgotten them and that he was still in control of their affairs. It gave them hope that they would yet be released and return to their homeland (31-34; cf. 2 Kings 24:8-15; 2 Kings 25:27-30).

APPENDIX

Contents of Jeremiah according to chronology

Not all Jeremiah’s prophecies can be assigned with certainty to a particular king’s reign. This applies especially to the first twenty chapters, where many of the messages would fit the reigns of either Josiah or Jehoiakim. Nevertheless, if the reader wants to trace the prophecies and events of Jeremiah’s time in some sort of chronological sequence (omitting the prophecies concerning foreign nations in Chapters 46-51), the following order of chapters is suggested:

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM AND THE CAPTURE OF IT AND ZEDEKIAH

"Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiachim had done. For through the anger of Jehovah did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon came, and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about. So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about); and they went toward Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. And he 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 till the day of his death. Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon. And he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people that were left in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen."

"Through the anger of Jehovah it came to pass" Some have complained that this makes it appear that the anger of Jehovah caused Judah's rebellion; whereas, on the other hand, it was the result of it. Such complaints fail to notice the meaning of "through the anger of Jehovah," which does not mean "because of his anger," but is a reference to the fact that through (during) the anger of Jehovah, as revealed by the prophet Jeremiah, and in spite of his repeated warnings against it, they went right on stubbornly in their rebellion.

Practically all of this passage, although somewhat abbreviated, is found in Jeremiah 39:1-9. See comments there. The instructions of Nebuchadnezzar for Jeremiah's safety (Jeremiah 39:11 f) are omitted here.

"In prison till the day of his death" This note regarding Zedekiah's imprisonment till death is found "nowhere else in the Bible."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 658.

"The nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar" This same occasion is called "the eighteenth year" of Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 52:29. One mode or reckoning counted the year of accession to the throne, and the other did not. There is no contradiction.Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 689.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Put him in prison ... - Not found in 2 Kings, for in the contemporaneous history what befell Zedekiah at Riblah would alone be known. It was no doubt added by the same hand which inserted the account of the deportations to Babylon.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

A. The fall of Jerusalem and the capture of Zedekiah 52:1-16

This is one of four accounts of the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; Jeremiah 39:1-14). The repetition underlines the importance of the event.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Nebuchadnezzar executed Zedekiah’s sons as he watched, as well as Zedekiah’s officials who were present (cf. Jeremiah 39:6; Jeremiah 41:1). He then blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon where Zedekiah spent the rest of his life in prison.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah,.... After he had seen his children and princes executed, which must be very terrible to him;

:-;

and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon; in Jeremiah 39:7; it is said, he bound him, "to carry him" there; here it is affirmed he did carry him thither: and it is added,

and put him in prison till the day of his death; from this place only we learn that King Zedekiah was put into a prison, and died a prisoner.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.   2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.   3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.   4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.   5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.   6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.   7 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth 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 by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.   8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.   9 Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.   10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.   11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

      This narrative begins no higher than the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, though there were two captivities before, one in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the other in the first of Jeconiah; but probably it was drawn up by some of those that were carried away with Zedekiah, as a reproach to themselves for imagining that they should not go into captivity after their brethren, with which hopes they had long flattered themselves. We have here, 1. God's just displeasure against Judah and Jerusalem for their sin, Jeremiah 52:3; Jeremiah 52:3. His anger was against them to such a degree that he determined to cast them out from his presence, his favourable gracious presence, as a father, when he is extremely angry with an undutiful son, bids him get out of his presence, he expelled them from that good land that had such tokens of his presence in providential bounty and that holy city and temple that had such tokens of his presence in covenant-grace and love. Note, Those that are banished from God's ordinances have reason to complain that they are in some degree cast out of his presence; yet none are cast out from God's gracious presence but those that by sin have first thrown themselves out of it. This fruit of sin we should therefore deprecate above any thing, as David (Psalms 51:11), Cast me not away from thy presence. 2. Zedekiah's bad conduct and management, to which God left him, in displeasure against the people, and for which God punished him, in displeasure against him. Zedekiah had arrived at years of discretion when he came to the throne; he was twenty-one years old (Jeremiah 52:1; Jeremiah 52:1); he was none of the worst of the kings (we never read of his idolatries), yet his character is that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, for he did not do the good he should have done. But that evil deed of his which did in a special manner hasten this destruction was his rebelling against the king of Babylon, which was both his sin and his folly, and brought ruin upon his people, not only meritoriously, but efficiently. God was greatly displeased with him for his perfidious dealing with the king of Babylon (as we find, Ezekiel 17:15, c.) and, because he was angry at Judah and Jerusalem, he put him into the hand of his own counsels, to do that foolish thing which proved fatal to him and his kingdom. 3. The possession which the Chaldeans at length gained of Jerusalem, after eighteen months' siege. They sat down before it, and blocked it up, in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, in the tenth month (Jeremiah 52:4; Jeremiah 52:4), and made themselves masters of it in the eleventh year in the fourth month,Jeremiah 52:6; Jeremiah 52:6. In remembrance of these two steps towards their ruin, while they were in captivity, they kept a fast in the fourth month, and a fast in the tenth (Zechariah 8:19): that in the fifth month was in remembrance of the burning of the temple, and that in the seventh of the murder of Gedaliah. We may easily imagine, or rather cannot imagine, what a sad time it was with Jerusalem, during this year and half that it was besieged, when all provisions were cut off from coming to them and they were ever and anon alarmed by the attacks of the enemy, and, being obstinately resolved to hold out to the last extremity, nothing remained but a certain fearful looking for of judgment. That which disabled them to hold out, and yet could not prevail with them to capitulate, was the famine in the city (Jeremiah 52:6; Jeremiah 52:6); there was no bread for the people of the land, so that the soldiers could not make good their posts, but were rendered wholly unserviceable; and then no wonder that the city was broken up,Jeremiah 52:7; Jeremiah 52:7. Walls, in such a case, will not hold out long without men, any more than men without walls; nor will both together stand people in any stead without God and his protection. 4. The inglorious retreat of the king and his mighty men. They got out of the city by night (Jeremiah 52:7; Jeremiah 52:7) and made the best of their way, I know not whither, nor perhaps they themselves; but the king was overtaken by the pursuers in the plains of Jericho, his guards were dispersed, and all his army was scattered from him,Jeremiah 52:8; Jeremiah 52:8. His fright was not causeless, for there is no escaping the judgments of God; they will come upon the sinner, and will overtake him, let him flee where he will (Deuteronomy 28:15), and these judgments particularly that are here executed were there threatened, Deuteronomy 28:52; Deuteronomy 28:53, c. 5. The sad doom passed upon Zedekiah by the king of Babylon, and immediately put in execution. He treated him as a rebel, gave judgment upon him,Jeremiah 52:9; Jeremiah 52:9. One cannot think of it without the utmost vexation and regret that a king, a king of Judah, a king of the house of David, should be arraigned as a criminal at the bar of this heathen king. But he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet; therefore God thus humbled him. Pursuant to the sentence passed upon him by the haughty conqueror, his sons were slain before his eyes, and all the princes of Judah (Jeremiah 52:10; Jeremiah 52:10); then his eyes were put out, and he was bound in chains, carried in triumph to Babylon; perhaps they made sport with him, as they did with Samson when his eyes were put out; however, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, wearing out the remainder of his life (I cannot say his days, for he saw day no more) in darkness and misery. He was kept in prison till the day of his death, but had some honour done him at his funeral, Jeremiah 34:5; Jeremiah 34:5. Jeremiah had often told him what it would come to, but he would not take warning when he might have prevented it.