Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 24:14
And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, [even] ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
14. he carried away all Jerusalem ] The policy of Nebuchadnezzar was to remove out of the way all those who might be able to organize and plan a revolt when he and his army had departed. Hence all the people of rank, of wealth, and of skill as handicraftsmen are deported, and only the poorest folk left, who had neither knowledge nor means for doing more than work of drudgery. The total number of captives was 10,000. In verse 16 the numbers of some classes are specified, the ‘men of might’ were 7000, and the craftsmen 1000, which leaves 2000 for the royal household and their retainers, and the princes and the others who are spoken of in the general phrase as ‘strong and apt for war’. Such men it would have been dangerous to leave behind. In this captivity the prophet Ezekiel was included. See Eze 1:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The entire number of the captives was not more than 11,000. They consisted of three classes:
(1) the princes or mighty of the land, i. e., courtiers, priests, elders, and all who had any position or dignity – in number 3,000 (compare 2Ki 24:14, 2Ki 24:16).
(2) the mighty men of valor or men of might, i. e., the soldier class, who were 7,000. And
(3) craftsmen or artisans, who numbered 1,000. The word here translated craftsmen denotes artisans in stone, wood, or metal, and thus includes our masons, carpenters, and smiths. The word translated smiths means strictly lock-smiths.
The object of carrying off these persons was twofold:
(1) it deprived the conquered city of those artisans who were of most service in war; and
(2) it gave the conqueror a number of valuable assistants in the construction of his buildings and other great works.
The Assyrian monarchs frequently record their removal of the skilled artisans from a conquered country. The population of the ancient city has been calculated, from its area, at 15,000. The remnant left was therefore about 5000 or 6,000.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. He carried away all Jerusalem] That is, all the chief men, the nobles, and artificers. Among these there were of mighty men seven thousand; of craftsmen and smiths, one thousand.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All Jerusalem, i.e. the inhabitants of Jerusalem; not simply all, but the best and most considerable part, as the following words explain and restrain it.
Ten thousand captives; which are more particularly reckoned up, 2Ki 24:16, where there are seven thousand mighty men, and a thousand smiths; and those mentioned 2Ki 24:15 make up the other two thousand.
All the craftsmen and smiths; which might furnish them with new arms, and thereby give him fresh trouble.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he carried away all Jerusalem,…. The inhabitants of it; not every individual of them, but the chief of them, the more honourable, rich, and useful; for the poorer sort were left, as afterwards expressed:
and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives; which was the number of them in the whole; the particulars are after delivered:
and all the craftsmen and smiths; besides the nobles and the soldiers, he took all the artificers that exercised any handicraft trade or business; carpenters and blacksmiths, as some interpret these two words; so that there were none left to make arms for them; the last word may be rendered “enclosers”, and are by some interpreted of enclosers of jewels in metals, as gold and silver:
none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land; who were left to till it, and to dress the vines; see 2Ki 25:12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Beside these treasures, he carried away captive to Babylon the cream of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, not only the most affluent, but, as is evident from Jer 24:1-10, the best portion in a moral respect. In 2Ki 24:14 the number of those who were carried off is simply given in a general form, according to its sum-total, as 10,000; and then in 2Ki 24:15, 2Ki 24:16 the details are more minutely specified. “All Jerusalem” is the whole of the population of Jerusalem, which is first of all divided into two leading classes, and then more precisely defined by the clause, “nothing was left except the common people,” and reduced to the cream of the citizens. The king, queen-mother, and king’s wives being passed over and mentioned for the first time in the special list in 2Ki 24:15, there are noticed here and , who form the first of the leading classes. By the are meant, according to 2Ki 24:15, the , chamberlains, i.e., the officials of the king’s court in general, and by (“the mighty of the land”) all the heads of the tribes and families of the nation that were found in Jerusalem; and under the last the priests and prophets, who were also carried away according to Jer 29:1, with Ezekiel among them (Eze 1:1), are included as the spiritual heads of the people. The are called in 2Ki 24:16; their number was 7000. The persons intended are not warriors, but men of property, as in 2Ki 15:20. The second class of those who ere carried away consisted of , all the workers in stone, metal, and wood, that is to say, masons, smiths, and carpenters; and , the locksmiths, including probably not actual locksmiths only, but makers of weapons also. There is no need for any serious refutation of the marvellous explanation given of by Hitzig (on Jer 24:1), who derives it from and , and supposes it to be an epithet applied to the remnant of the Canaanites, who had been made into tributary labourers, although it has been adopted by Thenius and Graf, who make them into artisans of the foreign socagers. = (2Ki 25:12), the poor people of the land, i.e., the lower portion of the population of Jerusalem, from whom Nebuchadnezzar did not fear any rebellion, because they possessed nothing (Jer 39:10), i.e., neither property (money nor other possessions), nor strength and ability to organize a revolt. The antithesis to these formed by the , the strong or powerful men, who were in a condition to originate and carry on a war; for this category includes all who were carried away, not merely the thousand workmen, but also the seven thousand , and the king’s officers and the chiefs of the nation, whose number amounted to two thousand, since the total number of the exiles was then thousand. There is no special allusion to warriors or military, because in the struggle for the rescue of the capital and the kingdom from destruction every man who could bear arms performed military service, so that the distinction between warriors and non-warriors was swept away, and the actual warriors are swallowed up in the ten thousand. Babel is the country of Babylonia, or rather the Babylonian empire.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(14) All Jerusalem.Limited by what follows, and meaning the most important part of the population.
The princesi.e., the nobles, e.g., the grandees of the court, some of the priests (Eze. 1:1), and the heads of the clans.
The mighty men of valour.This is probably right. Thenius and Bhr prefer to understand the men of property and the artisans, as in 2Ki. 15:20.
All the craftsmen and smiths.The former were workers in wood, stone, and metal, i.e., carpenters, masons, and smiths. (Comp. Gen. 4:22.) The smiths (properly, they who shut) answer to what we should call locksmiths. They were makers of bolts and bars for doors and gates (Jer. 24:1; Jer. 29:2). It is obvious that by deporting the craftsmen and smiths the king of Babylon made further outbreaks impossible (comp. 1Sa. 13:19.) Kimchis explanation of smiths is a curiosity of exegesis. He makes of them learned persons, who shut other peoples mouths, and propose riddles which nobody else can guess. Hitzig and Thenius derive the word (masgr) from mas, levy, and gr, alien, so that it would originally mean statute labourers, Canaanites compelled to work for the king; and afterwards, as here, manual labourers in general. But such a compound term in Hebrew would be very surprising.
The poorest sort.Those who had neither property nor handicraft. (Comp. Jer. 39:10.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Ten thousand captives According to Jer 52:28, they numbered three thousand and twenty-three. See note on 2Ki 25:21. Numerically this must have been only a small part of the entire Jewish population, which in David’s time numbered five hundred thousand warriors, so that the poorest sort of the people, from whom rebellion and trouble were not expected, were more than the captives; but these latter were the might and flower of the nation, and might, therefore, well be called all Jerusalem. The mass of those left were people of the land, country people, dwelling outside of Jerusalem; and no doubt by reason of the numerous wars this part of the population had become greatly diminished since the time of David. The craftsmen and smiths would be especially serviceable to Nebuchadnezzar on the great works which he contemplated at his capital.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 24:14. And he carried away all Jerusalem Among these were Ezekiel the prophet, and Mordecai the uncle of Esther.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ki 24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, [even] ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
Ver. 14. And he carried away all Jerusalem, ] i.e., The greater and better part of the people: among the rest, Mordecai the Benjamite the son of Jair, Est 2:5-6 and Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, Eze 1:2-3 who therefore calls it his “captivity” or deportation. Eze 40:1
And all the craftsmen and smiths.
a A Lapide.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
carried away. This deportation was eleven years before that of Zedekiah (2Ki 25:18). Mordecai was in this deportation. See note on 2Ch 36:6. The Captivity begun in 489.
craftsmen = artificers.
the People of the land. Compare 2Ki 23:6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
all: That is, all the chief men, the nobles, and the artificers. Among these were 7,000 mighty men, and 1,000 craftsmen and smiths.
Jerusalem: 2Ch 36:9, 2Ch 36:10, Jer 24:1-5, Jer 52:28, Eze 1:1, Eze 1:2
craftsmen: So, 1Sa 23:19-22
the poorest sort: 2Ki 25:12, Jer 39:10, Jer 40:7, Jer 52:16, Eze 17:14
Reciprocal: Deu 28:41 – thou shalt not enjoy them Deu 28:43 – General Deu 28:62 – few in number 1Sa 13:19 – there was no 2Ki 18:32 – I come 1Ch 4:14 – Charashim Ezr 2:1 – whom Nebuchadnezzar Neh 7:6 – whom Nebuchadnezzar Est 2:6 – Jeconiah Pro 13:8 – the poor Isa 3:2 – mighty Jer 27:20 – when Lam 1:3 – gone Lam 1:15 – trodden Eze 19:12 – strong Mat 1:11 – about
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 24:14. He carried away all Jerusalem That is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem; not simply all, but the best and most considerable part, as the following words explain and restrain it. Even ten thousand captives Which are more particularly reckoned up 2Ki 24:16, where there are seven thousand mighty men, and a thousand smiths; and those mentioned 2Ki 24:15 make up the other two thousand. Craftsmen and smiths Who might furnish them with new arms, and thereby give him fresh trouble.