Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 24:20
For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
20. For through the anger of the Lord it came [ did it come ] to pass ] Still the same language as in 2Ki 23:27 and in 2Ki 21:12-14, and all pointing to the evil practices of Manasseh and his times. The picture in 2Ch 36:14-16, sets before us the way in which the evil doings had corrupted all classes. ‘The chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes and sending, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling-place. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy’. God was deemed to be specially present in the temple at Jerusalem, hence the captivity was a removal from His sight.
that [R.V. and ] Zedekiah rebelled ] It is better to translate the conjunction as the mere copulative, putting a strong stop after ‘presence’. There were several stages in Zedekiah’s progress to complete revolt. The Chronicler (2Ch 36:12) says that Nebuchadnezzar had made the new king swear unto him by God, perhaps thinking such an oath would be more binding than if he sware by any other oath. We know (Jer 29:3) that Zedekiah sent an embassy to the king of Babylon, apparently with the desire of getting back the captives who had been taken away with Jeconiah. If this were really his wish it did not succeed, and thus the wish to revolt may have arisen. A little later Zedekiah went himself in the company of Seraiah (Jer 51:59) to Babylon. This was in the fourth year of his reign. Amid all these communications with the conqueror, we learn (Jer 27:3) that messengers came to Jerusalem from the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, who all seemed anxious to form a league against Babylon. Zedekiah listened to false prophets like Hananiah (Jer 28:1-4), who told him that the yoke of the king of Babylon was to be broken and the captives all to be brought back, and along with them the vessels of the house of the Lord. Disappointed of his petitions, and encouraged by the kings round about him, and by the smooth things he heard at home, Zedekiah revolted, probably refusing to pay the yearly tribute and sending (Eze 17:15) down to Egypt to obtain help in horses and chariots. Presently afterwards the Babylonian armies came once more against Jerusalem.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
It came to pass – Some prefer came this to pass: in the sense. Through the anger of the Lord was it that another had king ruled in Jerusalem and in Judah: concluding the chapter with the word presence; and beginning the next chapter with the words, And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Rebelled – The Book of Jeremiah explains the causes of rebellion. In Zedekiahs early years there was an impression, both at Jerusalem Jer 28:1-11 and at Babylon Jer. 29:5-28, that Nebuchadnezzar was inclined to relent. By embassy to Babylon Jer 29:3, and a personal visit Jer 51:59, Zedekiah strove hard to obtain the restoration of the captives and the holy vessels. But he found Nebuchadnezzar obdurate. Zedekiah returned to his own country greatly angered against his suzerain, and immediately proceeded to plot a rebellion. He sought the alliance of the kings of Tyre, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Edom Jer 27:3, and made overtures to Hophra, in Egypt, which were favorable received Eze 17:15, whereupon he openly revolted, apparently in his ninth year, 588 B.C. Tyre, it must be remembered, was all this time defying the power of Nebuchadnezzar, and thus setting an example of successful revolt very encouraging to the neighboring states. Nebuchadnezzar, while constantly maintaining an army in Syria, and continuing year after year his attempts to reduce Tyre (compare Eze 29:18) was, it would seem, too much occupied with other matters, such, probably, as the reduction of Susiana Jer 49:34-38, to devote more than a small share of his attention to his extreme western frontier. In that same year, however (588 B.C.), the new attitude taken by Egypt induced him to direct to that quarter the main force of the Empire, and to take the field in person.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Zedekiah rebelled] This was in the eighth year of his reign: and he is strongly reproved for having violated the oath he took to the king of Babylon: see 2Ch 36:13. This was the filling up of the measure of iniquity; and now the wrath of God descends upon this devoted king, city, and people, to the uttermost. See the catastrophe in the next chapter.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thus the peoples sins were the true cause why God gave them wicked kings, whom he suffered to do wickedly, that they might bring the long deserved and threatened punishments upon themselves and their people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. through the anger of the Lord .. . he cast them out from his presencethat is, in the courseof God’s righteous providence, his policy as king would prove ruinousto his country.
Zedekiah rebelled against theking of Babyloninstigated by ambassadors from the neighboringstates who came to congratulate him on his ascension to the throne(compare Jer 17:3; Jer 28:1),and at the same time get him to join them in a common league to throwoff the Assyrian yoke. Though warned by Jeremiah against this step,the infatuated and perjured (Eze17:13) Zedekiah persisted in his revolt.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[See comments on 2Ki 24:18].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(20) For through . . . in Jerusalem.Literally, for upon the anger of Jehovah it befel Jerusalem. That which fell upon Jerusalem and Judah like a ruinous disaster was the evil doing of Zedekiah, mentioned in 2Ki. 24:19. That such a prince as Zedekiah was raised to the throne was itself a token of Divine displeasure, for his character was such as to hasten the final catastrophe.
Until he had cast them out.See Note on 2Ki. 17:23.
That Zedekiah rebelled.Rather, and Zedelciah rebelled. There should be a full stop after presence. Zedekiah expected help from Pharaoh Hophra (Apries), king of Egypt, to whom he sent ambassadors (Eze. 17:15; comp. Jer. 37:5; Jer. 44:30.) Moreover the neighbouring peoples of Edom, Ammon, and Moab, as well as Tyre and Zidon, were eager to throw off the Babylonian yoke, and had proposed a general rising to Zedekiah (Jer. 27:3 seq.) The high hopes which were inspired by the negotiations may be inferred from the prophecy of Hananiah (Jeremiah 28). Jeremiah opposed the project of revolt to the utmost of his power; and the event proved that he was right. In the early part of his reign Zedekiah had tried to procure the return of the exiles carried away in the last reign (Jer. 29:3); and in his fourth year he visited Babylon himself, perhaps with the same object, and to satisfy Nebuchadnezzar of his fidelity (Jer. 51:59). The date of his open revolt cannot be fixed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Zedekiah rebelled In what year is not said, but probably in the eighth year of his reign. Chronicles says, that the king of Babylon “had made him swear by God” that is, had bound him by the most solemn oath (compare Eze 17:13,) to keep the peace by fidelity to the conqueror who had set him on the throne; and in Jer 29:3; Jer 51:59, mention is made of two embassies of Zedekiah to Babylon, with one of which Zedekiah went in person. In Jer 27:3, we find messengers from the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Zidon, consulting with Zedekiah, perhaps concerting a plan to throw off the Babylonian yoke; and in Eze 17:15, Zedekiah is represented as “sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people.” Thus he seems to have laid broad plans for his rebellion, and in all this he was encouraged by the false prophets of his time. Jeremiah 28.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2). Zedekiah Rebels And Is Brought To Judgment ( 2Ki 24:20 to 2Ki 25:7 ).
It will be noted that as so often the prophetic author ignores the details of Zedekiah’s reign and concentrates on what to him was theologically important. It was Zedekiah’s rebellion and its consequences in the arrival of the king of Babylon that highlighted the fact that YHWH’s anger was directed against Jerusalem and Judah for it was an indication that He intended to cast them out of His presence, so that was what he concentrated on. What happened to Jerusalem was not to be the act of Nebuchadnezzar, but the act of YHWH.
Analysis.
a
b And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon (2Ki 24:20 b).
c And it came about in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, and they built forts against it round about, and the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah (2Ki 25:1-2).
d On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land, and a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the 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 the king went by the way of the Arabah (2Ki 25:3-4).
c But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him (2Ki 25:5).
b Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah, and they gave judgment on him (2Ki 25:6).
a And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon (2Ki 25:7).
Note that in ‘a’ YHWH would cast them out of His presence, and in the parallel they were carried off to Babylon. In ‘b’ Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, and in the parallel he was brought before the king of Babylon for judgment. In ‘c’ the Babylonian army came and the siege of Jerusalem began, and in the parallel the Chaldean army pursued the king and he was taken and all his army scattered. Centrally in ‘d’ famine was so intense in the city that they sought to escape.
2Ki 24:20
‘For through the anger of YHWH did it come about in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence.’
The fact of YHWH’s anger against Judah and Jerusalem, and their removal from His sight has been a theme of these last few chapters (2Ki 21:12-14; 2Ki 22:13; 2Ki 23:26; 2Ki 24:2-3). It had been His continual purpose from the time of Manasseh. The warnings of Lev 18:25; Lev 18:28; Lev 26:28-35; Deu 29:28 were being fulfilled. And it was being brought about by YHWH Himself.
2Ki 24:20
‘And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.’
The result of YHWH’s anger against Judah and Jerusalem was that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. This rebellion appears to have been inspired as a result of news being received of an internal rebellion in Babylon in which many Jews were involved (there was constant contact with Babylon), and was no doubt partly stirred up by the continuing urgings of Egypt, who would indeed at one stage send an army to temporarily relieve Jerusalem (Jer 37:5). Tyre and Sidon, Edom, Moab and Ammon all appear to have been involved (Jer 27:1-11).
2Ki 25:1
‘And it came about in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, and they built forts against it round about.’
In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came with all his army and encamped against Jerusalem, setting up siege forts around it. Nebuchadnezzar had once and for all lost patience with Jerusalem (as the Book of Daniel makes clear he suffered from a mental illness, and was probably a manic depressive).
2Ki 25:2
‘So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.’
The siege continued over a period of nineteen months, although at one stage possibly temporarily suspended as a result of the arrival of an Egyptian army (Jer 37:5). It was clear that the city was doomed.
2Ki 25:3
‘On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.’
As a result of the siege starvation became a problem in the city, for there was no food for ‘the people of the land’ who were now sheltering in Jerusalem. The city had been cut off from outside help for many months. (The word ‘fourth’ is not in the text but is introduced from Jer 39:2; Jer 52:6).
2Ki 25:4
‘Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the 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 the king went by the way of the Arabah.’
A breach being made in the wall by the enemy a desperate attempt was made to escape by night by using a small postern gate (the main gates would be closely guarded) which would have been identifiable at the time, and all the men of war fled from Jerusalem, along with the king who was making for the Jordan Rift Valley.
2Ki 25:5
‘But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.’
However, the movement of such a large number of men could hardly fail to be detected, and the escape may well have involved some fighting, so when the Chaldeans realised that there had been an escape they pursued after the king, whose troops had scattered to find refuge where they could. It is possible that the hope was that this would aid the king’s escape as the Chaldeans would not know who to follow, but if so it failed, and he was captured in the plains of Jericho in the Arabah.
2Ki 25:6
‘Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah, and they gave judgment on him.’
He was then taken to Riblah in the region of Hamath on the Orontes where Nebuchadnezzar was stationed, and there given a form of trial. But the result could hardly have been in doubt. He had broken his oath of allegiance and was worthy of death.
2Ki 25:7
‘And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.’
Nebuchadnezzar’s penalty was severe. All his sons were slain before his eyes and he was then blinded, leaving the last sight that he had experienced before becoming blind as that of his sons being killed. Then he was bound in fetters and carried off to Babylon. His rebellion, into which humanly speaking he had been forced by the anti-Assyrian party in Jerusalem, had cost him dear. From the divine point of view his evil behaviour had brought its own reward.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
REFLECTIONS
WHAT an awful representation is made in this chapter, and, indeed, in the whole history; (for all the world is but one and the same volume) of sinners! Could one suppose it possible, was it not ascertained by fact, that men should brave the divine power, and, as it were, defy the Lord by the most determined perseverance in sin. See, my soul, in the destruction of Jerusalem, the sure and inevitable consequence! The wages of sin is, and must be, death, Oh! Lord Jesus, cause me, in the view of it, to flee to thee for refuge, and let me hear thy voice saying, Oh! Israel! thou halt destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found.
Reader, behold Jerusalem thus ruined! see the people carried away captives. See how the Lord permitted the very heathens of the earth to scourge his people! Who, after this, will take confidence while in sin. O Lord! be gracious to thy land. For Jesus sake be not wroth very sore, neither do thou remember our iniquities forever; but be jealous for thy land, and heal her backslidings, we beseech thee.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 24:20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Ver. 20. For through the anger of the Lord. ] Who hardened Zedekiah’s heart, that he “humbled not himself before Jeremiah,” &c. 2Ch 36:12
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
rebelled. Though bound by oath (2Ch 36:13. Eze 17:13).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
through: 2Ki 22:17, Exo 9:14-17, Deu 2:30, Isa 19:11-14, 1Co 1:20, 2Th 2:9-11
Zedekiah: 2Ch 36:13, Jer 27:12-15, Jer 38:17-21, Eze 17:15-20
Reciprocal: Gen 4:16 – went Jos 23:16 – then shall 2Ki 13:23 – neither cast he 2Ki 17:4 – found conspiracy Ezr 4:15 – for which Ezr 4:19 – and it is found Jer 7:15 – I will Jer 37:2 – neither Jer 52:2 – he did Eze 17:7 – another Eze 19:14 – fire Eze 21:23 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 24:20. For through the anger of the Lord, &c. God was so highly displeased with this wicked people, that he permitted Zedekiah to break his faith with Nebuchadnezzar, and to rebel against him, forgetting for what cause he changed his name. Unto this revolt, it is probable, he was persuaded by the ambassadors which the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Zidon, sent unto him, to solicit him to throw off the yoke of the king of Babylon, Jer 27:2-4, &c.; which was the greater crime, because he had taken a solemn oath that he would be true to him, 2Ch 36:13. The king of Egypt also, it is likely, promised him help, Eze 17:15; and Hananiah, a false prophet, assured him God would, in two years time, break the yoke of the king of Babylon, and bring back all the vessels of the house of God, with Jehoiachin and all the captives: see Jer 28:1-4. Jeremiah indeed proved that he made them trust in a lie, by predicting his death that very year, which accordingly came to pass, 2Ki 24:15-17. But they still persisted in their vain hopes, there being other deceivers that prophesied falsely in Gods name, Jer 29:8-9 : and they most of all deceived themselves with proud conceits that they were the true seed of Abraham, who had a right to that land, Eze 33:24. The peoples sins, therefore, as Poole has justly observed, were the true cause why God gave them wicked kings, whom he suffered to act wickedly, that they might bring the long-deserved and threatened punishments upon themselves and their people.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
24:20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his {f} presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
(f) Out of Jerusalem and Judah into Babylon.