Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 25:4
And the city was broken up, and all the men of war [fled] by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which [is] by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees [were] against the city round about: ) and [the king] went the way toward the plain.
4. And the city was broken up ] R.V. Then a breach was made in the city. The old phrase ‘broken up’ was the same in sense as ‘broken through’. See 2Ch 24:7; Jer 39:7; Mic 2:13; Mat 24:43; Mar 2:4.
We have a more full account of the events here alluded to in Jer 39:2-7. There we learn that when the breach had been made the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate, and when Zedekiah saw them he and his men of war fled.
the men of war fled by night ] The verb is supplied, but appears in the text of Jer 39:4; Jer 52:7. The scribe in this passage has been much at fault.
by the way of the gate between two [R.V. the two ] walls ] This was a definite locality. The A.V. translates as R.V. in Jeremiah 39 From its proximity to the king’s garden, this gate must be the same which is called in Neh 2:14; Neh 3:15, ‘the gate of the fountain’. It was close to the pool of Siloam, and so the way through it would lead down to the Kidron valley.
which is [R.V. was ] by the king’s garden ] The past tense suits the narrative and its date better. Whether the king’s garden was outside or within the walls does not appear.
and the king went the way [R.V. by the way ] toward the plain ] R.V. of the Arabah. See note on 2Ki 14:25. The whole valley from the sea of Galilee southward to the desert was called by this name. On the character of this flight compare the words of Eze 12:12.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The city was broken up – Rather, broken into, i. e., A breach was made about midnight in the northern wall Eze 9:2, and an entry effected into the second or lower city (see the 2Ki 22:14 note), which was protected by the wall of Manasseh 2Ch 33:14.
Precipitate flight followed on the advance of the Babylonians to the middle gate, or gate of communication between the upper and the lower cities. This position was only a little north of the royal palace, which the king therefore quitted. He escaped by the royal garden at the junction of the Hinnom and Kidron valleys, passing between the two walls which skirted on either side the valley of the Tyropoeon.
Toward the plain – The Arabah or the great depression which bounds Palestine Proper on the east (Num 21:4 note). The way toward the Arabah is here the road leading eastward over Olivet to Bethany and Jericho.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. 2Kg 25:2.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The city was broken up by the Chaldeans, who broke and entered the gate, Jer 39:3.
The men of war fled; which word is fitly supplied out of the parallel place, Jer 39:4, or out of the following verb, went away.
Between two walls; between the outward and inward wall of the city, by a private way, having the advantage of the darkness of the night, and possibly of some vault under the ground. The king: this word also is necessarily to be understood; partly by its singular, which agrees not with the men of war; and partly out of the next verse, where it is expressed.
Toward the plain of Jericho, as it follows.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. the city was broken upthatis, a breach was effected, as we are elsewhere informed, in a part ofthe wall belonging to the lower city (2Ch 32:5;2Ch 33:14).
the men of war fled by nightby the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’sgardenThe king’s garden was (Ne3:15) at the pool of Siloam, that is, at the mouth of theTyropon. A trace of the outermost of these walls appears to bestill extant in the rude pathway which crosses the mouth of theTyropon, on a mound hard by the old mulberry tree, which marks thetraditional spot of Isaiah’s martyrdom [ROBINSON].It is probable that the besiegers had overlooked this pass.
the king went . . . towardthe plainthat is, the Ghor, or valley of Jordan, estimated atfive hours’ distance from Jerusalem. The plain near Jericho is abouteleven or twelve miles broad.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[See comments on 2Ki 25:1]
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) Broken up.Comp. 2Ch. 32:1. A breach was made in the wall with battering-rams, such as are depicted in the Assyrian sculptures. The Chaldans forced their entry on the north side of the city, i.e., they took the Lower City (2Ki. 22:14). This is clear from Jer. 39:3, where it is said that, after effecting an entrance, their generals proceeded to assault the middle gate, i.e., the gate in the north wall of Zion, which separated the upper from the lower city. (See also 2Ki. 14:13.)
All the men of war fled.The Hebrew here is defective, for it wants a verb, and mention of the king is implied by what follows. (See Jer. 39:4; Jer. 52:7.) A comparison of these parallels suggests the reading: And Zedekiah king of Judah and all the men of war fled, and went out of the city by night, &c.
By the way of the gate between (the) two walls which is (was) by the kings garden.This gate lay at the south end of the Tyropon, i.e., the glen between Ophel and Zion; and is the same as the Gate of the Fountain (Neh. 3:15). The two walls were necessary for the protection of the Pool of Siloam and the water supply; besides which the point was naturally weak for purposes of defence. Whether the kings garden was within or without the double wall is not clear, probably the latter, as Thenius supposes.
Now the Chaldees . . . round about.An indication that even by this route the king and his warriors had to break through the enemys lines, as the city was completely invested. (Corap. Eze. 12:12.)
And the king went. Some MSS. and the Syriac, and they went. (So Jer. 52:7; a correction, after the mention of the king had fallen out of the text.)
The way toward the plain.The Arabah, or valley of the Jordan (Jos. 11:2; 2Sa. 2:29).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. The city was broken up Or, broken in. The breach was probably made in the northern wall, for, according to Jer 39:3, “all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate” that is, the gate which led from the upper to the lower city. The sight of them in that position took from the king and his chief men all hope of defending the city, and they hastened to effect their escape, having no reason to expect mercy at the hands of their conquerors.
Fled by night Hoping to escape unseen; but too many Chaldean eyes were watching.
The gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden According to Neh 3:15, the king’s garden was by the pool of Siloam, that is, at the mouth of the Tyropoean valley, and the gate between two walls is without doubt the same as “the gate of the fountain.” The two walls are perhaps the same as those mentioned in Isa 22:11, and were probably extensions of the city walls in this vicinity to guard the pools or cisterns in a time of danger. As the breach was made in the northern wall of the city, the fugitives would naturally make their escape from the southern or south-eastern gate. The
Chaldees round about This parenthetical remark is thrown in to show how impossible it was for the fugitives to escape unseen.
Toward the plain The plain of Jericho.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 25:4. The men of war fled by night It is difficult to conceive how the besieged could make their escape, as the Chaldees had encompassed the city. Josephus indeed gives us this account, that as the city was taken about midnight, the captains with the rest of the soldiers went directly into the temple; which Zedekiah perceiving, he took his wives, children, commanders, and friends, and they all slipped away together by a narrow passage towards the wilderness; but then what this narrow passage was is still the question. The Jews think that there was a subterraneous passage from the palace to the plains of Jericho, and that the king and his courtiers might endeavour to make their escape that way. Dion, it is true, tells us, lib. 66: that, in the last siege of Jerusalem, the Jews had covered ways, which lay under the walls of the city, to a considerable distance into the country, out of which they were wont to sally, and fall upon the Romans that were straggling from their camp; but since neither Josephus nor the sacred historian take notice of any such subterraneous passage at this siege, we may suppose that, the Chaldeans having made a breach in the wall, the besieged got away privately between the wall and the out-works, by a passage which they did not suspect. See Jer 25:4 and Joseph. Hist. Bell. lib. 10: cap. 11.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The history in this place is but shortly related, just to manifest God’s certain judgments: but very long and painful must have been the process of them in their execution. Jeremiah had been long preaching of them, and was much opposed, as faithful ministers are, more or less, in all ages in this service. Hannaniah the lying prophet, had daringly opposed him, and was as awfully cut off. But yet these judgments left no lasting effect upon the minds of the people. See Jer 28 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 25:4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war [fled] by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which [is] by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees [were] against the city round about:) and [the king] went the way toward the plain.
Ver. 4. And the city was broken up ] a By the besiegers, who had seized upon the middle gate. Jer 39:3 Cajetan holdeth that it was broken up by the citizens, that by the breach they might escape. Hunger, we say, breaketh through stone walls.
And all the men of war fled.] This word “fled” is not in the text, but supplied from Jer 39:4 ut intelligamus fugam fuisse praecipitem, saith Vatablus, to set forth the hastiness and headlongness of their flight: but in fleeing from death they fled to it.
By night.
By the way towards the plain.
Now the Chaldees.
a Crebris ictibus arietum. – Vat.
b .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
broken up = breached. Before this an Egyptian force approached and the Babylonians retired (Jer 37:5-11). The relief was only temporary, as predicted.
fled. Some codices, with Syriac, read “the men of war fled, and went forth by night”. Compare Jer 39:4; Jer 62:7.
two = the two.
now. Note Figure of speech Parenthesis.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
And the city
Times of the Gentiles. 2Ki 25:1-21; Dan 2:29-45; Luk 21:24; Rev 16:19.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the city: This being the ninth day of the fourth month, corresponded to Wednesday, July 27. Jer 5:10, Jer 39:2, Jer 39:3, Jer 52:6, Jer 52:7-11, Eze 33:21
fled: Lev 26:17, Lev 26:36, Deu 28:25, Deu 32:24, Deu 32:25, Deu 32:30, Jer 39:4-7
and the king: 2Ki 25:5, Eze 12:12
Reciprocal: Lev 14:45 – break down Lev 26:31 – And I will make 2Ch 32:5 – another wall Ezr 4:15 – for which Psa 79:1 – the heathen Isa 22:3 – thy rulers Isa 24:10 – city Jer 4:9 – that the heart Jer 4:29 – shall flee Jer 32:4 – General Jer 34:3 – And thou Jer 38:18 – then Jer 40:7 – all the Jer 42:18 – As mine Jer 44:30 – as I Lam 1:15 – trodden Lam 4:18 – hunt Eze 12:4 – at even Eze 12:5 – Dig thou Eze 12:14 – I will scatter Eze 17:9 – shall he Amo 4:3 – ye shall go Mic 4:10 – shalt thou Zec 8:19 – the fourth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 25:4. The city was broken up It was taken by storm, the besiegers having made a breach in the wall, at which they forced their way into it. All the men of war fled Being unable any longer to defend the city, they endeavoured to quit it, which many of them found means to do by the way of the gate between the two walls That is, between the inward and outward walls of the city, or between the wall and the outworks, by a private way, having the advantage of the darkness of the night, and possibly of some vault under the ground. Many however, no doubt, were put to the sword, the victorious army being much exasperated by their obstinacy. To account, in some degree, for the besieged making their escape, Josephus observes, that as the city was taken about midnight, the enemies captains, with the rest of the soldiers, went directly into the temple, which Zedekiah perceiving, took his wives, children, commanders, and friends, and they all slipped away together, by a narrow passage, toward the wilderness. But what this narrow passage was, is still a question. The Jews think there was a subterraneous passage from the palace to the plains of Jericho, and that the king and his courtiers might endeavour to make their escape that way. And we learn from Dion, that in the last siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jews had covered ways, which lay under the walls of the city, to a considerable distance into the country, out of which they were wont to sally, and fall upon the Romans that were straggling from the camp: but since neither Josephus nor the sacred historian takes notice of any such subterraneous passage at this siege, it is most likely that the Chaldeans having made a breach in the wall, many of the besieged escaped through it, proceeding privately between the wall and the outworks, by a passage which the Chaldeans did not suspect. The king went toward the plain Of Jericho, as it follows.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
25:4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war [fled] by night by the way of the {d} gate between two walls, which [is] by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees [were] against the city round about:) and [the king] went the way toward the plain.
(d) Which was a back door, or some secret gate to leave by.