Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
Thus the stubbornness of this prince and his nobles proved the ruin of his family, and of themselves, and of the whole people. The nobles were great authors of this mischief, and brought Zedekiah into that obstinacy which he showed to the prophets admonitions and exhortations, upon them, therefore, a more exemplary punishment is taken. The Hebrew calls the nobles white men, either from their white garments, or from that candour of spirit which should be found in persons of their quality.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. slew . . . sons . . . before hiseyesprevious to his eyes being “put out” (Jer39:7); literally, “dug out.” The Assyrian sculpturesdepict the delight with which the kings struck out, often with theirown hands, the eyes of captive princes. This passage reconciles Jer32:4, “his eyes shall behold his eyes”; with Eze12:13, “he shall not see Babylon, though he shall diethere.”
slew all . . . nobles(Jer 27:20).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes,…. Not with his own hands, but gave orders to do it: these must be very young, at least some of them; since Zedekiah at this time was but thirty two years of age. This must be a dreadful spectacle for him to behold; and the consideration must be cutting, that it was owing to his own obstinacy in not taking the advice of the Prophet Jeremiah to surrender to the Chaldeans, whereby he and his family would have been saved, Jer 38:17;
also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah; who did not come over to the Chaldean army and surrender themselves; such who advised the king to stand out to the last, and who fled, and were taken with him; as many of them as fell into the hands of the king of Babylon. Jarchi says those were the sanhedrim, who loosed Zedekiah from his oath to Nebuchadnezzar.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
It is probable that Nebuchadnezzar continued in that pleasant city while Jerusalem was attacked, for he would not endure the weariness of a long siege, and he also wished to be far away from danger. It was enough for him that his generals, of whom mention is made, fought under his banner. Nebuchadnezzar then was beyond the reach of danger, and yet he filled the Jews with terror, because he did not return home, or to the principal seat of government, but remained in the neighborhood; for the Antioch of Syria was not far from Judea.
The Prophet now tells us how cruelly Nebuchadnezzar acted towards Zedekiah. It was surely a sad spectacle to see a king, who had been before in repute, who was of a noble family, who was a type of Christ, lying prostrate at the feet of a proud conqueror. But much more bitter to him than this, was to see his own sons killed before his eyes. It would have been better for him to die a hundred times than to be compelled to witness that slaughter. He was, however, compelled to do so. And then, that all hope might be cut off, all those who excelled in dignity and power were slain. For under the name princes, Jeremiah generally in-eluded the chief men; so that all who had any name among the people were killed. It was a horrible carnage! not only the king’s sons were slain, but all who were capable of restoring the city and the land to a better condition. Thus Nebuchadnezzar wished to take away every hope, by putting to death the royal family and all the nobles. It afterwards follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) The sons of Zedekiah.The history of Eastern monarchies presents us with many examples of this refinement of cruelty, notably in the case of (Eobazus under Darius (Herod. Iv. 84), and Pythius under Xerxes (Herod, vii. 39). The slaughter of the nobles probably included most of those whom we have seen in Jer. 36:12, and elsewhere.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 39:6 Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
Ver. 6. See on 2Ki 25:6-7 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
before his eyes. A specimen of the inhumanity of those days.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
slew the: Jer 52:10, 2Ki 25:7
before: Gen 21:16, Gen 44:34, Deu 28:34, 2Ki 22:20, 2Ch 34:28, Est 8:6, Isa 13:16
slew all: Jer 21:7, Jer 24:8-10, Jer 34:19-21
Reciprocal: Num 34:11 – Riblah 2Ki 23:33 – Riblah Jer 20:4 – thine Jer 34:3 – and thine Jer 34:21 – Zedekiah Jer 37:17 – thou shalt Jer 38:23 – they shall Jer 41:10 – even Lam 5:12 – General Eze 11:9 – and deliver Eze 11:10 – fall Eze 21:26 – Remove Eze 23:24 – I will set Eze 24:5 – the choice Eze 34:10 – and cause Zep 1:8 – the princes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 39:6-7. I have included these two verses in one paragraph because they pertain to an apparent difficulty or disagreement between certain statements in different places. In some passages it will be predicted that Zedekiah was to see the king of Babylon, also that he was to be taken to the city of Babylon and yet was never to see it. All is clear when we understand that he saw the king at Riblah and where he then had his eyes plucked out, after which he was taken to Babylon where he died. It would be well for the reader to make a group of the following passages. 2Ki 25:6-7; Jer 32:4-5; Jer 34:3; Jer 39:6-7; Eze 12:13.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Nebuchadnezzar then slew Zedekiah’s sons as their father watched, as well as the Judean nobles. He also blinded Zedekiah and sent him bound in strong chains to Babylon, where he died (cf. Jer 52:11; Jdg 16:21). The last sight Zedekiah saw was the execution of his own children. Truly this last king of David’s line was a pathetic figure. He was similar to King Saul, who also received a warning from a prophet, Samuel, but disregarded it and suffered a terrible fate (1Sa 28:15-19; 1Sa 31:1-6).