Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
7. Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes ] See on Jer 34:3 and cp. Jdg 16:21. “Putting out the eyes has been at all times a common Oriental punishment. The frequency of the punishment in the time of the younger Cyrus is indicated by a passage in Xenophon, where it is said that men deprived of sight for their crimes were a common spectacle along the highways within his government.” Rawlinson’s Herod. vol. IV. p. 16. C.B. (Barnes), on the parallel passage in Kings, quotes Layard for modern instances in Persia.
fetters ] The Hebrew word is dual, and the meaning therefore probably two chains. Cp. Act 12:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. Bound him with chains] Margin: “Two brazen chains;” one for his hands, and the other for his feet.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thus the two prophecies were fulfilled; that of this prophet, Jer 34:4, that Zedekiah should not die by the sword; and that of Ezekiel, that he should not see Babylon, though he should die there, Eze 12:13. Riblah was at a great distance from Babylon, where the king was at this time, probably to be nearer his army while the siege lasted at Jerusalem, and to give orders about it, and to divert himself, the place being a pleasant place, and the king not willing to trouble himself about the siege to go thither in person; but the siege being over, he now removeth to Babylon, and carrieth Zedekiah and the rest of the prisoners along with him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes,…. By what means is not certain; however, hereby the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled, that his eyes should see the king of Babylon, as they did, before they were put out, and that he should not die by the sword, Jer 34:3; and also the prophecy of Ezekiel, Eze 12:13; that he should be brought to Babylon, and yet should not see it; for his eyes were put out before he was carried there: a full proof this of the prescience of God; of his foreknowledge of future and contingent events; of the truth and certainty of prophecy, and of the authority of divine revelation:
and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon; with two brass or iron chains, or fetters, for both his legs; and thus bound he was carried to Babylon, where he remained to the day of his death.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here was an accumulation of misery: the king had his eyes pulled out, (117) after having been a spectator of the slaughter of his own sons! He then saw heaped together the dead bodies of his own offspring and of all his nobles. After that slaughter he was made blind. His life was, no doubt, prolonged to him, that he might die, as it were, by little and little, according to what a notorious tyrant has said. And thus Nebuchadnezzar intended to kill him a hundred and a thousand times, and not at once to put him to death, for death removes man from all the miseries of the present life. That Zedekiah remained alive, was then a much harder condition.
And this has been recorded that we may know, that as he had been so long obstinate against God, the punishment inflicted on him was long protracted; for he had not sinned through levity or want of thought, or some hidden impulse, but hardened himself against every truth and all counsels. It was therefore just that he should die by little and little, and not be killed at once. This was the reason why the king of Babylon pulled out his eyes.
The Prophet says in the last place, that he was bound with chains, and that he was in this miserable condition led into Babylon This reproach was an addition to his blindness: he was bound with chains as a criminal. It would have been better for him to have been taken immediately to the gallows, or to have been put to death in any way; but it was the design of Nebuchadnezzar, that he should lead a miserable life in this degraded state, and be a public example of what perfidy deserved. It follows, —
(117) The pulling out of his eyes is derived from the Vulg.; the other versions and the Targum. express literally the Hebrew, “And he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah.” And the custom was to hold before them red-hot iron. It seems also that they practiced in the East the horrible custom of pulling out the eyes. But to blind the eyes must have been a different form of barbarity. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Moreover he put out Zedekiahs eyes.The special form of punishment is noticeable as fulfilling the two prophecies(1) that Zedekiah should see the king of Babylon and be taken to that city (Jer. 32:4); and (2) that though he was to die in Babylon, he should never see it (Eze. 12:13). Beyond this, the fate of the last king of Judah is buried in darkness. His brother Jehoiachin was already a prisoner in Babylon (2Ki. 24:15), but we do not know whether the two were allowed to meet. Twenty-six years later Jehoiachin was released by Evil-merodach (2Ki. 25:27); but there is no mention of Zedekiah, and it is a natural inference that his sufferings had ended previously.
Bound him with chains.Literally, as in the margin, with two brazen chains.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Put out Zedekiah’s eyes Jer 32:4, says, “his eyes shall behold his eyes,” and Eze 12:13, “shall he not see it [Babylon] though he shall die there.” In this passage we have the explanation of these apparently incongruous statements.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 39:7. He put out Zedekiah’s eyes See chap. Jer 52:11 where it is added, that he put him in prison till the day of his death. Thus two prophesies were fulfilled, which seemed at first hearing to contradict each other: the first, that of our prophet, ch. Jer 32:4 that Zedekiah’s eyes should behold the eyes of the king of Babylon; and the other, that of Ezekiel, that he should not see Babylon, though he should die there, chap. Jer 12:13. The Jews to this day keep a solemn fast in memory of this misfortune of Zedekiah. See Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 39:7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
Ver. 7. See on 2Ki 25:7 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
put out Zedekiah’s eyes. So that Ezekiel was quite correct when he said that Zedekiah should be taken to Babylon, though he should not see it (Eze 12:13).
with chains = with two fetters.
to carry him. Ch. Jer 52:11, and 2Ki 25:7, show that this purpose was executed. It was not so with Jehoiakim (2Ch 36:6).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Babylon
Here began the “times of the Gentiles,” the mark of which is that Jerusalem is “trodden down of the Gentiles,” i.e. under Gentile overlordship. This has been true from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to this day. See “Times of the Gentiles” (See Scofield “Luk 21:24”). See Scofield “Rev 16:19”.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
he put: Jer 32:4, Jer 32:5, Jer 52:11, 2Ki 25:7, Eze 12:13
chains: Heb. two brasen chains, or fetters, Jdg 16:21, Psa 107:10, Psa 107:11, Psa 119:8
Reciprocal: 1Sa 11:2 – thrust Isa 28:22 – lest Isa 39:7 – of thy sons Jer 20:4 – thine Jer 34:3 – and thine Jer 37:17 – thou shalt Jer 52:10 – slew Lam 5:12 – General Eze 17:16 – even Eze 21:26 – Remove Zep 1:8 – the princes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
NON-ACCEPTANCE OF CHASTISEMENT
Moreover he put out Zedekiahs eyes.
Jer 39:7
What are the speakings of this Moreover to us? It says to us
I. Reject not limited chastisement or trial, for you know not how wide God may remove those bounds when it comes upon you as something rejected by you, but inflicted, whether you will or no, by Him.
II. Be sure that God will carry out His own way.He has never yet been conquered by man.
III. If we reject what God thus ordains, we are laying up for ourselves a long period of sad thought, peopled with sad memories.Zedekiah could now do nothing but think sadly over the past; it may be over the terrible sights which he had last seen. Acceptance would have saved this terrible experience.
IV. God has terrible reserves of chastening dealings.He can replace yokes of wood (chapter 28) with yokes of iron. That which the palmer worm has left, the locust will devour.
V. We must leave it to God to take care of us, when leading us either into discipline or chastisement.This is generally one of the very last thoughts which would occur to us in such circumstances.
Rev. P. B. Power.
Illustration
What a doom! The sons of the king were killed before his eyes, and it was the last sight that the king saw on earth. Zedekiah was blinded, and loaded with chains, and carried away to Babylon, and there he remained in prison till he died. There is a Jewish tradition that he was set to work in a mill. The king, in chains, toiled with the common slave. It makes us recall the dark lot of Samson, and read the glorious lines of Milton on it
Ask for this great deliverer now, and find him
Eyeless in Gaza at the mill with slaves.
Yet stay, let me not rashly call in doubt
Divine prediction; what if all foretold
Had been fulfilled but through my own default?