2 Kings 25:18, commentary and pictures

In the canon 1 and 2 Kings form one whole, counted as one book in the Hebrew canon, with the division into two introduced in the old versions that reckoned Samuel and Kings as a continuous series called the four books of the Kingdoms, or of the Kings. The verse stands in the closing section of that history, 2 Kings 18-25, which records the remaining kingdom of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away, at the end of the record running from the accession of Solomon to the Babylonian captivity. It stands in the last two closing chapters of Kings, which tell of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the carrying of many into captivity, the rebellion of Zedekiah and the final capture of the nation, while a little company under Gedaliah was left in the land, and which record the wicked and weak reigns of the kings of Judah.

It belongs to the account of Babylon's conquest of Judah and the final destruction of Jerusalem and despoiling of the temple at the end of Judah's kingdom, when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, Babylon took the people captive, overthrew the kingdom, and scattered them. That carrying into captivity came after the rebellion of Zedekiah and the final capture of the nation, with many carried away while a little company was left in the land under Gedaliah. In that destruction the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door of the temple, who were among the surviving members of the priesthood carried captive to Babylon.

The same chapter also records the captives slain at Riblah, Zedekiah's capture, Gedaliah's appointment and murder, the remnant's flight to Egypt, and Jehoiachin's kind treatment in Babylon. Seraiah was the high priest and Joshua's grandfather, so his being caught up in the destruction placed his family in danger of extinction. Ezra belonged to Seraiah's family and was Joshua's uncle or cousin.

The Babylonian captivity closes the history of the great empires mentioned in the Bible from the confusion of tongues onward, giving the salient facts of history and showing God's overruling hand in the history of nations. That history of the captivity and the final destruction of Jerusalem is typical of events to transpire under the gospel and at the close of this dispensation, so the fall of Jerusalem also represents events in the Christian age and at its end. It must be read by distinguishing type from antitype, lest what applies to the antitype be applied to the type.