2 Kings 25:24, commentary and pictures

In the books of Kings, which form one whole and are counted as one book in the Hebrew canon, the verse stands in the third great division of the history, the history of the surviving kingdom of Judah after the ten tribes were carried away, comprising 2 Kings 18-25, within the whole narrative running from Solomon's accession to the Babylonian captivity. It belongs to the time after the fall of Judah's monarchy, when independent rule had ended and Judah stood as a province subject to the great empires ruling over it, at this time Babylon.

After Jerusalem was laid waste, the temple despoiled, and its people carried to Babylon in the completed captivity that followed Zedekiah's rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, only a remnant of a few very poor people was left in the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. Over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam was appointed by the king of Babylon as governor. To them and to their men he gave his sworn assurance not to fear to be servants of the Chaldeans but to dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, with the promise that it would be well with them.

His rule was cut short when he was slain through treachery by Ishmael about two months later. After the murder the whole remnant disobeyed, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans, contrary to Jeremiah's counsel. By that flight the land was left desolate, fulfilling the word of the Lord through Jeremiah that the land would enjoy its Sabbaths for seventy years.