2 Kings 25:5, commentary and pictures

The verse tells of the final flight from besieged Jerusalem in Zedekiah's eleventh year, when the men of war fled by night toward the plain and the Chaldean army pursued the king, overtook him in the low country near Jericho, scattered his whole army from him, and seized him to bring him to the king of Babylon at Riblah for judgment, blinding and binding him for Babylon. It stands at Jerusalem's final fall after Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, when after a year and a half of siege the famine prevailed until there was no bread and the city was broken up. With this capture of the last king of Judah independent government ended, and he died in captivity in Babylon while Judah afterward remained only as a province with a little company left in the land. The fall came after wicked and weak reigns in disobedience to God's commands, and it shows God's overruling hand in the history of nations. The Babylonian captivity and final destruction of Jerusalem were also molded to represent events to transpire under the gospel and at the close of this dispensation.

Historical Context and Capture

The verse stands in the closing history of the remaining kingdom of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away, covering 2 Kings 18-25. That section closes the continuous history of the kings from the accession of Solomon to the Babylonian captivity told in the two books of Kings as one whole. Within that closing history it records the capture of Zedekiah, the last king, and belongs to the record of Judah's fall and Babylonian captivity as the kingdom soon fell before Nebuchadnezzar.

It belongs to Jerusalem's final fall after Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, when Nebuchadnezzar's army took Jerusalem and carried many of the people into captivity. Zedekiah himself with many of the people was taken away to Babylon in that taking of the city. His rebellion thus ended in the final capture of the Jewish nation, after which only a little company under Gedaliah was left in the land.

Compared with the verses before and after it, the verse shows a siege that had continued a year and a half and had produced severe famine whose horrors are described in Lamentations. The famine prevailed by the ninth day of the fourth month, when there was no bread for the land and the city was broken up. This came in Zedekiah's eleventh year, after the Babylonian army had returned and renewed the siege while the Chaldeans lay round the city.

Then the men of war fled by night by the gate between the two walls by the king's garden toward the plain. The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains and low country near Jericho. His whole army was scattered from him and broke away, leaving him alone. He was seized and brought to the king of Babylon at Riblah for judgment, where his sons were killed before his eyes, his own eyes were put out, and he was bound with brass fetters and carried to Babylon. In this the Babylonian conquest reached Judah's king himself, overthrowing the kingdom, scattering its people, destroying the state, and marking the collapse of Judah's resistance in the Babylonian captivity.

Doctrinal and Prophetic Significance

The capture in the plains of Jericho marks the rebellion of Zedekiah ending in the final capture of the Jewish nation, when Jerusalem was taken and many carried into captivity, with only a little company left in the land under Gedaliah. It records the downfall of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, whose army was scattered from him so that he was overtaken and captured, then blinded and taken to Babylon where he died in captivity. With his fall independent government ended, and whatever Judah afterward enjoyed was only as a province subservient to the great kingdoms that ruled the world.

The closing history of the kings of Judah to which this belongs is a record of wicked and weak reigns. That destruction of Jerusalem and Babylonian captivity came after disobedience to God's commands and the adoption of slavery, when the fleeing king was overtaken, his army scattered, and the state brought to destruction and captivity.

This account of the Babylonian captivity closes the history of the great empires mentioned in the Bible from the confusion of tongues onward, including Shinar, Chaldea, Elam, Karvak, Accad, Babel, Assyria, Egypt and Israel. In that closing history is seen God's overruling hand in the history of nations. The captivity in Babylon, the prophecies relating to it, and the final destruction of Jerusalem are typical of events to transpire either under the gospel or at the close of this dispensation. The prophecies connected with these events were molded to also represent events under the gospel, so that ancient Israel could look beyond what was fulfilled in their own dispensation, and those living in the Christian dispensation have a special interest in what applied primarily and typically to the Jews.