Jeremiah 52:30
In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
The Hebrew word neh-phesh, commonly translated soul, is used here to mean persons, recording 745 Jews carried captive and giving the total number of captives as 4,600. In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried 745 Jews captive, bringing the stated total of all persons carried away to 4,600.
That small total of a few thousand represents all that remained after Jerusalem's destruction, when many Jews were killed and only a remnant escaped destruction and captivity to be taken to Babylon. The carrying away recorded here came a few years after an earlier warning that if the people would keep the Sabbath holy by bearing no burden on that day Jerusalem would stand forever, but if they would not hearken it would be destroyed. That destruction and carrying away of the Jews captive took place because they disobeyed concerning the holy day.
As part of the account of Babylon's doom, this record stands as a lesson in which warnings against defying God went unheeded. In that lesson it is urged as a warning for cities and people who forget or defy God.