Jeremiah 39

In the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and surrounded the city to attack it.

1In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

NoteJudah's years were counted from the start of each king's reign, so "the ninth year of Zedekiah" is about 589–588 BC. Zedekiah had been installed as king by Nebuchadnezzar himself as a subject ruler, and had then broken his oath and turned to Egypt for backing; the siege is Babylon's answer. Months were numbered from the spring, so the tenth month falls in about December–January. To "besiege" a city was to ring it with troops and cut off food and water until it surrendered or was stormed.

2In Zedekiah's eleventh year as king, on the ninth day of the fourth month, the city wall was broken through.

2And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

NoteThe fourth month is roughly June–July, about eighteen months after the siege began; the year is 587 or 586 BC, depending on how the reigns are counted. "Broken up" in 1611 English meant broken into, the wall was breached, not the city dismantled. Other accounts of the same siege describe severe famine inside the walls by this point.

3Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came into the city and sat down in the Middle Gate. They were Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

3And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

NoteThe Hebrew list is hard to divide, and translators disagree about where names end and titles begin: "Samgar-nebo" may be part of the previous man's name or a place he came from, and Sarsechim may be "Nebo-sarsekim." Rabsaris and Rabmag are Babylonian court titles, not personal names, roughly "chief officer" and "chief official" (the exact duties are uncertain). The city gate was where officials of the ancient Near East sat to hold court and give judgments, so taking a seat in the Middle Gate was a public announcement that the city now belonged to them.

4When Zedekiah king of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they ran. They left the city at night by way of the king's garden, going through the gate between the two walls, and the king took the road toward the flat country of the Jordan Valley.

4And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.

NoteThe king's garden and the gate between the two walls were at the south end of Jerusalem, the side facing away from the Babylonian lines. "The plain" translates the Hebrew Arabah, the deep valley floor that runs from the Sea of Galilee down past the Dead Sea; Zedekiah was heading east, aiming to cross the Jordan and get beyond Babylon's reach.

5But the Babylonian army chased them and caught up with Zedekiah on the flat land near Jericho. They seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and there the king passed sentence on him.

5But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.

Note"Chaldeans" was a term for the people of southern Babylonia, and by this period it is used simply to mean the Babylonians. Riblah lay on the Orontes River in Syria, some two hundred miles north, and served as Nebuchadnezzar's headquarters for the whole campaign. "Gave judgment upon him" describes a formal legal proceeding: a subject king who had sworn loyalty and then rebelled was tried for breaking his treaty oath.

6There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah's sons while Zedekiah watched. He also killed all the leading men of Judah.

6Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.

NoteKilling the sons of a rebel king removed any heir who might later claim the throne. The "nobles" are the landholding aristocracy who governed with the king and had supported the revolt.

7Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes and tied him up with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.

7Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

NoteBlinding was a known Assyrian and Babylonian punishment for a subject king who broke faith, and the sequence here is deliberate: the execution of his sons was arranged to be the last thing Zedekiah ever saw. The Hebrew word for the chains is a dual form, a pair of bronze fetters, one for each leg.

8The Babylonians burned down the king's palace and the houses of the people, and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.

8And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.

NotePulling down a city's walls was standard practice after a revolt. It left the place open, unable to be defended, and so unable to rebel again.

9Then Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king's guard, took away to Babylon as prisoners the people still left in the city, along with those who had deserted and gone over to his side, and the rest of the people who remained.

9Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.

Note"Captain of the guard" translates a Hebrew title meaning literally "chief of the slaughterers", an old term for a very senior royal officer, here the general in charge of the occupation, not a bodyguard. Those who "fell away" are the people who had deserted to the Babylonians during the siege, which is exactly what Jeremiah had been urging the city to do; they were deported with the rest rather than killed.

10But Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, left behind in the land of Judah some of the poorest people, the ones who owned nothing. At that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

10But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

NoteThis was practical policy, not only mercy. Leaving a landless peasant population on the confiscated estates kept the fields and vineyards in production and taxable for Babylon, while the owners who had led the revolt were taken away.

11Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given orders about Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard. He said,

11Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,

Note"Nebuchadrezzar" is the same king as "Nebuchadnezzar"; the King James Version uses both spellings. The form with the r is actually closer to the Babylonian name, Nabu-kudurri-usur.

12"Take him, look after him well, and do not let anyone harm him. Do for him whatever he asks you to do."

12Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

Note"Look well to him" in 1611 English meant take care of him, not keep a close watch on him.

13So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, along with Nebushasban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the other chief officers of the king of Babylon, sent for Jeremiah.

13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;

14They had Jeremiah brought out of the courtyard of the guard and handed him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, so that Gedaliah could take him home. So Jeremiah lived among his own people.

14Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.

NoteThe "court of the prison" was the guardhouse courtyard attached to the palace, a place of detention under supervision, where a prisoner could still receive visitors and conduct business, rather than a cell. Gedaliah came from a family of senior court officials: his grandfather Shaphan had been secretary of state under King Josiah, and his father Ahikam had earlier stepped in to save Jeremiah's life. Babylon went on to appoint Gedaliah governor over those left in the land.

15Earlier, while Jeremiah was still shut up in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD had come to him. The LORD said,

15Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

16"Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Cushite. Tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to do to this city exactly what I said I would do. It will be harm and not good, and on that day you will see it happen with your own eyes.

16Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.

NoteEbed-melech had earlier pulled Jeremiah out of a muddy cistern where he had been left to die. His name means "servant of the king," which may be a title rather than a birth name. "Cushite" (the King James "Ethiopian") means he came from Cush, the region up the Nile south of Egypt, in what is now Sudan, not modern Ethiopia. "LORD" printed in capitals stands in for the personal name of God, which Jewish tradition avoided saying aloud; "LORD of hosts" means the LORD who commands the armies, whether of heaven or of Israel.

17But on that day I will rescue you, says the LORD. You will not be handed over to the men you are afraid of.

17But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.

18I will certainly save you. You will not be killed by the sword. You will get away alive, and your own life will be all you carry off. This is because you have trusted me, says the LORD."

18For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.

Note"Thy life shall be for a prey unto thee" is a battlefield expression used several times in Jeremiah. Plunder was what a soldier carried off from a defeated city; here the only plunder Ebed-melech gets out of the disaster is his own survival.