2 Kings 25 Study Notes

25:1 In 588 BC the pharaoh of Egypt led a general rebellion against Babylon that included the Phoenician coast and Transjordanian territories. Just as this rebellion was a coordinated joint rebellion of the region, the resulting Babylonian reprisal was a thorough destruction of the entire region—of non-Israelite territories in Transjordan as well. According to Jr 34:7, it seems that the Babylonians reduced all the other fortifications of Judah before turning to Jerusalem and that their approach at the end came from the southwest, from the Shephelah.

25:2-3 After a siege of eighteen months, the food supply of Jerusalem failed.

25:4-5 When Jerusalem’s wall was breached, the warriors and King Zedekiah fled, probably down the Kidron Valley to the road to Jericho and then to the plains near Jericho.

25:6-7 Riblah was the administrative center for Babylonian control in the region. There, Zedekiah was punished. His sons were killed before his eyes, thus eliminating the threat of royal heirs to the throne. Zedekiah was blinded and taken to prison in Babylon. This fulfilled the prophecies that he would see Nebuchadnezzar (Jr 32:4) but would not see Babylon (Ezk 12:11-13).

25:8-10 The end of this historic phase of the Davidic covenant came with the total destruction of everything of significance in Jerusalem: literally, the temple, the king’s palace, all the houses of Jerusalem, all the great houses, and the defensive wall of Jerusalem.

25:11-12 The poorest of the land were unlikely to have skills that could be of use in Babylon, and so they were left behind to be farmers.

25:13-17 The temple furnishings were plundered for their scrap-metal value. The list of plundered objects would have read to devout worshipers of the Lord like an obituary list. All that was left for their faith in the Lord was the documents that had already been taken and would be carried into captivity. The learned scholars of the time—according to current thinking, identified with the Levites—would continue to preserve and produce sacred writings.

25:18-21 Representative leaders of Judah were selected for execution by the Babylonians after being taken to Riblah. Of the two, Seraiah is otherwise unknown. However, Zephaniah, a second-tier leader of the priests, was known for being given the responsibility to root out supposedly false prophets, his major target being Jeremiah (Jr 29:26-29). The Babylonians were probably aware of his anti-Babylonian stance when they executed him. Also, sixty . . . common people, probably randomly selected, were also executed.

25:22-25 A more detailed account of these events appears in Jr 40:6-41:9. Here it suffices to note that it was a story of alleged collaboration with the conquerors, wholesale murder by “freedom fighters,” and the loss of any hope of civilized life for the Hebrews who remained in Palestine.

25:26 The feared repercussions after the assassination of Gedaliah resulted in a voluntary exodus from Palestine to Egypt. Though at the time there was little hope for the future, the Jewish colony at Elephantine would make their mark on history through documents (Elephantine papyri) that have survived to this day, and the Jewish community in Alexandria would become the intellectual rivals of rabbinic Judaism.

25:27-30 There was one more optimistic development—Jehoiachin’s release from prison and his place of honor among the captive kings. The year was 561 BC; Jehoiachin was fifty-five years old. This favor probably resulted partly from his willing surrender to the Babylonians and may have been aimed at creating a better atmosphere for the exiles in Babylon. It may also have aroused hopes for restoration of the Davidic line in the person of Jehoiachin or one of his descendants. At the very least, it signaled a generally favorable Babylonian stance toward the Jewish captives—an optimistic development for God’s people in Babylon.