Jeremiah 52:5

. Vid. Kimchi in loc. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Jeremiah 52:1 INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 52 This chapter contains the history of the besieging, taking, and destroying of Jerusalem; the moving cause of it, the wicked reign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah 52:1; the instruments of it, the king of Babylon and his army, which besieged and took it, Jeremiah 52:4; into whose hands the king of Judah, his sons, and the princes of Judah, fell; and were very barbarously and cruelly used by them, Jeremiah 52:8. Then follows an account of the burning of the temple, the king's palace, and the houses in Jerusalem, and the breaking down of the walls of it, Jeremiah 52:12; and of those that were carried captive, and of those that were left in the land by Nebuzaradan, Jeremiah 52:15; and of the several vessels and valuable things in the temple, of gold, silver, and brass, it was plundered of, and carried to Babylon, Jeremiah 52:17; and of the murder of several persons of dignity and character, Jeremiah 52:24; and of the number of those that were carried captive at three different times, Jeremiah 52:28; and the chapter is concluded with the exaltation of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and of the good treatment he met with from the king of Babylon to the day of his death, Jeremiah 52:31. Ver. 1. Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign,....

52:1-11 This fruit of sin we should pray against above any thing; Cast me not away from thy presence, Ps 51:11. None are cast out of God's presence but those who by sin have first thrown themselves out. Zedekiah's flight was in vain, for there is no escaping the judgments of God; they come upon the sinner, and overtake him, let him flee where he will.

Fate of King Zedekiah at the taking of Jerusalem; cf. 2 Kings 24:18 ; 2 Kings 25:7 , and Jeremiah 39:1-7 . The statements regarding Zedekiah's ascension and his government, Jeremiah 52:1-3 , agree word for word with 2 Kings 24:18-20 , even to the variation השׁליכו, Jeremiah 52:3 , for השׁליכו (Kings). The length of the siege of Jerusalem, Jeremiah 52:4-7 , and the flight, capture, and condemnation of King Zedekiah and the princes of Judah, Jeremiah 52:7-11 , not only agrees with 2 Kings 25:1-7 , but also with Jeremiah 39:1-7 , where it is merely the forcible entrance into the city by the Chaldeans that receives special detail; see on Jeremiah 39:3 . The variation ויּחנוּ, Jeremiah 52:4 , instead of ויּחן ( 2 Kings 25:1 ), does not affect the sense. As to the account given of the flight, capture, and condemnation of the king, both Jeremiah 39 and 2 Kings mit the notices given in Jeremiah 52:10 , "and also all the princes of Judah he caused to be slain (i.e., executed) at Riblah," and in Jeremiah 52:11 , "and he put him in the prison-house till the day of his death." בּית־הפּקדּות has been rendered οἰκία μυλῶνος by the lxx; on this fact Hitzig bases the opinion that the Hebrew words signify "the house of punishment," or "the house of correction," in which Zedekiah was obliged to turn the mill like other culprits, and as Samson was once obliged to do ( Judges 16:21 ).

But this meaning of the words cannot be substantiated. פּקדּה means "oversight, mustering, or visitation (Heimsuchung), or vengeance," e.g., Isaiah 10:3 , but not punishment (Strafe), and the plural, "watches" ( Ezekiel 9:1 ) and "custody," Ezekiel 54:11 ; hence the expression used here signifies "the house of custody," or "the house of the watches." The translation of the lxx can decide nothing against this, because their interpretation is based upon traditions which are themselves unfounded. Regarding this, Ewald well remarks (History of the People of Israel, iii. p. 748 of 2nd:ed.): "That Zedekiah must have laboured at the mill, as is mentioned in later chronicles (see Aug. Mai, Scriptorum veterum nova collectio, t. i. P. 2, p. 6; cf. Chr. Sam. Ch. xlv.), is probably a mere inference from Lamentations 5:13 ."

The words, "that he may not see the land with eyes," do not appear to indicate anything more than the necessary consequence of covering the face, and refer primarily to the simple fact that the king fled in the deepest sorrow, and did not want to see the land; but, as Ezekiel 12:13 clearly intimates, they were fulfilled in another way, namely, by the fact that Zedekiah did not see with his eyes the land of the Chaldeans into which he was led, because he had been blinded at Riblah (Jeremiah 39:5; Jeremiah 52:11; 2 Kings 25:7). לעין, by eye equals with his eyes, is added to give prominence to the idea of seeing. For the same purpose, the subject, which is already implied in the verb, is rendered more emphatic by הוּא; and this הוּא is placed after the verb, so that it stands in contrast with הארץ. The capture of the king was not depicted by Ezekiel; so that in this respect the announcement (Ezekiel 12:13) goes further than the symbolical action, and removes all doubt as to the credibility of the prophet's word, by a distinct prediction of the fate awaiting him. At the same time, his not seeing the land of Babylon is left so indefinite, that it cannot be regarded as a vaticinium post eventum. Zedekiah died in prison at Babylon (Jeremiah 52:11).

The words, "that he may not see the land with eyes," do not appear to indicate anything more than the necessary consequence of covering the face, and refer primarily to the simple fact that the king fled in the deepest sorrow, and did not want to see the land; but, as Ezekiel 12:13 clearly intimates, they were fulfilled in another way, namely, by the fact that Zedekiah did not see with his eyes the land of the Chaldeans into which he was led, because he had been blinded at Riblah (Jeremiah 39:5; Jeremiah 52:11; 2 Kings 25:7). לעין, by eye equals with his eyes, is added to give prominence to the idea of seeing. For the same purpose, the subject, which is already implied in the verb, is rendered more emphatic by הוּא; and this הוּא is placed after the verb, so that it stands in contrast with הארץ. The capture of the king was not depicted by Ezekiel; so that in this respect the announcement (Ezekiel 12:13) goes further than the symbolical action, and removes all doubt as to the credibility of the prophet's word, by a distinct prediction of the fate awaiting him. At the same time, his not seeing the land of Babylon is left so indefinite, that it cannot be regarded as a vaticinium post eventum. Zedekiah died in prison at Babylon (Jeremiah 52:11).