2 Kings Chapter 25
The Fall of Jerusalem and the Captivity of Judah
A. Jerusalem is conquered.
1. (2 Kings 25:1-3) Jerusalem under siege.
“Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it, and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.”
Jerusalem’s final days began with decisive precision, marked by exact dates that underscore the seriousness of the event. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon mobilized his entire army and encamped against Jerusalem, surrounding the city on every side. The text states that they built a siege wall all around, describing a standard military tactic of the ancient world. A siege wall prevented all movement in or out of the city, and it was designed to force the defenders into surrender through starvation. This was not a brief skirmish but a prolonged and deliberate act of war that demonstrated Babylon’s dominance and God’s judgment against Judah.
The Babylonians typically used watchtowers and tight perimeter control at the beginning of a siege, allowing inhabitants who wished to flee to escape while choking off trade and supplies. This approach is reflected in the historical note that many who defected were later taken into captivity. Over time the siege tightened, and the effect was devastating. The city remained besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah which means the siege lasted approximately eighteen months. This extended duration was influenced by geopolitical complexities, including Nebuchadnezzar’s ongoing concerns at Riblah and the possibility of Egypt intervening on behalf of Judah. These factors slowed Babylon’s timeline but did nothing to change the inevitable outcome.
The famine had become so severe that there was no food for the people of the land. This statement reveals the brutal effectiveness of Babylon’s strategy. Starvation was not merely a consequence, it was the decisive weapon. The people inside Jerusalem reached a point of absolute desperation, fulfilling earlier warnings from the prophets who had long pleaded with Judah to repent. With supplies gone and hope extinguished, Jerusalem was positioned for collapse. The siege represented the final unraveling of Judah’s national life and the beginning of the Babylonian captivity that the Lord had repeatedly warned them about through His prophets.
2. (2 Kings 25:4-7) Zedekiah is captured and executed.
“Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went by way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.”
Jerusalem’s final defenses collapsed when the city wall was broken through and the men of war attempted a desperate nighttime escape. They fled by way of a gate between two walls near the king’s garden, using a hidden route designed for secrecy rather than speed. This attempted flight, carried out while the Chaldeans still encircled the city, showed that Zedekiah understood the hopelessness of the situation. The Babylonian forces had nearly completed their siege, and this maneuver was the king’s last attempt to slip through the tightening grip of judgment that God had warned about repeatedly through the prophets. Instead of submitting to the Babylonian demands that would have spared the city, Zedekiah resisted to the bitter end, choosing a path that fulfilled the prophetic warnings issued to him many times.
The army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, far from Jerusalem. This distance indicates that Zedekiah likely believed he had succeeded in escaping the siege and evading capture. Yet the Word of the Lord proved true. At the very place where Israel had first entered the Promised Land under Joshua, the last Davidic king before the exile was caught and dethroned. The symbolism is stark. Jericho had been the site of Israel’s first victory in the land when the walls fell before men who trusted God, and now it became the place where the monarchy fell because the king refused to trust God’s Word. Zedekiah’s soldiers scattered from him, leaving him alone and defenseless, which reinforced that divine judgment had reached its appointed moment.
The Babylonians took Zedekiah and carried him to Riblah where Nebuchadnezzar pronounced judgment upon him. The cruelty that followed was calculated to leave a permanent mark on the final chapter of Judah’s monarchy. The sons of Zedekiah were slaughtered before his eyes, and immediately afterward those eyes were put out. This ensured that the last image the king ever saw was the execution of his own children. Though Babylon was not as savage as the Assyrians, they were still thoroughly capable of acts of terror designed to break the will of conquered kings. Zedekiah was bound in bronze fetters and taken to Babylon where he lived out the remainder of his days in darkness, a living symbol of Judah’s spiritual blindness and rebellion.
This entire event fulfilled the Word of the Lord spoken through Ezekiel. God had said, “I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there.” This prophecy seemed impossible, almost contradictory, yet it was fulfilled with exact precision. Zedekiah went to Babylon, but he never saw Babylon because his eyes had been removed. His fate also aligns with Ezekiel’s prophecy that he would die in Babylon, combined with Jeremiah’s warnings that submission would have spared both him and the city. His blindness illustrated the deeper truth that his spiritual perception had failed long before his physical eyes were taken. He had ignored the warnings of the prophets, ignored the covenant obligations to God, and ignored the path of repentance that could have saved him. Josephus records that Nebuchadnezzar kept Zedekiah imprisoned until he died and then buried him honorably, which aligns with the statement in Jeremiah that he would die in peace, though not in freedom. His captivity, his suffering, and his death stand as a solemn reminder that resisting the Word of God always leads to destruction, no matter how clever or desperate the escape plan may be.
3. (2 Kings 25:8-10) The destruction of Jerusalem.
“And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house, all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around.”
The text marks this moment with exact chronological precision, underscoring the finality and solemnity of Jerusalem’s fall. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and a high-ranking officer directly under Nebuchadnezzar, entered Jerusalem in the fifth month of the nineteenth year of the Babylonian king. His purpose was not negotiation or occupation but total destruction. He began by burning the house of the Lord, reducing Solomon’s magnificent temple to smoldering ruins. This building, once a symbol of God’s presence among His people, was now a heap of ashes. Its destruction signified that God’s patience with Judah’s rebellion had reached its end. The structure that had once housed the Ark, witnessed sacrifices, and echoed with prayers and praises was now gone. The temple would remain in ruins for decades until the humbled remnant returned under Zerubbabel and rebuilt it in far less splendor.
The burning of the temple was followed by the burning of the king’s house and the great houses of Jerusalem. This included the royal palace, the major administrative buildings, and the homes of the wealthy and influential. Babylon systematically dismantled the city’s leadership, culture, and identity. According to traditional Jewish accounts, including statements preserved in the Talmud, the Babylonians desecrated the temple with feasting for two days before setting it on fire. The fire reportedly burned into the next day, a vivid sign of divine judgment on a nation that had repeatedly rejected God’s commands. Historical calculations place the destruction precisely: the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, and exactly four hundred and twenty-four years and three months after Solomon laid the foundation of the temple. These chronological markers show that the fall of Jerusalem was not random, it was a calculated and prophesied act of judgment.
The army of the Chaldeans then broke down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. These walls had been the pride of the city, the visible expression of its strength and security. Once they fell, Jerusalem lost all military and political stability. The destruction of the walls made it clear that Judah was no longer an independent kingdom and had no remaining ability to defend itself. These walls would stand in ruin until the days of Nehemiah, when God once again stirred the hearts of a faithful remnant to rebuild. The man who oversaw this destruction, Nebuzaradan, bore a title that in Hebrew literally means chief executioner or slaughterer, showing that he was entrusted with carrying out the harshest measures of Babylonian judgment. Under his direction the city was methodically demolished, the palace and temple reduced to rubble, and the defenses dismantled. Jerusalem, once the city of David and the center of worship, now lay desolate.
4. (2 Kings 25:11-17) The remainder is taken captive and plundered.
“Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried their bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. The firepans and the basins, the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network.”
After the burning of the temple and the demolition of Jerusalem’s walls, Nebuzaradan proceeded to deport the remaining inhabitants. This was the third major wave of captivity, removing all survivors except a small remnant of the poorest people who posed no threat to Babylonian control. These were left behind as vinedressers and farmers, tasked with working the land and providing agricultural productivity for Babylon. This decision underscores the fact that the Babylonian conquest was not merely punitive but administrative. They intended to use the land and its harvests. Among the prominent residents of Jerusalem, only Jeremiah and Gedaliah were left behind, since Jeremiah had been known as one who urged submission to Babylon in obedience to God’s revealed will. Babylon recognized his stance and spared him. The literary structure of the chapter emphasizes the rapid succession of events, with each clause introduced by “and,” producing a drumbeat effect that reflects Jerusalem’s final collapse.
Nebuzaradan then plundered the remaining treasures of the temple. The Babylonians broke in pieces the massive bronze pillars, the bronze carts, and the enormous bronze Sea that Solomon had constructed centuries earlier. These were masterpieces of ancient craftsmanship, and their destruction represents the complete dismantling of the physical symbols of Israel’s worship. The bronze pillars, named Jachin and Boaz in Solomon’s time, were each eighteen cubits high with ornate bronze capitals three cubits tall, decorated with networks and pomegranates. Their size and craftsmanship made them legendary, yet even they were shattered and carried off to Babylon. The Babylonians also seized every utensil used in priestly ministry, including pots, shovels, trimmers, spoons, and all bronze instruments required for temple service. The items of solid gold and solid silver, including firepans and basins, were collected as well. Nothing of value was left behind.
Scripture emphasizes that the quantity of bronze taken was beyond measure. Solomon had made these items in such abundance that they could not be weighed in earlier years, and now they were hauled off as spoils of war. Jeremiah 52:17-23 provides a detailed inventory of these items, including descriptions of their size, craftsmanship, and number. This record demonstrates how thoroughly the Babylonians stripped the temple and how complete the judgment upon Judah had become. What had once been the glory of Israel’s worship now lay in fragments, carried away to a pagan land. Jerusalem was emptied of its people, its wealth, its temple, and its identity. All of this fulfilled what God had long warned through His prophets. The nation that rejected Him was delivered into the hands of its enemies and stripped bare.
5. (2 Kings 25:18-21) The authority of Nebuchadnezzar over Jerusalem and Judah.
“And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. So Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.”
After destroying the temple and removing the remaining inhabitants, Nebuzaradan proceeded to eliminate the remaining leadership of Judah. He arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers who served at the temple. These were not merely religious figures, they represented the last remnants of Judah’s spiritual and administrative structure. Along with them he seized an officer responsible for overseeing the men of war, five of the king’s closest associates who remained in the city, the chief recruiting officer who had mustered the population for military service, and sixty additional men of the land who were found in Jerusalem. This group represented military, royal, and administrative leadership. Babylon intended not merely to conquer Judah but to decapitate its leadership completely so that no organized resistance could ever rise again.
Nebuzaradan brought these men to Riblah where Nebuchadnezzar waited. Riblah served as the Babylonian military headquarters during the campaign, and it was here that the king pronounced judgment. The king of Babylon struck them and put them to death, a public and deliberate display of authority. These executions demonstrated Nebuchadnezzar’s complete dominance over the former kingdom of Judah. Every figure of influence, whether priestly, political, or military, was executed to ensure that Judah would have no leaders, no institutions, and no possibility of reconstituting itself as an independent nation. The once-great kingdom of David and Solomon was now fully subdued under foreign rule.
The author concludes with the solemn phrase, “Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.” This land had been given to Israel by God Himself as an inheritance. It had been theirs for over eight centuries. They had entered it by faith and obedience under Joshua, but they lost it through disobedience, idolatry, and stubborn rejection of God’s Word. The lack of emotional tone in this narrative is striking. The author simply records the facts, leaving the emotional weight to be expressed elsewhere, especially in the Book of Lamentations where the weeping, agony, and suffering of Jerusalem’s fall are fully voiced.
Judah’s captivity stands as a sobering testimony to Israel’s failure to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to them. They had been called to a unique position of honor among the nations as God’s covenant people, yet they repeatedly rejected His commandments. Instead of remaining distinct, they imitated the customs of the surrounding nations, sought alliances with pagan powers, and adopted their idols. Ironically, the nation whose ways they admired most became the very instrument of their destruction and captivity. The chronological markers highlight the significance of this moment. Judah was carried away four hundred and sixty-eight years after David began to reign, three hundred and eighty-eight years after the ten tribes broke away, one hundred and thirty-four years after the fall of the Northern Kingdom, and nearly six centuries before the birth of Christ. It was a tragic but righteous judgment for a nation that had refused to return to the Lord.
B. Judah and Jerusalem under the Babylonians
1. (2 Kings 25:22-24) Gedaliah is made the governor.
“Then he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left. Now when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, and said to them, ‘Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.’”
Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam as governor over the land, placing him in charge of the small remnant left behind in Judah. Gedaliah came from a godly line, being the grandson of Shaphan, the scribe who helped Josiah rediscover the Book of the Law, and the son of Ahikam, who defended the prophet Jeremiah from execution. Scripture and history indicate that Gedaliah himself was a steady, righteous, and gracious man. He had a reputation for gentleness and generosity, and his loyalty to the Word of God made him a trustworthy leader for the remnant. Jeremiah counted him a friend, and the Babylonians evidently trusted him to oversee the land peacefully.
When the remaining military captains heard that Gedaliah had been appointed, they approached him at Mizpah to evaluate the new situation. These men had resisted Babylon during the war, but now they came seeking stability. Gedaliah reassured them with an oath, encouraging them not to fear the servants of the Chaldeans but to submit to Babylonian authority. He promised them that if they dwelled in the land and served the king of Babylon, it would be well with them. Though submission to Babylon seemed unpatriotic and perhaps even ungodly, it was in fact obedience to the revealed will of God. Through the prophets, especially Jeremiah, God had declared that Babylon was His instrument of judgment. To resist Babylon was to resist God Himself. The only faithful path was to humble themselves, accept the discipline of the Lord, and remain in the land under Babylonian rule.
This issue troubled the prophet Habakkuk profoundly. He wrestled with the problem of God using a nation more wicked than Judah as His tool of judgment. Habakkuk asked how a righteous God could employ such an unrighteous empire as Babylon, yet God affirmed that His justice and sovereignty extend even through the actions of pagan nations. The remnant in Judah now faced the same theological tension Habakkuk struggled with: they were called to submit to Babylon not because Babylon was righteous, but because God had ordained this judgment and promised to restore His people after it had accomplished its purpose.
2. (2 Kings 25:25-26) The assassination of Gedaliah.
“But it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah, the Jews, as well as the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. And all the people, small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.”
Despite Gedaliah’s righteousness and his commitment to protect the remnant, his leadership was violently cut short. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, a descendant of the royal family of Judah, arrived with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah along with the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. Ishmael viewed Gedaliah as a traitor for counseling submission to Babylon, and he acted in line with the nationalist resistance movement that refused to accept God’s judgment. In their view, fidelity to Judah meant resisting Babylon at all costs, even if God had declared otherwise through His prophets. Ishmael’s actions brought even greater disaster upon the land.
After killing Gedaliah, panic spread among the people. Fearing Babylonian retaliation for the assassination of their appointed governor, all the people, both small and great, along with the captains of the armies, fled to Egypt. This decision was driven by fear rather than faith. Instead of staying in the land as God commanded through Jeremiah, they sought protection in Egypt, the very nation God had warned them repeatedly not to trust. Their flight to Egypt was a rejection of the Lord’s discipline and a return to the old sinful pattern of relying on foreign alliances. Ironically, the path they chose to protect themselves led them into deeper judgment and hardship.
Archaeological discoveries now confirm the presence of these Jewish refugees in Egypt during the fifth century, particularly through the Elephantine Papyri, which record Jewish communities living and worshiping there long after the fall of Jerusalem. These documents provide historical testimony to the biblical account of Judah’s scattered remnant. What should have been a humble submission to God’s chastisement instead became another act of rebellion, demonstrating the deep spiritual blindness that plagued Judah even after the city had been destroyed.
3. (2 Kings 25:27-30) Jehoiachin’s situation in Babylon improves.
“Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.”
These closing verses of 2 Kings shift the scene from the devastated ruins of Judah to the distant city of Babylon where Jehoiachin, one of Judah’s former kings, had lived in captivity for thirty-seven years. Jehoiachin was not Judah’s final king, but he had been taken to Babylon long before Zedekiah’s downfall. His captivity began when he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar as a young man, and he was carried away in bronze fetters. For nearly four decades he lived as a prisoner in a foreign land. Yet despite the long years of confinement, the biblical account of Jehoiachin’s experience in Babylon carried great symbolic weight. Many Judeans regarded him as the last legitimate Davidic king, and therefore news of his condition was deeply significant for a people longing for restoration.
In the first year of his reign, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon extended mercy to Jehoiachin. He released him from prison, spoke kindly to him, and elevated him to a more honorable seat among the captive kings who resided in Babylon. Jehoiachin exchanged his prison garments for ordinary clothing and began to eat regularly at the king’s table. Furthermore, he received a daily ration from the king’s provisions for the rest of his life. These gestures did not restore Judah’s freedom and did not bring the exiles home, but they represented small rays of favor in a dark season. They were tokens of grace, hints that God had not abandoned His covenant people even in captivity. Evil-Merodach’s treatment of Jehoiachin is described as the result of a deliberate agreement rather than mere sentiment, suggesting that Jehoiachin’s change in status had political meaning as well as symbolic value.
Jewish tradition preserved by the Rabbis adds a colorful anecdote, claiming that Evil-Merodach’s kindness was influenced by a personal encounter with Jehoiachin while they had both been confined in prison, possibly during Nebuchadnezzar’s period of madness recorded in Daniel. Although not part of Scripture, this tradition reflects the enduring Jewish memory of Jehoiachin’s plight and his unexpected elevation. The divine historian concludes 2 Kings with this episode to remind readers that God still preserved the Davidic line even in exile. Jehoiachin’s improved condition served as a quiet but powerful assurance that God’s covenant promises had not been extinguished. The restoration was not yet here, but it was foreshadowed. God preserved the royal line in Babylon, and in time He would bring His people home.
This final note also encourages faith. If a pagan king could show such care to a captive heir of David, then it is certain that God’s care for His people is far greater. Even in their lowest moments, God had not forgotten them. The book ends not with despair but with a faint, steady signal of hope pointing forward to eventual restoration and the future fulfillment of God’s promises.
