2 Kings 25:4

ZEDEKIAH TAKEN. (2Ki. 25:4-30)

the city was broken up--that is, a breach was effected, as we are elsewhere informed, in a part of the wall belonging to the lower city (Ch2 32:5; Ch2 33:14).

the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden--The king's garden was (Neh 3:15) at the pool of Siloam, that is, at the mouth of the Tyropæon. A trace of the outermost of these walls appears to be still extant in the rude pathway which crosses the mouth of the Tyropæon, on a mound hard by the old mulberry tree, which marks the traditional spot of Isaiah's martyrdom [ROBINSON]. It is probable that the besiegers had overlooked this pass.

the king went . . . toward the plain--that is, the Ghor, or valley of Jordan, estimated at five hours' distance from Jerusalem. The plain near Jericho is about eleven or twelve miles broad.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Ki 25:4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war [fled] by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which [is] by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees [were] against the city round about:) and [the king] went the way toward the plain.

Ver. 4. And the city was broken up] {a} By the besiegers, who had seized upon the middle gate. {Jer 39:3} Cajetan holdeth that it was broken up by the citizens, that by the breach they might escape. Hunger, we say, breaketh through stone walls.

And all the men of war … fled.] This word "fled" is not in the text, but supplied from Jer 39:4 ut intelligamus fugam fuisse praecipitem, saith Vatablus, to set forth the hastiness and headlongness of their flight: but in fleeing from death they fled to it.

By night.] All this was foretold. {Eze 12:12}

By the way towards the plain.] By a way underground, {b} say the Hebrews, into which the secret gate led them: by a deep valley between mountains, saith Josephus.

Now the Chaldees.] See on 2Ki 25:1.

{a} Crebris ictibus arietum. - Vat.

{b} φευδοθυρον.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 25:4. The city was broken up — It was taken by storm, the besiegers having made a breach in the wall, at which they forced their way into it. All the men of war fled — Being unable any longer to defend the city, they endeavoured to quit it, which many of them found means to do by the way of the gate between the two walls — That is, between the inward and outward walls of the city, or between the wall and the outworks, by a private way, having the advantage of the darkness of the night, and possibly of some vault under the ground. Many however, no doubt, were put to the sword, the victorious army being much exasperated by their obstinacy. To account, in some degree, for the besieged making their escape, Josephus observes, that as the city was taken about midnight, the enemies’ captains, with the rest of the soldiers, went directly into the temple, which Zedekiah perceiving, took his wives, children, commanders, and friends, and they all slipped away together, by a narrow passage, toward the wilderness. But what this narrow passage was, is still a question. The Jews think there was a subterraneous passage from the palace to the plains of Jericho, and that the king and his courtiers might endeavour to make their escape that way. And we learn from Dion, that in the last siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jews had covered ways, which lay under the walls of the city, to a considerable distance into the country, out of which they were wont to sally, and fall upon the Romans that were straggling from the camp: but since neither Josephus nor the sacred historian takes notice of any such subterraneous passage at this siege, it is most likely that the Chaldeans having made a breach in the wall, many of the besieged escaped through it, proceeding privately between the wall and the outworks, by a passage which the Chaldeans did not suspect. The king went toward the plain — Of Jericho, as it follows.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25:4 Using battering rams (Ezek 4:2), the Babylonians broke down a section of Jerusalem’s wall and penetrated the city. At nightfall, King Zedekiah and the remaining troops escaped through the gate at the southeastern corner of the city into the Kidron Valley, attempting to reach the Jordan Valley.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which was a postern door, or some secret gate to issue out at.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 4. 2Kg 25:2.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) Broken up.—Comp. 2Ch_32:1. A breach was made in the wall with battering-rams, such as are depicted in the Assyrian sculptures. The Chaldæans forced their entry on the north side of the city, i.e., they took the Lower City (2Ki_22:14). This is clear from Jer_39:3, where it is said that, after effecting an entrance, their generals proceeded to assault “the middle gate,” i.e., the gate in the north wall of Zion, which separated the upper from the lower city. (See also 2Ki_14:13.)

All the men of war fled.—The Hebrew here is defective, for it wants a verb, and mention of the king is implied by what follows. (See Jer_39:4; Jer_52:7.) A comparison of these parallels suggests the reading: “And Zedekiah king of Judah and all the men of war fled, and went out of the city by night,” &c.

By the way of the gate between (the) two walls which is (was) by the king’s garden.—This gate lay at the south end of the Tyropœon, i.e., the glen between Ophel and Zion; and is the same as “the Gate of the Fountain” (Neh_3:15). The two walls were necessary for the protection of the Pool of Siloam and the water supply; besides which the point was naturally weak for purposes of defence. Whether “the king’s garden” was within or without the double wall is not clear, probably the latter, as Thenius supposes.

Now the Chaldees . . . round about.—An indication that even by this route the king and his warriors had to break through the enemy’s lines, as the city was completely invested. (Corap. Eze_12:12.)

And the king went.— Some MSS. and the Syriac, and they went. (So Jer_52:7; a correction, after the mention of the king had fallen out of the text.)

The way toward the plain.—The Arabah, or valley of the Jordan (Jos_11:2; 2Sa_2:29).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. And the city was broken up] R.V. Then a breach was made in the city. The old phrase ‘broken up’ was the same in sense as ‘broken through’. See 2Ch_24:7; Jer_39:7; Mic_2:13; Mat_24:43; Mar_2:4.

We have a more full account of the events here alluded to in Jer_39:2-7. There we learn that when the breach had been made the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate, and when Zedekiah saw them he and his men of war fled.

the men of war fled by night] The verb is supplied, but appears in the text of Jer_39:4; Jer_52:7. The scribe in this passage has been much at fault.

by the way of the gate between two [R.V. the two] walls] This was a definite locality. The A.V. translates as R.V. in Jeremiah 39 From its proximity to the king’s garden, this gate must be the same which is called in Neh_2:14; Neh_3:15, ‘the gate of the fountain’. It was close to the pool of Siloam, and so the way through it would lead down to the Kidron valley.

which is [R.V. was] by the king’s garden] The past tense suits the narrative and its date better. Whether the king’s garden was outside or within the walls does not appear.

and the king went the way [R.V. by the way] toward the plain] R.V. of the Arabah. See note on 2Ki_14:25. The whole valley from the sea of Galilee southward to the desert was called by this name. On the character of this flight compare the words of Eze_12:12.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The city was broken up - Rather, “broken into,” i. e., A breach was made about midnight in the northern wall Eze 9:2, and an entry effected into the second or lower city (see the 2Ki 22:14 note), which was protected by the wall of Manasseh 2Ch 33:14.

Precipitate flight followed on the advance of the Babylonians to the “middle gate,” or gate of communication between the upper and the lower cities. This position was only a little north of the royal palace, which the king therefore quitted. He escaped by the royal garden at the junction of the Hinnom and Kidron valleys, passing between the two walls which skirted on either side the valley of the Tyropoeon.

Toward the plain - “The Arabah” or the great depression which bounds Palestine Proper on the east (Num 21:4 note). The “way toward the Arabah” is here the road leading eastward over Olivet to Bethany and Jericho.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Walls, by a subterraneous passage, to the plains of Jericho; (Rabbins) or by the horse gate, which was the most private, and, it seems, had been walled up, Ezechiel xii. 12. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The city was broken up by the Chaldeans, who broke and entered the gate, Jer 39:3.

The men of war fled; which word is fitly supplied out of the parallel place, Jer 39:4, or out of the following verb, went away.

Between two walls; between the outward and inward wall of the city, by a private way, having the advantage of the darkness of the night, and possibly of some vault under the ground. The king: this word also is necessarily to be understood; partly by its singular, which agrees not with the men of war; and partly out of the next verse, where it is expressed.

Toward the plain of Jericho, as it follows.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. The city was broken up — Or, broken in. The breach was probably made in the northern wall, for, according to Jer_39:3, “all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate” — that is, the gate which led from the upper to the lower city. The sight of them in that position took from the king and his chief men all hope of defending the city, and they hastened to effect their escape, having no reason to expect mercy at the hands of their conquerors.

Fled by night — Hoping to escape unseen; but too many Chaldean eyes were watching.

The gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden — According to Neh_3:15, the king’s garden was by the pool of Siloam, that is, at the mouth of the Tyropoean valley, and the gate between two walls is without doubt the same as “the gate of the fountain.” The two walls are perhaps the same as those mentioned in Isa_22:11, and were probably extensions of the city walls in this vicinity to guard the pools or cisterns in a time of danger. As the breach was made in the northern wall of the city, the fugitives would naturally make their escape from the southern or south-eastern gate. The

Chaldees… round about — This parenthetical remark is thrown in to show how impossible it was for the fugitives to escape unseen.

Toward the plain — The plain of Jericho.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the city was broken up; rather, brown into; i.e. a breach was made in the walls. Probably the breach was on the north side of the city, where the ground is nearly level. (see Eze_9:2) According to Josephus ("Ant. Jud:," 10:8. the enemy entered through the breach about midnight. And all the men of wari.e. , all the soldiers who formed the garrison fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls; rather, between the two walls, as in Jer_52:7. As the enemy broke in on the north, the king and garrison quitted the city on the south by a gate which opened into the Tyropoeon valley, between the two walls that guarded the town on either side of it. Which is by the king"s garden. The royal gardens were situated near the Pool of Siloam, at the mouth of the Tyrepoeon, and near the junction of the Hinnom with the Kidron valley (see Josephus, "Ant. Jud:," 7:11). (Now the Chaldees were against the city round about.) The town, i.e. , was guarded on all sides by Chaldean troops, so that Zedekiah and his soldiers must either have attacked the line of guard, and broken through it, or have slipped between two of the blockading pests under cover of the darkness. As no collision is mentioned, either here or in Jeremiah, the latter seems the more probable supposition. And the king went the way toward the plain; literally, and he went. The writer supposes that his readers will understand that the king left the city with his troops; and so regards "he went" as sufficiently intelligible. Jer_52:7 has "they went. By "the plain" (literally, "the Arabsh the valley of the Jordan is intended, and by "the way" to it the ordinary road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the city

Times of the Gentiles. 2Ki 25:1-21; Dan 2:29-45; Luk 21:24; Rev 16:19.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then the city was broken into

This can be translated in active form. AT: "Then the Babylonian army broke into the city" (See: Active or Passive)

all the fighting men

"all the warriors"

by the way of the gate

"by using the gate"

the Chaldeans

Some translations use "Chaldeans" and others use "Babylonians." Both terms refer to the same people group.

The king went in the direction of

"King Zedekiah also fled and he went toward"

All his army was scattered away from him

This can be translated in active form. AT: "His whole army ran away from him" or "The Chaldeans chased away his whole army" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

gate

Chaldea

Arabah

overtake

Jordan River

Jericho

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

By way of the gate between the two walls. A cave went from his house until the Plains of Yericho, and he fled through the cave. The Holy One, Blessed Is He, ordained a deer walking on the roof of the cave. and the Kasdim pursued the deer, and when they reached the cave's entrance in the Plains of Yericho, they saw him and captured him. This is what [Scripture] states, ”And I will spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.