52:12 On the tenth 6 day of the fifth month, 7 in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard 8 who served 9 the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 52:14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 52:15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, 10 the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen. 52:16 But he 11 left behind some of the poor 12 and gave them fields and vineyards.
52:17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the “The Sea.” 13 They took all the bronze to Babylon. 52:18 They also took the pots, shovels, 14 trimming shears, 15 basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. 16 52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, 17 basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. 18 52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands 19 ) was too heavy to be weighed. 52:21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet 20 high, about 18 feet 21 in circumference, three inches 22 thick, and hollow. 52:22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet 23 high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. 52:23 There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.
1 sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the city of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
2 sn Heb “toward the Arabah.” The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape across the Jordan to Moab or Ammon. It appears from 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.
3 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
4 sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
5 tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.
6 tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:8 has “seventh.”
7 sn The tenth day of the month would have been August 17, 586
8 tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.
9 tn Heb “stood before.”
10 tn Heb “poor of the people.”
11 tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.
12 tn Heb “poor of the land.”
13 sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19.
14 sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.
15 sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.
16 tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”
17 sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.
18 sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.
19 tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.
20 tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
21 tn Heb “twelve cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
22 tn Heb “four fingers.”
23 tn Heb “five cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.