2 Kings 24:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Kings 24:14
And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Jerusalem
יְ֠רוּשָׁלִַםYe.ru.sha.lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
princes
הַשָּׂרִ֞יםha.sa.Rim
H8269
a head person (of any rank or class) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
men
גִּבּוֹרֵ֣יgi.bo.Rei
H1368
powerful · noun, common masculine plural construct
valour
הַחַ֗יִלha.Cha.yil
H2428
probably a force · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
ten
עֲשֶׂ֤רֶתa.sa.rah
H6235
ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) · noun, common feminine singular construct
thousand
אֲלָפִים֙'a.la.Fim
H505
hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders plural absolute
captives
גָּלָהgâlâh
H1540
to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense)
craftsmen
הֶחָרָ֖שׁhe.cha.Rash
H2796
a fabricator or any material · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
smiths
וְהַמַּסְגֵּ֑רve.ha.mas.Ger
H4525
a fastener · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
remained
נִשְׁאַ֔רnish.'Ar
H7604
properly · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
save
זוּלַ֖תzu.Lat
H2108
probably scattering · noun, common feminine singular construct
sort
דַּלַּ֥תda.Lat
H1803
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
people
עַם'am-
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct
land
הָאָֽרֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 52:28 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:
2 Kings 25:12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
2 Kings 24:16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king…
2 Chronicles 36:9-10 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil…
Jeremiah 39:10 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards a…
Jeremiah 40:7 Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah…
Jeremiah 52:16 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
Ezekiel 1:1-2 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of C…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 24:8–end
This should have been the history of king Jehoiachin's reign, but, alas! it is only the history of king Jehoiachin's captivity, as it is called, Eze 1:2. He came to the crown, not to have the honour of wearing it, but the shame of losing it. Ideo tantum venerat, ut exiret - He came in only to go out.
I. His reign was short and inconsiderable. He reigned but three months, and then was removed and carried captive to Babylon, as his father, it is likely, would have been if he had lived but so much longer. What an unhappy young prince was this, that was thrust into a falling house, a sinking throne! What an unnatural father had he, who begat him to suffer for him, and by his own sin and folly ha…
as the Lord had said--(compare Kg2 20:17; Isa 39:6; Jer 15:13; Jer 17:3). The elite of the nation for rank, usefulness, and moral worth, all who might be useful in Babylon or dangerous in Palestine, were carried off to Babylon, to the number of ten thousand (Kg2 24:14). These are specified (Kg2 24:15-16), warriors, seven thousand; craftsmen and smiths, one thousand; king's wives, officers, and princes, also priests and prophets (Jer 29:1; Eze 1:1), two thousand; equal to ten thousand captives in all.
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 24:14
He carried away all Jerusalem - That is, all the chief men, the nobles, and artificers. Among these there were of mighty men seven thousand; of craftsmen and smiths, one thousand.
John Gill on 2 Kings 24:14
And he carried away all Jerusalem,.... The inhabitants of it; not every individual of them, but the chief of them, the more honourable, rich, and useful; for the poorer sort were left, as afterwards expressed:
and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives; which was the number of them in the whole; the particulars are after delivered:
and all the craftsmen and smiths; besides the nobles and the soldiers, he took all the artificers that exercised any handicraft trade or business; carpenters and blacksmiths, as some interpret these two words; so that there were none left to make arms for them; the last word may be rendered "enclosers", and are by some inte…
The Church Fathers
"And he carried away all Jerusalem, etc." [2 Kings 24:14] Reporting this about Nebuchadnezzar, who carried away all Jerusalem, and all the leaders, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, Scripture adds, saying: "And all the craftsmen and smiths." This is what was said above to have been done by the Philistines to the people of Israel when it was said: "Now no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel." For the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears" (1 Samuel 13:19). Just as then, they took care that the Hebrews, having blacksmiths, might not make arms to resist, so now the Chaldeans, having destroyed Jerusalem and laid waste the whole land of promise, make sure that no craftsman, no smith, remains in it, who either could repair the polluted walls of the city or restore the broken structures; on the contrary, whatever skill they found among the exterminated people, they transferred entirely to Babylon; so that it might either be useless or serve the interests of that city. Because this most lamentable history is so much in line with the negligence of our times, I do not think its allegory should be kept silent. It is known that Jerusalem and the land of Israel represent the city of Christ, that is, the holy Church; but Babylon and the Chaldeans or the Philistines signify the city of the devil, that is, all the multitude of either wicked men or angels. And Israel serves the Philistines or Chaldeans, when any of the faithful, nominally existing in the Church, but otherwise deceived by unclean spirits or men, submit their minds to greed, luxury, or any other sin. Nebuchadnezzar carries away Israel and all the leaders, the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, when either the teachers of the people, those who seemed to serve the Lord with an invincible spirit and to faithfully observe the Decalogue in love of God and neighbor, either suddenly, overcome by the temptations of the world or adversities, or defile themselves with greater crimes, or certainly, by deviating into heresy, incur the mark of open apostasy. But the weapons with which, resisting the devil, we defend the freedom given to us by God, what else are they but the words of the Scriptures? In which, by the examples of the Lord Himself and His saints, we learn more clearly than daylight how the wars against vices ought to be overcome. But the…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ezekiel — God will strengthen. (1.) 1 Chr. 24:16, “Jehezekel.” (2.) One of the great prophets, the son of Buzi the priest (Ezek. 1:3). He was one of the Jewish exiles who settled at Tel-Abib, on the banks of…
Jehoiachin — Succeeded his father Jehoiakin (B.C. 599) when only eight years of age, and reigned for one hundred days (2 Chr. 36:9). He is also called Jeconiah (Jer. 24:1; 27:20, etc.), and Coniah (22:24; 37:1).…
Jeremiah — Raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1.) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness (1 Chr. 12:10). (2.) A Gadite warrior (1 Chr. 12:13). (3.) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr.…
Babylon · Nebuchadnezzar king of: Took Jehoiachin, &c captive to Babylon — Nebuchadnezzar king of: Took Jehoiachin, &c captive to Babylon
Captivity · Fulfilled — Fulfilled
Jehoiachin · Babylon — Babylon
Kings · Who reigned over Judah: Jehoiachin — Who reigned over Judah: Jehoiachin
Smith · Jewish, — Jewish,
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Beside these treasures, he carried away captive to Babylon the cream of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, not only the most affluent, but, as is evident from Jer 24:1-10, the best portion in a moral respect. In Kg2 24:14 the number of those who were carried off is simply given in a general form, according to its sum-total, as 10,000; and then in Kg2 24:15, Kg2 24:16 the details are more minutely specified. "All Jerusalem" is the whole of the population of Jerusalem, which is first of all divided into two leading classes, and then more precisely defined by the clause, "nothing was left except the common people," and reduced to the cream of the citizens. The king, queen-mother, and king's wives be…
In addition to Jehoiachin, the prophet Ezekiel was also taken into captivity (Ezek 1:1). Throughout the book of Ezekiel, events in Ezekiel’s life are dated in terms of the years since Jehoiachin had been taken captive. • The 10,000 taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar likely includes 7,000 . . . troops, 1,000 craftsmen and artisans, and a number of administrative officials and leading citizens of Jerusalem. In any case, 10,000 is probably a round figure (see also Jer 52:28).
Rashi on 2 Kings 24:14
Craftsmen and gatekeepers. [Targum] Yonoson rendered the craftsmen and the sentries of the gates. But, our Rabbis said that these were great Torah scholars,7I.e., “craftsmen and gatekeepers” is a metaphoric allusion to Torah scholars. See Maseches Sanhedrin 38a. that when one would begin [to speak], all remained silent [=חרש], as it is written, “Be silent before Me, O islands.”8Yeshayohu 41:1. ”מסגר” [is one who] all sit before him and learn from him, as it is stated, ”And he will open, and no one will close, and he will close, and no one will open.”9Ibid 22:22. 10See Maseches Gittin 88a.
