Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 52:1-11
This narrative begins no higher than the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, though there were two captivities before, one in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the other in the first of Jeconiah; but probably it was drawn up by some of those that were carried away with Zedekiah, as a reproach to themselves for imagining that they should not go into captivity after their brethren, with which hopes they had long flattered themselves. We have here, 1. God's just displeasure against Judah and Jerusalem for their sin, Jer 52:3. His anger was against them to such a degree that he determined to cast them out from his presence, his favourable gracious presence, as a father, when he is extremely angry wi…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 52:4
forts--rather, towers of wood [KIMCHI], for watching the movements of the besieged from the height and annoying them with missiles.
John Gill on Jeremiah 52:6
And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month,.... The month Tammuz (o), which answers to part of June and part of July; hence the fast of the fourth month, for the taking of the city, Zechariah 8:19;
the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land; for the common people; though there might be some in the king's palace, and in the houses of princes and noblemen, and officers of the army; yet none for the soldiers, and the meaner sort of people; who therefore were disheartened and enfeebled, that they could not defend the city, or hold out any longer: the famine had been before this time, but was now increased to a prodigious degree, so that th…
Read the whole note in the consoleKeil & Delitzsch on Jeremiah 52:1-11
Fate of King Zedekiah at the taking of Jerusalem; cf. Kg2 24:18; Kg2 25:7, and Jer 39:1-7. The statements regarding Zedekiah's ascension and his government, Jer 52:1-3, agree word for word with Kg2 24:18-20, even to the variation השׁליכו, Jer 52:3, for השׁליכו (Kings). The length of the siege of Jerusalem, Jer 52:4-7, and the flight, capture, and condemnation of King Zedekiah and the princes of Judah, Jer 52:7-11, not only agrees with Kg2 25:1-7, but also with Jer 39:1-7, where it is merely the forcible entrance into the city by the Chaldeans that receives special detail; see on Jer 39:3. The variation ויּחנוּ, Jer 52:4, instead of ויּחן (Kg2 25:1), does not affect the sense. As to the accou…
