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Selected Verse: Jeremiah 52:24 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Jer 52:24	Strong Concordance	And the captain [07227] of the guard [02876] took [03947] Seraiah [08304] the chief [07218] priest [03548], and Zephaniah [06846] the second [04932] priest [03548], and the three [07969] keepers [08104] of the door [05592]:
	King James	And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Seraiah--different from the Seraiah (Jer 51:59), son of Neriah; probably son of Azariah (Ch1 6:14). Zephaniah--son of Maaseiah (see on Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Seraiah--different from the Seraiah (Jer 51:59), son of Neriah; probably son of Azariah (Ch1 6:14).

Zephaniah--son of Maaseiah (see on Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The account given regarding the arrest of the chief officers of the temple and of the city, and concerning their transportation to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar caused them to be executed, agrees with Kg2 25:18-21, except in some unimportant variations, which, however, do not alter the sense; the explanation has been already given in the commentary on that passage. In 2 Kings, the account of the appointment of Gedaliah as the governor of Judah, together with that of his assassination by Ishmael, which follows the narrative just referred to, is here omitted, because the matter has bee already more fully stated in the passage Jer 40:7 on to Jer 43:7, and had no close connection with the object of the present chapter. Instead of this, there follows here, in Jer 52:28-30 (as a continuation of the remark made, Jer 52:27, "Thus was Judah carried away captive out of his own land"), a calculation of the number of the Jews taken to Babylon at the three deportations: in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, 3023 Jews; in the eighteenth year, 832 souls from Jerusalem; and in the twenty-third year, 745 souls, - in all, 4600 persons. The correctness of these data is vouched for by the exactness of the separate numbers, and the agreement of the sum with the individual items. In other respects, however, they present various difficulties. There is, first, the chronological discrepancy that the second deportation is here placed in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, in contradiction with Jer 52:12, according to which, the deportation after the taking of Jerusalem occurred in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar; and 832 souls could not well be carried out of Jerusalem during the siege. This difference can be settled only by assuming that this list of deportations was derived from another source than the preceding notice regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, in which the years of Nebuchadnezzar's reign were reckoned in some other way than elsewhere in Jeremiah and in the books of Kings, probably from the date of the actual commencement of his reign, which followed a year after he first appeared in Judah, from which his reign is dated elsewhere; see Comm. on Daniel at Dan 1:1. According to this mode of computation, the seventh year would correspond to the eighth of the common reckoning, and be the year in which Jehoiachin was carried away to Babylon, together with a large number of the people. But this does not agree with 3023, which is given as the number of those who were carried away; for, at that time, according to Kg2 24:14, Kg2 24:16, as many as 10,000 Jews, or, according to another view of these verses, even 18,000, were carried away to Babylon. This difference does not permit of being explained in any way. Ewald (History of the People of Israel, iii. p. 738) accordingly assumes that in Jer 52:28, after שׁבע, the word עשׂרה has been omitted, as in Ch2 36:9, where the age of Jehoiachin is given; hence he thinks that, instead of "in the seventh," we must read "in the seventeenth year of Nebuchadnezzar." On such a view, the reference would be to a deportation which took place under Zedekiah, a year before the capture, or during the time of the siege of Jerusalem, and that, too, out of the country districts of Judah in contrast with Jerusalem, Jer 52:29. This supposition is favoured not merely by the small number of those who are said to have been carried away, but also by the context of the narrative, inasmuch as, in what precedes, it is only the capture of Jerusalem and the deportation of the people in Zedekiah's time that is treated of. Ngelsbach has objected to this supposition, that it was not likely the great mass of the people would be carried away during the war, at a time when the approach of the Egyptian army (cf. Jer 37:5) was an object of dread. But the objection does not weaken the supposition, since the former rests on two presuppositions that are quite erroneous: viz., first, that the deportation took place before the defeat of the auxiliary army from Egypt, where as it may have followed that event; and secondly, that the Chaldeans, by keeping the hostile Jews in the country, might have been able to get some assistance against the Egyptian army, whereas, by removing the hostile population of Judah, they would but diminish the number of the enemies with which they had to contend. We therefore regard this conjecture as highly probable, because it is the means of settling all difficulties, and because we can thereby account for the small number of those who were carried away in the deportations during and after the destruction of Jerusalem. Regarding the third deportation, which was effected by Nebuzaradan (Jer 52:30) in the twenty-third, or, according to another reckoning, in the twenty-fourth year of Nebuchadnezzar, i.e., in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, we have no other information; for the statement of Josephus, Antt. x. 9. 7, that Nebuchadnezzar made war upon the Ammonites and Moabites in that year, has not been placed beyond a doubt, and is probably a mere inference from this verse, taken in connection with the prophecies in Jer 48 and 49. Yet there is nothing improbable in the statement, viewed by itself. For it must be borne in mind that, after the appointment of Gedaliah as governor, and the departure of the Chaldean hosts, many Jews, who had fled during the war, returned into the country. Hence, in spite of the fact that, after the murder of Gedaliah, a multitude of Jews, fearing the vengeance of the Chaldeans, fled to Egypt, many may have still remained in the country; and many other fugitives may not have returned till afterwards, and given occasion to the Chaldeans for removing other 745 disturbers of the peace to Babylon, four or five years after Jerusalem had been laid in ashes. This deportation may have taken place on the occasion of the subjugation of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Idumeans, or during the war with the Phoenicians, possibly because they had rendered assistance to these nations against the Chaldeans. These verses thus contain nothing to justify the assumption of M. von Niebuhr (Gesch. Assyr. und Babels, S. 58, note) and Ngelsbach, that they are a gloss. The paucity of those who were carried away is not to be attributed to a desire on the part of the writer of this inserted portion to represent the calamity as not so very terrible after all; nor is it due to the substitution of the number of the Levites for that of the entire people, - two wholly arbitrary assumptions: it is completely explained by a consideration of the historical circumstances. The best of the population of Judah had already been carried away, and Zedekiah and his counsellors must have said to themselves, when they rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, that the latter would not spare this time; thus they must have defended themselves to the utmost, as is shown by the very fact that the siege of Jerusalem lasted eighteen months. In this manner, war, pestilence, and famine carried off a great number of the population of Jerusalem; so that, of men who were able-bodied and fit for war, and who could be carried into exile, not more than 4600 fell into the hands of the Chaldeans. During the war, also, many had concealed themselves in inaccessible places, while the lowest of the people were left behind in the country to cultivate the fields. Still more strange might appear the circumstance that the sum-total of those who were carried away to Babylon, viz., 10,000 with Jehoiachin, and 4600 under Zedekiah, - 14, 600 in all, - is evidently disproportionate to the number of those who returned to Jerusalem and Judah under Zerubbabel, which number is given in Ezr 2:64 at 42, 360, exclusive of men and maid servants. For this reason, Graf is of opinion that still later deportations may have taken place, of which no mention is made anywhere. This assumption, however, has little probability. On the other hand, we must consider these points: (1.) In the accounts given of those who were carried away, only full-grown and independent persons of the male sex are reckoned, while, along with fathers, both their wives and their children went into exile. (2.) Even so early as the first capture of Jerusalem in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, a number of prisoners of war, perhaps not inconsiderable, came to Babylon; these might unite with the thousands of their brethren who were carried thither at a later period. (3.) When the exiles had settled down in Babylon, and there found not only a means of livelihood, but even in many instances, as is clear from several intimations, attained to opulence as citizens, many, even of those who had been left in the country, may have gone to Babylon, in the hope of finding there greater prosperity than in Judah, now laid waste and depopulated by war. (4.) From the time when the 10,000 were carried away with Jehoiachin, in the year 599 b.c., till the return under Zerubbabel, 536 b.c., 63 years, i.e., nearly two generations, had passed, during which the exiles might largely increase in numbers. If we take all these elements into consideration, then, in the simple fact that the number of those who returned amounts to nearly three times the numbers of those given as having been carried away under Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, we cannot find such a difficulty as entitles us to doubt the correctness of the numbers handed down to us.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The account given regarding the arrest of the chief officers of the temple and of the city, and concerning their transportation to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar caused them to be executed, agrees with Kg2 25:18-21, except in some unimportant variations, which, however, do not alter the sense; the explanation has been already given in the commentary on that passage. In 2 Kings, the account of the appointment of Gedaliah as the governor of Judah, together with that of his assassination by Ishmael, which follows the narrative just referred to, is here omitted, because the matter has bee already more fully stated in the passage Jer 40:7 on to Jer 43:7, and had no close connection with the object of the present chapter. Instead of this, there follows here, in Jer 52:28-30 (as a continuation of the remark made, Jer 52:27, "Thus was Judah carried away captive out of his own land"), a calculation of the number of the Jews taken to Babylon at the three deportations: in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, 3023 Jews; in the eighteenth year, 832 souls from Jerusalem; and in the twenty-third year, 745 souls, - in all, 4600 persons. The correctness of these data is vouched for by the exactness of the separate numbers, and the agreement of the sum with the individual items. In other respects, however, they present various difficulties. There is, first, the chronological discrepancy that the second deportation is here placed in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, in contradiction with Jer 52:12, according to which, the deportation after the taking of Jerusalem occurred in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar; and 832 souls could not well be carried out of Jerusalem during the siege. This difference can be settled only by assuming that this list of deportations was derived from another source than the preceding notice regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, in which the years of Nebuchadnezzar's reign were reckoned in some other way than elsewhere in Jeremiah and in the books of Kings, probably from the date of the actual commencement of his reign, which followed a year after he first appeared in Judah, from which his reign is dated elsewhere; see Comm. on Daniel at Dan 1:1. According to this mode of computation, the seventh year would correspond to the eighth of the common reckoning, and be the year in which Jehoiachin was carried away to Babylon, together with a large number of the people. But this does not agree with 3023, which is given as the number of those who were carried away; for, at that time, according to Kg2 24:14, Kg2 24:16, as many as 10,000 Jews, or, according to another view of these verses, even 18,000, were carried away to Babylon. This difference does not permit of being explained in any way. Ewald (History of the People of Israel, iii. p. 738) accordingly assumes that in Jer 52:28, after שׁבע, the word עשׂרה has been omitted, as in Ch2 36:9, where the age of Jehoiachin is given; hence he thinks that, instead of "in the seventh," we must read "in the seventeenth year of Nebuchadnezzar." On such a view, the reference would be to a deportation which took place under Zedekiah, a year before the capture, or during the time of the siege of Jerusalem, and that, too, out of the country districts of Judah in contrast with Jerusalem, Jer 52:29. This supposition is favoured not merely by the small number of those who are said to have been carried away, but also by the context of the narrative, inasmuch as, in what precedes, it is only the capture of Jerusalem and the deportation of the people in Zedekiah's time that is treated of. Ngelsbach has objected to this supposition, that it was not likely the great mass of the people would be carried away during the war, at a time when the approach of the Egyptian army (cf. Jer 37:5) was an object of dread. But the objection does not weaken the supposition, since the former rests on two presuppositions that are quite erroneous: viz., first, that the deportation took place before the defeat of the auxiliary army from Egypt, where as it may have followed that event; and secondly, that the Chaldeans, by keeping the hostile Jews in the country, might have been able to get some assistance against the Egyptian army, whereas, by removing the hostile population of Judah, they would but diminish the number of the enemies with which they had to contend. We therefore regard this conjecture as highly probable, because it is the means of settling all difficulties, and because we can thereby account for the small number of those who were carried away in the deportations during and after the destruction of Jerusalem.

Regarding the third deportation, which was effected by Nebuzaradan (Jer 52:30) in the twenty-third, or, according to another reckoning, in the twenty-fourth year of Nebuchadnezzar, i.e., in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, we have no other information; for the statement of Josephus, Antt. x. 9. 7, that Nebuchadnezzar made war upon the Ammonites and Moabites in that year, has not been placed beyond a doubt, and is probably a mere inference from this verse, taken in connection with the prophecies in Jer 48 and 49. Yet there is nothing improbable in the statement, viewed by itself. For it must be borne in mind that, after the appointment of Gedaliah as governor, and the departure of the Chaldean hosts, many Jews, who had fled during the war, returned into the country. Hence, in spite of the fact that, after the murder of Gedaliah, a multitude of Jews, fearing the vengeance of the Chaldeans, fled to Egypt, many may have still remained in the country; and many other fugitives may not have returned till afterwards, and given occasion to the Chaldeans for removing other 745 disturbers of the peace to Babylon, four or five years after Jerusalem had been laid in ashes. This deportation may have taken place on the occasion of the subjugation of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Idumeans, or during the war with the Phoenicians, possibly because they had rendered assistance to these nations against the Chaldeans. These verses thus contain nothing to justify the assumption of M. von Niebuhr (Gesch. Assyr. und Babels, S. 58, note) and Ngelsbach, that they are a gloss. The paucity of those who were carried away is not to be attributed to a desire on the part of the writer of this inserted portion to represent the calamity as not so very terrible after all; nor is it due to the substitution of the number of the Levites for that of the entire people, - two wholly arbitrary assumptions: it is completely explained by a consideration of the historical circumstances. The best of the population of Judah had already been carried away, and Zedekiah and his counsellors must have said to themselves, when they rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, that the latter would not spare this time; thus they must have defended themselves to the utmost, as is shown by the very fact that the siege of Jerusalem lasted eighteen months. In this manner, war, pestilence, and famine carried off a great number of the population of Jerusalem; so that, of men who were able-bodied and fit for war, and who could be carried into exile, not more than 4600 fell into the hands of the Chaldeans. During the war, also, many had concealed themselves in inaccessible places, while the lowest of the people were left behind in the country to cultivate the fields. Still more strange might appear the circumstance that the sum-total of those who were carried away to Babylon, viz., 10,000 with Jehoiachin, and 4600 under Zedekiah, - 14, 600 in all, - is evidently disproportionate to the number of those who returned to Jerusalem and Judah under Zerubbabel, which number is given in Ezr 2:64 at 42, 360, exclusive of men and maid servants. For this reason, Graf is of opinion that still later deportations may have taken place, of which no mention is made anywhere. This assumption, however, has little probability. On the other hand, we must consider these points: (1.) In the accounts given of those who were carried away, only full-grown and independent persons of the male sex are reckoned, while, along with fathers, both their wives and their children went into exile. (2.) Even so early as the first capture of Jerusalem in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, a number of prisoners of war, perhaps not inconsiderable, came to Babylon; these might unite with the thousands of their brethren who were carried thither at a later period. (3.) When the exiles had settled down in Babylon, and there found not only a means of livelihood, but even in many instances, as is clear from several intimations, attained to opulence as citizens, many, even of those who had been left in the country, may have gone to Babylon, in the hope of finding there greater prosperity than in Judah, now laid waste and depopulated by war. (4.) From the time when the 10,000 were carried away with Jehoiachin, in the year 599 b.c., till the return under Zerubbabel, 536 b.c., 63 years, i.e., nearly two generations, had passed, during which the exiles might largely increase in numbers. If we take all these elements into consideration, then, in the simple fact that the number of those who returned amounts to nearly three times the numbers of those given as having been carried away under Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, we cannot find such a difficulty as entitles us to doubt the correctness of the numbers handed down to us.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Three - It is probable there were more keepers of the door, but the captain of the guard took only three of the chief.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
The second priest - See the note on Kg2 25:18. The three keepers - The priests who stood at the door to receive the offerings of the people, see Kg2 20:9, and Kg2 23:4.

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²⁵ Thus speaketh [0559] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], the God [0430] of Israel [03478], saying [0559], Because thou hast sent [07971] letters [05612] in thy name [08034] unto all the people [05971] that are at Jerusalem [03389], and to Zephaniah [06846] the son [01121] of Maaseiah [04641] the priest [03548], and to all the priests [03548], saying [0559],

¹ The word [01697] which came unto Jeremiah [03414] from the LORD [03068], when king [04428] Zedekiah [06667] sent [07971] unto him Pashur [06583] the son [01121] of Melchiah [04441], and Zephaniah [06846] the son [01121] of Maaseiah [04641] the priest [03548], saying [0559],

¹⁴ And Azariah [05838] begat [03205] Seraiah [08304], and Seraiah [08304] begat [03205] Jehozadak [03087],

⁵⁹ The word [01697] which Jeremiah [03414] the prophet [05030] commanded [06680] Seraiah [08304] the son [01121] of Neriah [05374], the son [01121] of Maaseiah [04271], when he went [03212] with Zedekiah [06667] the king [04428] of Judah [03063] into Babylon [0894] in the fourth [07243] year [08141] of his reign [04427]. And this Seraiah [08304] was a quiet [04496] prince [08269].

⁶⁴ The whole congregation [06951] together [0259] was forty [0702] [07239] and two thousand [0505] three [07969] hundred [03967] and threescore [08346],

³⁰ In the three [07969] and twentieth [06242] year [08141] of Nebuchadrezzar [05019] Nebuzaradan [05018] the captain [07227] of the guard [02876] carried away captive [01540] of the Jews [03064] seven [07651] hundred [03967] forty [0705] and five [02568] persons [05315]: all the persons [05315] were four [0702] thousand [0505] and six [08337] hundred [03967].

⁵ Then Pharaoh's [06547] army [02428] was come forth [03318] out of Egypt [04714]: and when the Chaldeans [03778] that besieged [06696] Jerusalem [03389] heard [08085] tidings [08088] of them, they departed [05927] from Jerusalem [03389].

²⁹ In the eighteenth [08083] [06240] year [08141] of Nebuchadrezzar [05019] he carried away captive [01540] from Jerusalem [03389] eight [08083] hundred [03967] thirty [07970] and two [08147] persons [05315]:

⁹ Jehoiachin [03078] was eight [08083] years [08141] old [01121] when he began to reign [04427], and he reigned [04427] three [07969] months [02320] and ten [06235] days [03117] in Jerusalem [03389]: and he did [06213] that which was evil [07451] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068].

¹⁶ And all the men [0582] of might [02428], even seven [07651] thousand [0505], and craftsmen [02796] and smiths [04525] a thousand [0505], all that were strong [01368] and apt [06213] for war [04421], even them the king [04428] of Babylon [0894] brought [0935] captive [01473] to Babylon [0894].

¹⁴ And he carried away [01540] all Jerusalem [03389], and all the princes [08269], and all the mighty men [01368] of valour [02428], even ten [06235] thousand [0505] captives [01540], and all the craftsmen [02796] and smiths [04525]: none remained [07604], save [02108] the poorest sort [01803] of the people [05971] of the land [0776].

¹ In the third [07969] year [08141] of the reign [04438] of Jehoiakim [03079] king [04428] of Judah [03063] came [0935] Nebuchadnezzar [05019] king [04428] of Babylon [0894] unto Jerusalem [03389], and besieged [06696] it.

¹² Now in the fifth [02549] month [02320], in the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], which was the nineteenth [08672] [06240] [08141] year [08141] of Nebuchadrezzar [05019] king [04428] of Babylon [0894], came [0935] Nebuzaradan [05018], captain [07227] of the guard [02876], which served [05975] [06440] the king [04428] of Babylon [0894], into Jerusalem [03389],

²⁷ And the king [04428] of Babylon [0894] smote [05221] them, and put them to death [04191] in Riblah [07247] in the land [0127] of Hamath [02574]. Thus Judah [03063] was carried away captive [01540] out of his own land [0776].

²⁸ This is the people [05971] whom Nebuchadrezzar [05019] carried away captive [01540]: in the seventh [07651] year [08141] three [07969] thousand [0505] Jews [03064] and three [07969] and twenty [06242]:
²⁹ In the eighteenth [08083] [06240] year [08141] of Nebuchadrezzar [05019] he carried away captive [01540] from Jerusalem [03389] eight [08083] hundred [03967] thirty [07970] and two [08147] persons [05315]:
³⁰ In the three [07969] and twentieth [06242] year [08141] of Nebuchadrezzar [05019] Nebuzaradan [05018] the captain [07227] of the guard [02876] carried away captive [01540] of the Jews [03064] seven [07651] hundred [03967] forty [0705] and five [02568] persons [05315]: all the persons [05315] were four [0702] thousand [0505] and six [08337] hundred [03967].

⁷ So they came [0935] into the land [0776] of Egypt [04714]: for they obeyed [08085] not the voice [06963] of the LORD [03068]: thus came [0935] they even to Tahpanhes [08471].

⁷ Now when all the captains [08269] of the forces [02428] which were in the fields [07704], even they and their men [0582], heard [08085] that the king [04428] of Babylon [0894] had made Gedaliah [01436] the son [01121] of Ahikam [0296] governor [06485] in the land [0776], and had committed [06485] unto him men [0582], and women [0802], and children [02945], and of the poor [01803] of the land [0776], of them that were not carried away captive [01540] to Babylon [0894];

¹⁸ And the captain [07227] of the guard [02876] took [03947] Seraiah [08304] the chief [07218] priest [03548], and Zephaniah [06846] the second [04932] priest [03548], and the three [07969] keepers [08104] of the door [05592]:
¹⁹ And out of the city [05892] he took [03947] an [0259] officer [05631] that was set [06496] over the men [0582] of war [04421], and five [02568] men [0582] of them that were [07200] in the king's [04428] presence [06440], which were found [04672] in the city [05892], and the principal [08269] scribe [05608] of the host [06635], which mustered [06633] the people [05971] of the land [0776], and threescore [08346] men [0376] of the people [05971] of the land [0776] that were found [04672] in the city [05892]:
²⁰ And Nebuzaradan [05018] captain [07227] of the guard [02876] took [03947] these, and brought [03212] them to the king [04428] of Babylon [0894] to Riblah [07247]:
²¹ And the king [04428] of Babylon [0894] smote [05221] them, and slew [04191] them at Riblah [07247] in the land [0776] of Hamath [02574]. So Judah [03063] was carried away [01540] out of their land [0127].

⁴ And the king [04428] commanded [06680] Hilkiah [02518] the high [01419] priest [03548], and the priests [03548] of the second order [04932], and the keepers [08104] of the door [05592], to bring forth [03318] out of the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068] all the vessels [03627] that were made [06213] for Baal [01168], and for the grove [0842], and for all the host [06635] of heaven [08064]: and he burned [08313] them without [02351] Jerusalem [03389] in the fields [07709] of Kidron [06939], and carried [05375] the ashes [06083] of them unto Bethel [01008].

⁹ And Isaiah [03470] said [0559], This sign [0226] shalt thou have of the LORD [03068], that the LORD [03068] will do [06213] the thing [01697] that he hath spoken [01696]: shall the shadow [06738] go forward [01980] ten [06235] degrees [04609], or go back [07725] ten [06235] degrees [04609]?