The Reign of Zedekiah

521 A son of twenty and one years 'is' Zedekiah in his reigning, and eleven years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother 'is' Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim hath done, 3 for, because of the anger of Jehovah, it hath been in Jerusalem and Judah till He hath cast them from before His face, and Zedekiah doth rebel against the king of Babylon.

The Fall of Jerusalem

4 And it cometh to pass, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, come hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon—he and all his force—against Jerusalem, and they encamp against it, and build against it a fortification round about; 5 and the city cometh into siege till the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 6 In the fourth month, in the ninth of the month, when the famine is severe in the city, and there hath been no bread for the people of the land, 7 then is the city broken up, and all the men of war flee, and go forth from the city by night, the way of the gate between the two walls, that 'is' by the king's garden—and the Chaldeans 'are' by the city round about—and they go the way of the plain. 8 And the forces of the Chaldeans pursue after the king, and overtake Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his forces have been scattered from him, 9 and they capture the king, and bring him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he speaketh with him—judgments. 10 And the king of Babylon slaughtereth the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also all the princes of Judah hath he slaughtered in Riblah; 11 and the eyes of Zedekiah he hath blinded, and he bindeth him in brazen fetters, and the king of Babylon bringeth him to Babylon, and putteth him in the house of inspection unto the day of his death.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 52:1-11

Commentary on Jeremiah 52:1-11

(Read Jeremiah 52:1-11)

This fruit of sin we should pray against above any thing; Cast me not away from thy presence, Psalm 51:11. None are cast out of God's presence but those who by sin have first thrown themselves out. Zedekiah's flight was in vain, for there is no escaping the judgments of God; they come upon the sinner, and overtake him, let him flee where he will.