(7) And they slew . . .--The verbs are all singular in Jeremiah 39:6; Jeremiah 52:10-11; so that the acts in question are attributed directly to Nebuchadnezzar, to whose orders they were due. (So the versions, except that the Targum has "they slew.") The blinding of Zedekiah need not have been done by the conqueror himself, although in the Assyrian sculptures kings are actually represented as blinding and otherwise torturing their captives. It is no argument against the singular, "he carried him to Babylon," to say with Thenius that Zedekiah was sent to Babylon at once, while Nebuchadnezzar remained at Riblah. "Qui facit per alium, facit per se."

The sons.--Who fled with him (Comp. Jeremiah 41:10). In Jeremiah it is added that all the nobles or princes. of Judah were slain also.

Put out the eyes.--A Babylonian punishment (Herod, vii. 18). This was the meaning of Ezekiel's prediction; "I will bring him to Babylon . . . yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there" (Ezekiel 12:13).

With fetters of brass.--Literally, with the double brass (2Chronicles 33:12); i.e., with manacles and fetters, as represented on the Assyrian monuments.

Carried him to Babylon.--Jeremiah 52:11; "and put him in prison till the day of his death." So the Arabic of Kings.

Verse 7. - And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes (comp. Herod., 3:14, and 2 Macc. 7, for similar aggravations of condemned persons' sufferings). As Zedekiah was no more than thirty-two years of age (2 Kings 24:18), his sons must have been minors, who could not justly be held responsible for their father's doings. It was usual, however, in the East, and even among the Jews, to punish children for the sins of their fathers (see Joshua 7:24, 25; 2 Kings 9:26; 2 Kings 14:6; Daniel 6:24). And put out the eyes of Zedekiah. This, too, was a common Oriental practice. The Philistines blinded Samson (Judges 16:21). Sargon, in one of his sculptures, seems to be blinding a prisoner with a spear (Botta, 'Monumens de Ninive,' pl. 18). The ancient Persians often blinded criminals (Xen., 'Anab.,' 1:9. § 13; Ammian. Mare., 27:12; Procop., 'De Bell. Pers.,' 1:11. p. 80). In modern Persia, it was, until very lately, usual for a king, on his accession, to blind all his brothers, in order that they might be disqualified from reigning. The operation was commonly performed in Persia by means of a red-hot iron rod (see Herod., 7:18). Zedekiah's loss of eyesight reconciled the two apparently conflicting prophecies - that he would be carried captive to Babylon (Jeremiah 22:5, etc.), and that he would never see it (Ezekiel 12:13) - in a remarkable manner. And bound him with fetters of brass; literally, with a pair of brazen fetters. Assyrian fetters consisted of two thick rings of iron, joined together by a single long link (Botta, l.s.c.); Babylonian were probably similar. Captives of importance are usually represented as fettered in the sculptures. And carried him to Babylon. Jeremiah adds (Jeremiah 52:11) that Nebuchadnezzar "put him in prison till the day of his death:" and so Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 10:8. § 7). The latter writer further tells us that, at his death, the Babylonian monarch gave him a royal funeral (comp. Jeremiah 34:5).

25:1-7 Jerusalem was so fortified, that it could not be taken till famine rendered the besieged unable to resist. In the prophecy and Lamentations of Jeremiah, we find more of this event; here it suffices to say, that the impiety and misery of the besieged were very great. At length the city was taken by storm. The king, his family, and his great men escaped in the night, by secret passages. But those deceive themselves who think to escape God's judgments, as much as those who think to brave them. By what befell Zedekiah, two prophecies, which seemed to contradict each other, were both fulfilled. Jeremiah prophesied that Zedekiah should be brought to Babylon, Jer 32:5; 34:3; Ezekiel, that he should not see Babylon, Eze 12:13. He was brought thither, but his eyes being put out, he did not see it.And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign,.... Of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. From hence to the end of 2 Kings 25:7, the account exactly agrees with Jeremiah 52:4.