THIs .chapter gives an account of the taking of Jeru-
salem by the Chaldeans, according to the several pro-
phecies of Jeremiah concerning it. The time of taking
it, and by whom, after a siege of eighteen months,
ver. 1, 2, 3. several things relating to King Zedekiah;
his flight; the taking of him; the bringing him to the
king of Babylon, and his sentence on him; the execu-
tion of that sentence, slaying his sons and nobles,
putting out his eyes, and carrying him in chains to
Babylon, ver. 4, 5, 6, 7. the destruction of the city is
described, by burning the houses in it, breaking down
its walls, carrying the people captive, all, except a few
poor persons left in the land, vet. 8, 9, 10. the preser-
vation of Jeremiah, according to the king of Babylon's
orders by his princes; and the committing him to the
care of Gedaliah, the governor of the poor Jews, vet.
11, 12, 13, 14. and the chapter is concluded with a pro-
mise of the protection of Ebed-melech, made by the
Lord before the taking of the city, while the prophet
was in prison; and which, no doubt, had its accom-
plishment, ver. 15, 16, 17, 18.
Ver. 1. In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah,
in the tenth month, &c.] The month Tebet, which
answers to part of four December, and part of January;
so that it was in the winter-season the siege of Jerusa-
lem began: came Nebuehadrezzar king of Babylon and
all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it;
provoked by Zedekiah's breaking covenant with him,
and rebelling against him, who had set him upon his
throne, in the room of his nephew; so that here was a
mixture of perfidy and ingratitude, which he was de-
termined to revenge; and being impatient of it, came
at such an unseasonable time of the year for a long
march and a siege. The king of Babylon came in per-
son at first; but having begun the siege., and given
proper orders to his generals for the carrying of it on,
and supposing it would be a long one, retired to Rib-
lah in Syria, either for pleasure or for business. The
time of beginning the siege exactly agrees with the
account in 2 Kings xxv. 1. only there it is more parti-
cular, expressing the day of the month, which was
the tenth of it; and so in ch. lii. 4. The reason of in-
serting the account of the siege and taking of the city,
in this place, is both to shew the exact accomplish-
ment of Jeremiah's prophecies about it, and to lead on
to some facts and predictions that followed it.
Ver. 2. And in the ele.venth year of Zedekiah, in the
.fourth month, &c.] The month Tammuz, which an-
swers to part of June, and part of July: the ninth day
of the month, the city was broken up; or taken by
storm; the walls of it were broken by engines and
battering-rams, so that the Chaldeans could enter it,
and take it. This was just a year and a half after it had
been besieged, not being able to hold out any longer,
because of the famine; see ch. lii. 6, 7-
Ver. 3. And all the princes of the king of Babylon
came in, &c.] Into the city: a breach being made in the
walls to take possession of it: and sat in the middle.
gate; according to Jarchi, this was a gate of the temple;
the gate Nicanor, the eastern gate, which was between
the gate of the court of the women and the gate of the
temple; who observes, that their Rabbins say, the
middle gate was the gate in which the wise men made
their decrees and constitutions: sothat, in the place of
judgment, wickedness was there; as in Eccl. iii. 16. and
Josephus g says, that the city was taken in the middle
of the night, when the enemies' generals went into the
temple; but rather, according to Kimchi, it was one of
the gates of the city of Jerusalem; according to Abar-
binel, Jerusalem had three walls, and this was the gate
of the middle wall; but others take it to be the gate in
the middle wall, between the upper and lower city;
perhaps it is the same called the second gate, Zeph. i.
10. and might be the chief and principal gate where
these princes placed their seats in triumph as victors,
and so fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah, ch. i. 15.
though they might have another reason for it, their
own safety; here they sat till the city was well
searched and cleared, lest there should be any ambush
laid for them, and cut them off as they entered. The
names of some of them were as follow: Nergal-sharezer:
according to Kimchi, these are two names of two dis-
tinct persons; but generally thought to be one name
of the same person; so Josephus, who calls him Ner-
gelearus. The first part of the name Nergal was the
name of an idol with the Cushites, 2 Kings xix. 30.
and it was usual with the Heathens to give the names
of their idols to their kings, princes, and great men.
The other part, Sharezer, is a name of one of Senna-
cherib's sons; and seems to be an Assyrian name, Isa.
xxxvii. 38. The next is called Samgar-nebo; though,
according to Hillerus h, this is a surname of the former,
to distinguish him from another Nergal-sharezer after
mentioned, taken from his office: this name signifying
the strict keeper of Nebo, the temple of the idol Nebo;
see Isa. xlvi. 1. The next is Sarsechim-rabsaris; for
these are not two names of different persons, but of
the same person. The first is his proper name, which
signifies the prince of the Scythians; the other his
name of office, and signifies the chief eunuch, or the
chief of the eunuchs. The last name is Nergal-sha-
rezer-rabmag; these names belong to the same person,
who is called from his office Rabmag, the chief magi-
cian, or the chief of the magicians, to distinguish him
from the other Nergal-sharezer before mentioned:
these, with all the residue of the princes of the king of
Babylon, entered the city and took it.
Vet. 4. And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the
Icing of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, &c.]
That is, when Zedekiah and his soldiers saw the princes
and generals of the Chaldean army enter the city
through a breach made in the wall, and take possession

{g} Antiqu. I, 10, c, 9. sect. 2.
{h} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 608.