1tn Heb “Surely [or, ‘for’] because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them out from upon his face.”

2tn Or “against.”

3sn This would have been Jan 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).

4tn The MT has simply “of the month,” but the parallel passage in Jer 52:6 has “fourth month,” and this is followed by almost all English translations. The word “fourth,” however, is not actually present in the MT of 2 Kgs 25:3.

sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.

5tn Heb “the people of the land.”

6tn Heb “the city was breached.”

7tn The Hebrew text is abrupt here: “And all the men of war by the night.” The translation attempts to capture the sense.

8sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the city of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.

9sn Heb “toward the Arabah.” The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape across the Jordan to Moab or Ammon. It appears from Jer 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.

10map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

11sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.

12tn The Hebrew text has the plural form of the verb, but the parallel passage in Jer 52:9 has the singular.

13tn Heb “were killed before his eyes.”

14tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

15tn The parallel account in Jer 52:12 has “tenth.”

16sn The seventh day of the month would have been August 14, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.

17tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2, and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

18map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

19tn Heb “and every large house he burned down with fire.”

20tc The MT has “the multitude.” But הֶהָמוֹן (hehamon) should probably be emended to הֶאָמוֹן (heamon).

21tn Heb “the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.

22sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.

23sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

24sn These were used to trim the wicks.

25tn Heb “with which they served [or, ‘fulfilled their duty’].”

26sn These held the embers used for the incense offerings.

27tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (v˙ha-) on וְהַבָּקָר (v˙habbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (v˙hamm˙khonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.

28tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

29tn Heb “three cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”

30tn The parallel passage in Jer 52:25 has “seven.”

31tn Heb “five seers of the king’s face.”

32tn Heb “the people of the land.”

33tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”

34tn Heb “land.”

35tn Heb “And the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan.”

36tn Heb “of the army.” The word “Judahite” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

37tn The words “so as to give them…some assurance of safety” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

38sn It is not altogether clear whether this is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (= early July; Jer 39:2) and Nebuzaradan came and burned the palace, the temple, and many of the houses and tore down the wall in the fifth month (= early August; Jer 52:12). That would have left time between the fifth month and the seventh month (October) to gather in the harvest of grapes, dates and figs, and olives (Jer 40:12). However, many commentators feel that too much activity takes place in too short a time for this to have been in the same year and posit that it happened the following year or even five years later when a further deportation took place, possibly in retaliation for the murder of Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah (Jer 52:30). The assassination of Gedaliah had momentous consequences and was commemorated in one of the post exilic fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem (Zech 8:19).

39tn Heb “[was] from the seed of the kingdom.”

40tn Heb “and they struck down Gedaliah and he died.”

41tn Heb “arose and went to.”

42sn The parallel account in Jer 52:31 has “twenty-fifth.”

43sn The twenty-seventh day would be March 22, 561 b.c. in modern reckoning.

44tn Heb “lifted up the head of.”

45tn The words “released him” are supplied in the translation on the basis of Jer 52:31.

46tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of.”

47tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiachin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

48tc The words “until the day he died” do not appear in the MT, but they are included in the parallel passage in Jer 52:34. Probably they have been accidentally omitted by homoioteleuton. A scribe’s eye jumped from the final vav (ו) on בְּיוֹמוֹ (b˙yomo), “in his day,” to the final vav (ו) on מוֹתוֹ (moto), “his death,” leaving out the intervening words.