But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
Parallel translations
- WEB But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
- KJV But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
- NKJV But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.
- NASB But the captain of the bodyguards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.
- NLT But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Babylon deported Judah's leaders and skilled people but left the poorest behind to farm the land. Even in judgment, God preserved a remnant in the land.
Overview
Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian captain, carried off the bulk of the population but left the lowliest poor to tend the vineyards and fields, keeping the land minimally productive. This detail underscores both the thoroughness of the exile and a faint preservation of life in Judah. It quietly anticipates the biblical pattern in which God exalts the lowly and spares a remnant, a theme that culminates in the gospel's good news to the poor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 2 Kgs 24:14He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.
- Jer 40:7When all the commanders and men of the armies in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest of the land and had not been exiled to Babylon,
- Jer 52:16But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
- Jer 39:10But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.
- Ezek 33:24“Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 25:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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