Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.
- BSB Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
- NKJV Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went by way of the plain.
- NASB Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls that were beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.
- NLT Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley.
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
The city is breached, and Zedekiah and his soldiers flee by night toward the Arabah. The defenses collapse and the king attempts to escape.
Overview
When the wall is broken, the king and his fighting men flee under cover of darkness, abandoning the doomed city. Their flight fulfills Ezekiel's prophecy concerning the prince (Ezek. 12:12). The fall of Jerusalem's walls marks the end of Judah's resistance and the imminent destruction of the city.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ezek 33:21In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck.
- 2 Kgs 25:5But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
- Deut 32:30How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?
- Neh 3:15Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah repaired the spring gate. He built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, even to the stairs that go down from David’s city.
- Jer 5:10“Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches; for they are not Yahweh’s.
- Jer 39:2–7In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city),
- Jer 52:6–11In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
- Ezek 12:12“‘The prince who is among them will bear on his shoulder in the dark, and will go out. They will dig through the wall to carry out that way. He will cover his face, because he will not see the land with his eyes.
- Lev 26:36“‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues.
- Deut 32:24–25They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
- Lev 26:17I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Deut 28:25Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
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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 25:4 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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