And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
Parallel translations
- WEB They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
- BSB And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- NKJV Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.
- NASB And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.
- NLT They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.
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
Zedekiah's sons are killed before his eyes, then he is blinded and taken to Babylon in chains. The last king suffers a terrible judgment.
Overview
The execution of his sons and the gouging out of his eyes are acts of brutal Babylonian justice, harmonizing the prophecies that he would see the king of Babylon (Jer. 32:4) yet not see Babylon itself (Ezek. 12:13). The Davidic throne in Jerusalem is extinguished in horror. Yet God's covenant with David is not finally destroyed; it awaits fulfillment in the eternal King, Jesus.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Jer 32:4–5And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
- Jer 52:10–11And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
- Ezek 7:27The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
- Jer 39:6–7Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
- Deut 28:34So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
- Ps 149:8To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
- 2 Chr 36:6Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
- Ezek 12:13–16My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.
- Judg 16:21But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
- Gen 21:16And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
- Jer 22:30Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
- Ezek 17:16–20As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
- Ps 107:10–11Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
- Jer 34:3And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
- Gen 44:34For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.
- 2 Chr 33:11Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
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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 25:7 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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