And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
Parallel translations
- WEB The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he killed also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
- BSB There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah.
- NKJV Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
- NASB And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the commanders of Judah in Riblah.
- NLT The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons. He also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah.
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
Nebuchadnezzar slaughtered Zedekiah's sons before his eyes and executed Judah's princes. The royal house and leadership were brutally destroyed.
Overview
This act both crushed Zedekiah's dynastic hopes and inflicted lasting trauma, the last thing he would ever see. It fulfilled the dire warnings of judgment on the house of Judah for its persistent rebellion. The horror of the scene exposes the bitter wages of sin, deepening the longing for a King whose throne and offspring would endure forever, fulfilled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 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.
- 2 Kgs 25:7And 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.
- 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.
- Ezek 11:7–11Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.
- 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 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.
- 2 Kgs 25:18–21And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
- Jer 52:24–27And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
- Ezek 9:6Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 52:10 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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