Bible Strands
2 Kings 24:14
He 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Babylonian king’s actions during the siege of Jerusalem, immediately after the temple and palace treasures are plundered and just before the deportation of King Jehoiachin.
The words — The Hebrew verb הִגְלָה (higlah) literally means “he took into exile,” while כָּל (kol) and שָׂרִים (sarim) stress the comprehensive nature of the deportation, covering “all” the “officials” and military leaders.
The thread — This structural pattern of mass deportation and selective retention appears in Jeremiah 52:28, which provides a numbered census of the exiles, and 2 Kings 25:12, which confirms that only the poorest were left behind to work the land.
Why it lands — The text explicitly states that every capable person was removed from the city, leaving only the destitute, which requires the reader to recognize the complete dismantling of Jerusalem’s social and economic structure.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 52:28 These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
- 2 Kings 25:12 But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
- 2 Kings 24:16 The king of Babylon also brought into exile to Babylon all seven thousand men of valor and a thousand craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for battle.
- 2 Chronicles 36:9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 39:10 But 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.
- Jeremiah 40:7 When 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,
- Jeremiah 52:16 But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
- Ezekiel 1:1 In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.
- 1 Samuel 23:19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?
- Jeremiah 24:1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.