Bible Strands
2 Kings 25:27
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records an administrative act by the newly crowned Babylonian king Evil-merodach, who releases the imprisoned Judahite king Jehoiachin. This occurs on a specific date in the thirty-seventh year of the exile, immediately following the flight of the remaining Judean leadership to Egypt.
The words — The text highlights וַ/יְהִי֩ (va/y.Hi), meaning "and it was," which functions as a chronological anchor for the event. It also records בִ/שְׁלֹשִׁ֨ים (vi/sh.lo.Shim) and וָ/שֶׁ֜בַע (va./She.va'), literally "in thirty and seven," to specify the exact year of Jehoiachin's captivity.
The thread — A parallel chronological record appears in Jeremiah 52:31, though that passage dates the release on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month rather than the twenty-seventh. The narrative of a monarch lifting a captive's status parallels the administrative reversals of fortune recorded in Genesis 40:13 and Genesis 40:20.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that historical timelines are preserved with precision, even for defeated kings in foreign captivity. It requires the reader to observe how political shifts in Babylon directly alter the fate of Judah's exiled leadership.
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 it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil–merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;
Cross-references
- Genesis 40:20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
- Jeremiah 52:31 On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison.
- Genesis 40:13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.
- 2 Kings 24:12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.
- Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
- 2 Kings 24:15 Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
- Jeremiah 24:5 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.