Bible Strands
2 Kings 25:6
The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the moment Zedekiah is captured after his army deserts him at Jericho. The scene shifts to Riblah, where the Chaldean commanders present the deposed monarch to the Babylonian sovereign.
The words — וַֽיִּתְפְּשׂוּ (vayyitpesu) translates literally as "and they seized," describing the Chaldean capture. וַֽיַּעֲלֻוּ (vayya'alu) means "and they brought up," indicating the forced transport to Riblah.
The thread — The Riblah location echoes Pharaoh Neco’s imprisonment of Jehoahaz in 2 Kings 23:33. The delivery of a Judahite king to foreign judgment parallels Jeremiah 34:21 and the earlier capture of Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33:11.
Why it lands — The text demonstrates the concrete execution of covenant curses against a covenant-breaking monarch. It demands recognition that political survival depends on fidelity to the covenant, not military strategy or royal status.
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
So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 23:33 And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
- Jeremiah 34:21 And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- Jeremiah 21:7 ‘After that,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in this city who survive the plague and sword and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will not spare them or show pity or compassion.’
- Jeremiah 32:4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hands of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye.
- Jeremiah 38:23 All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”
- Jeremiah 52:9 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah.
- Lamentations 4:19 Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
- Ezekiel 17:20 I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.
- Ezekiel 21:25 And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, the day has come for your final punishment.’