Bible Strands
2 Kings 25:8
On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text records Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard and servant of the Babylonian king, entering Jerusalem immediately after the execution and blinding of King Zedekiah. This moment precedes the systematic destruction of Judah’s capital and its temple.
The words — The date formula hinges on חֲמִישִׁי (cha.mishí, "fifth" [H2549]) and שְׁנַת (she.nat, "year" [H8141]) to fix the event in Nebuchadnezzar’s nineteenth regnal year. The phrase בַּ/חֹ֤דֶשׁ הַ/חֲמִישִׁי֙ literally renders "in the fifth month," anchoring the narrative in a precise chronological marker.
The thread — The chronology parallels Jeremiah 52:12, which dates the same military entry to the tenth day of that fifth month. The account continues the Babylonian campaign initiated by Jehoiachin’s surrender in 2 Kings 24:12 and moves directly into the burning of the temple and palace in 2 Kings 25:9.
Why it lands — The verse documents a specific historical moment where a foreign commander arrives to carry out the fall of Jerusalem. It requires the reader to confront the concrete reality of political judgment and the precise recording of history without allegorizing the event.
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 in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar–adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 52:12 On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
- 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.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 39:8 The Chaldeans set fire to the palace of the king and to the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 40:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had released him at Ramah, having found him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.
- Lamentations 4:12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 8:19 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore you are to love both truth and peace.”