Bible Strands
Jeremiah 39:4
When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and they went out along the route to the Arabah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the moment Babylonian officials occupy Jerusalem’s Middle Gate, causing King Zedekiah of Judah and his remaining troops to abandon the besieged city. They slip out under cover of darkness through a concealed passage near the royal garden and head toward the Arabah.
The words — The Hebrew phrase וַ/יְהִי כַּ/אֲשֶׁר רָאָ֣ם (va/y.Hi ka./'a.Sher Ra.'o/m) literally renders “and it was just when he saw them,” marking the immediate trigger for the royal flight. The proper name צִדְקִיָּ֨הוּ (tzid.ki.Ya.hu) identifies the Judahite king whose authority collapses at this moment.
The thread — The failed flight echoes the warning in Amos 2:14 that “escape will fail the swift,” and recalls the earlier wall repairs in 2 Chronicles 32:5 that could not ultimately shield Judah from divine judgment. The narrative also anticipates the fulfillment of Leviticus 26:17, where enemies pursue and defeat those who turn against God’s covenant.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political maneuvering and physical fortifications cannot override divine judgment. A reader must confront the reality that human authority collapses when it stands opposed to God’s sovereign purposes.
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, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 32:5 Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.
- Amos 2:14 Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.
- Leviticus 26:17 And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Leviticus 26:36 As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- Deuteronomy 28:25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 32:24 They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
- 2 Kings 25:4 Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
- Isaiah 30:15 For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”
- Jeremiah 38:18 But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp.’”
- Jeremiah 52:7 Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,