Bible Strands
Jeremiah 39:7
Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the execution of Judah’s leadership at Riblah following the fall of Jerusalem. The moment captures the final humiliation of King Zedekiah immediately after he witnesses his sons and nobles killed.
The words — The Hebrew עִוֵּר (‘i.Ver) translates literally as "he made blind," paired with בַּֽ/נְחֻשְׁתַּ֔יִם (ba/n.chush.Ta.yim), meaning "with bronze fetters." These terms specify the exact physical mutilation and restraint applied to Zedekiah.
The thread — The identical sequence of blinding, chaining, and transport to Babylon appears in 2 Kings 25:7. The motif of forced blindness and bronze bonds for captivity also surfaces in Judges 16:21 and aligns with the prophetic warning in Ezekiel 12:13.
Why it lands — The text states the historical facts of Zedekiah’s defeat and exile without editorializing. It requires the reader to confront the unvarnished outcome of covenant rebellion and the certainty of Babylonian judgment.
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
Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 12:13 But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.
- Judges 16:21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
- 2 Kings 25:7 And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- 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 52:11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day.
- Psalms 107:10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains,
- Psalms 119:8 I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.