Bible Strands
Jeremiah 52:24
The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Babylonian captain of the guard’s actions immediately after describing the temple pillars and before listing further captured officials. This moment marks the systematic dismantling of Jerusalem’s religious leadership during the city’s fall.
The words — וַיִּקַּח (va-yi-kach) literally means “and he took,” indicating a deliberate seizure. רַב טַבָּחִים (rav tabbachim) translates to “chief of the bodyguards,” identifying the official who carried out the arrest.
The thread — 2 Kings 25:18 records the identical capture of Seraiah, Zephaniah, and the three doorkeepers. 1 Chronicles 6:14 traces Seraiah’s lineage, connecting him to the postexilic priestly line.
Why it lands — The text states that three specific religious officials were physically removed by Babylonian forces. It requires the reader to acknowledge that the collapse of Jerusalem’s worship infrastructure was a documented historical event, not merely a theological concept.
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 the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 25:18 The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
- 1 Chronicles 6:14 Azariah was the father of Seraiah, and Seraiah was the father of Jehozadak.
- Jeremiah 21:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said,
- Jeremiah 29:25 this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. You said to Zephaniah:
- Jeremiah 35:4 and I brought them into the house of the LORD, to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. This room was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper.
- Jeremiah 37:3 Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!”
- Ezra 7:1 Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
- Jeremiah 29:29 (Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.)
- Jeremiah 52:15 Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen.
- 1 Chronicles 9:19 Shallum son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives from the Korahites were assigned to guard the thresholds of the Tent, just as their fathers had been assigned to guard the entrance to the dwelling of the LORD.