And the captain of the body-guard took Seraiah the high priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.
Jerusalem has fallen. Babylon's soldiers have burned the temple. Now their commander turns to the men who served at the house of God: the chief priest, his deputy, and the three who kept the doors. Why does the list of prisoners begin with the priests, and does the priestly line die with them?
Seraiah heads the list. One reference work gives his family line and his end:
He was the son of Azariah, and high priest in the reign of Zedekiah. When Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, he was carried to Riblah and put to death there. 2 Kings 25:18; 1 Chr. 6:14; Jer. 52:24.
He was not seized alone. The soldiers also took the doorkeepers, army officers and the king's advisers. One commentator follows the list to its end:
Verse 19 then lists the men whom the captain of the guard found in the city: Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, three doorkeepers … and sixty others. Nebuzaradan took all of these captive and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah (v.20). Nebuchadnezzar let none of them live; by his order they were all put to death (v.21). This completed the captivity of Judah and the desolation of Jerusalem.
The priests fell with the nation, not instead of it. One writer ties king, priest and people together:
When humiliation comes, it is no use blaming others, this one or that one. The blame belongs to God's people as a whole — to ourselves — especially if we carry the chief responsibility to act. Here the king had an immense place, and of course the priests also. If the king was righteous, the Lord always blessed the people for his sake alone. If the king was godless, his evil brought discipline on the people. Sadly, where there was a godless king, there was a godless people too. We may say, Like people, like king; and not only "Like people, like priest."
The deputy priest taken here is not a stranger to the book of Jeremiah:
Son of Maaseiah and 'second' priest in the reign of Zedekiah; he was carried captive to Nebuchadnezzar and slain at Riblah. 2 Kings 25:18; Jer. 21:1; Jer. 29:25, 29; Jer. 37:3; Jer. 52:24.
Twice this man carried the king's errand to Jeremiah. On one of those visits the request was for prayer, at a moment when the siege had briefly lifted and things looked hopeful:
This was the time of patience which the Lord usually gives, when evil men have not yet declared themselves openly and fully. Appearances favour the false against the true for a while, and so faith is tested more fully. The prophet was not yet openly despised or persecuted. The king was still seeking his prayers through one of the priestly house of Aaron, as well as through a minister of the government.
The death of the priests was part of a larger stripping. One writer finds the point of the whole scene in the temple's two pillars, Jachin and Boaz:
The people are carried away to Babylon; the priests and those who had helped with the resistance die a violent death at Riblah. … Even the two pillars of the temple are broken in pieces and carried away to Babylon. So are all the brass, the gold, and the silver of the house of God. The Lord had been despised. What place was left for Jachin and Boaz at Jerusalem? … So ends the history of man, placed under responsibility before God. God must give him up — but He never takes back His promises. He will re-establish the reign of His anointed upon these two marvelous pillars, and this reign will be unshakeable.
Seraiah died, but his family line did not end at Riblah. The high priest of the returning exiles was his own grandson:
Joshua is mentioned several times in Zechariah. He was the first high priest after the captivity… He and Zerubbabel are prophetic types of our Lord as the King-Priest. Joshua was the son of Josedech (Jehozadak), the high priest whom the Babylonians carried into captivity (1 Chron. 6:15). He was the grandson of Seraiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar put to death at Riblah after the capture of Jerusalem.
- Named: The prisoner list opens with the priests — Seraiah, Jerusalem's last high priest of the old order, and Zephaniah his deputy.
- Warned: Zephaniah himself carried the king's plea for prayer to Jeremiah. He stood near the prophet's word, and still died at Riblah.
- Shared: Judgment did not fall on priests apart from the nation — "like people, like king," and "like people, like priest."
- Stripped: The priests died at Riblah, and even the temple pillars were broken up. So ends the story of man under responsibility.
- Preserved: God's promises hold where man's office fails. Seraiah's own grandson Joshua served as high priest for the returned remnant, and the reign of God's anointed will stand unshaken.
And out of the city he took a chamberlain that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the host, who enrolled the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city.
Jerusalem has fallen, and the commander of Babylon's guard now walks the ruins arresting the men who had run the city. Why does Scripture pause to list their offices, and what became of them?
One writer sets out the whole group the captain of the guard collected, and what happened to them next.
Verse 19 then lists many men whom the captain of the guard found in the city. They were Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, three doorkeepers, an officer in charge of the men of war, five men of the king's close associates, the chief recruiting officer of the army, and sixty others who were found in the city. Nebuzaradan took all of these captive and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah (v.20). None of them were allowed to live. Nebuchadnezzar ordered them all put to death (v.21). This completed the captivity of Judah and the desolation of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 52 records the same round-up a second time, and its list does not match the one in Kings. One writer weighs the difference.
It is remarkable that among the prisoners listed in verse 25, we have seven men here who correspond to five men in 2 Kings 25:19. I take it that two more were added. This inspired account notices them, in addition to the more general description given in the history. There were five, but this does not prevent the addition of two more in an account of greater detail.
The arrests reached every office that held the nation together. One writer sets these deaths beside the stripping of the temple.
The people are carried away to Babylon; the priests and those who had helped with the resistance die a violent death at Riblah. The last traces of the power and prosperity of Judah disappear after this attack. Even the two pillars of the temple are broken in pieces and carried away to Babylon. All the bronze, the gold, and the silver of the house of God go with them. The Lord had been despised. What use were Jachin and Boaz still at Jerusalem? The strength that was in the Lord had gone through Judah's unfaithfulness. God destroyed it instead of establishing it. So ends the history of man, placed under responsibility before God. God must give him up — but His promises cannot be taken back. He will set up again the reign of His anointed on these two wonderful pillars, and that reign will never be shaken.
Jachin and Boaz were the temple's two great pillars. Their names spoke of God establishing and strengthening, and God still keeps the promise those pillars carried.
These men were not just losers in a local war. The king they were brought to begins something the world has not seen the end of.
In 2 Kings 24 the mighty king of Babylon first comes before us — Nebuchadnezzar, the one destined to begin the great imperial system that we have not finished with yet. The world is still to see the last phase of the imperial power that began at this very time, or shortly after. This gives deep interest to what we are now looking at. Here we find the last phase of Jerusalem's sorrowful history — the last group of Jews carried down into captivity.
With the officials dead and the people deported, the land lay empty. That emptiness had a fixed length and a reason.
The seventy-year captivity had begun. The word of the Lord through Jeremiah was that the land would enjoy its Sabbaths: "All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years" (2 Chron. 36:21).
- Taken — the men. Judah lost the men who ran it: a court officer, the commander of the soldiers, five royal advisers, the recruiting officer, and sixty citizens.
- Taken — to Riblah. Nebuzaradan brought them to the king of Babylon, who put them all to death. That finished the captivity of Judah and the desolation of Jerusalem.
- Taken — counted twice. Jeremiah 52 lists seven men where Kings lists five. The prophecy gives the fuller detail, the history the more general description.
- Taken — the props. Priests, fighters, advisers and even the temple pillars went together. Judah's strength was in the Lord, and unfaithfulness had sent it away.
- Taken — not forever. The emptied land kept its Sabbaths for seventy years, and God promised to set up the reign of His anointed again on those same two pillars.
And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah;
Jerusalem has fallen, and Nebuzaradan, the commander of Babylon's guard, marches one last group of prisoners north to the king. Who were these men, and why were they taken so far?
Riblah was not a random spot on the map. Judah's last king, Zedekiah, had already been dragged there with his sons.
He was brought, with his sons, to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. It stood on the high road between Palestine and Babylon, where the Babylonian kings stayed while they directed the operations of their armies in Palestine and Phoenicia.
These prisoners were not ordinary citizens. They ran the temple and the army, and every one of them met the same end.
Verse 19 lists the men whom the captain of the guard found in the city. They were Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, three doorkeepers, an officer in charge of the men of war, five of the king's close associates, the chief recruiting officer of the army, and sixty others. Nebuzaradan took all of these captive and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah (v.20). None of them were allowed to live. Nebuchadnezzar ordered them all put to death (v.21). This completed the captivity of Judah and the desolation of Jerusalem.
Two things died at Riblah: the priesthood and the resistance. One writer sets this beside the breaking up of the temple's two great pillars, Jachin and Boaz.
The people are carried away to Babylon. The priests and those who had helped with the resistance die a violent death at Riblah. The last traces of the power and prosperity of Judah disappear after this attack. Even the two pillars of the temple are broken in pieces. They are carried to Babylon, along with all the bronze, the gold, and the silver of the house of God. The Lord had been despised. What did Jachin and Boaz still have to do at Jerusalem? The strength that was in the Lord had departed through Judah's unfaithfulness. God had destroyed it instead of establishing it.
The same writer does not stop at the ruin. The pillars still have a future.
So ends the history of man, placed under responsibility before God. God must give him up — but He never takes back His promises. He will re-establish the reign of His anointed upon these two marvellous pillars. That reign will be unshakeable.
Jeremiah's account of the same deportation counts the prisoners differently. One commentator explains why.
It is remarkable that among the prisoners listed in verse 25, we have seven men here who answer to five men in 2 Kings 25:19. I assume that two more were added. This inspired account notices them in addition to the more general description given in the history. There were five, but this does not prevent the addition of two more in a notice of greater detail.
The executions at Riblah were not a sudden stroke. God had gone on warning Judah to the last day.
To have the complete history, you must read the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. They give the inner history of the spirit of the people, and of the king. They show the condition that drew down the judgment. They also show the patience of God, who kept sending them deeply moving calls to repentance, even until the very taking of the city — alas, in vain. And the times of the Gentiles began.
That last phrase marks a turn in world history. Something left Jerusalem that had been with Israel since Egypt.
The symbol of God's presence had never left them since their redemption out of Egypt, except for a little while in Samuel's day. Now it departed entirely, and Jerusalem was no longer the place of the Lord's throne. The whole order of things that depended on His dwelling at Jerusalem was set aside. Universal supremacy now went to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the first great chief of the Gentiles. It was with him that "the times of the Gentiles" began.
- Patience — God kept calling Judah back through Jeremiah and Ezekiel until the day the city fell. Riblah came after long patience, not sudden anger.
- Place — Riblah sat on the high road between Palestine and Babylon. Babylon's kings ran their campaigns from there, so the prisoners were marched to the king.
- People — the chief priest, the second priest, doorkeepers, army officers, the king's advisers. Worship and defence fell together, and no one survived.
- Pillars — Jachin and Boaz were broken up and carried off. Judah's strength was in the Lord, and it left them when they were unfaithful.
- Promise — man under responsibility had to be given up, but God never takes back His promises. He will yet set up the reign of His anointed on those same pillars, and it will be unshakeable.
and the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
This chapter closes like a gravestone over a nation. The king, the temple, the city and the people are gone. Babylon's king kills Judah's last officials far from home. Two questions press on any reader. Why did God let it come to this, and does the story stop here?
The verse completes a list of prisoners taken from the ruined city. Not one of them survived.
Verse 19 lists the men whom the captain of the guard found in the city. They were Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest and three doorkeepers. With them were an officer over the men of war, five of the king's close associates, the chief recruiting officer of the army, and sixty others. Nebuzaradan took all of these captive and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah (v.20). Nebuchadnezzar allowed none of them to live, but ordered them all put to death (v.21). This completed the captivity of Judah and the desolation of Jerusalem.
Riblah was not new to Judah's story. An earlier foreign king had already used it to deal with a king of Judah.
A city in the land of Hamath. There Pharaoh-necho imprisoned Jehoahaz. From there the king of Babylon carried Zedekiah away, after killing Zedekiah's sons and the priests and chief men of Judah. 2 Kings 23:33; 2 Kings 25:6-7, 20, 21.
This ruin was not sudden. God had been appealing to them for a long time.
In all their past history the patience of God rises above their sin. Still they turned a deaf ear and refused His correction. Jehovah "sent to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place." But they mocked His messengers, despised His words, and misused the prophets. So the wrath of Jehovah rose against His people till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, until Cyrus arose — a picture of their Messiah, Who will bring about a greater and final restoration.
The land they lost was not just theirs. It was God's, and they held it on terms.
God will not let His people forget that the land of Canaan is His in a special way, and so were the people He gave it to. This was one of their special favours. Israel was His people as no other nation could be then. Their land too was His, so that He might secure it to them for ever, unless they turned away from Him. Because they did turn away, He drove them out. He made them the slave and target of their enemies' malice and contempt. So it was for their idolatry when the mother of idols led the Jew captive, as Assyria led away Ephraim long before.
The law gave the land a rest one year in seven. Israel never gave it that rest, and now the empty land took it back.
There is no record of the Sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee ever being kept. Leviticus 26:34-35 predicts what would happen if the Israelites did not let the land keep the sabbaths. It reads almost like a prophecy: the land should lie desolate "because it did not rest in your sabbaths." Jeremiah 25:11-12, Jeremiah 29:10 and Daniel 9:2 put the actual desolation at seventy years. The land was to have rested one year in every seven. So the 70 years answer to 70 × 7 = 490 years... In this, as in everything else, it seems they failed to obey. But God will make the Jubilee good to them in grace when they own their Messiah.
Judah's removal also changed God's dealings with the whole earth. The word "Gentiles" here means the nations.
From their redemption out of Egypt, the symbol of the divine presence had never left them, except for a little while in Samuel's day. Now it departed completely, and Jerusalem ceased to be the place of Jehovah's throne. The whole order of things that flowed from His dwelling at Jerusalem was set aside. Universal supremacy passed to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the first great chief of the Gentiles. It was with him that the "times of the Gentiles" began.
The verse reads like a full stop, but the book itself does not end there.
Someone has rightly remarked that the book of Kings gives the history of man in responsibility. The book of Chronicles gives the history of God's purpose. Man's history had been sad. Yet 2 Kings closes (2 Kings 25:28) with a hint that God's mercy will lift man to a seat of honour. Man's history would have ended in judgment that could never be reversed, if God had not stepped in with sovereign mercy, for His own glory and man's blessing.
- Patience — out of compassion God sent messenger after messenger. The collapse came only after Judah mocked every warning, until there was no remedy.
- Privilege — the land was God's own gift, held on one condition. Turning away from Him is what drove them out.
- Price — Judah's last leaders died at Riblah in Hamath, far from home. That finished the captivity and left Jerusalem desolate.
- Pause — the empty land at last took the rest years Israel never gave it: seventy of them, for about 490 years of neglect.
- Purpose — Jerusalem was no longer the seat of God's throne, and rule passed to Babylon. Yet Kings closes not in judgment but in a gleam of mercy.