---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Jeremiah 52:1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old — See 2 Kings 24:18. Verse Jeremiah 52:2. And he did - evil — This and the following verse are"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52"
---

Verse [Jeremiah 52:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/1). ***Zedekiah was one and twenty years old*** — See [2 Kings 24:18](../../../kjv/2-kings/24/18).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:2](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/2). ***And he did - evil*** — This and the following verse are the same as [2 Kings 24:19](../../../kjv/2-kings/24/19).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/3). ***Through the anger of the Lord*** — Here is a king given to a people in God's anger, and taken away in his displeasure.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:4](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/4). ***Ninth year - tenth month*** — Answering nearly to our January.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:5](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/5). ***So the city was besieged*** — It held out *one year and six* *months*.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/6). ***And in the fourth month*** — [Jeremiah 39:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/39/1), &c. The *fourth* month answers nearly to our July.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:8](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/8). ***The army of the Chaldeans pursued*** — [2 Kings 25:5](../../../kjv/2-kings/25/5).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/9). ***King of Babylon to Riblah*** — [Jeremiah 39:5](../../../kjv/jeremiah/39/5).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/11). ***He put out the eyes of Zedekiah*** — [Jeremiah 39:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/39/7).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/12). ***Now in the fifth month*** — Answering nearly to our August.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/13). ***And burned the house of the Lord*** — Thus perished this magnificent structure, after it had stood *four hundred and* *twenty-four* years *three* months and *eight* days. It was built A.M. 2992, and destroyed A.M. 3416.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/15). ***Those that fell away*** — The deserters to the Chaldeans during the siege.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/16). ***The poor of the land*** — [Jeremiah 39:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/39/10).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/17). ***Also the pillars*** — [Jeremiah 27:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/27/19).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:18-23](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/18-23). In reference to these verses see the parallel texts in the margin, the various readings there, and the notes. ([Exodus 27:3](../../../kjv/exodus/27/3); [2 Kings 25:14-16](../../../kjv/2-kings/25/14-16); [1 Kings 7:47](../../../kjv/1-kings/7/47); [1 Kings 7:15](../../../kjv/1-kings/7/15); [2 Chronicles 3:15](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/3/15); [1 Kings 7:20](../../../kjv/1-kings/7/20))

Verse [Jeremiah 52:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/19). [Jeremiah 52:18](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/18).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:20](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/20). [Jeremiah 52:18](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/18).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/21). [Jeremiah 52:18](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/18).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:22](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/22). [Jeremiah 52:18](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/18).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:23](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/23). [Jeremiah 52:18](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/18).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:24](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/24). ***The second priest*** — [2 Kings 25:18](../../../kjv/2-kings/25/18).
***The three keepers*** — The priests who stood at the door to receive the offerings of the people, see [2 Kings 20:9](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/9); [2 Kings 23:4](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/4).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:25](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/25). ***Seven men - that were near the king's person*** — These were privy counsellors.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:28-30](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/28-30). On these verses Dr. *Blayney* has some sensible remarks; I will extract the substance. These verses are not inserted in 2 Kings xxv. Are we to conclude from these verses that the whole number of the Jews which Nebuchadnezzar, in all his expeditions, carried away, was no more than *four thousand six* *hundred*? This cannot be true; for he carried away more than twice that number at one time and this is expressly said to have been in the *eighth* year of his reign, [2 Kings 24:12-16](../../../kjv/2-kings/24/12-16). Before that time he had carried off a number of captives from Jerusalem, in the *first* year of his reign, among whom were *Daniel* and his companions, [Daniel 1:3-6](../../../kjv/daniel/1/3-6). These are confessedly not noticed here. And as the taking and burning of Jerusalem is in this very chapter said to have been in the *fourth* and *fifth* months of the *nineteenth* year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, those who were carried into captivity at the date of those events cannot possibly be the same with those that are said to be carried away either in the *eighteenth* or *twenty-third* year of that prince. Nor, indeed, is it credible that the number carried away at the time that the city was taken, and the whole country reduced, could be so few as *eight* *hundred* and *thirty-two*, (see [Jeremiah 52:29](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/29);) supposing a mistake in the date of the year, which some are willing to do without sufficient grounds.
Here then we have *three* deportations, and those the most considerable ones, in the *first*, in the *eighth*, and *nineteenth* years of Nebuchadnezzar, sufficiently distinguished from those in the *seventh, eighteenth*, and *twenty-third* years. So that it seems most reasonable to conclude with Abp. *Usher*, in *Chronologia Sacra*, that by the latter *three* the historian meant to point out deportations of a minor kind, not elsewhere noticed in direct terms in Scripture.
The *first* of these, said to have been in the *seventh* year of Nebuchadnezzar, was one of those that had been picked up in several parts of Judah by the band of Chaldeans, Syrians, and others, whom the king of Babylon sent against the land previously to his own coming, [2 Kings 24:2](../../../kjv/2-kings/24/2).
That in the *eighteenth* year corresponds with the time when the Chaldean army broke off the siege before Jerusalem, and marched to meet the Egyptian army, at which time they might think it proper to send off the prisoners that were in camp, under a guard to Babylon.
And the last, in the *twenty-third* year of Nebuchadnezzar, was when that monarch, being engaged in the siege of Tyre, sent off Nebuzaradan against the Moabites, Ammonites, and other neighbouring nations, who at the same time carried away the gleanings of Jews that remained in their own land, amounting in all to no more than *seven hundred* and *forty-five*.
*Josephus* speaks of this expedition against the Moabites and Ammonites, which he places in the *twenty-third* year or Nebuchadnezzar; but mentions nothing done in the land of Israel at that time. Only he says that after the conquest of those nations, Nebuchadnezzar carried his victorious arms against Egypt, which he in some measure reduced, and carried the Jews whom he found there captives to Babylon. But the Egyptian expedition was not till the *twenty-seventh* year of Jehoiachin's captivity, i.e., the *thirty-fifth* of Nebuchadnezzar, as may be collected from [Ezekiel 29:17](../../../kjv/ezekiel/29/17); so that those who were carried away in the *twenty-third* year were not from Egypt, but were, as before observed, the few Jews that remained in the land of Judah.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:29](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/29). [Jeremiah 52:28](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/28).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:30](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/30). [Jeremiah 52:28](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/28).

Verse [Jeremiah 52:31](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/31). ***In the twelfth month*** — Answering nearly to our *twenty-fifth* of April, A.M. 3442.
***Lifted up the head of Jehoiachin*** — This phrase is taken from [Genesis 40:13](../../../kjv/genesis/40/13). It is founded on the observation that those who are in sorrow hold down their heads, and when they are comforted, or the cause of their sorrow removed, *they lift up their heads*. The Hebrew phrase, *lift up the head*, signifies to *comfort, cheer, make* *happy*.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:32](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/32). ***Spake kindly*** — Conversed freely with him.
***Set his throne*** — Gave him a more respectable *seat* than any of the captive princes, or better than even his own princes had, probably near his person.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:33](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/33). ***And changed his prison garments*** — That is, Jehoiachin changed his own garments, that he might be suited in that respect to the state of his elevation. Kings also, in token of favour, gave caftans or robes to those whom they wish to honour.
***And he did continually eat bread before him*** — Was a constant guest at the king's table.

Verse [Jeremiah 52:34](../../../kjv/jeremiah/52/34). ***And - there was a continual diet given him*** — This was probably a ration allowed by the king for the support of Jehoiachin's household. For other particulars, [2 Kings 25:30](../../../kjv/2-kings/25/30).
***All the days of his life.*** — I believe these words have been by mistake added from the preceding verse. There, they are proper; *here*, they are tautological. They are wanting in the *Septuagint* and in the *Arabic*.
The preceding words, עד יום מותו *ad yom motho*, "to the day of his death," are wanting in two of *De Rossi's* and one of *Kennicott's* MSS.
*Coverdale* ends thus: *All the days of his life untill he died*. This is better than the common Version.
Immediately after this verse my old MS. Bible adds the following words: *And done is aftir that into caitifte is brougt Israel, and* *Jerusalem is bestroide, satte Jeremye the prophet weepund, and* *weiled with this lamentation Jerusalem; and with bitter inwit* *sighand and criand weilawai, seide*. Then follows in red letters: *Here beginneth the Lamentation of Jeremye, that is intitle* *Cenoth; with the sortynge out of Ebrue letters.*
ALEPH: *How sitteth* *aloon the city,* &c. See something of a similar kind from other authorities, at the beginning of Lamentations.
Number of verses in this Book, 1365.
Middle verse, [Jeremiah 28:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/28/11).
Masoretic sections, 31.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Clarke's Commentary -  Jeremiah 52"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52","name":"Clarke's Commentary -  Jeremiah 52","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Verse Jeremiah 52:1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old — See 2 Kings 24:18. Verse Jeremiah 52:2. And he did - evil — This and the following verse are","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","name":"Clarke's Commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah","name":"Jeremiah"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/jeremiah/52","name":"52"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```