2 Kings 25:4

2 Kings 25:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.
• New International Version (NIV)Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went by way of the plain.

Context of 2 Kings 25:4

2The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 3By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food. Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah, 5the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered. 6The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him.

2 Kings 25:4 word by word

וַתִּבָּקַ֣ע הָעִ֗יר וְכָל־אַנְשֵׁ֨י הַמִּלְחָמָ֤ה׀ הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ דֶּ֜רֶךְ שַׁ֣עַר׀ בֵּ֣ין הַחֹמֹתַ֗יִם אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־גַּ֣ן הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְכַשְׂדִּ֥ים עַל־הָעִ֖יר סָבִ֑יב וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ דֶּ֥רֶךְ הָעֲרָבָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• was broken upבָּקַעbâqa‛ · to break up/openH1234
• and all the menאֱנוֹשׁ'ĕnôsh · humanH582
• of warמִלְחָמָהmilchâmâh · battleH4421
• by nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• by the wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: roadH1870
• of the gateשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
• between two wallsחוֹמָהchômâh · wallH2346
• by the king’sמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• gardenגַּןgan · gardenH1588
• now the Chaldeesכַּשְׂדִּיםkaώdîy kaώdîymâh · ChaldeaH3778
• round aboutסָבִיבsâbîyb sebîybâh · aroundH5439
• wentיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• toward the plainעֲרָבָה‛ărâbâh · ArabahH6160

Cross-references for 2 Kings 25:4

• 2 Kings 25:27On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.
• Jeremiah 5:10Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them, but do not finish them off. Prune away her shoots, for they do not belong to the Lord.
• Jeremiah 39:2In the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.
• Jeremiah 52:6By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food.
• Ezekiel 33:21In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
• Leviticus 26:17I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even though no one is pursuing you.
• Deuteronomy 28:25The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
• Deuteronomy 32:24They will be weak from hunger, ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs, as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.
• Jeremiah 39:4When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the fighting men saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the city gate between the two walls. They left along the route to the Arabah.
• 2 Kings 25:5the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered.
• Ezekiel 12:12The prince who is among them will lift his bags to his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land with his eyes.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 25:4

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4The city was broken up - Rather, “broken into,” i. e., A breach was made about midnight in the northern wall Ezekiel 9:2, and an entry effected into the second or lower city (see the 2 Kings 22:14 note), which was protected by the wall of Manasseh 2 Chronicles 33:14. Precipitate flight followed on the advance of the Babylonians to the “middle gate,” or gate of communication between the upper and the lower cities. This position was only a little north of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The Babylonians used battering rams (Ezekiel 4:2) to break a part of Jerusalem's wall and enter the city. At nightfall, King Zedekiah and the remaining troops escaped through the gate at the southeastern corner of the city into the Kidron Valley, trying to reach the Jordan Valley.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. the city was broken up--that is, a breach was effected, as we are elsewhere informed, in a part of the wall belonging to the lower city (2Ch 32:5; 33:14). the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden--The king's garden was (Ne 3:15) at the pool of Siloam, that is, at the mouth of the Tyropæon. A trace of the outermost of these walls appears to be still extant in the rude pathway which crosses the…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 25:4

• Jerusalem
• Prophecy
• Walls, of the Cities
• Zedekiah

In the dictionaries

• King's Garden
• Chaldees
• Fast
• Gardens
• Jerusalem
• Kings, The Books of
• Pharaoh
• Rate
• Zedekiah
• Alliance

Commentaries on 2 Kings 25

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings