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

2Babylon's army stayed around the city until the 11th year that Zedekiah had been king. 3By the 9th day of the 4th month, there was a very bad famine in the city. There was no food for the people to eat. Then Babylon's army broke down Jerusalem's wall so that they could go into the city. Their soldiers were all around the city. So the king of Judah and all his army tried to escape in the night. They went through the gate that was near the king's garden. The path went between the two walls of the city. They ran towards the Jordan Valley. 5But the soldiers of Babylon's army chased after the king. They caught him on the flat land near Jericho. All King Zedekiah's soldiers ran away from him in many directions. 6Babylon's soldiers took hold of King Zedekiah. They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. Nebuchadnezzar decided how to punish Zedekiah.

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 25:2737 years after King Jehoiachin of Judah had gone as a prisoner to Babylon, Evil-Merodach became the king of Babylon. On the 27th day of the 12th month, he took Jehoiachin out from his prison so that he became free.
• Jeremiah 5:10The Lord says this to Judah's enemies: ‘March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah, and destroy the vines. But do not destroy them completely. Pull the branches from the trees. Do this, because these people do not belong to the Lord.
• Jeremiah 39:2They stayed there until the ninth day of the fourth month of the 11th year that Zedekiah had been king. On that day, Babylon's soldiers broke through the walls of the city.
• Jeremiah 52:6By the ninth day of the fourth month there was a very bad famine in the city. There was no food for the people to eat.
• Ezekiel 33:21This is what happened 12 years after we had come to Babylon as prisoners. It was on the 5th day of the 10th month of that year. A man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me in Babylon. He said, ‘Enemies have taken Jerusalem for themselves.’
• Leviticus 26:17God will fight against you. Your enemies will win the war. They will become your rulers. Your soldiers will run away even when nobody is running after them.
• Deuteronomy 28:25The Lord will let your enemies knock you down. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run away from them in seven directions. When the people of other nations see what has happened to you, they will see it is a terrible thing.
• Deuteronomy 32:24They will become weak and hungry. They will have bad diseases that give them much pain. I will cause wild animals to attack them. Snakes will bite them and they will die.
• Jeremiah 39:4King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers tried to escape when they saw them. They left the city at night. They took a path through the king's garden and went through the gate between the two walls of the city. Then they ran towards the Jordan Valley.
• 2 Kings 25:5But the soldiers of Babylon's army chased after the king. They caught him on the flat land near Jericho. All King Zedekiah's soldiers ran away from him in many directions.
• Ezekiel 12:12Their king will leave Jerusalem when it starts to become dark. He will carry his things on his shoulder as he goes out. They will dig a hole in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land.

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