2 Kings 25:3

2 Kings 25:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
• New International Version (NIV)By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.
• English Standard Version (ESV)On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
• New King James Version (NKJV)By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

Context of 2 Kings 25:3

1So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 2Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign. By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 4Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley. 5But the Babylonian troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered.

2 Kings 25:3 word by word

בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרְבִיעִי בְּתִשְׁעָ֣ה לַחֹ֔דֶשׁ וַיֶּחֱזַ֥ק הָרָעָ֖ב בָּעִ֑יר וְלֹא־הָ֥יָה לֶ֖חֶם לְעַ֥ם הָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And on the ninthתֵּ֫שַׁעtêsha‛ tish‛âh · nineH8672
• monthחֹ֫דֶשׁchôdesh · monthH2320
• the famineרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
• prevailedחָזַקchâzaq · to strengthen: strengthenH2388
• in the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• and there was no breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · foodH3899
• for the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• of the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776

Cross-references for 2 Kings 25:3

• Jeremiah 39:2Two and a half years later, on July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, a section of the city wall was broken down.
• Jeremiah 52:6By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone.
• Zechariah 8:19“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The traditional fasts and times of mourning you have kept in early summer, midsummer, autumn, and winter are now ended. They will become festivals of joy and celebration for the people of Judah. So love truth and peace.
• Leviticus 26:26I will destroy your food supply, so that ten women will need only one oven to bake bread for their families. They will ration your food by weight, and though you have food to eat, you will not be satisfied.
• Deuteronomy 28:52They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land—the walls you trusted to protect you—are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.
• Lamentations 4:4The parched tongues of their little ones stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst. The children cry for bread, but no one has any to give them.
• Ezekiel 4:9“Now go and get some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer wheat, and mix them together in a storage jar. Use them to make bread for yourself during the 390 days you will be lying on your side.
• Ezekiel 5:10Parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter to the winds the few who survive.
• Ezekiel 7:15There is war outside the city and disease and famine within. Those outside the city walls will be killed by enemy swords. Those inside the city will die of famine and disease.
• Ezekiel 14:21“Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How terrible it will be when all four of these dreadful punishments fall upon Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, and disease—destroying all her people and animals.
• Jeremiah 37:21So King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be returned to the dungeon. Instead, he was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. The king also commanded that Jeremiah be given a loaf of fresh bread every day as long as there was any left in the city. So Jeremiah was put in the palace prison.
• Jeremiah 38:2“This is what the Lord says: ‘Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life. They will live!’

Commentaries on 2 Kings 25:3

• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-21Nebuchadnezzar II attacked Judah at least three times, in 605 BC, 597 BC, and 586 BC. He took treasures from Jerusalem and captured people to bring to Babylon (see 2 Kings 24:1, 10–17; 25:1–21).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed--In consequence of the close and protracted blockade, the inhabitants were reduced to dreadful extremities; and under the maddening influence of hunger, the most inhuman atrocities were perpetrated (La 2:20, 22; 4:9, 10; Eze 5:10). This was a fulfilment of the prophetic denunciations threatened on the apostasy of the chosen people (Le 26:29; De 28:53-57; Jr 15:2; 27:13; Eze 4:16). 2Ki 25:4-30…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 25:3

• Armies
• Famine
• Jerusalem
• Prophecy
• Siege
• Zedekiah

In the dictionaries

• Chaldees
• Famine
• Fast
• Jerusalem
• Kings, The Books of
• Pharaoh
• Rate
• Zedekiah
• Alliance
• Feasts and Fasts

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