12 And in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the body-guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came unto Jerusalem; 13 and he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and every great [man's] house he burned with fire. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the body-guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. 15 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive of the poorest sort of the people, and the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. 16 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard left of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen. 17 And the brazen pillars that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke up, and carried all the brass thereof to Babylon. 18 The pots also, and the shovels, and the knives, and the bowls, and the cups, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, they took away. 19 And the basons and the censers, and the bowls, and the pots, and the candlesticks, and the cups, and the goblets, that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the body-guard took away. 20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve brazen oxen that formed the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah: for the brass of all these vessels there was no weight. 21 And as to the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a line of twelve cubits encompassed it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow. 22 And the capital upon it was brass, and the height of the one capital [was] five cubits; and the network and the pomegranates, upon the capital round about, all of brass; and similarly for the second pillar, and the pomegranates. 23 And there were ninety-six pomegranates on the [four] sides; all the pomegranates upon the network were a hundred round about.
24 And the captain of the body-guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 52:12-24
Commentary on Jeremiah 52:12-23
(Read Jeremiah 52:12-23)
The Chaldean army made woful havoc. But nothing is so particularly related here, as the carrying away of the articles in the temple. The remembrance of their beauty and value shows us the more the evil of sin.
Commentary on Jeremiah 52:24-30
(Read Jeremiah 52:24-30)
The leaders of the Jews caused them to err; but now they are, in particular, made monuments of Divine justice. Here is an account of two earlier captivities. This people often were wonders both of judgment and mercy.