2 Kings 24:13

And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) And he carried out thence . . .—It is apt said, but implied, that Nebuchadnezzar entered the city. He may have done so at the time of his invasion under Jehoiakim (2Kings 24:1). On that occasion he had carried off some of the sacred vessels (2Chronicles 36:7; Daniel 1:2; Daniel 5:2-3; comp. Ezra 1:7 seq.) It is certainly surprising to find that anything was left in the Temple treasury after the repeated spoliations which it had undergone. The fact not only indicates the probable existence of secret (subterranean) store-chambers, but also lends some support to the chronicler’s representations of the great wealth stored up in the sanctuary.

Cut in pieces.—2Kings 16:17; 2Chronicles 28:24. The meaning seems to be that the gold-plating was now stripped off from such “vessels” as the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, and the Ark. (Comp. 2Kings 18:16.)

As the Lord had said—e.g., to Hezekiah (2Kings 20:17; comp. Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 17:3).

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 24:13. He carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord — Nebuchadnezzar carried away the treasures and rich furniture of the temple at three different times: First, In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, when he first took Jerusalem, he carried a part of the vessels of the house of God into the land of Shinar, and put them in the house of his god, Daniel 1:2. These were the vessels which his son Belshazzar profaned, (Daniel 5:2,) and which Cyrus restored to the Jews, (Ezra 1:7,) to be set up in the temple again, when rebuilt: Secondly, In the reign of this Jehoiachin he took the city again, and cut in pieces a great part of the vessels of gold which Solomon had made, and which, through some means, had escaped his former plunder, and the plunder of the kings of Egypt and Israel, who had rifled the city and temple more than once; perhaps being preserved from them by the care of the priests, who hid them, or by the special providence of God, disposing their hearts to leave them. Or if these vessels had been taken away by any of these kings, they might afterward be recovered at the cost of the pious kings of Judah: Thirdly, In the eleventh year of Zedekiah he pillaged the temple once more, when he broke in pieces the pillars of brass, &c., and took away all the vessels of silver and gold that he could find, and carried them to Babylon, 2 Kings 25:13. It is something strange, that among all this inventory, no mention is made of the ark of the covenant, which, of all other things, was held most sacred. But it is very probable that it was burned, together with the temple, in the last desolation; for what some say of its being hidden by the Prophet Jeremiah in a certain cave in mount Nebo, is a mere fable. See Calmet’s Comment. and Dissert. on the Ark.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:8-20 Jehoiachin reigned but three months, yet long enough to show that he justly smarted for his fathers' sins, for he trod in their steps. His uncle was intrusted with the government. This Zedekiah was the last of the kings of Judah. Though the judgments of God upon the three kings before him might have warned him, he did that which was evil, like them. When those intrusted with the counsels of a nation act unwisely, and against their true interest, we ought to notice the displeasure of God in it. It is for the sins of a people that God hides from them the things that belong to the public peace. And in fulfilling the secret purposes of his justice, the Lord needs only leave men to the blindness of their own minds, or to the lusts of their own hearts. The gradual approach of Divine judgments affords sinners space for repentance, and believers leisure to prepare for meeting the calamity, while it shows the obstinacy of those who will not forsake their sins.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

On the first capture of the city in the fourth (third) year of Jehoiakim Daniel 1:2; 2 Chronicles 36:7, the vessels carried off consisted of smaller and lighter articles; while now the heavier articles, as the table of showbread, the altar of incense, the ark of the covenant were stripped of their gold, which was carried away by the conquerors. Little remained more precious than brass at the time of the final capture in the reign of Zedekiah 2 Kings 25:13-17.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13-16. as the Lord had said—(compare 2Ki 20:17; Isa 39:6; Jer 15:13; 17:3). The elite of the nation for rank, usefulness, and moral worth, all who might be useful in Babylon or dangerous in Palestine, were carried off to Babylon, to the number of ten thousand (2Ki 24:14). These are specified (2Ki 24:15, 16), warriors, seven thousand; craftsmen and smiths, one thousand; king's wives, officers, and princes, also priests and prophets (Jer 29:1; Eze 1:1), two thousand; equal to ten thousand captives in all.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Cut in pieces; or rather, took away, as this word elsewhere signifies; or cut off, to wit, from the temple. For why should they cut in pieces those vessels which might conveniently be carried away? And that they were not cut in pieces, but reserved whole, is manifest front Ezra 1:7 Daniel 5:2,3.

All the vessels of gold, i.e. the most and choicest of them, by comparing this with 2 Kings 25:14,15.

Which Solomon king of Israel had made; so he expresseth it, either, first, Because these vessels were made by the godly kings of Judah, instead of those which Solomon made, and so they go by his name; as the ship of the Argonauts was still reputed the same ship, though it was from time to time recruited with new materials, until nothing of the old was left. Or, secondly, Because though the city and temple had been rifled more than once, both by the kings of Egypt and Israel, and by the wicked kings of Judah, yet these golden vessels were preserved from them, either by the care of the priests, who hid them out of the way; or by the clemency of the conquerors, and the reverence which they bore to such sacred instruments; or by the special providence of God disposing their hearts to leave them. Or if they had been taken away by any of these kings, they might afterwards be recovered by the entreaty or at the cost of the godly kings of Judah.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house,.... The gates of the city being thrown open to him, he entered and plundered the temple, and the royal palace, and took from thence all the riches thereof:

and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said; 2 Kings 20:17 and so the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. No more is said of these vessels in 2 Chronicles 36:10 than that they were brought to Babylon; and so Piscator renders the word here, "took", or "carried them away"; and certain it is that they were carried whole to Babylon, Daniel 5:2 but as Hezekiah is said to cut off the doors of the temple, that is, strip or scrape off the gold of them, 2 Kings 18:16 so Nebuchadnezzar cut off from the temple, or stripped it of the golden vessels in it; of great part of them, the greater part thereof; for that there were some left is plain from Jeremiah 27:18.

Geneva Study Bible

And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord] According to the Chronicler (2 Chronicles 36:7) some of the vessels of the house of the Lord had been taken to Babylon in the reign of Jehoiakim. With this agrees the notice in Daniel (2 Kings 1:2) where we are told that the vessels were put by Nebuchadnezzar ‘into the house of his god’, or as the Chronicler records ‘into his temple at Babylon’.

and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon … had made] We know from Ezra 1:7-11 that Cyrus gave back to the Jews after the captivity 5400 vessels of gold and silver. We must suppose that the larger portion of these had been taken away at first. This second plundering of the temple appears to have been conducted with much more violence than the former. The verb translated here ‘cut in pieces’ is rendered ‘cut off’ in the account of Hezekiah’s stripping the gold from the temple doors (2 Kings 18:16), and before that (2 Kings 16:17) of Ahaz ‘cutting off’ the borders of the bases. So that here we are probably to understand that Nebuchadnezzar stripped all that was overlaid with gold. That there was a large quantity of gold so used by Solomon we see from the account in 1 Kings 6.

as the Lord had said] Formerly to Hezekiah after his ostentation (2 Kings 20:17).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord. "Thence" means "from Jerusalem," which he entered and plundered, notwithstanding Jehoiachin's submission, so that not much was gained by the voluntary surrender. A beginning had been made of the carrying off the sacred vessels of the temple in Jehoiakim's third (fourth?) year (Daniel 1:1), which was the first of Nebuchadnezzar. The plundering was now carried a step further; while the final complete sweep of all that remained came eleven years later, at the end of the reign of Zedekiah (see 2 Kings 25:13-17). And the treasures of the king's house (comp. 2 Kings 20:13). If the treasures which Hezekiah showed to the envoys of Merodach-Baladan were carried off by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:15), still there had probably been fresh accumulations made during their long reigns by Manasseh and Josiah. And out in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon King of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord. (For an account of these vessels, see 1 Kings 7:45-50.) They consisted in part of articles of furniture, like the altar of incense and the table of shrewbread, which were thickly covered with plates of gold; in part of vessels, etc., made wholly of the precious metal, as candlesticks, or rather candelabra, snuffers, tongs, basins, spoons, censers, and the like. As the Lord had said (comp. 2 Kings 20:17; Isaiah 39:6; Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 17:3; Jeremiah 20:5, etc.). 2 Kings 24:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Nebuchadnezzar thereupon, that is to say, when he had forced his way into the city, plundered the treasures of the temple and palace, and broke the gold off the vessels which Solomon had made in the temple of Jehovah. קצּץ, to cut off, break off, as in 2 Kings 16:17, i.e., to bear off the gold plates. Nebuchadnezzar had already taken a portion of the golden vessels of the temple away with him at the first taking of Jerusalem in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and had placed them in the temple of his god at Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:7; Daniel 1:2). They were no doubt the smaller vessels of solid gold-basins, scoops, goblets, knives, tongs, etc., - which Cyrus delivered up again to the Jews on their return to their native land (Ezra 1:7.). This time he took the gold off the larger vessels, which were simply plated with that metal, such as the altar of burnt-offering, the table of shew-bread and ark of the covenant, and carried it away as booty, so that on the third conquest of Jerusalem, in the time of Zedekiah, beside a few gold and silver basins and scoops (2 Kings 25:15) there were only the large brazen vessels of the court remaining (2 Kings 25:13-17; Jeremiah 27:18.). The words, "as Jehovah had spoken," refer to 2 Kings 20:17 and Isaiah 39:6, and to the sayings of other prophets, such as Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 17:3, etc.