Jerusalem falls; the temple is burned
2 Kings 25:4–21; 2 Chronicles 36:17–21; Jeremiah 39; 52; Lamentations 1–5
Babylon broke through Jerusalem's walls; Zedekiah was captured, blinded, and taken to Babylon, and a month later the temple, palace, and city were burned.
It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22–23 (World English Bible)
Zedekiah fled by night but was caught near Jericho. At Riblah he watched his sons executed before his eyes were put out. The Babylonian commander Nebuzaradan burned Solomon's temple, broke down the walls, and carried off the bronze pillars and the sea.
Lamentations mourns the city's fall, yet at its center stands a confession of hope: God's mercies are new every morning.
Places
JerusalemBabylonEdomChaldeaJerichoArabahMount ZionHamathRiblahUz
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- 1 Esdras 1:52–58 — the fall of Jerusalem, as 1 Esdras retells it
- Against Apion 1.19 — Josephus sums up Berosus: Nebuchadnezzar burned the temple and carried the people away
Dating notes
Ussher dates the breach of the wall to 27 July 588 BC and the burning of the temple to 27 August (Julian). Conventional dating gives 587 or 586 BC. This event closes the divided kingdom; the exile follows in the next era.