:
1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. 2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3 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. 4 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. 5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. 6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. 8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away. 12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. 13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon. 14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. 15 And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. 16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work. 18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: 19 And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city: 20 And Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: 21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land. 22 And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. 23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethahiah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you. 25 But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah. 26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees. 27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; 29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. 30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
Previous Chapter
Next Chapter
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 2 Kings 25:1-11
What think you of Nebuchadnezzar? Have you not heard from Scripture that he was bloodthirsty, fierce, with the disposition of a lion? Have you not heard that he disinterred the kings? Have you not heard that he brought the people away into captivity? Have you not heard that he put the king’s sons to the sword before Zedekiah’s eyes and then blinded him? Have you not heard that he shattered the cherubim? I do not mean the invisible cherubim—it is blasphemy to think it—but the sculptured images and the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, from the midst of which God was apt to speak with his voice. He trampled on the veil of sanctification, he took the censer and carried it away to a temple of idols; he seized all the offerings; he burned the temple to its foundations. What punishment did he not deserve for slaying kings, for burning the holy object, for reducing the people to captivity, for putting the sacred vessels in the temples of the idols? Did he not deserve ten thousand deaths?You have seen the enormity of his crimes. Turn now to the loving-kindness of God. Nebuchadnezzar was turned into a wild beast; he dwelled in the wilderness; God scourged him to save him. He had claws like a lion’s, for he had preyed on the saints. He had a lion’s mane, for he had been a ravening, roaring lion. He ate grass like an ox, for he had behaved like a brute beast, not knowing him who had given him his kingdom. His body was drenched with dew, because, after seeing the fire quenched by the dew, he had not believed. And what happened? Afterwards he says, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes to heaven … and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified him who lives forever.” When therefore he acknowledged the Most High, and uttered words of thanksgiving to God, and repented of his past wickedness and recognized his own weakness, in that hour God restored to him his royal dignity.
What then? If God granted pardon and a kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar after such terrible crimes, when he had made confession, will he not grant you the remission of your sins if you repent and the kingdom of heaven if you live worthily? God is merciful and quick to forgiveness but slow to vengeance. Therefore let no one despair of salvation. Peter, the chief and foremost of the apostles, denied the Lord thrice before a little serving maid; but, moved to repentance, he wept bitterly. His weeping revealed his heartfelt repentance, and for that reason not only did he receive pardon for his denial but also retained his apostolic prerogative.

Source: Catechetical Lecture 2:17-19
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 2 Kings 25:22-30
In the twelfth year of king Zedekiah, seventy years before the dominance of the Persians, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against the Phoenicians and Jews, as Berossus says in his “Researches on the Chaldeans.” Juba, writing “On the Assyrians,” admits that he took his account from Berossus, testifying to its accuracy. Nebuchadnezzar blinded Zedekiah and removed him to Babylon, deporting the whole people except a few who escaped to Egypt. The captivity lasted for seventy years. Jeremiah and Habakkuk continued to prophesy under Zedekiah, and in the fifth year of his reign Ezekiel was prophesying in Babylon. After him came the prophet Nahum, then Daniel, and again after him, Haggai and Zechariah prophesied for two years under Darius I, and after him, one of the twelve, the Herald.

Source: STROMATEIS 1.122.1-4
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 2 Kings 25:22-30
Jeremiah calls this son of Jehoiakim Jeconiah, and the Pharaoh Neco called the father of this man, though named Eliakim, Jehoiakim, whom Babylon, having carried off, cast forth before the gate, as the present prophet and Josephus in the tenth book of his Antiquities says. And the other editions have given the signet ring as a seal. And every person who through repentance makes shine again what is according to the image becomes a seal, a ring on the “right hand of God.” For good works are understood as the part on the right of God, who places “the sheep at the right.” The father gave this kind of seal to the profligate son who returned. If Jeconiah had become this way, he would have been a model for those who are subjects of devotion. But that did not happen. Yet he seemed to be persuaded by what the prophet said: “He who goes out to surrender to the Chaldeans who besieged you shall live.” For after he brought with him his mother and the mighty men, he left, deserting to the Babylonians. But if he also displays mature repentance, so that he becomes “a seal of righteousness in circumcision.” So that, according to this, he seems to be on the right hand of God, he would be delivered, since he did pay a penalty for his recent sins, though one more moderate. For in Babylon, after he chastised in prison and in chains, due to Evil-merodach, he was then set free, becoming one who ate with the king, and thus in a foreign land he finished life.

Source: FRAGMENTS FROM THE CATENA ON JEREMIAH 14
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on 2 Kings 25:22-30
Evil-merodach was the son of Nebuchadnezzar. Since he had ruled the kingdom badly and had, in addition, troubled the land with a severe conflict, when his father came back [from his military campaign], his father imprisoned him, fearing that he might rebel against him. Now he was imprisoned in the same place where also Jehoaichin was imprisoned. There they kept each other company for a long time and became friends. Therefore, after Nebuchadnezzar was dead and Evil-merodach was appointed as the new king, he granted [Jehoiachin] favors and gifts. And this was a reward given to Jehoiachin, because he had obeyed the prophecy and had surrendered, so that God did not refuse him the wage that he had earned.

Source: BOOKS OF SESSIONS 2 KINGS 25:27