Verse 4

When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night. They took a path through the king’s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls. Then they headed for the rift valley.

Referenced Verses

  • 2 Chr 32:5 : 5 Hezekiah energetically rebuilt every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall, and fortified the terrace of the City of David. He made many weapons and shields.
  • Amos 2:14 : 14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; strong men will have no strength left; warriors will not be able to save their lives.
  • Isa 30:15-16 : 15 For this is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel says:“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, but you are unwilling. 16 You say,‘No, we will flee on horses,’ so you will indeed flee. You say,‘We will ride on fast horses,’ so your pursuers will be fast.
  • Jer 38:18-20 : 18 But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,“I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.” 20 Then Jeremiah answered,“You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the LORD by doing what I have been telling you. Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared.
  • Jer 52:7-9 : 7 They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden.(The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the rift valley. 8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the rift valley plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him. 9 They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. 10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. 11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains. Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.
  • Ezek 12:12 : 12 “The prince who is among them will raise his belongings onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.
  • Lev 26:17 : 17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.
  • Lev 26:36 : 36 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer.
  • Deut 28:25 : 25 Curses by Defeat and Deportation“The LORD will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Deut 32:24-30 : 24 They will be starved by famine, eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; I will send the teeth of wild animals against them, along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust. 25 The sword will make people childless outside, and terror will do so inside; they will destroy both the young man and the virgin, the infant and the gray-haired man. 26 The Weakness of Other Gods“I said,‘I want to cut them in pieces. I want to make people forget they ever existed. 27 But I fear the reaction of their enemies, for their adversaries would misunderstand and say,“Our power is great, and the LORD has not done all this!”’ 28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom, and there is no understanding among them. 29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this, and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.” 30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, and two pursue ten thousand; unless their Rock had delivered them up, and the LORD had handed them over?
  • 2 Kgs 25:4-7 : 4 The enemy broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden.(The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the rift valley. 5 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with him in the rift valley plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him. 6 They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where he passed sentence on him. 7 Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.