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The Temple in Flames

The house of the Name falls in the fire

Jerusalem · c. 586 BC · 2 Kgs 25:1–21

James Tissot, The Flight of the Prisoners, c. 1896–1902 · The Jewish Museum, New York · Public domain

Story

On the tenth day of the tenth month of King Zedekiah's ninth year, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with his whole army and surrounded Jerusalem. Siege ramps were built all around the city. The siege lasted until the eleventh year. By the ninth day of the fourth month, there was no food left in the city. At last the wall was broken through.

That night Zedekiah and his soldiers slipped out through the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and fled toward the Arabah. The Babylonian army chased them, caught the king on the plains of Jericho, and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah. The king of Babylon killed Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him in bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

On the seventh day of the fifth month, Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, came and burned the temple of the Lord, the palace and all the great houses. The bronze pillars and the bronze Sea were broken up and carried off to Babylon. The people were taken captive, and only the poorest were left to look after the vineyards and fields. Over the ruined sanctuary a song burst out: How long, O God? They have set your sanctuary on fire.

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Words of God and the Prophets

He burned the temple of the Lord, the palace and every house in Jerusalem. Every great house was burned to the ground.
The narrator · 2 Kgs 25:9

I will wipe Jerusalem clean as someone wipes a dish and turns it upside down. I will abandon those of my people who are left and hand them over to their enemies.
God · 2 Kgs 21:13–14

So Judah was taken captive and went away from its own land.
The narrator · 2 Kgs 25:21

The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 2 Kgs 25:1–21

Background

Solomon's temple fell nearly four hundred years after it was built. Some date its fall to 586 BC and others to 587 BC. To this day Jewish people fast on the ninth day of the month of Av to remember the destruction of the temple.

Pause and Reflect

Even among the ruins, do I believe there is a way back to God?