He burned the LORD’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned every great house with fire.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 9. Great. This word is supplied from Jeremiah 52:13 and Hebrew “great man’s house.” Prot. But Jeremiah 39:8, we read, they burnt the houses of the people, ( Bible.) even the meanest, destroyed the walls, and took the people to Babylon, only leaving some countrymen to cultivate the land. Jeremias was set at liberty by Nabuzardan, (ib. 11) and chose to continue with this remnant of the people, for their comfort and direction. Bible.—They applied to him to know whether they should retire into Egypt; and after ten days, he gave them God’s injunction to the contrary: but they despised it. Jeremiah 42:7 and 43:1. The prophet, and his secretary, Baruch, followed them into Egypt. Thus was the country abandoned, and the monarchy at an end, after it had subsisted 468 years from the commencement of David’s reign. Calmet.—Yet some little power remained in the family of David, even at Babylon; (verse 27.) and the Jewish affairs were re-established, after the captivity, though not in such splendour as formerly, nor always under princes of the same royal family. Bible.