Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Kings 25:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7And 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.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Jerusalem is breached and Zedekiah is blinded.”
Forts, years, and no bread
This verse is one part of that explanation in 2 Kings 25:1–7. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 2 Kings 25:1–7
Read 2 Kings 25:7 with 25:1–7. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem, famine becomes severe, the city is breached, Zedekiah is captured, his sons are killed before him, and he is blinded and taken to Babylon.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Jerusalem is breached and Zedekiah is blinded,” 2 Kings 25:7 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: Zedekiah's rebellion brings the announced catastrophe into siege, famine, breach, family killing, blinding, and captivity.
Read 2 Kings 25:1–7 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Kings 25:1–7 forms one scene or regnal notice: Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem, famine becomes severe, the city is breached, Zedekiah is captured, his sons are killed before him, and he is blinded and taken to Babylon.
Verse 1. 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.
Verse 2. 2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
Verse 3. 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.
Verse 4. 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.
Verse 5. 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.
Verse 6. 6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
Verse 7. 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.
Follow the Context
- Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem, famine becomes severe, the city is breached, Zedekiah is captured, his sons are killed before him, and he is blinded and taken to Babylon.
- The unit closes by establishing the result or tension named in “Jerusalem is breached and Zedekiah is blinded” before the next narrated movement.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Kings 25:7 does not permit the wording “And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. This report does not justify siege starvation, killing children, torture, blinding prisoners, or portraying Babylonian violence as morally clean because judgment is also narrated.
What Remains True
Faithful interpretation protects the dignity, agency, safety, grief, and material needs of people whom leadership-centered readings can overlook. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem, famine becomes severe, the city is breached, Zedekiah is captured, his sons are killed before him, and he is blinded and taken to Babylon. In 2 Kings 25:7, the concrete line “And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and…” keeps that truth accountable to narrated evidence.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 2 Kings 25:7's role in 25:1–7. Paraphrase “And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and…,” identify one agent or affected person, state one material source or historical limit, and name one conclusion the context does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 2 Kings 25:1–7 — Jerusalem is breached and Zedekiah is blindedSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The fall's year is conventionally expressed as 587 or 586 BCE depending on chronological reckoning; the victims' suffering is clearer than a one-year certainty.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Kings 25:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, royal formulas, clause relationships, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 25:1–7
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: A unit-bounded translation comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence is not treated as evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Kings PDF, printed pp. 666–667, translation and translator notes for 25:1–7
Open source ↗