Jerusalem Falls and Zedekiah Is Captured

The dates of the siege, the breach, and the king's flight are narrated without spectacle

In the ninth year of Zedekiah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. In the eleventh year, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

All the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, with all the residue. When Zedekiah and the men of war saw them, they fled by night by the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls, toward the plain.

Capture at Jericho, judgment at Riblah, slain sons, and put-out eyes

The Chaldeans' army pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They brought him to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him. The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes; also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

The narrative must not be enjoyed as spectacle or used to justify killing family members, torture, mutilation, or collective revenge. Fulfillment language does not make blinding righteous. This is the violent end of a regime, told as grief and fact.