(13) And he carried out thence . . .--It is apt said, but implied, that Nebuchadnezzar entered the city. He may have done so at the time of his invasion under Jehoiakim (2Kings 24:1). On that occasion he had carried off some of the sacred vessels (2Chronicles 36:7; Daniel 1:2; Daniel 5:2-3; comp. Ezra 1:7 seq.) It is certainly surprising to find that anything was left in the Temple treasury after the repeated spoliations which it had undergone. The fact not only indicates the probable existence of secret (subterranean) store-chambers, but also lends some support to the chronicler's representations of the great wealth stored up in the sanctuary.

Cut in pieces.--2Kings 16:17; 2Chronicles 28:24. The meaning seems to be that the gold-plating was now stripped off from such "vessels" as the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, and the Ark. (Comp. 2Kings 18:16.)

As the Lord had said--e.g., to Hezekiah (2Kings 20:17; comp. Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 17:3).

Verse 13. - And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord. "Thence" means "from Jerusalem," which he entered and plundered, notwithstanding Jehoiachin's submission, so that not much was gained by the voluntary surrender. A beginning had been made of the carrying off the sacred vessels of the temple in Jehoiakim's third (fourth?) year (Daniel 1:1), which was the first of Nebuchadnezzar. The plundering was now carried a step further; while the final complete sweep of all that remained came eleven years later, at the end of the reign of Zedekiah (see 2 Kings 25:13-17). And the treasures of the king's house (comp. 2 Kings 20:13). If the treasures which Hezekiah showed to the envoys of Merodach-Baladan were carried off by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:15), still there had probably been fresh accumulations made during their long reigns by Manasseh and Josiah. And out in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon King of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord. (For an account of these vessels, see 1 Kings 7:45-50.) They consisted in part of articles of furniture, like the altar of incense and the table of shrewbread, which were thickly covered with plates of gold; in part of vessels, etc., made wholly of the precious metal, as candlesticks, or rather candelabra, snuffers, tongs, basins, spoons, censers, and the like. As the Lord had said (comp. 2 Kings 20:17; Isaiah 39:6; Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 17:3; Jeremiah 20:5, etc.).

24:8-20 Jehoiachin reigned but three months, yet long enough to show that he justly smarted for his fathers' sins, for he trod in their steps. His uncle was intrusted with the government. This Zedekiah was the last of the kings of Judah. Though the judgments of God upon the three kings before him might have warned him, he did that which was evil, like them. When those intrusted with the counsels of a nation act unwisely, and against their true interest, we ought to notice the displeasure of God in it. It is for the sins of a people that God hides from them the things that belong to the public peace. And in fulfilling the secret purposes of his justice, the Lord needs only leave men to the blindness of their own minds, or to the lusts of their own hearts. The gradual approach of Divine judgments affords sinners space for repentance, and believers leisure to prepare for meeting the calamity, while it shows the obstinacy of those who will not forsake their sins.And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house,.... The gates of the city being thrown open to him, he entered and plundered the temple, and the royal palace, and took from thence all the riches thereof:

and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said; 2 Kings 20:17 and so the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. No more is said of these vessels in 2 Chronicles 36:10 than that they were brought to Babylon; and so Piscator renders the word here, "took", or "carried them away"; and certain it is that they were carried whole to Babylon, Daniel 5:2 but as Hezekiah is said to cut off the doors of the temple, that is, strip or scrape off the gold of them, 2 Kings 18:16 so Nebuchadnezzar cut off from the temple, or stripped it of the golden vessels in it; of great part of them, the greater part thereof; for that there were some left is plain from Jeremiah 27:18.