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Did Zedekiah see the king of Babylon, and did he see Babylon?
Hard question · Prophecy and its fulfilment · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate
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Jeremiah tells Zedekiah, “thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon”, and that he will go to Babylon.
And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
Ezekiel says God will bring the prince to Babylon, “yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there”.
My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.
Zedekiah is brought to the king of Babylon at Riblah; his sons are killed before his eyes, then he is blinded and taken to Babylon.
So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 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.
At Riblah the king of Babylon passes sentence on Zedekiah, blinds him, and keeps him in prison in Babylon until he dies.
Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
The objection
Jeremiah told King Zedekiah that his eyes would “behold the eyes of the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 34:3). But 2 Kings says the Babylonians put out his eyes (2 Kings 25:7), and Ezekiel said he would be brought to Babylon, “yet shall he not see it” (Ezekiel 12:13). The prophecies seem to clash with each other and with the history.
The answer
Both prophecies came true, in the order the history gives. When Jerusalem fell, Zedekiah fled, was caught in the plains of Jericho, and was brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where the king “gave judgment upon him” (Jeremiah 52:9; 2 Kings 25:6). There he stood before the king of Babylon and saw him face to face, as Jeremiah had said. Then his sons were killed before his eyes, his eyes were put out, and he was taken in chains to Babylon, where he was kept in prison until he died (Jeremiah 52:10–11). So he was brought to Babylon and died there, but never saw it, as Ezekiel had said.
The two prophecies, which seem at first to pull against each other, fit the events exactly. The Jewish historian Josephus noticed this in the first century. He says that Zedekiah refused to believe either prophet because he thought they disagreed, and then shows that both were fulfilled.
From the classic commentators
he should be caught, and brought before the king of Babylon, and should speak to him face to face, and should see his eyes with his own eyes; and thus far did Jeremiah prophesy. But he was also made blind, and brought to Babylon, but did not see it, according to the prediction of Ezekiel.Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 10.8.2, translated by William Whiston (1737)
Sources
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 10.7.2 and 10.8.2, translated by William Whiston, at Project Gutenberg
- John Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Ezekiel 12 (HelloAO)