18. all the vessels] i.e. all the vessels which remained after the previous spoliation (verse 10). They were perhaps chiefly of brass; compare 2 Kings xxv. 13–15.
¹⁹And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
19. brake down the wall] The Hebrew verb here used (nittēç) implies a more thorough breaking down than the pāraṣ of xxv. 23 (see note), xxvi. 6.
20, 21 (= 1 Esdras i. 57, 58).
The Captivity.
²⁰And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
20. to him and his sons] Compare Jeremiah xxvii. 7. There were three kings of Babylon after Nebuchadrezzar before Cyrus established Persian rule, viz. Evil-Merodach (Amil-Marduk) (2 Kings xxv. 27), Neriglissar (Nergalšar-uṣur), and Nabonidus (Nabu-na’id). The last two kings were usurpers. Neriglissar was (it seems) son-in-law to Nebuchadrezzar (Hommel, Babylonia in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, 1. 229a, or Sayce in Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, III. pp. 105, 106). Whether Nabonidus was connected with the royal house is not known.
²¹to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
21. by the mouth of Jeremiah] Compare Jeremiah xxv. 11, xxix. 10.
her sabbaths] i.e. years, occurring every seventh year, when the land was to be allowed a respite from cultivation; compare Leviticus xxv. 1–7, xxvi. 34, 35.
threescore and ten years] i.e. two whole generations. It is probable that the Chronicler intended to suggest that the Sabbatical years had been neglected throughout the period (about 490 = 70 × 7 years) during which the kingdom lasted; but, if so, he treats the point somewhat loosely, not troubling about the objection that the reigns of the several God-fearing kings (David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat) would need to be subtracted from this total, and that actually the number of violated Sabbatical years would fall considerably below 70.