an exact date

May 16, 2017

The exact day of the Babylonian siege (Ezek 24:1-24:2)

“In the ninth year,

In the tenth month,

On the tenth day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

Write down

The name

Of this day!

This very day!

The king of Babylon

Has laid siege

To Jerusalem

This very day.’”

As usual, Ezekiel mentioned an exact date. This was the 10th day, of the 10th month, of the 9th year of the reign of King Zedekiah. This seems to be January 15, 588 BCE. Once again, Yahweh appeared to Ezekiel, the son of man, who was still probably in Babylon. Yahweh wanted him to write this exact date down because it was the day that Babylon began its siege of Jerusalem.

February 13, 2017

The attack of King Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:4-52:5)

“In the ninth year

Of King Zedekiah’s reign,

In the tenth month,

On the tenth day of the month,

King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon

Came with all his army

Against Jerusalem.

They laid siege to it.

They built siege works

Against it

All around.

So the city was besieged

Until the eleventh year

Of King Zedekiah.”

Once again, this is an exact date, word for word as in 2 Kings, chapter 25 and earlier in this book of Jeremiah, in chapter 39. It is rare that we have exact dating, but here it is very specific, not some vague “at that time.” In the 9th year of King Zedekiah, in the 10th month on the 10th day, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his army to Jerusalem in order to besiege the city. King Zedekiah had probably began to plot with the Egyptians and rebelled against the king of Babylon. This siege of Jerusalem began in 588 BCE and lasted about 18 months to 2 years