So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

JEREMIAH 52:26KJV
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Jeremiah 52:26 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 52:26 mean?

Jeremiah 52:26 describes how Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian guard, took certain people and brought them to the king of Babylon at a place called Riblah. This verse records an event during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, when important captives were taken to face the Babylonian king.

The setting is the aftermath of Jerusalem’s fall in 586 BCE. The verse is part of a historical account, not a speech or prophecy, and simply reports what happened: Nebuzaradan, a high-ranking Babylonian official, gathered prisoners and transported them to Riblah, where the Babylonian king was stationed. This action was a step in the process of judgment and exile for the leaders and officials of Judah.

Where else these words appear

“Riblah” Hebrew H7247 · used in 11 verses

  • Numbers 34:11 And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward:
  • 2 Kings 25:20 And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah:
  • Jeremiah 39:6 Then 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.

“Nebuzaradan” Hebrew H5018 · used in 15 verses

  • 2 Kings 25:8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
  • Jeremiah 39:10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
  • Jeremiah 43:6 Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.

“guard” Hebrew H2876 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
  • 2 Kings 25:11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.
  • Jeremiah 40:2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.