Jeremiah 52:27 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 52:27 mean?

Jeremiah 52:27 marks the end of Judah’s independence under its own leaders. The king of Babylon has leading people from Judah executed, and the verse describes Judah’s people being taken away from their homeland as captives.

The narrator moves from the named captives in the preceding verse to the fate of Judah more broadly. The words “out of his own land” give the loss a personal force: the people have been removed from the place they called home.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 52:27

• “captive” — גָּלָה (galah): The word can mean to go into exile or be carried away. Here it describes removal from one’s homeland, not merely confinement in a prison.
• “smote” — נָכָה (nakah): The word often means to strike or attack. In this sentence, the following words, “put them to death,” make clear the deadly result.

Why Jeremiah 52:27 matters

• The verse distinguishes the fate of particular leaders from that of the wider population. “Them” refers back to the people taken to the king in the preceding verses; “Judah” then names the people carried away.
• The executions took place away from Jerusalem. Riblah was in the land of Hamath, where the Babylonian king had received the captives.
• The account also distinguishes the exile from the removal of every person in Judah. Earlier in the chapter, Jeremiah 52:16 says that some poor people were left behind to work the land.