This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:

JEREMIAH 52:28KJV
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Jeremiah 52:28 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 52:28 mean?

Jeremiah 52:28 records one group of Jews taken from their homeland under the Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar. The count, 3,023, places a number on the forced removal of people in the seventh year of his reign.

The verse is part of a historical account, not a speech addressed to a particular audience. “Carried away captive” describes people being taken away under another ruler’s control, rather than leaving by choice.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 52:28

  • “carried away captive” — גָּלָה (galah): Here the word carries the sense of removing people from their land. It is a term used for exile: being taken away to live elsewhere under another power.

Why Jeremiah 52:28 matters

  • The number belongs to one particular removal, not the whole account of people taken away. The phrase “in the seventh year” marks the first of several dated counts in verses 28–30.

  • The count helps readers distinguish this event from the later capture of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 52:12 dates the burning of the city to Nebuchadrezzar’s nineteenth year, while verse 28 names his seventh year.

Where else these words appear

“Nebuchadrezzar” Hebrew H5019 · used in 59 verses

  • 2 Kings 24:1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.
  • Jeremiah 25:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
  • Jeremiah 43:10 And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.

“Jews” Hebrew H3064 · used in 70 verses

  • 2 Kings 16:6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
  • Esther 6:10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.
  • Esther 9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.