ZEDEKIAH, Sylvester Hassell Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoichin, under the name of Zedekiah, was made king over the miserable remnant [of Jews left in the land by Nebuchadnezzar] Zedekiah rebelled in the eighth year of his reign, and, upon the approach of the Babylonian army, professed penitence; but, as soon as the army turned away, he again broke his covenant with Babylon. Having defeated the king of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar resumed the siege of Jerusalem, and took the city the third and last time, fulfilling the word of the Lord which he spake by the mouths of his prophets, “I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down,” 2 Kings 21:10-13.
Nebuchadnezzar took Zedekiah, slew his sons before his eyes, then put out his eyes, bound him in fetters and carried him to Babylon, and kept him a close prisoner till he died. He made a public example of seventy-four distinguished men of Jerusalem, who had been engaged in the rebellion, by putting them to death. He sacked the temple completely. “He burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house he burnt with fire.” He demolished the walls of the city, rooted and burnt out the population, leaving the city a heap of rubbish and smouldering ruins. With the exception of a few poor people, who were left in the fields and vineyards, he carried all away to Babylon as prisoners. “So Judah was carried away out of their land,” (2 Kings 24:17; 25:1-21; Jer. 39;1-10; 53:1-23).” (Hassell’s History pg 133)