39:7 Zedekiah’s eyes. Because Zedekiah rejected God’s word through Jeremiah, his sons and all his nobles were slain before his eyes (Jeremiah 39:6) and his city was burned (Jeremiah 39:8). Jeremiah, however, was allowed to stay with the “poor of the people” in the land (Jeremiah 39:10).

39:7 carry him to Babylon. The final remnant of Jewish reign over the promised land ended with Zedekiah’s deportation. This event, therefore, apparently marks the beginning of the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24), which have persisted until the present.