A breach was made in the city: Instead of the city, many languages will have to say “the wall of the city” since this is certainly what is intended. The passive verb was made may be made active by saying something like “the enemy troops made a hole in the wall of the city” or “the Babylonian troops broke through the city wall” (Contemporary English Version). This happened in July of 586 B.C. It is also possible to understand that King Zedekiah and his soldiers within the city were the ones who made the hole in the wall; for example, La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual says “King Zedekiah and his soldiers made an opening in the wall” (similarly 1995 edition of Reina-Valera revisada).

A rather literal translation of the Hebrew text for the rest of this verse reads as follows: “and all the men of war, at night, the way of the gate between the two walls, which by the king’s garden, and [while] the Chaldeans were surrounding the city; and he went the way of the Arabah.” The Masoretic Text omits any specific mention of the king in the part of the verse that says who ran away from the city during the night. Nor does the Masoretic Text have the verb fled. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament acknowledges that the construction of the Masoretic Text without any reference to the king is difficult since this leaves the Hebrew masculine singular verb for “went” at the end of the verse without a clear singular subject. Yet Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} degree of certainty to the text without any mention of the king. Some modern translations follow the Hebrew text for the entire verse. Nouvelle Bible Segond, for example, says “a breach was opened in the city. All the men of war took, at night, the way of the gate between the two walls, near the Garden of the King, while the Chaldeans surrounded the city. He took the way of the dry plain.”

Despite the recommendation of Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, it seems better to change “he went” to “they went” at the end of the verse, in agreement with the parallel passages in Jeremiah (39.4; 52.7).

The interpretation in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, however, is not the only way that the Hebrew text may be read. Hobbs understands “the men of war” to be the Babylonian soldiers and not the soldiers of Judah as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. This interpretation is not found in the translations consulted, but if it is accepted, the following translation is recommended: “The city wall was broken into at night by all the Babylonian soldiers by the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. While the Babylonians surrounded the city, King Zedekiah fled in the direction of the Jordan Valley.” The interpretation of Hobbs, however, does not adequately deal with the end of verse 5, which says that Zedekiah’s troops fled in different directions when he was caught by the Babylonians. This suggests that the king was not the only one who fled from Jerusalem.

The gate between the two walls: According to Jewish tradition, this gate was located near the Shechem Gate outside the old city of Jerusalem. Almost certainly the reference is to a gate in the southeast wall of the city, where King Hezekiah had built a second (or, outer) wall 40 meters (130 feet) lower than the upper inner wall to protect the pool of Siloam (see 2 Kgs 20.20). This place is mentioned by the prophets Jeremiah (39.4 and 52.7) and Isaiah (22.11). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh speaks of “the gate between the double walls.” Other scholars think that this gate was a gate in the southern wall of the city, and that the two walls refers to the walls on the eastern and western hills of the city, but this in not likely.

The king’s garden was not simply a small plot of land in which vegetables were grown. Rather, this garden was probably more like a large park that included numerous fruit trees, flowers, and herbs. In the hot summer months of the year, residents of the royal palace would spend much of their time outside in the garden instead of inside the royal buildings. See the comments at 2 Kgs 21.18.

For the Chaldeans as “the Babylonians,” see the comments at 2 Kgs 24.2.

In the direction of the Arabah; that is, eastward (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) toward the valley of the Jordan River. See the comments on the Arabah at 2 Kgs 14.25. In this context the Arabah may be taken to mean “the plain” and is probably roughly synonymous with “the plains of Jericho” mentioned in the next verse. Zedekiah and his soldiers apparently thought they could escape from their enemies by crossing over the Jordan River. New Century Version, like Good News Translation, translates “the Jordan Valley,” while Contemporary English Version has “the desert.”

In recognition of the difficulties in this verse, the Handbook recommends the following model from NET Bible:

• The enemy broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden. (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .