The events of this verse correspond to the prophecy of Ezek 12.13.
They slew the sons of Zedekiah: Since the precise referent of the pronoun They may not be clear, some languages may have to refer more specifically to “the Babylonian soldiers” or “the enemy.” The use of the passive form will also be an option only in those languages where such a verb form is natural; for example, Good News Translation has “his sons were put to death” and New American Bible says “He had Zedekiah’s sons slain.”
The archaic verb slew may be translated “slaughtered” (New Revised Standard Version) or “killed” (New Century Version).
Before his eyes: The Good News Translation rendering of these words makes it sound almost accidental that Zedekiah witnessed the death of his sons. The intention, however, is probably that Zedekiah was forced to watch the killings. So it will be reasonable to translate the first clause as “They made him watch while they killed his sons.”
And put out the eyes of Zedekiah: Clearly the action of putting out the eyes of Zedekiah happened after the killing of his sons in his presence. So the common Hebrew conjunction rendered and is better translated “then” as in Good News Translation. Most modern versions, in fact, translate it in this way. The Hebrew verb translated put out is singular, and the subject is probably Nebuchadnezzar. Whether Nebuchadnezzar himself put out Zedekiah’s eyes (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible Pléiade) or whether he ordered someone else to do it (so Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) is not clear. Tablets from Assyria show the Assyrian king, Sargon, putting out prisoners’ eyes with a lance, so it is possible that King Nebuchadnezzar himself did this.
Bound him in fetters: Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and em>Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente translate “tied him up with a double chain of bronze.” The Hebrew noun for fetters is a dual form, which is the reason for the rendering “a double chain.” Other versions also speak of “bronze fetters” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible), “bronze shackles” (New International Version), or “bronze chains” (New Century Version, Peregrino). The word translated fetters does, in fact, refer to chains made of bronze, but several modern versions apparently consider the detail about bronze insignificant (New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). Translators should at least indicate that the material used in binding Zedekiah was made of metal rather than rope or some other less durable substance.
Like the verb put out, the verbs bound and took are singular in Hebrew, with Nebuchadnezzar as the implied subject. It is impossible to know whether Nebuchadnezzar himself bound Zedekiah or had someone else do it, but it is clear the Babylonian king himself was responsible for these actions.
Took him to Babylon: From Riblah to Babylon was a journey of more than 900 kilometers (about 585 miles), assuming that the usual route by way of Aleppo in the northeast of present-day Syria was taken.
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 .