What Day Did The Temple Burn?

In 2 Kings, it is written: "Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire," (2 Kings 25:8-9 NASB1995).

In Jeremiah 52, it is written: "Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire," (Jeremiah 52:12-13 NASB1995).

In 2 Kings, it seems to say the temple was burned on the 7th day while Jeremiah seems to tell us it was the 10th day. One possible answer to this question is by assuming a potential space in time between events. 2 Kings tells us on the 7th day, Nebuzradan came to Jerusalem. He then burned the temple. It is possible the text just means that he set off on the 7th day and then later burned the temple.

Jeremiah 52 tells us on the 10th day he came to Jerusalem and then burned the temple. It is possible that Nebuzaradan started heading to the temple on the 7th. He stayed outside of Jerusalem when he arrived, and then came into Jerusalem on the 10th is when he burned down the temple (Burridge).

As Dr. Gill states: "In 2 Kings 25:8; it is said to be on the "seventh" day of the fifth month that he came thither (i.e. to that place); here, on the "tenth" day; which difficulty may be solved, without supposing different copies, or any error: he might set out from Riblah on the seventh day, and come to Jerusalem on the tenth; or he might come thither on the seventh, and not set fire to the city till the tenth; or, if he set fire to it on the seventh, it might be burning to the tenth, before it was wholly consumed," (Gill).

Another possible answer is that this was just a scribal error. "On the seventh day ...—An error for the tenth day (Jeremiah 52:12), one numeral letter having been mistaken for another. ... According to Josephus the second Temple also was burnt on the tenth of the fifth month (Bell. Jud. vi. 4.8)," (Ellicott).

References:

Ellicott's Bible Commentary, Volume 1. N.p., Delmarva Publications, Inc., 2015.

Genevan Institute for Reformed Studies. "Seventh or Tenth Day?" Genevan Institute for Reformed Studies, 17 Oct. 2010, website. Accessed 24 July 2024.

Image by Tyler Lastovich on Unsplash

Wolever, Terry. John Gill's Exposition of the Old and New Testaments: Some Background on the First Three Editions. United States, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018.