Lives of Scripture

When Jerusalem's walls were finally breached in the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign, "all the officials of the king of Babylon" entered the conquered city and took their seats at the Middle Gate to preside over its fall (Jeremiah 39:3). Among those named is Nergal-sar-ezer, given the title "the Rab-mag" -- a senior court office, sometimes rendered "chief soothsayer" or "chief officer." Soon after, Zedekiah's sons were executed before him, and he was blinded and bound for exile (39:4-7). In the midst of that judgment, Nebuchadnezzar issued a specific, contrasting order about the prophet Jeremiah, who had been imprisoned for counseling surrender: he was to be found, cared for, and released rather than deported with the rest of the captives (39:11-12). Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag was one of the named officials -- alongside Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard and Nebushazban the Rab-saris -- who carried out that order, taking Jeremiah from the guard's courtyard and entrusting him to Gedaliah, the newly appointed governor over the remnant left in the land (39:13-14). Many historians identify this Rab-mag with Neriglissar, the Babylonian general who several years later seized the throne himself after murdering Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, Amel-Marduk -- a plausible but not certain identification, since Scripture itself never draws that connection.