For the people, the king was their life breath; their life depended on him (see also Genesis 2:7).1 His capture dashed all their hopes, as they derived their security and cohesion from the covenant promises made to king David and his successors. With the king no longer on the throne, they could not function as a kingdom. While the people had their trust in the Davidic dynasty and the temple, they failed to put it in God.2 All their hope was gone, and they had nowhere to escape. Their king who was regarded as invincible (see 2 Samuel 7:1–29) has been captured and they no longer have the protection of his shadow
(see Psalm 91:1;Isaiah 30:3; Isaiah 32:2).3
The removal of the person Zedekiah as king was no great loss at a personal level since he had been appointed by the Babylonians anyway. The issue is that he was the last king on David’s throne. It implied the end of an era in God’s dealings with his covenant people, as the throne of David was now vacant and the capital city destroyed.4
20 Celui qui nous faisait respirer, l'oint de l'Eternel, A été pris dans leurs fosses, Lui de qui nous disions: Nous vivrons sous son ombre parmi les nations.