Ill 



The direction of the siege of Jerusalem seems to have been 

 in the hands of a commission composed of those important 

 ofl&cials, and headed by Nebuzaradan. As we read in 

 Jer. xxxix. 3, " And all the princes of the king of Babylon 

 came in, and sat in the middle gate, eve)i Nergal-sharezer, 

 Samgar-nebOj Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Kab- 

 mag/^ In our authorised version the names of officials and 

 the offices they held were confused, so we may arrange these 

 names as follows : — 



1. Nebuzaradan ... '' Captain of the Guard." 



2. Nergal-sharezer ... — 



3. Shamgar-nebo ... — 



4. Sarsechim ... The Rab-sai'is. 



5. Nergal-sharezer ... The Rab-mag. 



All these names are purely Babylonian, and their equiva- 

 lents in the cuneiform character may be ascertained from the 

 inscriptions of the period : — 



1. Nehu-zar-adan. J j-j-J '^T^T^ ^^ '-^Y '"^T 



]"l^"!l^^ NABU - ZIRA - IDDI - NA 



Neho has given seed. 



2. Nergal-sharezer. Y >->f- ^>^TT ►^^^=- Ar- 



'^!Ji;?"^_1i7 hT\^^ NERGAL RA SAR - UTZUR 



Nergal protects the king. 



3. Shamgar-Nebo. j ^>^ Y i^j-j *~y^T^ 



"inr")5r2tp sum - gar - nabu 



Reverenced is Nebo. 



4. Sarsechim. j t^=^ ^f S^fy ^J^ '^'flf' 

 D^i^lZ?")'^ SAR - su E - Ki - IM 



The king makes icise. 



The first of the Nergal-sliarezers is a most important 

 person, as he afterwards became king of Babylon, and was of 

 royal blood. In the Egibi contract tablets of the latter part 

 of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar we find Nergal-sarra-utzur 

 taking part, as well as in the reign of his successor, Avil 



Marduk f ^^ ^jJf- ^^-^f the Evil Merodach of the 



Scriptures (2 Kings xxv. 27). He calls himself in these 



