יחזקאל, פרק י״ב, פסוק י״ג

The fate of the King of Judah is entirely sealed, leaving no room for escape. Even an attempt to slip away under the cover of darkness will end in capture, as he is ultimately walking into a divine trap rather than merely fleeing from human enemies. Although the king is pursued by enemy soldiers, God Himself takes responsibility for the capture. God placed the intense drive into the hearts of the Chaldean army to hunt down the king and overtake him [רד״ק]. The trap he falls into is absolute. It represents not only the physical act of being caught but also the heavily guarded fortress where the king would eventually be imprisoned, a place so secure that no one could ever approach to set him free [מלבי״ם].

The actual pursuit unfolded in an unexpected way. The primary approach among commentators is that the king attempted to flee through a secret underground cave stretching from his home in Jerusalem to the plains of Jericho. To ensure his capture, God orchestrated a precise sequence of events by sending a deer to walk along the surface directly above the cave. The Chaldean soldiers began chasing the deer, following it all the way to the plains of Jericho. Exactly as the soldiers arrived at the cave's exit, the king emerged and fell directly into their hands.

Following his capture, a tragic paradox defines the king's final destination. He is sentenced to be taken to the city of Babylon, located in the land of the Chaldeans [מצודת דוד], yet he is told he will never actually see the city. The commentators explain that before reaching Babylon, the king was brought to the city of Riblah. There, the Babylonian king passed judgment on him and blinded him. Only after losing his sight was the king exiled to Babylon. Consequently, he lived out the remainder of his days and eventually died in Babylon without ever laying eyes on it. This tragic end perfectly fulfills an earlier prophetic warning about the king covering his face and losing his sight [מלבי״ם].