מלכים ב, פרק כ״ד, פסוק י״ג

The breaking point of the Kingdom of Judah arrives with the looting of the nation's centers of power and holiness. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, empties Jerusalem of its most vital assets, taking away all the treasures from both the House of God and the royal palace. This devastating event unfolds exactly as God had spoken in advance.

The destruction is especially severe regarding the special vessels that King Solomon originally crafted for the Temple. The Babylonians do not simply carry these items away; they actively cut them apart. The primary approach among commentators is that these specific vessels were not made of solid gold, but were rather plated with gold. To extract the value, the Babylonians cut and peeled the gold plating off the surface of these sacred items, stripping the precious metal away to take it with them [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל].