ירמיהו, פרק נ״ב, פסוק ז׳

The final moments of Jerusalem unfold as the city's defenses collapse, triggering a desperate night escape by the remaining fighting forces. The walls of the city are finally broken open [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The primary approach among commentators is that the event is described as if the city split apart on its own, highlighting the overwhelming weakness of Jerusalem's defenders. Severely exhausted by heavy famine, the people had no strength left to stand against the Chaldean army or delay the collapse of the wall [מצודת דוד, חומת אנך]. However, another perspective suggests that the breach actually originated from within. The starving citizens may have broken out in a desperate attempt to surrender to the Babylonian king, inadvertently allowing the enemy forces to pour inside. Alternatively, the soldiers themselves might have smashed through the walls to carve out an escape route [מלבי״ם].

Following the breach of the walls, the military men who served as the royal guard protecting the monarchy fled into the night [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Their escape route led them through a gate positioned between a double wall near the king's garden [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Adding a hidden dimension to this flight, a Midrashic tradition describes a secret underground cave that ran directly from the king's residence all the way to the plains of Jericho [רש״י].

Remarkably, this escape took place while the Chaldeans maintained a tight siege around the entire city. The fleeing soldiers managed to slip out undetected because the Babylonian forces likely overlooked this specific structural weak point and failed to station guards at the gate [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Once safely outside the city, the escapees traveled toward the plains of Jericho [מצודת דוד]. Their ultimate goal was likely to cross the Jordan River and find political asylum in one of the neighboring countries [ביאור שטיינזלץ].