The fall of Jerusalem 2KI 25:9

After eighteen months of siege the city wall was finally breached and Nebuchadnezzar's army entered Jerusalem. His captain then set fire to the house of the Lord, the king's palace, and every great house in the city. The bronze pillars that had stood at the temple were broken apart and carried off to Babylon, and those who survived were taken into exile.

The temple had stood for about four hundred years as the center of worship and the visible sign of God's presence with Israel. Its destruction, along with the burning of the royal palace, marks the end of the kingdom of Judah as an independent nation under its own king. For the biblical writers this is the hinge of the whole exile story, the moment loss becomes total before any hope of return begins.

Zedekiah was captured as the city fell, and his sons were killed right in front of him. Immediately after that his own eyes were put out, so the murder of his sons was deliberately made the last thing he ever saw. This closes the line of kings reigning in Jerusalem until the exile ends.

It is easy to picture Nebuchadnezzar himself setting the fires, but the passage credits the act to his captain, acting on his authority as the army occupied the city. Nebuchadnezzar directed the siege and the campaign from the start, yet the actual burning of the temple, the palace, and the great houses was carried out by the officer he had placed in command. The responsibility is still his, since the captain acts for him, but the detail of who physically did it is worth getting right.