“The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.”
The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem—the verse emphasizes the shock of the destruction: Jerusalem's defenses seemed impregnable, yet they fell. The reference to disbelief of world inhabitants suggests that the destruction seemed impossible; if Jerusalem could be taken, nowhere is safe. Theologically, the verse suggests that confidence in military strength and fortifications is misplaced; reliance on such defenses rather than on God was Jerusalem's error. The verse raises the question: why did the people trust in walls rather than in the covenant? Yet it also emphasizes the magnitude of the catastrophe: what seemed impossible has happened. The verse contributes to the theodicy problem: how could the city be impregnable and yet fall?
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