2 Kings 24:20

For through the anger of the Lord it came[did it come] to pass Still the same language as in 2 Kings 23:27 and in 2 Kings 21:12-14, and all pointing to the evil practices of Manasseh and his times. The picture in 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, sets before us the way in which the evil doings had corrupted all classes. -The chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes and sending, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling-place. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy". God was deemed to be specially present in the temple at Jerusalem, hence the captivity was a removal from His sight.

that[R.V. and] Zedekiah rebelled It is better to translate the conjunction as the mere copulative, putting a strong stop after -presence". There were several stages in Zedekiah's progress to complete revolt. The Chronicler (2 Chronicles 36:12) says that Nebuchadnezzar had made the new king swear unto him by God, perhaps thinking such an oath would be more binding than if he sware by any other oath. We know (Jeremiah 29:3) that Zedekiah sent an embassy to the king of Babylon, apparently with the desire of getting back the captives who had been taken away with Jeconiah. If this were really his wish it did not succeed, and thus the wish to revolt may have arisen. A little later Zedekiah went himself in the company of Seraiah (Jeremiah 51:59) to Babylon. This was in the fourth year of his reign. Amid all these communications with the conqueror, we learn (Jeremiah 27:3) that messengers came to Jerusalem from the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, who all seemed anxious to form a league against Babylon. Zedekiah listened to false prophets like Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:1-4), who told him that the yoke of the king of Babylon was to be broken and the captives all to be brought back, and along with them the vessels of the house of the Lord. Disappointed of his petitions, and encouraged by the kings round about him, and by the smooth things he heard at home, Zedekiah revolted, probably refusing to pay the yearly tribute and sending (Ezekiel 17:15) down to Egypt to obtain help in horses and chariots. Presently afterwards the Babylonian armies came once more against Jerusalem.