John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 39:8

"And the Chaldeans burned the king`s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem." — Jeremiah 39:8 (ASV)

And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house
His palace: this was a month after the city was taken, as appears from (Jeremiah 52:12Jeremiah 52:13).

and the houses of the people, with fire ;
the houses of the common people, as distinct from the king's house, and the houses of the great men, (Jeremiah 52:13) ; though Jarchi interprets of the synagogues. It is in the original text in the singular number, "the house of the people"; which Abarbinel understands of the temple, called, not the house of God, he having departed from it; but the house of the people, a den of thieves; according to Adrichomius ^F11 , there was a house in Jerusalem called "the house of the vulgar", or common people, where public feasts and sports were kept; but the former sense seems best:

and broke down the walls of Jerusalem ;
demolished all the fortifications of it, and entirely dismantled it, that it might be no more a city of force and strength, as it had been.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F11: Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 154.