Jeremiah 22:24-30

3. The fate of Jehoiachin (Jeremiah 22:24-30)

TRANSLATION

(24) As I live (oracle of the LORD), even if Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah was a signet upon My right hand, I would pull you off; (25) and I will place you in the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. (26) And I will cast you and the mother who bore you into another land where You were not born, and there you shall die. (27) But to the land where they long to return, they shall not return. (28) Is this man Coniah a despised and broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which there is no delight? For what reason were he and his seed hurled away, and cast into a land which they do not know? (29) O land, land, land! Hear the word of the LORD! (30) Thus says the LORD: Write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for he shall not be successful in having one of his descendants sit on the throne of David or rule again over Judah.

COMMENTS

Having spoken of the future of Jehoahaz (Jeremiah 22:10-12) and the folly of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 22:13-23) Jeremiah now adds an oracle dealing with the fate of Coniah whose throne name was Jehoiachin.[220] Jehoiachin apparently was a carbon copy of his father (2 Kings 24:9), For this reason God declares that even if Coniah were a signet upon His finger He would pull him off and cast him away. Because of its importance the signet ring in antiquity was highly valued and guarded against any possible 10SS. That ring impressed into a bit of warm wax on a document made the document legally binding. The signet was the equivalent of the modern day signature. The king of Judah was the earthly representative of the invisible King of Judah, the Lord of hosts. He exercised authority in the name of the Almighty and hence could be compared to a signet on the hand of the Lord. But God swears with an oath formula (as I live) that Jehoiachin will be removed from this royal dignity (Jeremiah 22:24).

[220] Jeremiah 52:31. This monarch is also designated as Jeconiah (Jeremiah 27:20), Jeconiahu (Jeremiah 24:1) and Joiakin (Ezekiel 1:2). The name in its various forms means The Lord will establish.

Not only will God remove Jehoiachin from the throne of Judah, but He will see to it that the king is delivered into the hands of the ruthless Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 22:25). He along with the queen-mother, the influential Nehushta,[221] will be taken into the distant land of Babylon where they will die (Jeremiah 22:26). To die in a foreign land was considered one of the worst fates which could befall a man. The prophecy was fulfilled in 597, B.C. when Jehoiachin and the royal family were deported in chains to Babylon. Jehoiachin remained a captive of Babylon throughout the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. He was released after thirty-seven years of captivity by the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach (2 Kings 25:27-30). Jehoiachin must have died in Babylon before the restoration of the Jews in 537 B.C. or else he surely would have been made the leader of the returnees at that time.

[221] See Jeremiah 29:2; 2 Kings 24:8. An oracle has already been delivered to this prominent woman in Jeremiah 13:18.

Jeremiah 22:24-26 speak of the exile of king Jehoiachin as something in the future. But Jeremiah 22:27-30 presuppose that the exile has already begun. Here, as so often in prophetic literature, the prophet has projected himself into the future beyond 597 B.C. when Jehoiachin would be taken into captivity. He describes what he knows the attitude of the captives will be. They will long to return to Palestine but will not be permitted to do so (Jeremiah 22:27).

Jeremiah finds it hard to believe the words of his own prophecy. By means of a favorite literary device, a series of questions,[222] he expresses his incredulity. In astonishment he asks, Is Coniah no better than a cracked piece of pottery which one might cast on the top of a trash pile? Why must Jehoiachin and his seed suffer the terrible fate of deportation to a foreign land? Jeremiah seems in Jeremiah 22:28 to be reflecting a great deal of sympathy toward the young king who was destined to reign only three months on the throne of Judah (2 Kings 24:8). Though Jehoiachin was but eighteen years old when taken captive he had wives (2 Kings 24:15) and apparently seed, i.e., children.

[222] Jeremiah elsewhere employs the repeated question to state an unnatural, incomprehensible fact. See Jeremiah 8:4 f.; Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 14:19.

As Jeremiah reaches the climax of his pronouncement against Jehoiachin he dramatically calls the entire land to listen to the announcement of the tragic fate of this king. O land, land, land! Hear the word of the Lord! (Jeremiah 22:29). The three-fold repetition of land anticipates the solemnity of the message which follows. Write this man childless, i.e., enter Jehoiachin in the register of the citizens as one who has no heirs. The word childless is not to be taken here in the absolute sense since Jeremiah 22:28 already has mentioned the seed or children of Jehoiachin. Rather the meaning is that as far as the throne is concerned Jehoiachin would be childless. The rest of the verse makes this perfectly clear. No son of Jehoiachin would ever rule over Judah. It is interesting to note that Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jehoiachin, did serve as governor of the restored community once the exile in Babylon had ended.