This prophecy Jeremiah 22, like the preceding Jeremiah 21:11, states the conditions upon which it was still possible for the house of David to ensure a long era of prosperity. It belongs therefore to the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign.... [ Continue Reading ]
GO DOWN - i. e., from the temple to the king’s house. Compare 2 Chronicles 23:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
Omit and. “Thou art a Gilead unto me, a summit of Lebanon.” YET SURELY - literally, if not, the form of an oath with the imprecation omitted. For the full form see Numbers 14:23. A WILDERNESS, AND CITIES - Omit and. The meaning is: If the house of David does not hear God’s words, though it be now... [ Continue Reading ]
PREPARE - i. e., consecrate, see Jeremiah 6:4 note. THY CHOICE CEDARS - The chief members of the royal lineage and the leading officers of state.... [ Continue Reading ]
In the two foregoing prophecies Jeremiah stated the general principle on which depend the rise and downfall of kings and nations. He now adds for Zedekiah’s warning the history of three thrones which were not established. The first is that of Shallum the successor of Josiah, who probably took the n... [ Continue Reading ]
Far worse is the second example. Shallum was no heartless tyrant like Jehoiakim, who lived in splendor amid the misery of the nation, and perished so little cared for that his body was cast aside without burial. HIS CHAMBERS - Really, his upper chambers. From the absence of machinery the raising of... [ Continue Reading ]
LARGE CHAMBERS - spacious upper chambers. IT IS CIELED - Or, roofing it. VERMILION - The pigment which gives the deep red color still bright and untarnished on many ancient buildings.... [ Continue Reading ]
i. e., Will thy buildings make thy reign continue? These words imply that Jehoiakim was looking forward to, and taking measures to secure, a long continuance of power (compare Habakkuk 2:9. If so, Jeremiah probably wrote this prophecy before Jehoiakim revolted 2 Kings 24:1; and it, therefore, probab... [ Continue Reading ]
COVETOUSNESS - literally, gain. Besides exacting forced labor Jehoiakim, to procure the necessary means for the vast expenses he incurred, put innocent people to death on various pretexts, and escheated their property.... [ Continue Reading ]
Boldly by name is the judgment at length pronounced upon Jehoiakim. Dreaded by all around him, he shall soon lie an unheeded corpse, with no one to lament. No loving relative shall make such wailing as when a brother or sister is carried to the grave; nor shall he have the respect of his subjects, A... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BURIAL OF AN ASS - i. e., he shall merely be dragged out of the way, and left to decay unheeded. Nothing is known of the fulfillment of this prophecy.... [ Continue Reading ]
The third example, Jehoiachin. With him all the best and noblest of the land were dragged from their homes to people the void places of Babylon. THE PASSAGES - Really, Abarim, a range of mountains to the south of Gilead, opposite Jericho (see Numbers 27:12; Deuteronomy 32:49). Jeremiah names the ch... [ Continue Reading ]
PROSPERITY - literally, as in the margin. God spake thus not once only, but whenever Judah was at peace.... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL EAT UP ALL THY PASTORS - literally, shall depasture (Jeremiah 2:16 note) thy pastors. Those who used to drive their flocks to consume the herbage shall themselves be the first prey of war. The “pastors” mean not the kings only, but all in authority.... [ Continue Reading ]
Lebanon is the usual metaphor for anything splendid. and is here put for Jerusalem, but with special reference to the kings whose pride it was to dwell in palaces roofed with cedar Jeremiah 22:14. HOW GRACIOUS SHALT THOU BE - Or, How wilt thou groan!... [ Continue Reading ]
The words “king of Judah,” belong to Coniah, and prove that he was king regnant when the prophet wrote. The prophet gives him the name by which he was known when in a private station 1 Chronicles 3:16 as he had done previously with Jehoahaz. These two kings bore their royal names for so short a time... [ Continue Reading ]
MOTHER - See Jeremiah 13:18. It was her relationship, not to the dead king, but to the king regnant, which made her powerful.... [ Continue Reading ]
IDOL - Rather, vessel. Is Coniah a mere piece of common earthenware in which the potter has no pleasure, and therefore breaks it? It is a lamentation over Jehoiachin’s hard fate, and that of his seed. This and the two following verses may have been written after the king had been carried into captiv... [ Continue Reading ]
EARTH - On the repetition compare Jeremiah 7:4 note.... [ Continue Reading ]
CHILDLESS - No child to sit on David’s throne. See 1 Chronicles 3:17 note. Jeconiah was the last king of David’s line. His uncle indeed actually reigned after him, but perished with his sons long before Jeconiah’s death (literally 10): and yet from so dead a trunk, from a family so utterly fallen,... [ Continue Reading ]