XXVII. (1) IN THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM. — The mention of the name of Zedekiah as king of Judah in Jeremiah 27:3 shows that the Hebrew text has here perpetuated an error, due probably to the transcriber or first editor of the collected prophecies. We have to think, accordingly, of the... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE THEE BONDS AND YOKES. — This method of vivid symbolic prediction had a precedent in the conduct of Isaiah when he walked “naked and barefoot” (Isaiah 20:2). We have to realise the infinitely more vivid impression which the appearance of the prophet in this strange guise, as though he were at on... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SEND THEM TO THE KING OF EDOM. — The princes that are named had, as the context shows, sent their ambassadors to Zedekiah, proposing an alliance against Nebuchadnezzar. They are named in the same order as in the prophecy of Jeremiah 25:21, which had been delivered fifteen years before. The proph... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL. — As addressed to the outlying heathen nations, who were not His worshippers, the proclamation of the message, as coming from Jehovah Sabaoth, the God of Israel, had a special force, which we hardly appreciate as we read the English. They, with their... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE MADE THE EARTH... — The pronoun is emphatic. For “upon the ground” read _on the face of the earth,_ and for “it seemed meet unto me” _it seemed meet to my eyes._ The “stretched-out arm” is a phrase specially characteristic of the Book of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuter... [ Continue Reading ]
NEBUCHADNEZZAR... MY SERVANT. — See Note on Jeremiah 25:9 for the title thus given. The special stress laid on “the beasts of the field” is, perhaps, connected with the resistance of the nations to the levies made by the Babylonian officers upon their horses and cattle, or their claim to use the lan... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS SON, AND HIS SON’S SON. — The words may have had the meaning that this was to be the farthest limit of Nebuchadnezzar’s dynasty, as defined by the “seventy years” of Jeremiah 25:11. The use of the phrase, however, in Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 4:25, points rather to an undefined prolongation,... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT NATION WILL I PUNISH. — Better, _I will visit._ The three forms of punishment go naturally together. In Ezekiel 14:21 they appear, with the addition of the “noisome beast,” as the four sore judgments of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE HEARKEN YE NOT TO YOUR PROPHETS. — The almost exhaustive list of the names given to the men who claimed the power of prevision, may have had its ground in the fact that each of the five names was characteristic of this or that among the five nations to whom the message was sent. Of the nam... [ Continue Reading ]
TO REMOVE YOU FAR FROM YOUR LAND. — The prophet speaks of what he foresees will be the result of the rebellion to which soothsayers and diviners were urging men, as if it were actually contemplated by them. They are to him like the lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets persuading him to go up... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE NATIONS THAT BRING THEIR NECK UNDER THE YOKE... — The advice thus given to the five nations that were seeking an alliance with Judah before the actual invasion, is specifically addressed to Judah in the next verse, and is repeated more fully after the population of Judæa had been carried int... [ Continue Reading ]
I SPAKE ALSO TO ZEDEKIAH... — There was, as we see in Jeremiah 28:13, a party of resistance in Judah also, and they, too, were trusting in delusive prophecies of the overthrow of the Chaldæan monarchy. Sadly and earnestly the prophet pleads with them in the question, “Why will ye die, thou and thy p... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD THE VESSELS OF THE LORD’S HOUSE... — The importance attached to this specific prediction, on which apparently the false prophets staked their credit, can easily be understood. The vessels referred to are those which had been carried off by Nebuchadnezzar in his first invasion, and before the... [ Continue Reading ]
HEARKEN NOT UNTO THEM. — The prophecy of the restoration of the vessels of the Temple was clearly not a mere prediction. It had been used as an incentive to rebellion. “Make one last effort,” the prophets virtually said, “and the spoiler shall be compelled to disgorge his booty.” The prophet saw tha... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF THEY BE PROPHETS... — The rivals of Jeremiah had, as has been said, staked their credit upon the return of the vessels that had already been taken. He stakes his On the prediction that what had been spared in the first invasion should be taken on the second. They had better use their gift of... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS CONCERNING THE PILLARS... — The “pillars” referred to were probably the two bronze columns known as Jachin and Boaz, on each side of the porch of the Temple (1 Kings 7:21). The molten “sea,” standing on twelve oxen as its supporters, is described in 1 Kings 7:23. The... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL BE CARRIED TO BABYLON. — The fulfilment of the prediction is recorded in 2 Kings 25:13. UNTIL THE DAY THAT I VISIT THEM. — The date is not given definitely, but seventy years had been already named as the period between the plunder and the restoration (Jeremiah 25:12). Here the undefined... [ Continue Reading ]