XXXIV. (1) WHEN NEBUCHADNEZZAR KING OF BABYLON... — The prophecy that follows is probably a fuller statement of that in Jeremiah 32:3, and delivered shortly before it, being referred to there as the cause of his imprisonment. In the form of the name Nebuchadnezzar (_n_ instead of r, as in Jeremiah... [ Continue Reading ]
GO AND SPEAK TO ZEDEKIAH... — See Notes on Jeremiah 32:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT DIE BY THE SWORD. — The tone is one of comparative mildness, the motive apparently being the wish to persuade the king to abandon his useless resistance, and to court the favour of the conqueror. His going to Babylon would not necessarily shut him out from a life of comparative ease a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WITH THE BURNINGS OF THY FATHERS... — Spices and perfumes were burnt as a mark of honour at the burial of kings and persons of high rank, and this is the burning here referred to (2 Chronicles 16:14; 2 Chronicles 21:19). The Hebrews never adopted the practice of burial by cremation, and for the... [ Continue Reading ]
AGAINST LACHISH, AND AGAINST AZEKAH... — The two cities are named in this book for the first time. Lachish was one of the strongest towns of the Amorites in the time of Joshua (Joshua 10:3; Joshua 10:5), and was situated in the _Shephelah,_ or lowland district (Joshua 15:39). It was restored or fort... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THAT THE KING ZEDEKIAH HAD MADE» A COVENANT... — The remainder of the chapter brings before us an historical episode of considerable interest. The law of Moses did not allow in the case of a free-born Hebrew more than a temporary bondage of seven years (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12), extende... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH THE LORD... — The prophet takes as his text the law which had been so flagrantly broken (Exodus 21:2), reminding them under what circumstances that law had been given. Their fathers had then been delivered from the house of bondage, and this was part of the covenant which God had made wit... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE END OF SEVEN YEARS... — The immediate context, “when he hath served thee six years,” shows that the liberation was intended to take place at the beginning of the seventh year. The Sabbath-year was to bring its rest to the slave as well as to the land. YOUR FATHERS HEARKENED NOT UNTO ME... —... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HAD MADE A COVENANT BEFORE ME IN THE HOUSE WHICH IS CALLED BY MY NAME. — The words point to the solemnity with which the new engagements had been contracted. It was not merely that the king had issued an edict, or that judges had given their decisions in accordance with the old law, but princes a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT YE TURNED AND POLLUTED MY NAME... — The second verb is the same as that translated _“profane_ the name of the Lord” in Leviticus 19:12, in close connexion with the sin of swearing falsely. The sin of which the princes and rich men had been guilty was not merely an act of injustice. They had brok... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I PROCLAIM A LIBERTY FOR YOU... The phrase “proclaim liberty,” prominent in connexion with the law which had been broken (Leviticus 25:10; Isaiah 61:1), is emphasised with an indignant irony. They had refused to act “as the servants of Jehovah” (Leviticus 25:55) under His protection, finding... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY CUT THE CALF IN TWAIN... — The passage is interesting, as showing the survival of one of the oldest rites of Patriarchal times. So, when Jehovah made a covenant with Abraham, the victims that had been slain were cut up and arranged opposite each other, and when the “burning lamp” passed be... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EUNUCHS. — See Note on Jeremiah 29:2. They were for the most part, if not always, of alien birth (comp. Isaiah 56:3), as in the case of Ebed-melech (Jeremiah 38:7), who had become proselytes on entering the king’s service. The prominence given to them indicates that in Judah as in Assyria, and w... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR DEAD BODIES SHALL BE FOR MEAT... — As in Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 19:7, this takes its place as the extremest penalty of transgression. The sentence on Zedekiah and his princes — _i.e.,_ those who were more immediately connected with his policy — is as before (Jeremiah 34:5) some... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING OF BABYLON’S ARMY, WHICH ARE GONE UP FROM YOU... — The words are important, as showing, as before stated, that the siege had actually been raised, and that the nobles of Judah were flattering themselves that the danger which had led them to a simulated, or, at best, transient repentance, ha... [ Continue Reading ]