Jeremiah 27:19

For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city, THE PILLARS ... BASES ... RESIDUE OF THE VESSELS - (; Jeremiah 52:20)....

Jeremiah said, in the passage we considered yesterday, that it was more to be desired that God should keep what remained at Jerusalem, than that what had been taken away should be restored, for the time of punishment had not yet passed away; and thus he condemned the false teachers, because they had presumptuously and boldly promised a quick return as to the king as well as to those who had been led with him into exile, he now confirms the same thing, and says that what remained as yet at Jerusalem was already destined for their enemies the Babylonians, and would become their prey. Nebuchadnezzar had in part spared the Temple and the city; he had taken away chiefly the precious vessels, but had not entirely spoiled the Temple of its ornaments. As, then, some splendor was still to be seen there, the Jews ought to have learned that he had acted kindly towards them. He now says, that the Te...

19-22 Jeremiah assures them that the brazen vessels should go after the golden ones. All shall be carried to Babylon. But he concludes with a gracious promise, that the time would come when they should be brought back. Though the return of the prosperity of the church does not come in our time, we must not despair, for it will come in God's time....

Verse Jeremiah 27:19. _CONCERNING THE PILLARS_] Two brazen columns placed by Solomon in the pronaos or portico of the temple, _eighteen_ cubits high, and _twelve_ in circumference, 1 Kings 7:16-11; Jeremiah 52:11. _THE SEA_] The brazen sea, _ten_ cubits in diameter, and _thirty_ in circumference. It contained water for different washings in the Divine worship, and was supported on _twelve_ brazen oxen. Perhaps these are what are called the _bases_ here. See the parallel places in the margin, and the notes on them (2 Kings 25:13;...

EXPOSITION This and the two following chapters are closely connected. They all relate to the early part of the reign of Zedekiah, and con-rain warnings arising out of the deepening gloom of the political horizon. It must, however, be noted that there is evidently some mistake in the first verse of Jeremiah 27:1, and also that the contents of Jeremiah 29:1 point to a somewhat earlier time than Jeremiah 27:1; Jeremiah 28:1 (viz. the first or second year of King Zedekiah). To understand the circumstances of Jeremiah 27:1;

FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS CONCERNING THE PILLARS,.... The pillars of brass that stood in the temple; the one called Boaz, and the other Jachin, 1 Kings 7:15; AND CONCERNING THE SEA; the sea of molten brass, which stood upon twelve oxen, 1 Kings 7:23; AND CONCERNING THE BASES: the ten bases, which also were made of brass, 1 Kings 7:27; AND CONCERNING THE RESIDUE OF THE VESSELS THAT REMAIN IN THIS CITY; in the king's palace, and in the houses of the noblemen, and of the rich and wealthy inhabitants of Jerusalem....

CHAPTER 27 The Optimism of the False Prophets Contradicted _ 1. The call of Nebuchadnezzar to be the servant of God (Jeremiah 27:1) _ 2. The call to submit and to serve the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:12) Jeremiah 27:1. It was in the earlier part of the reign of Zedekiah (Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 27:1 is a clerical error, see Jeremiah 27:3 and Jeremiah 27:12) that Jeremiah is commanded to make bonds and yokes to put them

THE WARNING TO ZEDEKIAH. Jeremiah also warns Zedekiah to the same effect (Jeremiah 27:12), and tells priests and people not to believe the prophets who promise an early return of the Temple vessels. Let the prophets rather pray that the vessels left by the Babylonians be not also carried off; for Yahweh intends to remove these also, that they may remain in Babylon until His appointed time. This warning was apparently successful; Zedekiah did not revolt until four or five years later. In order to quell the suspicions excited by the embassies of Jeremiah 27:3, he may have made the journey to Babylon mentioned in Jeremiah 51:59....

REMAIN. Probably because they were too heavy and cumbrous. CITY. So the reading of Ben-Asher; but Ben-Naphtali reads "land". These were the two rival critics of the Hebrew text in the tenth century A.D. who furnished the vowel-points. Ben-Asher's work was done at Tiberias in 827 "from the destruction of Jerusalem", and is now at Aleppo. Of Ben- Naphtali nothing is known beyond official lists which have come down to us....

Speedy deliverance from Babylon is not to be hoped for These three Chapter s belong to the time of Zedekiah. The power of Babylon had already been demonstrated as to Judah. Some of the people had been carried captive, and the present king existed as such only upon sufferance. Under these circumstances the neighbouring nations were willing to make common cause with the Jews against their foe, while in Palestine there were still many who would not believe that the danger from Babylon was anything more than a passing one. In these three chs. therefore Jeremiah sets himself to correct the most pressing evil, namely this notion of the possibility of getting rid of the power which had become paramount in the Eastern world. In this ch. he addresses on the subject (Jeremiah 27:1) the neighbouring nations; (12 15) Zedekiah; (16 22) the priests and people concerning the false prophets; (in ch. 28...