of Judah, and speak there this word, and say, Hear the 2 word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: Thus saith the LORD; Execute 3 ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and do no wrong, do no violence, to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith 5 the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. For 6 thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I racter as the four verses preceding it-exhortation mingled with threats and promises. It is followed by remarks on Jehoahaz (10-12), Jehoiakim (13-19), and Jehoiachin (24-30). Chaps. xxii-xxiv. were probably sent by Jeremiah in writing to king Zedekiah. They consist of prophecies uttered from time to time, possibly now modified somewhat in language, as they were thus re-issued, to suit the needs of the present occasion. That they were not the utterance of the moment, e.g. that when the words were originally uttered the siege was not yet in progress, we gather from such notices as that of ver. 2, 'thou, thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates.' Go down] from the temple towards the king's house, which was on lower ground. Compare xxxvi. 10-12. 2. these gates] The prophet was probably to address the king surrounded by his retinue in this place of public resort. See note on xxi. 12. 3. This evidently refers to the special crimes of Jehoiakim more fully stated elsewhere. do no wrong] applying equally with 'do no violence' to the words which follow. The reference to the king's oppression of his own people in order to build himself sumptuous palaces and at the same time pay tribute to Pharaoh Nechoh. See verses 13-17; 2 Kings xxiii. 35. neither shed innocent blood] For the significance of this prohibition as applied to Jehoiakim see xxvi. 20-23; 2 Kings xxiv. 4. 4. See notes on xvii. 25. people] subjects. 5. shall become a desolation] A fire is what is threatened in the parallel passage xvii. 27. 6. unto] or, concerning. Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon] 'And' should be omitted. 4 will make thee a wilderness and cities which are not inhabi7 ted. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice 8 cedars, and cast them into the fire. And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great 9 city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. 10 10. Lament for Fehoahaz. Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: The comparison is to the things that are most precious. Gilead was remarkable for its balm (see notes on viii. 22), and for its flocks of goats (Cant. iv. 1, vi. 5). Here however from the union of the word with Lebanon the reference probably is to the woods of its hill country on either side of the river Jabbok, which flowed through the midst of it. The head of Lebanon will denote the forests (Ps. lxxii. 16; Is. xxxvii. 24) which crowned its highest parts. To these the king's palace might well be likened (compare ver. 23). "It lay on the north-eastern eminence of Mount Zion, and contained the so-called forest-house of Lebanon (1 Kings vii. 2, etc.)." Keil. I will make thee a wilderness] Jeremiah goes suddenly back from figurative language to matter of fact. For this as one of his characteristics see note on chap. vi. 3. and cities] cities. We should have expected city. The plural is probably used because the palace of the king represented, and is therefore treated as equivalent to, the dwellings of the whole people throughout the land. The desolating of the one involved that of the others. 7. prepare] sanctify. See note on vi. 4, and compare Is. xiii. 3 ("sanctified ones"), in both of which passages the Heb. word is the same as here. thy choice cedars] either the forest-house of Lebanon (see note on ver. 6) or, better, the chief men of the state. 8, 9. The same language is used elsewhere of the land (Deut. xxix. 24-26) and of Solomon's Temple (1 Kings ix. 8. 9). every man to his neighbour] to one another. The text is a literal rendering of a common Heb. idiom. 10. LAMENT FOR JEHOAHAZ. 10. This is the first of the sections which treat consecutively of the three immediate predecessors of Zedekiah. The sense of the verse is that even the fate of Josiah, who was slain in battle at Megiddo (2 Kings xxiii. 29), was preferable to that of his son and successor, who But weep sore for him that goeth away : Nor see his native country. 11, 12. The fate of Fehoahaz is determined. II, For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of 11 Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: but he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. was carried captive to Egypt only to die in that strange land (2 Kings xxiii. 34). Weep ye not for the dead] We know (2 Chron. xxxv. 25) that the lamentations for Josiah came to be a fixed custom. weep sore for him...no more] This expression is applied also by the Jews to one who dies childless, who cannot return' (live again) in his posterity, and thus has no hope of having the Messiah among his direct descendants. See Edersheim's Sketches of Jewish Social Life, p. 98. 11, 12. THE Fate of JehoahAZ IS DETERMINed. I 11. Shallum] The only other place where this name is given to a son of Josiah is the genealogical list of 1 Chron. iii. 15. But there Shallum appears as the fourth son, whereas we gather from the narrative in the Kings that Jehoahaz, although younger than Jehoiakim, was about fourteen years older than Zedekiah (2 Kings xxiii. 31, 36, xxiv. 18). Thus we conclude that the Shallum mentioned in I Chron. is quite a distinct person, not elsewhere spoken of, and there is some ground for believing that the Johanan of that list=Shallum of this verse. Thus the name Shallum would be that which he originally bore, Jehoahaz (the Lord shall help) that which he assumed when made king, and Johanan (if indeed this be the same person) a name (the Lord is gracious) assumed by or given him on some other occasion. According to this last supposition the title "first-born" given to Johanan in the list in Chronicles would express not the literal fact but the legal position which was given him, and which may have been either the cause or the consequence of his having precedence of his elder brother Jehoiakim as regards the throne. Other hypotheses to account for the name Shallum here are unlikely, e.g. (i) that it had reference to the shortness of his reign, as alluding to Shallum king of Israel, who was king for one month (2 Kings xv. 13), or (ii) that it means the requited one (from the sense of the Heb. root), him whom God had marked out for punishment. king of Judah] referring to Shallum. See note on the priest xxi. 1. Jehoahaz had represented the anti-Egyptian policy, which Jeremiah had always urged. * (Hence his deposition by Pharaoh-Nechoh.) "This 12 13 14 15 13-23. Censure of Fehoiakim, of whose crimes captivity was the result. Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteous ness, And his chambers by wrong; That useth his neighbour's service without wages, And giveth him not for his work; That saith, I will build me a wide house, and large chambers, And cutteth him out windows; And it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. may account for the tenderness and pity with which Jeremiah speaks of him in his Egyptian exile." Sm. Bibl. Dict. 1. 967 b. 13-23. CENSURE OF JEHOIAKIM, OF WHOSE CRIMES CAPTIVITY WAS THE RESULT. 13. that buildeth his house by unrighteousness] Jehoiakim, as though it were not enough to involve the land in a heavy tribute to the king of Egypt, exacted forced labour from his own subjects that he might have a sumptuous palace built for himself. chambers] upper chambers. The construction of these without such aid as is afforded by modern appliances would naturally cause most difficulty and so give rise to most dissatisfaction. for his work] his hire. The Heb. word occurs in the same sense Job vii. 2 ("work"), and another form of it Lev. xix. 13 ("wages"). 14. large] This, and not the marginal through-aired, is the right rendering. chambers] upper chambers. cutteth him out] The word in the Hebrew is the same as that translated "rentest" in iv. 30. As there it was used of the eyes of the body, so here of those of the house, maketh wide. windows] The Heb. word is unusual in its form, and it has been also explained as my windows, or his windows, or windowy (i.e. an adjective, house being understood). it is cieled] or, roofing it, by a slight change of one letter in the original. vermilion] the red sulphuret of mercury, or cinnabar. 15. Shalt thou reign] Dost thou expect that such a course wili prolong thy reign? or, perhaps better, Dost thou think that to be a king merely means self-indulgence? closest thyself] viest in cedar (palaces), or, according to others, viest with the cedar, the same word as that rendered "contend” in xii. 5, which is its natural sense. The context sufficiently suggests his ancestor Solomon with his cedar-palaces as the person whom he sought to rival. Did not thy father eat and drink, And then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was 16 well with him: Was not this to know me? saith the LORD. But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetous- 17 ness, And for to shed innocent blood, And for oppression, and for violence, to do it. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the 18 son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, thy father] Josiah. 16. Was not this to know me] In choosing what was righteous he shewed himself acquainted with the character of Him whose pleasure he was doing. 17. covetousness] gain. This was sought (i) by oppression and forced labour, (ii) by putting to death on false charges and seizing upon the possessions of the victims. innocent blood] See note on ver. 3. Jehoiakim "remained fixed in the recollections of his countrymen, as the last example of those cruel, selfish, luxurious princes, the natural product of Oriental monarchies, the disgrace of the monarchy of David." (Stanley's Jewish Church, II. 448). 18. Fehoiakim] now at last mentioned by name. Ah my brother!] the lamentation of relations shall be wanting. Ah sister!] a general expression denoting the sorrow felt for the loss of a near relation, and introduced here probably for the sake of the parallelism. Ah lord! or, Ah his glory] the lamentations of subjects and friends, those outside his family. 19. buried with the burial of an ass] i. e. as the succeeding words explain, cast forth dishonoured. The fulfilment of this is not recorded. The accounts of the time are very brief both in the Kings and Chronicles. For the probable circumstances of the case see Introduction chap. i. § 13. The assertion that Jehoiakim "slept with his fathers" (2 Kings xxiv. 6) does not in any way clash with this passage or with the parallel one which occurs later in this book (xxxvi. 30). The same is said of Ahab, although dying in battle (1 Kings xxii. 40); besides which the fact that Baruch · 19 |