1.
The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
1. Jerusalem and . . . all the
cities thereof—(see on ). It was amazing blindness in the king, that, in such a
desperate position, he should reject admonition.
2.
Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
3.
And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
3. ().
4.
Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
4, 5. Mitigation of Zedekiah's
punishment.
5.
But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
5. the burnings of thy fathers—Thy
funeral shall be honored with the same burning of aromatic spices as
there was at the funerals of thy fathers (2 Chronicles 16:14;
2 Chronicles 21:19). The honors here
mentioned were denied to Jehoiakim (2 Chronicles 21:19).
Ah, lord!—The Hebrews
in their chronology (Seder Olam) mention the wailing used over
him, "Alas! King Zedekiah is dead, drinking the dregs (that is,
paying the penalty for the sins) of former ages."
6.
Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
7.
When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
7. these . . . retained—alone
(compare 2 Chronicles 11:5; 2 Chronicles 11:9).
8.
This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
8. By the law a Hebrew, after
having been a bond-servant for six years, on the seventh was to be
let go free (Exodus 21:22; Deuteronomy 15:12).
Zedekiah made a covenant—with
solemn ceremonial in the temple (Jeremiah 34:15;
Jeremiah 34:18; Jeremiah 34:19).
them—bond-servants (Jeremiah 34:19).
9.
That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
9. none . . . serve himself of a
Jew— (Leviticus 25:39-46).
10.
Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
11.
But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
11. During the interruption of
the siege by Pharaoh-hophra (compare Jeremiah 34:21;
Jeremiah 34:22; Jeremiah 37:5-10),
the Jews reduced their servants to bondage again.
12.
Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
13.
Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
13. The last year of Zedekiah
was the sabbatical year. How just the retribution, that they who,
against God's law and their own covenant, enslaved their brethren,
should be doomed to bondage themselves: and that the bond-servants
should enjoy the sabbatical freedom at the hands of the foe () which their own countrymen denied them!
14.
At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
14. At the end of seven years—that
is, not on the eighth year, but within the limit of the
seventh year, not later than the end of the seventh year (Exodus 21:2;
Exodus 23:10; Deuteronomy 15:12).
So "at the end of three years" (Deuteronomy 14:28;
2 Kings 18:10), and "after
three days, I will rise again" (2 Kings 18:10), that is, on the third day (compare 2 Kings 18:10).
15.
And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
15. in the house . . . called by my
name—the usual place of making such covenants (; compare 1 Kings 8:31;
Nehemiah 10:29).
16.
But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
16. polluted my name—by
violating your oath (Exodus 20:7).
17.
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
17. not . . . proclaiming
liberty—Though the Jews had ostensibly emancipated their
bond-servants, they virtually did not do so by revoking the
liberty which they had granted. God looks not to outward appearances,
but to the sincere intention.
I proclaim a
liberty—retribution answering to the offense (Matthew 7:2;
Matthew 18:32; Matthew 18:33;
Galatians 6:7; James 2:13).
The Jews who would not give liberty to their brethren shall
themselves receive "a liberty" calamitous to them. God will
manumit them from His happy and safe service (James 2:13), which is real "liberty" (Psalms 119:45;
John 8:36; 2 Corinthians 3:17),
only to pass under the terrible bondage of other taskmasters, the
"sword," c.
to be removed—The
Hebrew expresses agitation (see on 2 Corinthians 3:17). Compare Deuteronomy 28:25
Deuteronomy 28:48; Deuteronomy 28:64;
Deuteronomy 28:65, as to the restless
agitation of the Jews in their ceaseless removals from place to
place in their dispersion.
18.
And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
18. passed between the parts
thereof—The contracting parties in the "covenant"
(not here the law in general, but their covenant made
before God in His house to emancipate their slaves, Jeremiah 34:8;
Jeremiah 34:9) passed through the
parts of the animal cut in two, implying that they prayed so to be
cut in sunder (Matthew 24:51;
Greek, "cut in two") if they should break the
covenant (Genesis 15:10; Genesis 15:17).
19.
The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
20.
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
20. I will even give—resuming
the sentence begun, but not completed (), "I will give," c.
seek their life—implacably:
satisfied with nothing short of their blood not content with booty.
dead bodies—The
breakers of the covenant shall be cut in pieces, as the calf between
whose parts they passed.
21.
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.
21. gone up—that is, raised
the siege in order to meet Pharaoh-hophra (). The departure of the Chaldeans was a kind of
manumission of the Jews; but as their manumission of their
bond-servants was recalled, so God revoked His manumission of them
from the Chaldeans.
22.
Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
22. I will command—Nebuchadnezzar,
impelled unconsciously by a divine instigation, returned on the
withdrawal of the Egyptians.