--- title: "Jeremiah 21 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary" description: "Read Jeremiah 21 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the prie" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21" --- [ Read](/kjv/jeremiah/21)[ Commentary](/study/jeremiah/21)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/jeremiah/21) Audio 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, 2 Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us. 3 ¶ Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: 4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that *are* in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and *against* the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. 5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. 6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. 8 ¶ And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. 9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. 10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 11 ¶ And touching the house of the king of Judah, *say*, Hear ye the word of the LORD; 12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver *him that is* spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench *it*, because of the evil of your doings.* 13 Behold, I *am* against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, *and* rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?* 14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.* [Jeremiah 20](/study/jeremiah/20) [Jeremiah 22](/study/jeremiah/22) ## Commentary To verse 1 The Taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. - [Jeremiah 21:1](/kjv/jeremiah/21/1) and [Jeremiah 21:2](/kjv/jeremiah/21/2). *The heading specifying the occasion for the following prediction. "The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying: Inquire now of Jahveh for us, for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the Lord will deal with us according to all His wondrous works, that he may go up from us."* The fighting of Nebuchadrezzar is in [Jeremiah 21:4](/kjv/jeremiah/21/4) stated to be the besieging of the city. From this it appears that the siege had begun ere the king sent the two men to the prophet. Pashur the son of Malchiah is held by Hitz., Graf, Nהg. , etc., to be a distinguished priest of the class of Malchiah. But this is without sufficient reason; for he is not called a priest, as is the case with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and with Pashur the son of Immer ([Jeremiah 21:1](/kjv/jeremiah/21/1)). Nor is anything proved by the circumstance that Pashur and Malchiah occur in several places as the names of priests, e.g., [1 Chronicles 9:12](/kjv/1-chronicles/9/12); for both names are also used of persons not priests, e.g., Malchiah, [Ezra 10:25](/kjv/ezra/10/25), [Ezra 10:31](/kjv/ezra/10/31), and Pashur, [Jeremiah 38:1](/kjv/jeremiah/38/1), where this son of Gedaliah is certainly a laic. From this passage, where Pashur ben Malchiah appears again, it is clear that the four men there named, who accused Jeremiah for his speech, were government authorities or court officials, since in [Jeremiah 38:4](/kjv/jeremiah/38/4) they are called שׂרים . Ros. is therefore right in saying of the Pashur under consideration: *videtur unus ex principibus sive aulicis fuisse*, cf. [Jeremiah 38:4](/kjv/jeremiah/38/4). Only Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah is called priest; and he, acc. to [Jeremiah 29:25](/kjv/jeremiah/29/25); [Jeremiah 37:3](/kjv/jeremiah/37/3); [Jeremiah 52:24](/kjv/jeremiah/52/24), held a high position in the priesthood. Inquire for us of Jahveh, i.e., ask for a revelation for us, as [2 Kings 22:13](/kjv/2-kings/22/13), cf. [Genesis 25:22](/kjv/genesis/25/22). It is not: pray for His help on our behalf, which is expressed by התפּלּל בּעדנוּ , [Jeremiah 37:3](/kjv/jeremiah/37/3), cf. [Jeremiah 52:2](/kjv/jeremiah/52/2). In the request for a revelation the element of intercession is certainly not excluded, but it is not directly expressed. But it is on this that the king founds his hope: Peradventure Jahveh will do with us ( אותנוּ for אתּנוּ ) according to all His wondrous works, i.e., in the miraculous manner in which He has so often saved us, e.g., under Hezekiah, and also, during the blockade of the city by Sennacherib, had recourse to the prophet Isaiah and besought his intercession with the Lord, [2 Kings 19:2](/kjv/2-kings/19/2)., [Isaiah 37:2](/kjv/isaiah/37/2). That he (Nebuch.) may go up from us. עלה , to march against a city in order to besiege it or take it, but with מעל , to withdraw from it, cf. [Jeremiah 37:5](/kjv/jeremiah/37/5); [1 Kings 15:19](/kjv/1-kings/15/19). As to the name Nebuchadrezzar, which corresponds more exactly than the Aramaic-Jewish Nebuchadnezzar with the *Nebucadurriusur* of the inscriptions ( נבו כדר אצר , i.e., *Nebo coronam servat*), see *Comm. on Daniel* at [Daniel 1:1](/kjv/daniel/1/1). ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21","name":"Jeremiah 21 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Jeremiah 21 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the prie","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary","name":"keil and delitzsch old testament commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah","name":"Jeremiah"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/jeremiah/21","name":"21"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```