@Jer 22:1-30. EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE; JUDGMENT ON SHALLUM, JEHOIAKIM, AND CONIAH.
Belonging to an earlier period than the twenty-first chapter, namely, the reigns of Shallum or Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah (@Jer 22:10,13,20). Jeremiah often groups his prophecies, not by chronological order, but by similarity of subjects; thus @Jer 22:3 corresponds to @Jer 21:12. GROTIUS thinks that Jeremiah here repeats to Zedekiah what he had announced to that king's predecessors formerly (namely, his brother and brother's son), of a similar bearing, and which had since come to pass; a warning to Zedekiah. Probably, in arranging his prophecies they were grouped for the first time in the present order, designed by the Holy Spirit to set forth the series of kings of Judah, all four alike, failing in "righteousness," followed at last by the "King," a righteous Branch raised unto David, in the house of Judah, "the Lord our righteousness" (@Jer 23:6). The unrighteousness of Zedekiah suggested the review of his predecessors' failure in the same respects, and consequent punishment, which ought to have warned him, but did not.
1. Go down--The temple (where Jeremiah had been prophesying) was
higher than the king's palace on Mount Zion (@Jer 36:10,12 2Ch 23:20).
Hence the phrase, "Go down."
the king of Judah--perhaps including each of
the four successive kings, to whom it was consecutively addressed,
here brought together in one picture: Shallum, @Jer 22: 11;
Jehoiakim, @Jer 22: 13-18; Jeconiah, @Jer 22:24; Zedekiah, the
address to whom (@Jer 21:1,11,12) suggests notice of the rest.
2. these gates--of the king's palace.
3. Jehoiakim is meant here especially: he, by oppression, levied the tribute imposed on him by Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt (@2Ch 36:3), and taxed his people, and took their labor without pay, to build gorgeous palaces for himself (@Jer 22:13-17), and shed innocent blood, for example, that of Urijah the prophet (@Jer 26:20-24 2Ki 23:35 24:4).
4. upon the throne of David--literally, "or David on his throne"
(see on Jer 13:13). This verse is repeated substantially from
@Jer 17:25.
his servants--so the Keri. But Chetib, singular, "his
servant;" that is, distributively, "each with his servants;"
@Jer 17:25, "their princes."
5. I swear by myself--(@Heb 6:13,17). God swears because it
seemed to them incredible that the family of David should be cast off.
this house--the king's, where Jeremiah spake (@Jer 22:4).
6. Though thou art as beautiful as Gilead, and as majestic in Mine
eyes (before Me) as the summit of Lebanon, yet surely
(the Hebrew is a formula of swearing to express certainly:
"If I do not make thee . . . believe Me not ever hereafter":
so "as truly as I live," @Nu 14:28; "surely," @Nu 14:35). The mention
of Gilead may allude not only to its past beauty, but covertly also to
its desolation by the judgment on Israel; a warning now to Judah and the
house of "David." "Lebanon" is appropriately mentioned, as the king's
house was built of its noble cedars.
cities--not other cities, but the different parts of the
city of Jerusalem (@2Sa 12:27 2Ki 10:25)
[MAURER].
7. prepare--literally, "sanctify," or solemnly set apart for a
particular work (compare @Isa 13:3).
thy choice cedars--(@Isa 37:24). Thy palaces built of choice
cedars (@So 1:17).
8. (@De 29:24,25). The Gentile nations, more intelligent than you, shall understand that which ye do not, namely, that this city is a spectacle of God's vengeance [CALVIN].
9. (@2Ki 22:17).
10, 11. Weep . . . not for--that is, not so much for Josiah, who was
taken away by death from the evil to come (@2Ki 22:20 Isa 57:1); as
for Shallum or Jehoahaz, his son (@2Ki 23:30), who, after a three
months' reign, was carried off by Pharaoh-necho into Egypt, never to see
his native land again (@2Ki 23:31-34). Dying saints are justly to be
envied, while living sinners are to be pitied. The allusion is to the
great weeping of the people at the death of Josiah, and on each
anniversary of it, in which Jeremiah himself took a prominent part
(@2Ch 35:24,25). The name "Shallum" is here given in irony to
Jehoahaz, who reigned but three months; as if he were a second Shallum,
son of Jabesh, who reigned only one month in Samaria
(@2Ki 15:13 2Ch 36:1-4). Shallum means "retribution," a name of no
good omen to him [GROTIUS]; originally the people called him
Shallom, indicative of peace and prosperity. But Jeremiah
applies it in irony. @1Ch 3:15, calls Shallum the fourth son of
Josiah. The people raised him to the throne before his brother Eliakim
or Jehoiakim, though the latter was the older (@2Ki 23:31,36 2Ch 36:1);
perhaps on account of Jehoiakim's extravagance (@Jer 22:13,15).
Jehoiakim was put in Shallum's (Jehoahaz') stead by Pharaoh-necho.
Jeconiah, his son, succeeded. Zedekiah (Mattaniah), uncle of Jeconiah,
and brother of Jehoiakim and Jehoahaz, was last of all raised to the
throne by Nebuchadnezzar.
He shall not return--The people perhaps entertained hopes of Shallum's
return from Egypt, in which case they would replace him on the throne,
and thereby free themselves from the oppressive taxes imposed by
Jehoiakim.
13. Not only did Jehoiakim tax the people (@2Ki 23:35) for Pharaoh's tribute, but also took their forced labor, without pay, for building a splendid palace; in violation of @Le 19:13 De 24:14,15. Compare @Mic 3:10 Hab 2:9 Jas 5:4. God will repay in justice those who will not in justice pay those whom they employ.
14. wide--literally, "a house of dimensions" ("measures"). Compare
@Nu 13:32, Margin, "men of statures."
large--rather, as Margin, "airy" from Hebrew root, "to
breathe freely." Upper rooms in the East are the principal apartments.
cutteth him out windows--The Hebrew, if a noun, is rather, "my
windows"; then the translation ought to be, "and let my windows
(Jehoiakim speaking) be cut out for it," that is, in the house; or, "and
let (the workman) cut out my windows for it." But the word is rather an
adjective; "he cutteth it (the house) out for himself, so as to be
full of windows." The following words accord with this construction,
"and (he makes it) ceiled with cedar," &c.
[MAURER]. Retaining
English Version, there must be understood something remarkable about
the windows, since they are deemed worthy of notice.
GESENIUS thinks
thinks the word dual, "double windows," the blinds being
two-leaved.
vermilion--Hebrew, shashar, called so from a people of India
beyond the Ganges, by whom it is exported
[PLINY, 6.19]. The old
vermilion was composed of sulphur and quicksilver; not of red lead, as
our vermilion.
15. closest thyself--rather, "thou viest," that is, art emulous to
surpass thy forefathers in the magnificence of thy palaces.
eat and drink--Did not Josiah, thy father, enjoy all that man
really needs for his bodily wants? Did he need to build costly
palaces to secure his throne? Nay, he did secure it by "judgment and
justice"; whereas thou, with all thy luxurious building, sittest on a
tottering throne.
then--on that account, therefore.
16. was not this to know me--namely, to show by deeds that one knows God's will, as was the case with Josiah (compare @Joh 13:17; contrast @Tit 1:16).
17. thine--as opposed to thy father, Josiah.
18. Ah my brother! . . . sister!--addressing him with such titles of
affection as one would address to a deceased friend beloved as a
brother or sister (compare @1Ki 13:30). This expresses, They
shall not lament him with the lamentation of private individuals
[VATABLUS], or of blood relatives
[GROTIUS]: as "Ah! lord,"
expresses public lamentation in the case of a king
[VATABLUS],
or that of subjects [GROTIUS].
HENDERSON thinks, "Ah! sister,"
refers to Jehoiakim's queen, who, though taken to Babylon and not left
unburied on the way, as Jehoiakim, yet was not honored at her death with
royal lamentations, such as would have been poured forth over her at
Jerusalem. He notices the beauty of Jeremiah's manner in his prophecy
against Jehoiakim. In @Jer 22:13,14 he describes him in general
terms; then, in @Jer 22:15-17, he directly addresses him without
naming him; at last, in @Jer 22:18, he names him, but in the third
person, to imply that God puts him to a distance from Him. The boldness
of the Hebrew prophets proves their divine mission; were it not so,
their reproofs to the Hebrew kings, who held the throne by divine
authority, would have been treason.
Ah his glory!--"Alas! his majesty."
19. burial of an ass--that is, he shall have the same burial as an ass would get, namely, he shall be left a prey for beasts and birds [JEROME]. This is not formally narrated. But @2Ch 36:6 states that "Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon"; his treatment there is nowhere mentioned. The prophecy here, and in @Jer 36:30, harmonizes these two facts. He was slain by Nebuchadnezzar, who changed his purpose of taking him to Babylon, on the way thither, and left him unburied outside Jerusalem. @2Ki 24:6, "Jehoiakim slept with his fathers," does not contradict this; it simply expresses his being gathered to his fathers by death, not his being buried with his fathers (@Ps 49:19). The two phrases are found together, as expressing two distinct ideas (@2Ki 15:38 16:20).
20. Delivered in the reign of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah or Coniah), son
of Jehoiakim; appended to the previous prophecy respecting Jehoiakim, on
account of the similarity of the two prophecies. He calls on Jerusalem,
personified as a mourning female, to go up to the highest points visible
from Jerusalem, and lament there
(see on Jer 3:21) the
calamity of herself, bereft of allies and of her princes, who are one
after the other being cast down.
Bashan--north of the region beyond Jordan; the mountains of
Anti-libanus are referred to (@Ps 68:15).
from the passages--namely, of the rivers (@Jud 12:6); or else
the borders of the country (@1Sa 13:23 Isa 10:29). The passes
(@1Sa 14:4).
MAURER translates, "Abarim," a mountainous tract beyond
Jordan, opposite Jericho, and south of Bashan; this accords with the
mention of the mountains Lebanon and Bashan (@Nu 27:12 33:47).
lovers--the allies of Judea, especially Egypt, now unable to help
the Jews, being crippled by Babylon (@2Ki 24:7).
21. I admonished thee in time. Thy sin has not been a sin of ignorance
or thoughtlessness, but wilful.
prosperity--given thee by Me; yet thou wouldest not hearken to the
gracious Giver. The Hebrew is plural, to express, "In
the height of thy prosperity"; so "droughts" (@Isa 58:11).
thou saidst--not in words, but in thy conduct, virtually.
thy youth--from the time that I brought thee out of Egypt, and
formed thee into a people (@Jer 7:25 2:2 Isa 47:12).
22. wind--the Chaldees, as a parching wind that sweeps over rapidly
and withers vegetation (@Jer 4:11,12 Ps 103:16 Isa 40:7).
eat up . . . pastors--that is, thy kings (@Jer 2:8). There is a
happy play on words. The pastors, whose office it is to feed the
sheep, shall themselves be fed on. They who should drive the
flock from place to place for pasture shall be driven into exile by
the Chaldees.
23. inhabitant of Lebanon--namely, Jerusalem, whose temple, palaces,
and principal habitations were built of cedars of Lebanon.
how gracious--irony. How graciously thou wilt be treated by the
Chaldees, when they come on thee suddenly, as pangs on a woman in
travail (@Jer 6:24)! Nay, all thy fine buildings will win no favor
for thee from them. MAURER translates, "How shalt thou be
to be pitied!"
24. As I live--God's most solemn formula of oath
(@Jer 46:18 4:2 De 32:40 1Sa 25:34).
Coniah--Jeconiah or Jehoiachin. The contraction of the name is meant
in contempt.
signet--Such ring seals were often of the greatest value
(@So 8:6 Hag 2:23). Jehoiachin's popularity is probably here
referred to.
right hand--the hand most valued.
I would pluck thee thence--(Compare @Ob 1:4); on account of thy
father's sins, as well as thine own (@2Ch 36:9). There is a change
here, as often in Hebrew poetry, from the third to the second
person, to bring the threat more directly home to him. After a three
months' and ten days' reign, the Chaldees deposed him. In Babylon,
however, by God's favor he was ultimately treated more kindly than other
royal captives (@Jer 52:31-34). But none of his direct posterity
ever came to the throne.
25. give . . . into . . . hand--"I will pluck thee" from "my right hand," and "will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life."
26. thy mother--Nehushta, the queen dowager (@2Ki 24:6,8,15; see @Jer 13:18).
27. they--Coniah and his mother. He passes from the second person
(@Jer 22:26) to the third person here, to express alienation. The
king is as it were put out of sight, as if unworthy of being spoken with
directly.
desire--literally, "lift up their soul" (@Jer 44:14 Ps 24:4 25:1).
Judea was the land which they in Babylon should pine after in vain.
28. broken idol--Coniah was idolized once by the Jews; Jeremiah,
therefore, in their person, expresses their astonishment at one from
whom so much had been expected being now so utterly cast aside.
vessel . . . no pleasure--(@Ps 31:12 Ho 8:8). The answer to this
is given (@Ro 9:20-23; contrast @2Ti 2:21).
his seed--(See on Jer 22:29).
29, 30. O earth! earth! earth!--Jeconiah was not actually without
offspring (compare @Jer 22:28, "his seed"; @1Ch 3:17,18 Mt 1:12),
but he was to be "written childless," as a warning to posterity, that
is, without a lineal heir to his throne. It is with a reference to the
three kings, Shallum, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah, that the earth is
thrice invoked
[BENGEL]. Or, the triple invocation is to give
intensity to the call for attention to the announcement of the end of
the royal line, so far as Jehoiachin's seed is concerned. Though Messiah
(@Mt 1:1-17), the heir of David's throne, was lineally descended
from Jeconiah, it was only through Joseph, who, though His legal, was
not His real father. Matthew gives the legal pedigree through
Solomon down to Joseph; Luke the real pedigree, from Mary, the real
parent, through Nathan, brother of Solomon, upwards (@Lu 3:31).
no man of his seed . . . upon the throne--This explains the sense in
which "childless" is used. Though the succession to the throne failed in
his line, still the promise to David (@Ps 89:30-37) was revived in
Zerubbabel and consummated in Christ.