Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 26:17
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,
17. the elders of the land ] Certain elders support this proceeding by the precedent of Micah. We find frequent mention of the employment of leading men for administrative or judicial purposes (Deu 19:12; Deu 21:2 ff.; 1Sa 16:4 ; 1Ki 21:8; 1Ki 21:11), or simply as representatives of the people. See Num 11:16 (C.B.), also Exo 3:16; Exo 3:18; Exo 4:29; Exo 17:5 f., Jer 18:12.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The elders of the land – The heads and spokesmen of the congregation, who added their approval after the princes who represented the king had given their decision.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. Certain of the elders] This is really a fine defense, and the argument was perfectly conclusive. Some think that it was Ahikam who undertook the prophet’s defence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Probably these
elders were some of the court, or else advocates, for they were wont to rise up, either to plead or to judge, Isa 3:13; Act 5:34. They rise up and apply themselves to the people to justify their absolutory sentence.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. Compare Gamaliel’sinterposition (Ac 5:34, &c.).
elderssome of the”princes” mentioned (Jer26:16) those whose age, as well as dignity, would give weight tothe precedents of past times which they adduce.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land,…. The same with the princes; some of the court, who rose up as advocates for the prophet:
and spake to all the assembly of the people: to justify the vote of the court, and to confirm the people in a good opinion of it, by giving them examples and instances of the like kind:
saying; as follows:
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
It is uncertain whether what is here recited was spoken before the acquittal of Jeremiah or not; for the Scripture does not always exactly preserve order in narrating things. It is yet probable, that while they were still deliberating and the minds of the people were not sufficiently pacified, the elders interposed, in order to calm the multitude and to soften their irritated minds, and to reconcile those to Jeremiah who had previously become foolishly incensed against him; for no doubt the priests and the false prophets had endeavored by every artifice to irritate the silly people against the Prophet; and hence more than one kind of remedy was necessary. When therefore the elders saw that wrath was still burning in the people, and that their minds were not disposed to shew kindness, they made use of this discourse. They took their argument from example, — that Jeremiah was not the first witness and herald of dreadful vengeance, for God had before that time, and in time past, been wont to speak by his other prophets against the city and the temple.
The priests and the prophets had indeed charged Jeremiah with novelty, and further pretended that they thus fiercely opposed him on the ground of common justice. Jeremiah had said, that God would spare neither the holy city nor the Temple. This was intolerable, for it had been said of the Temple,
“
This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell.” (Psa 132:14.)
We hence see that Jeremiah was overwhelmed as it were by this one expression, while the priests and the false prophets objected and said,
“
Thou then makest void God’s promises; thou regardest as nothing the sanctity of the Temple.”
And they further pretended that not one of the prophets had ever thus spoken. But what do the elders now answer? even that there had been other prophets who had denounced ruin on the city and the Temple, and that, was falsely charged with this disgrace, that he was the first to announce God’s judgment. We now understand the state of the case: Jeremiah is defended, because he had not alone threatened the city and the first, but he had others as the originators, from whose mouths he had spoken, who were also the acknowledged servants of God, from whom credit could not be withholden, such as Micah.
Now, what is here related is found in Mic 3:12. The Prophet Micah had the same contest with the priests and prophets as Jeremiah had; for they said that it was impossible that God should pour his vengeance on the holy city and the Temple. They said,
“
Is not Jehovah in the midst of us?”
and they said also, “No evil shall come on us.” They were inebriated with such a security, that they thought themselves beyond the reach of danger; and they disregarded all the threatenings of the prophets, because they imagined that God was bound to them. We indeed know that hypocrites ever relied on that promise, “Here will I dwell;” and they also took and borrowed words from God’s mouth and perverted them like cheats: “God resides in the midst of us; therefore nothing adverse can happen to us.” But the Prophet said, (the same are the words which we have just repeated,)
“
For you Sion shall be plowed as a field, (170) and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of this house as the heights of a forest.”
But let us now consider each clause. It is first said, that the elders from the people of the land rose up (171) It is probable that they were called elders, not as in other places on account of their office, but of their age. It is indeed certain that they were men of authority; but yet I doubt not but that they were far advanced in years, as they were able to relate to the people what had happened many years before. As it is added, that they spoke to the whole assembly of the people, we may hence deduce what I have already stated, — that the people were so violent, that there was need of a calm discourse to mitigate their ardor; and certainly when once a commotion is raised and rages, it is not an easy matter immediately to allay it. When, therefore, the kind elders saw that the minds of the people were still exasperated, they employed a moderating language, and said, Micah (172) the Morasthite (they named his country) prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, etc
(170) Some render the phrase thus, “Sion, being a field, shall be plowed;” having become a field, it would be plowed. There is in this case no need of כ, as, to be placed before “field;” nor is there a different reading either here or in Micah, though it is supplied in the early versions, except the Syr., which has, “Sion shall be reduced to a field.” — Ed
(171) The words literally are, “Then rose up men from the elders of the land.” — Ed.
(172) The Keri reads מיכה, and is countenanced by several MSS., and is no doubt the true reading, and not מיכיה, as in the present received text. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Certain of the elders of the land.The word is probably to be taken rather in the literal than in an official senseor, if officially, then as including the literal meaning also. The elders speaking in the time of Jehoiakim (cir. B.C. 608) remembered the tradition of what had passed, a century or so before, in the reign of Hezekiah (B.C. 726-698), and could appeal to it as a precedent in favour of the prophet. The word for assembly (elsewhere rendered congregation) corresponds to the Ecclesia of a Greek city.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Elders These represented the assembled congregation, giving voice to the sentiment of the people. The scene was an impressive one. The bold, solitary, suffering prophet, standing almost in the visible shadow of death; the sanctimonious, spiteful, scoffing priests and prophets; the vast congregation of people whose earthly and spiritual hopes were involved in the questions at issue; the grave and reverend judges, visible embodiment of the dread majesty of the law; the place of meeting, being none other than the sanctuary itself, endeared by the holy memories of four centuries; and the clouds of war gathering in the distant horizon all conspire to the deep and solemn interest of the occasion, and make it one of the notable passages of history.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 26:17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
Ver. 17. Then rose up certain of the elders. ] Viri illi admodum venerabiles erant, saith Oecolampadius. These were very worthy men, whether princes or pleaders, well read in the annals of the times, as great men ought to be.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
certain = men. Plural of ‘enosh. App-14. Some better acquainted with affairs than others.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Then rose: Mic 1:1, Act 5:34
Reciprocal: Jer 19:1 – the ancients of the people Jer 26:10 – the princes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 26:17. These elders were not officials but were men. who were influential because of their advanced years and extended experience.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 26:17-19. Then rose up certain of the elders Either the princes before mentioned, or the more intelligent men of the people, stood up, and put the assembly in mind of a former case, as is usual with us in giving judgment, the wisdom of our predecessors being a direction to us. The case referred to is that of Micah, the book of whose prophecies we have among those of the minor prophets. Was it thought strange that Jeremiah prophesied against this city and the temple? Micah did so before him, even in the reign of Hezekiah, that reign of reformation, Jer 26:18. Micah said as publicly, as Jeremiah had now spoken to the same purpose, Zion shall be ploughed like a field The buildings shall be all destroyed, so that nothing shall hinder but it may be ploughed; Jerusalem shall become heaps Of ruins; and the mountain of the house On which the temple is built; shall be as the high places of the forest Overrun with briers and thorns. This Micah not only spoke, but wrote, and left it upon record, Mic 3:12. Now did Hezekiah and all Judah put him to death? Did the people come together in a body to accuse Micah, and demand sentence against him, as they had now done in the case of Jeremiah? Did they and their king make an act to silence him, or take away his life? No: on the contrary, they took the warning he gave them. Hezekiah, that renowned prince, set a good example before his successors; for he feared the Lord, as Noah, who, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, was moved with fear. He besought the Lord To turn away the judgment threatened, and to be reconciled to them; and he found it was not in vain to do so; for the Lord repented him of the evil Returned in mercy to them, and even sent an angel, who routed the army of the Assyrians that then threatened to destroy Jerusalem. These elders conclude, that it would be of dangerous consequence to the state if they should gratify the importunity of the priests and prophets in putting Jeremiah to death; saying, Thus we might procure great evil against our souls Observe, reader, it is well to deter ourselves from sin, with the consideration of the mischief we should certainly do to ourselves by it, and the irreparable damage we should thereby bring upon our own souls.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Some of the older men reminded those gathered that the prophet Micah had previously predicted a similar fate for Jerusalem, and King Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.) had not put him to death (cf. Mic 1:1; Mic 3:12). Hezekiah had prayed to the Lord and the Lord had relented (2Ki 19:1; 2Ki 19:15-19). They would be doing something wicked if they killed Jeremiah. This is the only direct citation of another prophet’s words in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. [Note: Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., p. 128.]
". . . while the people and the princes recognized Jeremiah’s divine authority, they apparently still refused to amend their ways and obey God’s voice, or this would have been the beginning of spiritual awakening in the nation, a change which Jeremiah longed to see." [Note: Jensen, p. 78.]