Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 26:8

Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded [him] to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

8. Thou shalt surely die ] That prophet who spoke without God’s command was according to Deu 18:20 to be put to death. The charge against Jeremiah then was of this nature, and the alleged proof, that it was impossible in the nature of things that such a calamity could be allowed to happen to the people of God.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Jer 26:8-16

When Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him, the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

The characteristics of a true prophet

I. The true prophet has a stern message to deliver (4-7). If they ally themselves with Egypt, the Temple will be made desolate, as Shiloh had been destroyed by the Assyrians at the deportation of Israel after the fall of Samaria, 710 b.c. Jerusalem will become a curse to all nations (will be recognised by all nations as having fallen by the curse of God). To prophesy smooth things in a sinful world is to be false to God. How often does even our blessed Lord denounce sin, and remind men of the wrath of God for it! (Mat 11:21-24; Mat 12:41-42; Mat 23:31-38, &c.)

II. The true prophet may not diminish a word of Gods message, however unpopular, or unpleasant, or personal.

1. This message referred to the public policy of the nation. The morality of a nation as imperative as that of an individual

2. Other messages assail the sins of classes, from the king to the humblest citizen.

III. The true prophet will speak fearlessly.

IV. The true prophet is promised the support of God.

V. The true prophet never was and never can be popular, but must raise up enemies against himself.

IV. The true prophet will speak peace as well as wrath if men repent. (J. Cunningham Geikie, D. D.)

Prophetic virtues

The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house. In this apology of the prophet thus answering for himself with a heroic spirit, five noble virtues, fit for a martyr, are by an expositor observed.

1. His prudence in alleging his Divine mission.

2. His charity in exhorting his enemies to repent.

3. His humility in saying, Behold I am in your hand.

4. His magnanimity and freedom of speech in telling them that God would revenge his death.

5. His spiritual security and fearlessness of death in so good a cause and with so good a conscience. (John Trapp.)

A Saints resignation, meekness, and cheerfulness in persecution

One thousand eight hundred years ago an aged saint was being led into Rome by ten rough Roman soldiers, to be thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. Can you imagine anything more dreary and deplorable? Was he unhappy? Did he count cruelty and martyrdom as evil? No. In one of the seven letters that he wrote on his way, he says: Come fire and iron, come rattling of wild beasts, cutting and mangling and wrenching of my bones, come hacking of my limbs, come crushing of my whole body, come cruel tortures of the devil to assail me! Only be it mine to attain to Jesus Christ! What are those words of St. Ignatius but an echo of the apostles, What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss that I may win Christ? How well the early Christians understood these things by which we opportunists, cringing cowards, effeminate time-servers, as most of us are in this soft, sensuous, hypocritical age, have so utterly forgotten! (Dean Farrar.)

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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 8. And all the people] That were in company with the priests and the prophets.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Either they had a reverence for the prophet, or the terror of God fell upon them, so as they did not interrupt him till he had fully despatched his errand. Then the chief of the priests, with the assistance of the people, apprehend him, and tell him he should be put to death.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

8. priestsThe captain (orprefect) of the temple had the power of apprehending offenders in thetemple with the sanction of the priests.

prophetsthe falseprophets. The charge against Jeremiah was that of uttering falsehoodin Jehovah’s name, an act punishable with death (De18:20). His prophecy against the temple and city (Jer26:11) might speciously be represented as contradicting God’s ownwords (Ps 132:14). Comparethe similar charge against Stephen (Act 6:13;Act 6:14).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking,…. For they let him alone till he had done, either out of reverence of him as a priest and prophet; or they were awed by a secret influence on their minds that they might not disturb him:

all that the Lord had commanded [him] to speak unto all the people; he did as he was ordered, kept back nothing, not fearing the resentment of the people, but fearing God:

that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, took him; the priests and the prophets were the leading men in this action; they stirred up the people against him, and through their instigation he was seized and laid hold on:

saying, thou shall surely die; signifying that they would bring a charge against him, which they were able to support, and which by the law would be death; unless they meant in the manner of zealots to put him to death themselves, without judge or jury; and which they would have put in execution, had not the princes of the land, or the great sanhedrim, heard of it; and therefore to prevent it came to the temple, as is afterwards related.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Vs. 8-15: AN INDICTMENT FOR TREASON 8 CRY FOR BLOOD

1. The people, probably agitated by the priests and false prophets, sprang into action immediately upon hearing Jeremiah’s message of judgment against Jerusalem and the temple, (vs. 8-9).

a. Together they called for his heath! (vs. 8; comp. Lam 4:13-14; Mat 21:35-36; Mat 23:34-39).

b. Why had he dared proclaim such an unthinkable thing in the name of Jehovah, their God? the implication is that he had spoken these words without divine authority, (vs. 9a; comp. Deu 18:20).

c. Thus were all the people gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, (vs. 9b; comp. Act 3:11; Act 5:12).

2. When the princes of Judah and Jerusalem heard what had happened, they left the king’s palace and came to sit in the entry of the “new gate” of the Lord’s house – the place of judgment, (vs. 10; comp. Act 21:31-32).

3. The priests and false prophets brought an indictment against the man of God – declaring him worthy of death; since the temple represented God’s dwelling-place among His people, Jeremiah’s message was viewed as an attack on the very sovereignty of God, (vs. 11; comp. Mat 26:66; Jer 38:14; Act 6:8-14).

4. Jeremiah spoke in his own defense, (vs. 12-14).

a. The Lord had sent him to prophesy against Jerusalem and the temple all that he had spoken, (vs. 12; 1:17-18; comp. Act 4:19-20; Act 5:29).

b. He used the occasion to renew his call for repentance -that the Lord might turn from the evil He had pronounced against them, (vs. 13; Jer 7:3-5; Jer 18:8-11; Jer 35:15; Joe 2:12-14).

c. Then, addressing himself to the princes and the people, Jeremiah admitted that his life was in their hands, (comp. Jer 38:5; Jos 9:24-25) – asking only that they do what seemed to them GOOD and RIGHT, (vs. 15; comp. 1Pe 2:23).

d. He did, however, warn them that by killing him they would bring a curse upon the holy city for the shedding of innocent blood, (comp. Deu 19:10; Jer 7:6-7; Num 35:33; Pro 6:16-19).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

He says at last, that he was condemned by the priests, and the prophets, and the whole people; he at the same time introduced these words, that he had spoken all that the Lord had commanded him. Thus he briefly exposed the injustice of those by whom he was condemned; for they had no regard to what was right, as we shall presently see. But as they had brought with them a preconceived hatred, so they vomited out what they could no longer contain. It afterwards follows, —

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(8) Thou shalt surely die.Better, as expressing the Hebrew emphasis of reduplication, Thou shalt die the death. The phrase is the same as in Gen. 2:17. The threat of the men of Anathoth (Jer. 11:21) is repeated by the priests and prophets of Jerusalem. They look on Jeremiah as one who has incurred the condemnation of Deu. 18:20.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

INDIGNATION OF THE PEOPLE, Jer 26:8-19.

8. Had made an end of speaking, etc. To this point Jeremiah had commanded the respectful attention of the people. Great as was their indignation they did not interrupt his discourse. Of course, the phrase all the people must not be pressed to the extreme. It implies, not absolute unanimity, but general agreement.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Is there anything new or wonderful in this? What servant, what Prophet, what Apostle, eminent in their Lord’s service, but hath been brought into the same situation. Nay, what was the Lord himself, when witnessing before Pontius Pilate a good confession, but the same. Oh! how blessed to be a witness for the testimony of Jesus!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jer 26:8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded [him] to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

Ver. 8. That the priests and the prophets, &c. ] So they dealt by Stephen, Act 7:57-58 by Arnulph, an excellent preacher of the truth according to godliness at Rome, A.D. 1125, in the time of Pope Honorius II. Hic clericorum insidiis necatur. a This good man was put to death by the instigation of the clergy, against whose avarice, pride, and luxury he bitterly inveighed, and was therefore much favoured by the Roman nobility; as was likewise Wycliffe by the English, and Huss by the Bohemian; but the envious priests wrought their ruin.

a Func. Chronol. ex Platina.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)