Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 28:7

Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;

7 9. The passage forms an important aid to our grasping of the real nature of O.T. prophecy. True prophets did not flatter with promises of good fortune, seeing that their aim was to preach repentance and reformation to a sinful world. Any future prosperity which they contemplated could only be subsequent to the purging away of evil by the Divine judgements. For such an attitude on the part of the prophet courage and self-denial were needed; hence the presumption was a safe one that one who spoke thus was sent by God, and so refused to pander from selfish motives to the wishes of his hearers. Nothing could avail against this argument in proof of the trustworthiness of the true prophet, except the actual fulfilment of his opponent’s prediction to the contrary. It was probably as realising this that Hananiah, in spite of the risk of exposure involved, fixed an early date for the fulfilment of his pleasing forecast ( Jer 28:3), and thereupon had his own weapon turned against him ( Jer 28:16 f.). For this passage cp. Deu 18:22, also Jer 13:1-3.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The word which I am now about to speak concerneth, thee, and not thee alone, but all the people; therefore do thou mark it well, and let them mark it also.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Nevertheless, hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears,…. Though this would be very acceptable to me, and I should be glad to have it fulfilled; yet carefully attend to what I am about to say, it being what greatly concerns thee to observe, as well as all present to listen to: and therefore it is added,

and in the ears of all the people; that stood round to hear the conversation that passed between the two prophets.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Jeremiah, having testified that he did not wish for anything adverse to his own people, but had a good will towards them, now adds that what he had predicted was yet most true. Here is seen more fully what I have said of his twofold feeling; for though the Prophet wished to consult the welfare of the people, he did not yet cease to render full obedience to God, and to announce those messages which were at the same time very grievous: thus Jeremiah did not keep silence, but became an herald of God’s vengeance against the people. On the one hand, then, he showed that he desired nothing more than the welfare and the safety of his people, and that yet it was not in his power nor in that of any mortal to change the celestial decree which he had pronounced. We hence see that God so influenced the minds and hearts of his servants, that they were not cruel or barbarous; and yet they were not made soft and pliable through the influence of humanity, but boldly declared what God had commanded them.

For this reason he said, Nevertheless, hear thou this word which I pronounce in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people By these words Jeremiah indirectly condemned the vanity of Hananiah, who sought to flatter the people, and by his adulations hunted for favor and applause, as it is usual with such impostors, he then said that it availed him nothing to give the people the hope of a near deliverance, for God had not changed his purpose. And Jeremiah now boldly and openly opposed him, as he had sufficiently rebutted that ill-will with which he was unjustly loaded; for impostors ever find out calumnies by which they assail the faithful servants of God. He might at the beginning have objected to Jeremiah and said, “Thou art alienated from thine own nation, thou art not touched by the many miseries by which we have been hitherto distressed, nor carest thou for what may happen to us in future.” Thus he might have kindled hatred against Jeremiah, had he not cleared himself. But after he had testified that he felt kindly and was well affected towards his own nation, he assailed the impostor himself, and hesitated not to assert what seemed very grievous, that the people would become captives.

Yet Jeremiah seems here to have been smitten in some measure with fear; for he did not confirm his own prophecy, but left that as it were in suspense; and yet he doubtless exposed the false declaration of Hananiah. But we know that the whole of what the Prophet said is not recited; for he only in a brief way records the heads or the chief things; and further, as we shall presently see, Jeremiah could not act as he wished in the midst of such a tumult, for he would have spoken to the deaf; and as Hananiah had prejudiced the minds of almost all, the holy Prophet would not have been listened to while there was such a confusion. He was therefore satisfied with the brief assertion, that God would soon shew that Hananiah was a false witness in promising so quick a return to the captives and exiles.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

Jer 28:7 Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;

Ver. 7. Nevertheless, hear thou now. ] Audi quaeso. Hear, I pray thee; soft words, but hard arguments. See on Isa 5:3 .

And in the ears of all the people. ] Whom I desire not to deceive, and to advise for the best, whatever they think of me. Let them think what they will, mode impii silentii non arguar, as Luther once said, so that I be not found guilty of a sinful silence.

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

1Ki 22:28

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 28:7. Nevertheless signifies that Jeremiah was not accepting the favorable prediction of Hananiah blindly and without expressing himself on the subject.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Yet Jeremiah urged the people to listen to what he was about to say to them. What Jeremiah wished could happen, would not.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)