Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 29:22
And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which [are] in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
A curse – There is a play here of words. which probably was the cause why the death of these men passed into a proverb. One of them was named ben-Kolaiah; and they are to be made a curse ( qelalah), because Nebuchadnezzar had roasted ( qalah) them. Compare the marginal reference note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
As false teachers are of the highest sort of transgressors, speaking lies in the name and under pretence of the authority of the God of truth; so God in his providence ordinarily makes them the greatest examples of his vengeance. God threateneth to bring them to an end that should turn into a proverb, that when men had a mind to curse others, wishing them the greatest evils, they should pray to God to make them like Ahab and Zedekiah, whom the king of Babylon burnt, or roasted in the fire; the word signifieth both, Lev 2:14; and roasting signifieth only to burn by degrees, which probably was the specifical punishment of these two false prophets, for we learn from the instance of the three children, Dan 3:19, that the consuming of persons slowly in a fiery furnace was a kind of punishment in use amongst the Chaldeans.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. shall be taken . . . acursethat is, a formula of imprecation.
Lord make thee likeZedekiah(Compare Gen 48:20;Isa 65:15).
roasted in the fireaChaldean punishment (Da 3:6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which [are] in Babylon,…. A form of cursing; when they cursed anyone, or wished him ill, it should be in such like manner as follows; so odious and detestable would these men be afterwards to them, whom they, at least some of them, took to be the prophets of the Lord:
saying, the Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; or “burnt them” d; not at once, but with a slow fire; so the Maccabees were roasted,
“Then the king, being in a rage, commanded pans and caldrons to be made hot: ” (2 Maccabees. 7:3)
Burning persons with fire, and casting them into a fiery furnace, were ways used by the Chaldeans in putting persons to death, Da 3:6; and roasting men at a fire was used by the Chinese e.
d “combussit”, Pagninus; “ustulavit”, Munster; so Ben Melech says the word signifies “burning”. e Martin Hist. Sinic. p. 257.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here we are to notice the circumstances; for if Jeremiah had only spoken of their death, the Jews might still have been doubtful whether he had delivered a prophecy; but when now is added what kind of punishment was inflicted on them, Jeremiah points out as by the finger what was as yet unknown, and even incredible. It might indeed have happened to the captives that the king should order them to be slain, but it could not have occurred to any man to suppose what Jeremiah declares, that they would be roasted (220) in the fire We hence see that God here obviates the evasions of perverse minds, so that there would be no room for evading, when he specifies the very kind of death which they were to undergo.
But he says first, Taken from them shall be a curse, that is, the form of cursing. Mentioned yesterday was אלה, ale, an oath; he puts down now קללה, kolle; and קלל, koll, is to curse. The meaning then is, that they would become an exemplar of a curse to all the captives, who would say, May God make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted The cause of their death is again repeated; and the Prophet did not without reason dwell on this, that he might turn away the eyes of the people from the immediate cause, which was commonly known, that is, that Nebuchadnezzar would not endure any tumults to be raised in his dominions; that they might therefore acknowledge God to be the author of this punishment, he says, —
(220) “Fried” is the word used by the Sept., the Vulg., the Syr., and the Targ. The Hebrew word is found as a verb in no other passage, but as a participle applied to parched corn, Lev 2:14; Jos 11:0. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(22) Of them shall be taken up a curse . . .We note the characteristic tendency of Hebrew thought to fix on individual cases of highest blessedness, as in Rth. 4:11, or of deepest shame, as here, and to bring them into formulae of blessing and of cursing.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 29:22. Roasted in the fire This horrid punishment was frequent in the East, especially among the Chaldeans, as appears from Dan 3:6 and Amo 2:1 and was often practised in the persecution of the Christians in Dioclesian’s time. Under Antiochus Epiphanes, the seven brethren were tried by this torture. See 2 Maccabees 7 :
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 29:22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which [are] in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
Ver. 22. And of them shall be taken up a curse. ] They had blessed themselves, though the Lord abhorred them, and sought to set up themselves in the hearts of the people, being gloriae animalia, popularis aurae vilissima mancipia, as Jerome saith of Crates the philosopher; they shall therefore “leave their names for a curse.” as Isa 65:15
Whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a curse = a curse formula.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
shall be: Gen 48:20, Rth 4:11, Isa 65:15, 1Co 16:22
roasted: Dan 3:6, Dan 3:21
Reciprocal: Gen 38:24 – let her Exo 20:14 – General Num 5:21 – The Lord make Num 5:27 – the woman Num 26:10 – they became a sign Deu 13:5 – prophet 1Sa 25:26 – now let 1Ki 22:25 – Behold 2Ch 18:24 – Behold Isa 9:15 – the prophet Jer 5:7 – they then Jer 20:6 – Pashur Jer 24:9 – a curse Jer 26:6 – a curse Jer 27:15 – ye Jer 29:18 – to be a curse Jer 42:18 – ye shall be Jer 44:12 – and they shall be Eze 13:9 – mine Eze 14:8 – a sign Hab 2:6 – take Zec 10:2 – the diviners
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 29:22. The manner of death that Nebuchadrezzar inflicted on these false prophets was by roasting them In the fire, The publicity that was given to this terrible execution is indicated by the fact tiiat all the captivity would talk about it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
29:22 And concerning them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah who [are] in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted {m} in the fire;
(m) Because they gave the people hope of speedy returning.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Their deaths would become a proverbial curse (Heb. qelalah) for the exiles who wanted to wish the worst type of fate on someone. They would wish that Yahweh would make the end of their enemies as terrible as that of those two false prophets. The Hammurabi Code refers to burning people alive (Heb. qalah) as a Babylonian method of execution, as does the Book of Daniel. [Note: Pritchard, ed., pp. 167, 170, 172. Daniel 3:6.] These false prophets had acted like fools, had committed adultery in violation of the covenant (Exo 20:14), and had falsely claimed to announce messages from Yahweh. The Lord said He knew exactly what these men were doing. Nebuchadnezzar would not have executed these men for these offenses, so probably they were guilty of other political crimes as well, perhaps encouraging the exiles to revolt. [Note: W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah , 2:143.]