Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 29:25

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that [are] at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

25. in thine own name ] not, as Jeremiah spoke, in the name of the Lord.

unto all the people that are at Jerusalem ] LXX rightly omit.

Zephaniah ] See on Jer 21:1 (which however belongs to a somewhat later time than this). In ch. Jer 52:24 = 2Ki 25:18 he is called “second priest,” i.e. next in rank to the high-priest.

and to all the priests ] LXX rightly omit.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25. in thy namewithoutsanction of “the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,” whichwords stand in antithesis to “thy name” (Joh5:43).

Zephaniahthe secondpriest, or substitute (Sagan) of the high priest. He was oneof those sent to consult Jeremiah by Zedekiah (Jer21:1). Slain by Nebuchadnezzar at the capture of Jerusalem (2Ki25:18-21). Zephaniah was in particular addressed, as being likelyto take up against Jeremiah the prophet’s prediction against hisbrother Zedekiah at Babylon (Jer29:21). Zephaniah was to read it to the priests, and inthe presence of all the people, in the temple.

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

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,…. [See comments on Jer 29:4];

because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that [are] at Jerusalem; not in the name of the captives, whom he consulted not; nor with Ezekiel the prophet of the Lord, who was of the captivity; but in his own name, taking upon him to direct and order what should be done in Jerusalem. These letters were sent, very probably, by the hands of the king’s messengers, when they returned, whose names are mentioned,

Jer 29:3; some of them were sent to the people, to set them against the prophet of the Lord, Jeremiah, that they might not give any heed and credit to him; and others to the priests, as follows:

and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest; not the high, priest, but his sagan or deputy; the second priest, as he is called, Jer 52:24; for Seraiah was high priest, unless he was now become high priest in his room. This Maaseiah was either his immediate parent, or else the head of that course to which Zephaniah belonged, as a common priest, which was the twenty fourth in order, 1Ch 24:18;

saying: as follows:

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

He afterwards mentioned the priest and all the priests The word priest, in the singular number, meant the high-priest: then the priests were not only those descended from Aaron, but all the Levites. There was the high-priest, and then the descendants of Aaron were the chief, and, as it were, the colleagues of the high priest; but the Levites were an inferior order, though here by the priests he means also the Levites.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(25) Because thou hast sent letters in thy name . . .The letters were probably sent through the envoys named in Jer. 29:3 on their return from Babylon. Their object was to urge Zephaniah, who appears in 2Ki. 25:18 as the Sagan, or second priest, to exercise his authority to restrain Jeremiah from prophesying, and to punish him as a false prophet. It was an attempt to turn the tables on him for the manner in which he had thwarted the plans of the party of revolt at Babylon. The part taken by Zephaniah in acting for the king when he wished to consult Jeremiah (Jer. 21:1), and imploring his intercession (Jer. 37:3), makes it probable that he endeavoured to maintain a neutral Gamaliel-like position between the two parties, and had seemed so lukewarm and temporising that he was open to the influence of threats. On the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuzaradan he was taken prisoner and slain (Jer. 52:24-27).

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

Jer 29:25 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that [are] at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

Ver. 25. Because thou hast sent letters in thy name. ] Such as Sadoletus, a Popish bishop, sent to Geneva in Calvin’s absence, to bring them back again to the obedience of the see of Rome; and as we have many from the Romish factors sent hither, to the seducing of not a few, a subtle and shrewd way of deceiving the simple.

And to Zephaniah. ] The second under the high priest Seraiah, and successor likely to that Pashur Jer 20:1 who was deposed for some misdemeanour, like as Dr Weston was here in Queen Mary’s days, put by all his Church dignities for being taken in bed with a harlot. a Of this Zephaniah, see 2Ki 25:18 , his office was to judge of prophecies, and to punish such as he found to be false prophets.

And to all the priests. ] Who were much too forward of themselves to bandy against God’s true prophets, Jer 26:8 and did as little need by letter to be excited thereunto, as Bishop Bonner did to be stirred up to persecute Protestants; and yet to him were letters sent from King Philip and Queen Mary, complaining that heretics were not so reformed as they should be, and exhorting him to more diligence, b &c.

a Acts and Mon.

b Clarke’s Martyrol., 136.

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

Because: 1Ki 21:8-13, 2Ki 10:1-7, 2Ki 19:9, 2Ki 19:14, 2Ch 32:17, Ezr 4:7-16, Neh 6:5, Neh 6:17, Neh 6:19, Act 9:2

Zephaniah: Jer 29:29, Jer 21:1, Jer 21:2, Jer 37:3, Jer 52:24, 2Ki 25:18-21

Reciprocal: 2Ch 34:8 – Maaseiah 2Ch 35:8 – rulers Jer 1:19 – And they Jer 18:18 – for the Jer 29:1 – of the letter Amo 7:17 – Thy wife Act 4:17 – let

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 29:25-26. One of the letters of Shemaiah was sent to Zephaniah who was a priest, in Jerusalem. We know that priests were expected to be teachers of the people as well as to be presiding at the sacrifices (Lev 10:11 : Deu 17:9; Mal 2:7), but it is not clearly shown that they were to exercise the kind of work claimed by Shemaiah. But regardless of that question, it is certain they would not have had the right to persecute a good man as this false prophet demanded to have done.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

This man had sent letters in his own name, not in Yahweh’s name, to Zephaniah ben Maaseiah the priest, the other priests, and the people in Jerusalem. He had told them that the Lord wanted Zephaniah to be the priest in charge of order in the temple instead of Jehoiada, the authorized priest. [Note: Zephaniah ben Maaseiah consulted Jeremiah twice for King Zedekiah (Jer 21:1; Jer 37:3). He was then or later became the priest who was second in command in the temple (Jer 52:24). He went into captivity in 586 B.C. and suffered execution in Babylon (Jer 52:24-27; 2Ki 25:18-21). Jehoiada had evidently replaced Pashhur, who may have been taken to Babylon as an exile (cf. Jer 20:1-6).] Zephaniah was to put any "mad man" who prophesied in the Lord’s name in the stocks and his neck in an iron collar (cf. Jer 20:1-3). The Hebrew word translated "iron collar" occurs only here in the Old Testament. Its meaning is somewhat obscure, though it probably describes some type of restraining device.

"The irony is that Zephaniah would, according to Deu 28:34, become a madman himself when he witnessed the judgment coming upon Jerusalem." [Note: Scalise, p. 79.]

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