Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 32:4

And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

4. This v. occurs again in almost the same words at ch. Jer 34:3, where see note.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 4. And shall speak with him mouth to mouth] He shall be reduced to a state of the most abject servitude. The slave was obliged to fix his eyes on every motion of the master whilst giving his orders, who often condescended to give them only by dumb signs.

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

4. his eyes shall behold hiseyesthat is, only before reaching Babylon, which he wasnot to see. Jer 39:6;Jer 39:7 harmonizes this prophecy(Jer 32:4) with the seeminglyopposite prophecy, Eze 12:13,”He shall not see.“

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

And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans,…. This is a continuation of the prophecy of Jeremiah, repeated by the king to him, and which concerns himself more especially; who, upon the taking of the city, would endeavour to make his escape, as he did; but should not be able, Jer 52:8;

but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon; not only into the hands of his army, and of his generals, but into his own hand personally; since it follows:

and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; converse together face to face, eye to eye; but no doubt with different tones and looks; the king of Babylon upbraiding the king of Judah with perjury and ingratitude, and looking upon him with indignation and contempt; the other speaking faintly, and looking down with grief, shame, and confusion; moreover, the eyes of the king of Babylon beheld the eyes of Zedekiah, and ordered them to be put out, as they were, 2Ki 25:7.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

When, therefore, the king saw that he would not be exempt from the common judgment, he was especially displeased with Jeremiah; for kings seek to be exempt from all laws, and when they allow the people to be reproved, they yet wish themselves to be deemed sacred. As then Jeremiah classed the king Zedekiah with all the common people, it was a thing not to be endured by a proud king. Hence his indignation was such, that he shut up Jeremiah in prison; and he became implacable, even when God’s hand pressed hard on him. It afterwards follows, —

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

Jer 32:4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

Ver. 4. And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape. ] As he hoped to have done, either by his wiles or by his wealth; and accordingly attempted it, but all in vain.

And he shall speak with him mouth to mouth. ] This was no small punishment to Zedekiah, that he must look him in the face from whom he had so perfidiously revolted, even against oath; and hear his taunts, before he felt his fingers. How, then, will graceless persons do to stand before the King of kings, whom they have so greatly offended, at that great day? See Rev 9:17 .

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

his eyes shall behold his eyes: he should go to Babylon (Jer 34:3). Yet Ezekiel (Jer 12:13) declared that he should not “see” Babylon. Both statements were true; for we read that Zedekiah did “see” the king of Babylon at Riblah, but his eyes being put out there (2Ki 25:6, 2Ki 25:7), he never saw Babylon, though he was led there. See Jer 52:10, Jer 52:11.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Jer 37:17, Jer 38:18, Jer 38:23, Jer 39:4-7, Jer 52:8-11, 2Ki 25:4-7, Eze 12:12, Eze 12:13, Eze 17:13-21, Eze 21:25, Eze 21:26

Reciprocal: 2Ki 25:7 – and put out Jer 25:35 – the shepherds Jer 34:3 – And thou Jer 39:5 – Chaldeans’ Jer 39:7 – he put Jer 52:9 – they took Eze 17:15 – shall he escape Eze 17:16 – even

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 32:4-5. These verses state the unpleasant predictions of Jeremiah. A part of this prophecy has been charged with being a contradiction, of another (Ezk, 12: 13) which says that Zede- kiah should not see Babylon although he would be taken there. The expla-nation is very simple and needs only a brief bit of history (2Ki 25:6-7).

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary