Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
Verse 22. I will – cause them to return] They did return; re-invested the city; and, after an obstinate defence, took it, plundered it, and burned it to the ground, taking Zedekiah and his princes captive.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will put it into their hearts to return, saith the Lord, and they shall come back again to the siege, and shall rise up no more till they have taken the city, and burned it with fire, and made the whole country desolate. The motions of armies are under the government of Divine Providence, they are at Gods command; when he bids them come they come, what he bids them do they do, and shall certainly effect what God hath determined. When we come to Jer 39, we shall read of the fulfilling of this prophecy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. I will commandNebuchadnezzar,impelled unconsciously by a divine instigation, returned on thewithdrawal of the Egyptians.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city,…. The Lord of hosts, or armies, was “Generalissimo” of Nebuchadnezzar’s army, had it at his command, and could direct if as he pleased, and order it to march and countermarch as he thought fit: it was under the direction of his providence that it departed from Jerusalem, to try the inhabitants of it; and now, by a secret instinct, he would so powerfully work upon it, and by the ordering of external causes so manage it, that it should return to Jerusalem again, and carry on the siege with redoubled rigour:
and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; they fought against it by shooting arrows from their bows, casting stones from their engines, and by beating down the walls with their battering rams; with which making breaches, they entered in and took the city; and burnt the temple, palaces, and other houses, with fire; of all which see the accomplishment in Jer 52:4;
and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant: many of them were already; the king of Babylon having taken, ravaged, and plundered them before he came to Jerusalem; and whither the inhabitants of them, that escaped the sword, fled for security; and others of them, that were not, now should be made desolate upon the taking of Jerusalem, as Lachish and Azekah,
Jer 34:7; which should fall into the hands of the enemy, and the inhabitants thereof be forced to flee into other countries, or would be carried captive; so that they would be without any, or have but few to dwell in them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He shews the same thing in other words, but the repetition was not in vain, for what we read here seemed incredible to the Jews. For they raised up their horns when they saw the King Nebuchadnezzar departing from the city. Lest then this vain confidence should deceive them, he again declared to them that God conducted the war, as though he had said, that the Chaldeans had not thoughtlessly taken up arms, but as God had determined, and as he had commanded them. He does not indeed speak of an open command, for it was not the purpose of the Chaldeans to obey God, or to render service to him; but he speaks of his hidden providence. God is said to command, when the ungodly are guided by his secret impulse, for he can tuae them as he pleases, according to what is said in other places, “I will hiss for the Egyptians,” or for the Assyrians, or for the Chaldeans. The same is the meaning here, when he says, Behold, I will command, etc. In short, God commands the wicked, he commands diseases, he commands the sword, he commands the famine and the pestilence; and yet there is no reason or understanding in the sword, in the pestilence, or in the famine: but Scripture thus teaches us that all things are under his control, so that nothing can touch us, except as far as God intends by these to chastise or humble us.
And for the same purpose are these words, Behold, I, הנני , enni, etc. God shews that he was present, though the Chaldeans were not now seen in the land of Judah. The manner of his presence he sets forth by saying, I will bring them back to this city, and they shall attack it, and take it, and burn it with fire These things have been elsewhere explained, I shall therefore now pass them by.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
REFLECTIONS
WE cannot close this Chapter without first stopping to admire God’s patience and man’s unworthiness. Though judgment was at the door, and everyone seemed to be tremblingly alive at what would follow, yet sin is not lessened. Gracious God! what but sovereign grace can soften the human heart!
Precious Lord Jesus! thou wert indeed the servant, who would not go out free. For the love that thou didst bear thy Father, and the love thou didst bear thy wife the Church, and the children which the Father had given thee; thy ear was indeed bored, and thou didst give thy back to the smiters, and thy cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. Thou didst not hide thy face from shame and spitting. Oh! for grace to imitate thy blessed example, and in all the circumstances of life, to show mercy in having obtained mercy.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 34:22 Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
Ver. 22. Behold, I will command ] i.e., By a secret instinct I will move.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a desolation, &c.: or, too desolate to have an inhabitant; or, desolate through having no inhabitant.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will command: 2Sa 16:11, 2Ki 24:2, 2Ki 24:3, 2Ch 36:17, Isa 10:5-7, Isa 13:3, Isa 37:26, Isa 45:1-3, Amo 3:6, Mat 22:7
cause: They did return, and reinvested the city; and, after an obstinate defence, took it, plundered it, and burnt it to the ground, taking Zedekiah, his princes, and people, captive. Jer 37:8-10
shall fight: Jer 21:4-10, Jer 32:29, Jer 38:23, Jer 39:1, Jer 39:2, Jer 39:8, Jer 52:7, Jer 52:13
and I will: Jer 9:11, Jer 33:10, Jer 44:2-6, Jer 44:22, Isa 6:11, Isa 24:12, Isa 64:10, Lam 1:1, Eze 33:27, Eze 33:28, Mic 7:13, Zec 1:12, Zec 7:14
Reciprocal: 2Ki 25:6 – they took 2Ki 25:9 – the king’s Isa 10:6 – will I give Jer 1:15 – and against Jer 2:15 – his cities Jer 4:7 – to Jer 21:10 – it shall Jer 34:2 – Behold Jer 36:29 – The king Jer 37:17 – thou shalt Jer 39:16 – Behold Jer 46:19 – waste Jer 50:21 – and do Lam 1:17 – commanded Eze 6:6 – the cities Eze 12:20 – General Hab 1:9 – they shall gather Zep 1:2 – I will
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The sovereign Lord was going to command the Babylonian army to go back to Jerusalem, to fight against it, to take it, and to burn it. He would also make the cities of Judah a desolation, without human inhabitants (cf. Jer 10:22). This further breach of covenant was one more nail in the coffin of the Southern Kingdom.
"When Jeremiah redeems his cousin’s land (chap. 32) and when the Rechabites refuse to drink wine (chap. 35), they act out of loyalty to ancient obligations in spite of the threatening circumstances of the Babylonian attack. When Judah’s leading citizens take back their slaves, they not only violate covenants old and new; they deny the LORD’s word through Jeremiah that their land had been assigned to Nebuchadrezzar’s control, just as King Jehoiakim had denied it (chap. 36)." [Note: Scalise, p. 190.]