Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 40:1
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
1. Ramah ] See on Jer 31:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As what follows is mainly a historical narrative, it seems that the title The word … was appropriate not merely to a prediction of the future, but to an account of the past, if written by a prophet. The Jews regarded history as inspired if written by a seer, and thus their historical books are called the early prophets.
Ramah – Probably all the prisoners of note were collected at Ramah indiscriminately, and examined there.
Bound in chains – The prisoners were probably fastened together in couples by one hand, and a rope passed down the center to bind them in a long line, and prevent attempts at escape.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 40:1
Being bound in chains.
Jeremiah in chains
There is sadness In a shackle and bitterness In bonds. Many men part with life rather than liberty. Speaking humanly, Pauls lot In chains would have been intolerably irksome; but his soul was free! They could not chain his spirit. It is melancholy to watch the attitude of a caged eagle; its eye is dull, its plumage droops. The chain is round the spirit of the creature of the skies. Not so with the Christian soul. It is not the shackle on the wrist that constitutes the slave, said Robertson of Brighton, but the loss of self-respect. In Christian service we learn to reverence self. Our only bonds are the bonds of love. Our manhood is exalted, our service is liberty. (Christian Commonwealth.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XL
This and the four following chapters contain a distinct account
of what passed in the land of Judah from the taking of
Jerusalem to the retreat of the remnant of the people to Egypt;
together with the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning that place,
whither he himself accompanied them. In this chapter we have an
account of the enlargement of Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan, the
captain of the guard, who advises him to put himself under the
jurisdiction of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of
Babylon had made governor over the land of Judea, 1-5.
The prophet and many of the dispersed Jews repair to Gedaliah,
6-12.
Johanan acquaints the governor of a conspiracy against him, but
is not believed, 13-16.
NOTES ON CHAP. XL.
Verse 1. The word that came to Jeremiah] This and the four following chapters contain a particular account of what passed in the land of Judea from the taking of the city to the retreat of the people into Egypt, and the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning them there.
Had let him go from Ramah] This has embarrassed most of the commentators. Dr. Blayney has thrown much light upon it by his translation and note:-
“The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that Nebu-Zaradan captain of the guards had taken him, and let him go from Ramah: for he had been bound with chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.”
“HAD TAKEN HIM, AND LET HIM GO. – Most interpreters have understood bekachto otho of Nebuchadnezzar’s having first taken Jeremiah as a captive unto Ramah. But if the order of the sentence be well observed, as well as the more common use of the verb lakach, it will, I think, rather appear that those words relate to his taking or having him brought to him, in order to give him his discharge.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
These words refer to the forty-second chapter, where begins the revelation which Jeremiah had from God, for all this chapter and the next are no prophecy, but only an historical narration of some passages after the taking of the city, and so cannot be called a prophecy, but are a piece of history previous to that prophecy.
Ramah was a city in the tribe of Benjamin near Gibeon. See Jer 31:15. Jeremiah was by mistake, and expressly contrary to the kings orders, Jer 39:11, manacled and carried away amongst the other prisoners; probably the captain of the guard at that place called over his prisoners, and amongst them he found the prophet, contrary to his expectation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. word that camethe headingof a new part of the book (the forty-first through forty-fourthchapters), namely, the prophecies to the Jews in Judea and Egyptafter the taking of the city, blended with history. Theprophecy does not begin till Jer42:7, and the previous history is introductory to it.
bound in chainsThoughreleased from the court of the prison (see on Jer39:14), in the confusion at the burning of the city he seems tohave been led away in chains with the other captives, and not till hereached Ramah to have gained full liberty. Nebuzara-dan had hisquarters at Ramah, in Benjamin; and there he collected the captivesprevious to their removal to Babylon (Jer31:15). He in releasing Jeremiah obeyed the king’s commands (Jer39:11). Jeremiah’s “chains” for a time were due to thenegligence of those to whom he had been committed; or else toNebuzara-dan’s wish to upbraid the people with their perverseingratitude in imprisoning Jeremiah [CALVIN];hence he addresses the people (ye . . . you) as much asJeremiah (Jer 40:2; Jer 40:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord,…. The word of prophecy, as the Targum; but there being no prophecy in this and the following chapter, only a narration of facts, this is generally referred to what came ten days after, and which begins Jer 42:7; so Jarchi and Kimchi; all between being included in a parenthesis, or a relation of facts preparatory, to lead on to it; though Abarbinel takes it to be a general title to all histories and prophecies in this book, from henceforward to the end of it. Jarchi and Kimchi make mention of a Midrash, which refers it to the special word of the Lord to Jeremiah to go to Gedaliah, Jer 40:5; interpreting that passage as the words of the Lord, and not of Nebuzaradan; but Abarbinel’s sense seems best. The time of this prophecy was
after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah; which was a city in the land of Benjamin near Gibeon, seven miles from Jerusalem, as Jerom q says; here Nebuzaradan had his rendezvous, whither he brought his captives as they fell into his hands, among whom were Jeremiah:
when he had taken him; out of the court of the prison, and out of Jerusalem, and brought him to Ramah:
being bound in chains among all them that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, that were carried away captive unto Babylon; how it came to pass is not certain, but so it was; that, though by the orders of Nebuzaradan and the princes, agreeably to the command of the king of Babylon, Jeremiah was taken out of the court of the prison, yet was not set free; but without the knowledge of Nebuzaradan, and through the inadvertency of inferior officers, he was taken and bound, and with other prisoners brought to Ramah, in order to be transported to Babylon, which lay in the way to it; for Ramah was to the north of Jerusalem, as Babylon was: these chains were for the hands, or what we call handcuffs, as Kimchi, Abarbinel, and Ben Melech observe, and as appears from Jer 40:4.
q Comment in Hos. v. 8,
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The liberation of Jeremiah by Nebuzaradan, the chief of the body-guards. – The superscription, “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the body-guard, had let him go from Ramah,” does not seem to be appropriate; for in what follows there is no word of God declared by Jeremiah, but first, Jer 1:2-6, we are told that Jeremiah was liberated and given in charge to Gedaliah; then is told, Jer 40:7-41:18, the story of the murder of Gedaliah the governor by Ishmael, together with its consequences; and not till Jer 42:7. is there communicated a word of God, which Jeremiah uttered regarding the Jews who wished to flee to Egypt, and had besought him for some revelation from God (Jer 42:1-6). The heading of our verse cannot refer to this prophecy, not merely for the reason that it is too far removed, but still more because it has a historical notice introducing it, Jer 42:1-6. Our superscription rather refers to Jer 1:1-3; and here, as well as there, means, not a single prophecy, but a number of prophecies. Just as in Jer 1:2 forms the heading for all the prophecies uttered by Jeremiah from the thirteenth year of Josiah till the destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying away of the people in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, so the words ‘ of this verse form the superscription for the prophecies which Jeremiah uttered after the destruction of Jerusalem, i.e., to the section formed by Jer 40-45, although Jer 44; Jer 45:1-5 have headings of their own; these, however, are subordinate to the heading of this chapter, in the same way as the titles in Jer 7:1; Jer 11:11; Jer 14:1, etc. fall under the general title given in Jer 1:2-3. – Regarding Nebuzaradan and the discharge of Jeremiah at Ramah (i.e., er Rm, see on Jer 31:15), cf. the explanations given on Jer 39:13 (p. 335 of this volume). In what follows, from onwards, further details are given regarding Jeremiah’s liberation. “When he (Nebuzaradan) sent for him, he (Jeremiah), bound with fetters, was among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried away to Babylon.” Those who were to be carried away had been gathered together to Ramah, which lies about five miles north from Jerusalem; thence they were to set out for Babylon. (= , Job 36:8; Isa 45:14), “fetters,” – here, according to Jer 40:4, “manacles,” by which, perhaps, two or more prisoners were fastened to one another.
Jer 40:2-3 When Jeremiah had been brought, the commander of the guards said to him, “The Lord thy God hath declared this evil against this place, and the Lord hath brought it on (brought it to pass), and hath done as He spake; for ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not hearkened to His voice: thus hath this thing happened to you.” The mode of expression is that of Jeremiah; but Nebuzaradan may have expressed the thought, that now there had been fulfilled what Jeremiah had predicted in the name of God, because the people, by their rebellion, had broken the oath they had sworn before their God (cf. Eze 17:13.), and had thereby sinned against Him. The article before , required by the Qeri, is unnecessary; cf. Ewald, 293, a; Gesenius, 112, 2, a.
Jer 40:4-6 Nebuzaradan then declared him free: “And now, behold, I free thee this day from the shackles on thine hands. If it please thee to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will set mine eye upon thee (i.e., take thee under my protection, cf. Jer 39:12). But if it please thee not to come with me to Babylon, then let it be so. See, the whole country is before thee (cf. Gen 13:9; Gen 20:5, etc.); whithersoever it pleases thee, and seems right to thee to go, go.” Jer 40:5. And because Jeremiah had not yet returned, he said, “Go back to Gedaliah,…whom the king of Babylon hath set over the cities of Judah, and remain with him among the people; or go wherever it seemeth right to thee to go.” And the commander of the guard gave him what provisions he required and a present, and sent him away; thereafter Jeremiah went to Gedaliah to Mizpah, and remained there among the people who had been left behind in the land (Jer 40:6). The words were certainly misunderstood by the old translators, who made various conjectures as to their meaning; even yet, Dahler, Movers, Graf, and Ngelsbach are of opinion that “it is impossible to understand” this sentence, and that the text is plainly corrupt. Luther renders: “for no one will any longer return thither.” Hitzig considers this translation substantially correct, and only requiring to be a little more exactly rendered: “but there, no one returns home again.” Apart, however, from the consideration that on this view , which stands at the head of the sentence, does not get full justice paid to it, the thought does not accord with what precedes, and the reference of the suffix to the indefinite “person” or “one” is extremely forced. According to what goes before, in which Nebuzaradan gives the prophet full liberty of choosing whether he would go with him to Babylon or remain in the country, in whatever part he likes, and from the following advice which he gives him, “Go, or return, to Gedaliah,” the words , on account of the third person ( ), cannot certainly be an address of the chief captain to Jeremiah, and as little can they contain a remark about going to Babylon. The words are evidently, both as to their form and their contents, a circumstantial clause, containing a statement regarding the relation of Jeremiah to the proposal of the chief captain (and this is the view taken long ago by Kimchi), i.e., a parenthetical remark of the narrator, according to which Nebuzaradan demands that he shall remain with Gedaliah, in the sense, “and yet he was not going back,” or, still better, on account of the imperfect , “because he was still unwilling to go back,” namely, to this or that place indefinitely; then Nebuzaradan further said, “Return, then, to Gedaliah.” If we supply before ‘ , with which Nebuzaradan brings the matter to a close, the meaning is quite clear. It is evident from Jer 40:4 that Nebuzaradan stopped a little in order to let Jeremiah decide; but since the prophet did not return, i.e., neither decided in the one way nor the other, he adds ‘ , and thereby puts an end to the indecision. means a portion of food, or victuals; cf. Jer 52:34 and Pro 15:17. Mizpah, where Gedaliah had taken up his position, is the Mizpah of the tribe of Benjamin, where Samuel judged the people and chose Saul to be king (1Sa 7:15., Jer 10:17); doubtless the modern Neby Samwil, five miles north-west from Jerusalem, a short distance south-west from Ramah; see on Jos 18:26.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Preservation of Jeremiah; Jeremiah’s Adherence to Gedaliah. | B. C. 588. |
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon. 2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. 3 Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. 4 And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. 5 Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go. 6 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
The title of this part of the book, which begins the chapter, seems misapplied (The word which came to Jeremiah), for here is nothing of prophecy in this chapter, but it is to be referred to ch. xlii. 7, where we have a message that God sent by Jeremiah to the captains and the people that remained. The story between is only to introduce that prophecy and show the occasion of it, that it may be the better understood, and Jeremiah, being himself concerned in the story, was the better able to give an account of it.
In these verses we have Jeremiah’s adhering, by the advice of Nebuzar-adan, to Gedaliah. It should seem that Jeremiah was very honourably fetched out of the court of the prison by the king of Babylon’s princes (ch. xxxix. 13, 14), but afterwards, being found among the people in the city, when orders were given to the inferior officers to bind all they found that were of any fashion, in order to their being carried captives to Babylon, he, through ignorance and mistake, was bound among the rest and hurried away. Poor man! he seems to have been born to hardship and abuse–man of sorrows indeed! But when the captives were brought manacled to Ramah, not far off, where a council of war, or court-martial, was held for giving orders concerning them, Jeremiah was soon distinguished from the rest, and, by special order of the court, was discharged. 1. The captain of the guard solemnly owns him to be a true prophet (Jer 40:2; Jer 40:3): “The Lord thy God, whose messenger thou has been and in whose name thou hast spoken, has by thee pronounced this evil upon this place; they had fair warning given them of it, but they would not take the warning, and now the Lord hath brought it, and, as by thy mouth he said it, so by my hand he hath done what he said.” He seems thus to justify what he had done, and to glory in it, that he had been God’s instrument to fulfil that which Jeremiah had been his messenger to foretell; and upon that account it was indeed the most glorious action he had ever done. He tells all the people that were now in chains before him It is because you have sinned against the Lord that this thing has come upon you. The princes of Israel would never be brought to acknowledge this, though it was as evident as if it had been written with a sun-beam; but this heathen prince plainly sees it, that a people that had been so favoured as they had been by the divine goodness would never have been abandoned thus had they not been very provoking. The people of Israel had been often told this from the pulpit by their prophets, and they would not regard it; now they are told it from the bench by the conqueror, whom they dare not contradict and who will make them regard it. Note, Sooner or later men shall be made sensible that their sin is the cause of all their miseries. 2. He gives him free leave to dispose of himself as he thought fit. He loosed him from his chains a second time (v. 4), invited him to come along with him to Babylon, not as a captive, but as a friend, as a companion; and I will set my eye upon thee (so the word is), not only, “I will look well to thee,” but “I will show thee respect, will countenance thee, and will see that thou be safe and well provided for.” If he was not disposed to go to Babylon, he might dwell where he pleased in his own country, for it was all now at the disposal of the conquerors. He may go to Anathoth if he please, and enjoy the field he has purchased there. A great change with this good man! He that but lately was tossed from one prison to another may now walk at liberty from one possession to another. 3. He advised him to go to Gedaliah and settle with him. This Gedaliah, made governor of the land under the king of Babylon, was an honest Jew, who (it is probably) betimes went over with his friends to the Chaldeans, and approved himself so well that he had this great trust put into his hands, v. 5. While Jeremiah had not yet gone back, but stood considering what he should do, Nebuzar-adan, perceiving him neither inclined to go to Babylon nor determined whither to go, turned the scale for him, and bade him by all means go to Gedaliah. Sudden thoughts sometimes prove wise ones. But when he gave this counsel he did not design to bind him by it, nor will he take ill if he do not follow it: Go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee. It is friendly in such cases to give advice, but unfriendly to prescribe and to be angry if our advice be not take. Let Jeremiah steer what course he pleases, Nebuzar-adan will agree to it, and believe he does for the best. Nor does he only give him his liberty, and an approbation of the measures he shall take, but provides for his support: He gave him victuals and a present, either in clothes or money, and so let him go. See how considerate the captain of the guard was in his kindness to Jeremiah. He set him at liberty, but it was in a country that was laid waste, and in which, as the posture of it now was, he might have perished, though it was his own country, if he had not been thus kindly furnished with necessaries. Jeremiah not only accepted his kindness, but took his advice, and went to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and dwelt with him, v. 6. Whether we may herein commend his prudence I know not; the event does not commend it, for it did not prove at all to his comfort. However, we may commend his pious affection to the land of Israel, that unless he were forced out of it, as Ezekiel, and Daniel, and other good men were, he would not forsake it, but chose rather to dwell with the poor in the holy land than with princes in an unholy one.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 40
JEREMIAH CHOOSES TO REMAIN IN JUDAH
Chapters 40-44 deal with events in the land of Judith following the fall of Jerusalem. When the city fell, Nebuchadnezzar was at his general base of operation in Riblah. Thus, Jeremiah was rounded up with others, whom it seemed appropriate to deport to Babylon, and taken to Riblah. There Nebuchadnezzar, who was aware of his office, and persistent counselling of Zedekiah to surrender, ordered his release, and gave him the liberty to choose where he would live.
Vs. 1-6: PERMITTED TO CHOOSE HIS DWELLING-PLACE
1. Some see a contradiction between verse 1 and the account of Jeremiah’s release recorded in Jer 39:11-14; it is probably only an addition of details.
2. The captain is aware that the fall of Jerusalem has come as a judgment from Jehovah, the God of Judah, because of her sins, (vs. 23).
3. Setting Jeremiah free, the captain offers him the choice of going to Babylon (where he will be treated with honor and respect), or of remaining in the land with the poor remnant, (vs. 4).
a. If he comes to Babylon, the Captain will, personally, see to his welfare.
b. If he chooses to dwell in the land, he may select any place that he desires; the whole land is before him!
4. Seeing Jeremiah’s hesitancy, the Captain then suggested that he might want to go back and encourage Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed governor over the cities of Judah; but, he was free to go wherever it seemed right to him that he should go, (vs. 5).
5. Nebuzar-adan then gave to Jeremiah a supply of food, and a present, and let him go to Gedaliah who dwelt among the people at Mizpah, (vs.6 ).
6. Having been used of God, for the past 40 years, to “pluck up”, “break down”, “destroy” and “overthrow”; it was now his desire to assist in “building and planting”-the reconstruction of the nation.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here Jeremiah pursues more at large what he had briefly touched upon before; for the Hebrews were wont, in a few words, to state the substance of the whole, and then to explain more diffusely what, they had briefly said. Jeremiah had before told us that some of the Babylonian generals had been sent to release him from prison; and he added that he had been committed to the care of Gedaliah, who had been set over the poor of the land. He now tells us, that he, as yet bound with chains, had been brought forth to Ramah in that miserable condition. These things appear inconsistent, but, as I have said, we must bear in mind, that there is an omission in that summary, which we have noticed. For, in the first instance, Jeremiah only said, that he had been freed from his chains; but he now states the manner more distinctly, and, as it were, the different parts of the transaction. Then this order ought to be especially noticed.
Moreover, this chapter so begins, that he seems throughout the chapter to have forgotten the introduction. He says, that a word came to him; he afterwards declares historically, how he had been brought to Ramah, and then that he had been released there, and also that Gedaliah was set over the remainder of the people: in short, there is not in this long’ passage any mention made of any prophecy; but there is inserted a whole historical narrative before the Prophet expresses what God had committed to him, after the city was taken, and after he had been restored to his former liberty. When, therefore, he says here, that a word came to him, we must wait until he has completed what we find in this chapter; for he will then return to this prophecy.
Let us now consider the words. After Nebuzaradan, he says, dismissed him from Ramah, etc. ; into which place he had been brought by the guards, when he was as yet bound with chains. There is then no doubt but that the leaders of the army had ordered Jeremiah to be brought there, after he was taken out of the court of the prison, and that he was brought there in the presence of all the people; for it is probable also that all the Jews, who were to be led into exile, were brought there too, and that they were there mustered, that none might escape, for they would have slipped off here and there, had they not been delivered to guards. When, therefore, all the captives were there, Nebuzaradan ordered Jeremiah to be brought forth, not for the sake of degrading him, for, as we have seen, the king had been solicitous about his life; and no doubt this coutier wished to gratify his king in every way: but it was, on the contrary, for the purpose of an indirect reproof to all the people, as though he would honor the servant of God, who had so faithfully warned them, and for so long a time, even above forty years, and would set before them their wickedness, and also their ingratitude, for having so cruelly treated God’s servant.
This then was the reason why Nebuzaradan wished Jeremiah to come bound with chains, and to be released in the presence of all the people; it was that the Jews might at length be ashamed of their pride and impiety against God, and of their ingratitude towards the holy Prophet. Nebu-zaradan then did not treat Jeremiah reproachfully; but he brought him forth in chains, that he might publicly expose the wickedness of the whole nation.
He says, that an option was given him by Nebuzaradan; so that if he wished, he might remain in his own country, and choose the best place for himself, and the situation which was most agreeable to him; but if he chose rather to go to Babylon, there he might go. This, certainly, was a liberal offer. The Prophet was not only freed from prison and loosed from His chains; but liberty was so given him, that he alone was free, while the whole nation was reduced to bondage. For they who remained had no liberty to go elsewhere. But Nebuzaradan gave here a free option to Jere-mime, so that he was at liberty either to live in Chaldea, or to remain in any place he wished, or in any part of the earth.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.A purely historical chapter, of events following the citys ruin. It records the out-gleaming of a ray of hope upon the appalling gloom which had befallen the land, in the appointment of Gedaliah as its governor; and also its quick extinction in the conspiracy of Ishmael, a prince of the royal family (chap. Jer. 40:1).
Personal Allusions.Jer. 40:5. Gedaliah (vide note on chap. Jer. 39:14).
Jer. 40:8. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. The most conspicuous of a band of well-known chiefs, who during the siege had fled across the Jordan. Here he had become closely leagued with Baalis, king of Ammon (Josephus, Antiq. x. 9, 2). Prompted by Baalis (Jer. 40:14), and coveting Gedaliahs place and power, be plotted Gedaliahs assassination.
Johanan and Jonathan: Jewish chiefs and brothers. Johanan warned Gedaliah of Ishmaels treachery, and subsequently pursued the assassin (chap. Jer. 41:13, &c.)
Geographical References.Jer. 40:6. Mizpah. Asa had fortified it as an outpost of his capital against the northern kingdom (chap Jer. 41:9; 2Ch. 16:6). A ridge north-east of Jerusalem, and immediately overlooking the city.
Jer. 40:8. The Netophathite. Netophah, a village near Bethlehem (1Ch. 2:54).
Literary Criticisms.Jer. 40:5. Now while he was not yet gone backEwalds correction of the Hebrew text, substituting for ; And as he yet answered nothing: or, Before he made any reply (Henderson).
Jer. 40:10. To serve the Chaldeans, , to stand before the Chaldeans, i.e. to act as their representative, to negotiate with them.
Ver., 14. Slay thee: lit. strike thee in the soul, i.e. a deadly stroke.
SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 40
Section
Jer. 40:1-6.
Jeremiahs release and patriotism.
Section
Jer. 40:7-16.
Gedaliahs elevation and peril.
Jer. 40:1-6. JEREMIAHS RELEASE AND PATRIOTISM
(See on previous chapter, Kindness shown to the Lords Prophet.)
Jer. 40:1. Theme: THE CHRISTIAN IN THE TUMULT OF THE WORLD.
(i.) He is regarded externally like others. Treated as a captive. Carried away with the exiles to Ramah.
(ii.) Watched over by God with especial care; so that he is unharmed; kindly dealt with; his worth recognised and rewarded.
(iii.) Directs all his efforts to the welfare of Gods kingdom. His concern being to preserve Gods honour, to vindicate His righteousness, and to be useful to his own people.
From this patriotic purpose, neither the violence nor the friendliness of the world can turn him aside. (Comp. Naegelsbach in Lange.)
Jer. 40:2-3. Theme: GOD RECOGNISED IN HIS JUDGMENTS. And this by a heathen! Thus God makes the very heathen testify for Him against His rebellious people. Out of even great and terrible calamities, such as Jerusalems overthrow, good is brought; this heathen captains eyes are opened to Divine truths.
His hopeful progress towards conversion
(i.) He acknowledges Jehovah as God (Jer. 40:2).
(ii.) That the Lord foresees future events (Jer. 40:2).
(iii.) That it is in His name that Gods servants speak (Jer. 40:2), and pronounce upon future events.
(iv.) He recognises the Divine Hand in judgments (Jer. 40:3). No claiming that the Chaldeans had wrought the overthrow; no! The Lord, &c.
(v.) Traces calamities to their cause: the moral degeneracy and spiritual apostasy of the people (Jer. 40:3).
(vi.) Declares that disobedience to God brings doom (Jer. 40:3).
Jer. 40:4. Theme: GODS HIDDEN HAND IN HUMAN KINDNESS.
I. Benefactors are Gods benefactions. They come from Him, at the right moment, to supply our pressing wants.
II. Unconscious agencies of Divine kindness. This captain knew not that he worked out Gods designs and administered Gods mercies.
III. Gods disguised Hand. He conceals Himself in His works; there is a hiding of His power
In Nature. Stored out of sight in flowers, fruits, delights of creation.
In Providence. Men are Thy hand. He works through them. For He uses His creatures as channels of His help.
In Grace. Light and peace come into human souls through human words; from sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, &c. Yet all grace is Gods gift.
Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights.
Jer. 40:5-6. Theme: A PATRIOTIC CHOICE.
I. Contrasted offers.
1. Of location. In Babylonia, honour and comfort; in Judea, sadness and privation.
2. Of service. In Babylonia, among the noblest of his countrymen, and in the favour of royalty; in Judea, amid the poor and rabble.
II. A difficult choice. Hence his faltering a moment (Jer. 40:5).
1. A heart drawn in opposite directions: in pity towards his exiled people; in love for his dear but dishonoured land.
2. In perplexity concerning Gods will. Not easy to see where he could best serve God; not clear as to Gods purpose.
III. A patriotic decision.
1. Thus he disproved his sympathy with the Chaldeans, notwithstanding his advice to his countrymen to surrender to them. For his counsel had proceeded from purest love to his fatherland.
2. Thus he proved his devotion to his suffering people, imitating Moses (Heb. 11:25).
3. Thus he kept alive Gods word amid a despondent remnant. In Babylon the exiles had Ezekiel and Daniel; but had he gone, these scattered remnants would have been as sheep having no shepherd. In all this he looked not on his own things, but also on the things of others.
Jer. 40:7-16. GEDALIAHS EXALTATION AND PERIL
I. Integrity rewarded (Jer. 40:5). His faithfulness to Chaldea had arisen from the consciousness that God willed it so. His obedience to duty won him human confidence and high exaltation.
II. A renewal of hope (Jer. 40:13). Under Gedaliahs wise administration the desolation might have been in part repaired. God gives to the downcast agleam of hope (Jer. 40:9-11). It is well to make the best of our misfortunes, and wisely accept the facts of Providence (Jer. 40:10).
III. Treachery in ambush.
1. Envy covets what it has no right to claim.
2. A generous nature finds it difficult to be suspicious (Jer. 40:14).
3. It is a mystery in Gods Providence that He suffers the righteous to act unwisely, and thus fall into the hands of malignant and envious men (Jer. 40:16). But an explanation is indicated in Isa. 57:1.
Comments
Those who are of a pious disposition cannot believe so much evil as is told of people. But we must not trust too much, for the world is full of falseness (Wis. 11:22). He who believes too easily will be often deceived; and he who believes no one is also deceived. Therefore is he the happy man who can preserve the golden mean.Cramer.
Gedaliah seems to have been of our Queen Elizabeths temper, who was heard to declare that she could believe nothing of her people which mothers could not believe of their children.Trapp.
Gedaliah thought that Ishmael durst not attempt anything against him because of the Babylonians; besides he knew his own innocency; and he believed in Ishmaels pretended familiarity with him, which, he might think, other captains envied. Sure it is that good Gedaliah was too secure. Nam qui omnia credit, et qui nihil credit, ex quo peccat (Seneca). It is no less a fault to believe nothing than to believe everything. Reports are to be neither over-heeded nor overslighted, especially when life is concerned.Trapp.
GENERAL REFLECTIONS: ISRAELS MISFORTUNES TYPICAL OF HUMAN LIFE
This overthrow of the people has its analogies:
I. The deportation of the whole people in chains and fetters is a type of our universal human misery, from which no one (not even Jeremiah) is free.
II. The fate of Gedaliah and the journey to Egypt is a type of the insufficiency of all human help.
III. As the Jews after Gedaliahs murder, so men at all times find protection and deliverance in the Lord alone.Naegelsbach.
Misfortune is like the waves of the sea: when one is broken another follows, and the end of one trouble is the beginning of another.Cramer.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TRAGEDY BEYOND TRAGEDY
Jer. 40:1 to Jer. 45:5
Chapters 4044 are a continuation of the narrative begun in chapter 37 which was interrupted briefly by the oracle to Ebed-melech in Jer. 39:15-18. The events take place in two geographical areasJudah (Jer. 40:1 to Jer. 43:7) and Egypt (Jer. 43:8 to Jer. 44:30). Chapter 45 serves as an appendix to the entire second division of the Book of Jeremiah (chapters 2645).
The introductory formula at the beginning of Jer. 40:1 would lead one to expect a prophetic utterance to follow. The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord. As a matter of fact no oracle or prophecy occurs until Jer. 42:9. Some suppose that a prophetic word or prophecy originally followed this introduction and that it has been lost or removed to some other part of the book.[338] Others think that the word includes all the revelations given at various times during the critical period pictured in chapters 4044.[339] Probably, however, the expression the word should be taken in a wider sense, including history as well as prophecy.[340]
[338] Cheyne, op. cit., II, 156.
[339] Laetsch. op. cit. p. 302.
[340] Streane. op. cit., p. 261.
I. EVENTS IN JUDAH Jer. 40:1 to Jer. 43:7
The events in Judah following the fall of Jerusalem center around the Babylonian appointed Gedaliah, his administration (Jer. 40:1-12), his assassination (Jer. 40:13 to Jer. 41:16) and the aftermath of his death (Jer. 41:17 to Jer. 43:7). This section contains biographical narrative[341] (Jer. 40:1 to Jer. 42:6; Jer. 43:1-7) and one prose sermon (Jer. 42:7-22).
[341] With the exception of Jer. 40:1-6, a brief account of the release of Jeremiah, the life of the prophet is not mentioned in chapters 40 or 41. The term biographical narrative is still appropriate however in that these chapters are the necessary transition to the last chapter of the prophets life, his forced immigration to Egypt.
A. The Preferential Treatment of Jer. 40:1-6
TRANSLATION
(1) The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound with chains in the midst of all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being deported to Babylon. (2) And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said unto him, the LORD your God spoke all this evil against this place; (3) and the LORD has brought about and accomplished all that He spoke. Because you have sinned against the LORD and you have not obeyed His voice, this thing has happened to you. And now behold, I have set you free this day from the chains which are upon your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you; but if in your opinion it is not good for you to come to Babylon, then do not come. See, all the land is before you. Go wherever you think it good and proper to go. (5) When he did not turn away, he added, Or return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah and dwell with him in the midst of the people, or go wherever you think is proper to go. So the commander of the guard gave him provisions, and a present, and released him. (6) And Jeremiah went unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah and dwelled with him in the midst of the people who remained in the land.
COMMENTS
In chapter 39 Jeremiah was freed from prison and committed to the care of Gedaliah. He was taken to his home where he must have remained for some time. Evidently while mingling with the people, Jeremiah was picked up by Babylonian soldiers under orders to fetter the Jews and prepare them for deportation. Perhaps Gedaliah was away from Jerusalem on business for Nebuchadnezzar at the time. In the absence of his protector Jeremiah did not receive any special favor from the soldiers who were in charge of the deportation. When Jerusalem was put to the torch the captives Were removed to Ramah which appears to have been the processing point for deportation to Babylon (Jer. 40:1).
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the occupational forces, found Jeremiah among the captives in Ramah. He quickly and apologetically removed the chains from the wrists of the prophet. How embarrassed Nebuzaradan must have been to discover that Jeremiah had been subjected to the indignities of being a captive when Nebuchadnezzar had expressly given orders that he be treated with kindness. This seems to be the first face to face meeting between Jeremiah and this powerful general. Nebuzaradan must have been quite accurately informed about the preaching of Jeremiah. He certainly speaks the very language of the prophet in Jer. 40:2-3. Most commentators regard these two verses as later insertion by some pious reader. A heathen could never have spoken in this manner! But is it not possible that this heathen might have heard of the predictions of Jeremiah? Perhaps he was impressed with the way in which these predictions had been so accurately fulfilled. It is, of course, possible that Jeremiah is merely paraphrasing the words of Nebuzaradan and putting his thoughts into language that would be meaningful to an Israelite. At any rate there are several other examples in Scripture of amazingly perceptive language attributed to heathen leaders.[342]
[342] As for example the edicts of Cyrus (Ezr. 1:3-4) and Darius (Ezr. 6:1-12), of Huram of Tyre (2Ch. 2:11-12); Pharaoh Necho at the battle of Megiddo (2Ch. 35:21) and Rabshakehs boast outside the walk of Jerusalem (2Ki. 18:25).
Upon freeing Jeremiah, Nebuzaradan allows the prophet to choose his own course of action. He may either go to Babylon with the other captives or remain in the homeland with the remnant of the people. If he should choose the former alternative, Nebuzaradan promises to personally see to his welfare. NOW while he was not yet gone back, i.e., while he was still in the process of making up his mind, Nebuzaradan suggested that if he should choose to remain in the homeland he should join Gedaliah the newly appointed governor. Jeremiah chose to cast his lot with the humble people who remained in the land. Like Moses before him, he chose to suffer ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the prestige and pleasure of a royal court. So Jeremiah was given a supply of food, a present of some kind, and then was sent on his way. The prophet elected to follow the advice of Nebuzaradan and join Gedaliah who had set up his headquarters at Mizpah.
Mizpah is generally identified with Tell en-Nasbeh, seven miles north of Jerusalem on the main road to Shechem. This town had played an important role in the history of Israel. Here Samuel led the nation in a great revival (1Sa. 7:5); Saul was publicly named king of Israel (1Sa. 10:17). Excavations have revealed no signs of a destruction of Mizpah in the sixth century B.C. It may be that Mizpah opened its gates to the Babylonians and as a result was made an administrative center by the conquerors.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XL.
(1) The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.It is noticeable that this introduction is not followed by any specific utterance of prophecy until we come to Jer. 42:7. It is a natural conclusion that it stands as a kind of heading to the section of the collected prophecies subsequent to the capture of the city.
Had let him go from Ramah.The town so named was in the tribe of Benjamin (Jos. 18:25), about six miles from Jerusalem, and retains its old name in the form Er-Ram. It was used on this occasion as a depot for the prisoners who were brought to it from Jerusalem, to await the orders of Nebuzaradan as to their ultimate disposal. The captain of the guard and the prophet had apparently not met before, and the latter had been brought in chains (literally, manacles, chains fastened to the wrists, Jer. 40:4), like the other captives.
(24) The Lord thy God . . .It is significant that the Chaldan general speaks as if recognising Jehovah as the God of Israel, and the prophets mission from Him. Such a recognition did not, however, imply more than the belief of the polytheist, that each nation had its own guardian deity. We find language of a like kind, though spoken with a tone of sarcasm, coming even from the lips of Rab-shakeh (2Ki. 18:25). As a prophet, however, Jeremiah is treated with marked respectin part, perhaps, due to the policy he had advocated; in part, possibly, to the influence of men like Daniel and his friends at Babylonand offered the option of going, with the promise of honourable treatment. to that city, from which, however, it is assumed, that he would not return, or remaining in Judaea, to go where he will. The prophet obviously chooses the second alternative, but before he acts on it another plan occurs to Nebuzar-adan.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE RELEASE OF Jeremiah , vv1-5.
1. The word which came A general caption covering the four following chapters. This section is not all prophecy, but contains also the related history. Ramah is about five miles north from Jerusalem. On the release of Jeremiah here, see notes on the preceding chapter.
Chains The marginal reading, manacles, gives the precise sense.
Captive unto Babylon The poor had been left, and the persons of consequence were gathered at Ramah to be carried away. The fact that Jeremiah was among them indicates that he was a person of some distinction.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Deliverance Of Jeremiah And The Temporary Restoration Of Judah ( Jer 40:1-6 ).
The passage and section opens with the now familiar ‘the word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH —’ (compare and contrast Jer 44:1; Jer 45:1), a phrase which always indicates the opening of a new aspect of his prophecy and is one of the crucial indicators in dividing up the Book of Jeremiah. The passage describes again the release of Jeremiah (compare Jer 39:11-14) who is released into the care of Gedaliah, the newly appointed Governor of Judah.
At first sight Jer 39:14 may appear to contradict the description found in Jer 40:1-5, but one probable explanation is to be found in the fact that in the first aftermath of the siege when the city was taken, Jeremiah was carried off in chains to Riblah along with the many other captives, only to be released when he was recognised by Nebuzaradan who had received direct orders concerning him from Nebuchadrezzar. As a consequence he was then conveyed back in honour to the court of the guard in Jerusalem where he was housed in luxury for his own safety until it was finally safe for him to join Gedaliah the new governor in the area where the new government was being established.
For Nebuzaradan to recognise him in Jer 40:1 might mean that at that stage Nebuzaradan had not yet set off for Jerusalem, although the account is too summarised to be sure. However, the fact that Nebuzaradan then knew where Jeremiah was would serve to confirm that he had had a hand in looking after his welfare, having had him conveyed back to Jerusalem to the safety of the court of the guard in the grounds of the king’s palace which was no doubt being used as a headquarters by the Babylonians.
Alternatively it could be that in the turbulent days after the ending of the siege Jeremiah was released but was once again arrested by a Babylonian contingent who did not realise who he was, with the result that he had to be ‘rescued’ a second time once Nebuzaradan arrived back from Jerusalem. Nebuchadrezzar having given specific orders concerning his safety, great care would have been taken to search him out and ensure it.
Another alternative is to see 39. 14 as just a very summarised explanation as to how Jeremiah was released from the court of the guard, with all the detail between his release (by being taken in chains to Ramah) and his handing over to Gedaliah being omitted. Much had been made of his being in the court of the guard (Jer 32:2; Jer 32:8; Jer 32:12; Jer 33:1; Jer 37:21; Jer 38:6; Jer 38:13; Jer 38:28; Jer 39:14-15), and thus his deliverance from it with a happy ending could be seen as a necessary conclusion to the passage, the trauma in between as described in chapter 40 being ignored.
Jer 40:1
‘The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him there being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.’
‘The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH –.’ As we have seen this is an important introductory phrase often indicating the commencement of a new section. Compare Jer 7:1; Jer 11:1; Jer 14:1; Jer 18:1; Jer 21:1; Jer 30:1; Jer 32:1; Jer 34:8; Jer 35:1; In this case it is introductory to chapters 40-45, and it will be noted that no prophecy of Jeremiah immediately follows in chapter 40. The phrase therefore rather has in mind the prophecies of Jeremiah contained within the whole section, placed within an historical framework, and indicates the theological nature of what is being presented.
‘After Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah’. Nebuzaradan, commander of Nebuchadrezzar’s own bodyguard, had been given a specific charge by Nebuchadrezzar to look after Jeremiah’s welfare (Jer 39:11-12). We do not know at what point Nebuzaradan went to Jerusalem after the successful taking of the city, which as we saw in Jer 39:3 was accomplished by others. Thus what may well have happened was that Nebuzaradan released Jeremiah from Ramah into the care of those responsible for the court of the guard in Jerusalem (Jer 39:14), so as to ensure his safety during the dangerous days following the ending of the siege, both from Babylonian soldiery seeking out those who had gone into hiding, and from many angry Jews who may have been considering taking revenge on him, this occurring prior to his then being released by Nebuzaradan into the hands of Gedaliah the new governor once it was safe to do so. Here what happened is simply put in very summarised form.
‘When he had taken him there being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.’ Nebuzaradan had been given overall responsibility for dealing with the matter of carrying off the people of Jerusalem and Judah into exile (Jer 39:9) and the subsequent settlement of affairs in the land (Jer 39:10). He would not, however, have been directly and personally involved in the gathering of the captives, which would have been in the hands of the initial invaders, who would have shown little discrimination. The sorting out could be done at Ramah. Thus Jeremiah shared the ignominy of being taken in chains to Ramah along with all the other captives, something which he would not have fought against. He would want to be identified with his people. Whether Nebuzaradan went at this stage to Jerusalem in person we do not know. He may well have remained with Nebuchadrezzar in Ramah, his activities as described being carried out by deputies on his orders. Ramah was in the territory of Benjamin, six miles north of Jerusalem. It has been identified with modern Er-ram but the identification is not certain.
Jer 40:2
‘And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, YHWH your God pronounced this evil on this place,”
These verses are central to Jeremiah’s theology. They explain what was otherwise totally beyond understanding, and that was as to why YHWH had allowed His own Temple to be destroyed, and His own holy city to be vandalised. It was important for all to see that rather than indicating YHWH’s powerlessness, it indicated both His control over the activities of Babylon and His determination to judge His people for their wrongdoing. It will then be revealed that had they been willing He would have enabled the remnants of the people to re-establish a new Judah.
In the eyes of Nebuchadrezzar’s guard commander YHWH was the local God of Judah Who had determined to punish His own people. While no doubt crediting the victory to the gods of Babylon he still had no problem with seeing the local God as also involved, and as having pronounced evil against Jerusalem (compare the words of Rabshakeh the Assyrian high official in 2Ki 18:25). He would be well aware from Babylonian spies that Jeremiah had been declaring the same thing, the difference being that Jeremiah saw Him as God of all the earth. But to the reader the important thing was that Babylon’s own representative was acknowledging that YHWH had not failed, but was rather bringing about His purposes. From an historical point of view Nebuzaradan was undoubtedly speaking to Jeremiah in a friendly way in terms which he knew from what he had learned from his own spies that Jeremiah would use.
Jer 40:3
“And YHWH has brought it, and done according to what he spoke, because you have sinned against YHWH, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come on you.”
It is quite probable that Nebuzaradan was here in fact citing words of Jeremiah which had been reported to him by his spies, to the effect that disaster had come on Jerusalem, brought on them by their own God YHWH, because of their failure to honour Him truly and fulfil His covenant requirements. He spoke better than he knew. Here was testimony from a leading figure in Babylon to the might and power of YHWH, besides Whom, in Jeremiah’s eyes, the gods of Babylon were as nothing.
Jer 40:4
“And now, behold, I loose you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seem good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well to you, but if it seem ill to you to come with me into Babylon, forbear. Behold, all the land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you to go, there go.”
Jeremiah was here receiving the favoured treatment commanded by Nebuchadrezzar himself in Jer 39:11 ff. This was probably because Jeremiah was seen, as a result of his urgings to the king of Judah to submit to Babylon, as a loyal supporter of Nebuchadrezzar. Thus on his being searched out by Nebuzaradan in fulfilment of Nebuchadrezzar’s command he was released from his manacles. He was then given the choice of either going to Babylon where he would be rewarded for his supposed loyalty, or of remaining in the land and settling wherever he wished, presumably with the idea that land would be given to him there. It is clear that Jeremiah made the choice to remain in Judah.
Jer 40:5
‘Now while he was not yet gone back, (Nebuzaradan said to him) “Go back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a present, and let him go.’
Chapter 39 brings out that this is a very telescoped account of the treatment of Jeremiah. There we learn that initially Jeremiah was returned to the court of the guard in Jerusalem. This would probably have been for his own safety at a time when there were still highly dangerous patriots about, and when the Babylonian soldiery were still seeking out hidden refugees in order to carry them off to Ramah, and then to Babylon. It was then from the court of the guard in the palace grounds (no doubt the Babylonian headquarters) that he was subsequently put under Gedaliah’s care, a detail ignored here in Jer 40:5.
Jeremiah was now given one of two alternatives, either to put himself under the protection of Gedaliah, the newly appointed governor of Judah, or alternately to settle wherever he wished, presumably with land grants. He may well have been given documents granting this permission. On release he was then provided with sufficient victuals to keep him going for the near future, and ‘a present’, presumably in recognition of his supposed loyalty to the king of Babylon. In other words wealth was piled on him, and he was given his full freedom, evidence that for those who were obedient to YHWH, YHWH’s influence was sufficient to ensure their provisioning.
‘Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah.’ The description of Gedaliah as ‘Governor of the cities of Judah’ emphasises that Jerusalem was no longer to be seen as having any political or theological significance. It was now Gedaliah who ruled from elsewhere, from Mizpah. He may well be the Gedaliah whose name is found on a seal discovered at Lachish speaking of ‘Gedaliah who was over the house’, that is, was the king’s representative there. He was thus a person of acknowledged authority, and may well have found favour with Nebuchadrezzar because of his reported friendliness towards Jeremiah. His antecedents also indicate his aristocratic background, emphasising that he was a man of recognised authority in Judah. Both Shaphan and Ahikam (Jer 26:24) had been loyal servants of the kings of Judah. Gedaliah came from godly stock, his father having protected Jeremiah in earlier days as described in Jer 26:24.
Jer 40:6
‘Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.’
So Jeremiah heeded the advice of Nebuzaradan and went to the new governor at Mizpah and dwelt securely with him, alongside those who were left in the land. The following verses will give us details of some of these. He clearly recognised a pastoral responsibility for them. We must not think, however, that otherwise Judah was totally unpopulated. The poor of the land, who would be quite numerous, were settled in it by Nebuzaradan (Jer 39:10) and people who had fled to the mountains during the invasion, or who had fled abroad, would now filter back into the land to reclaim at a minimum their own inheritances. However, the fact that the population had been greatly reduced comes out in that it is stated later that the harvest of summer fruit and wine would be abundantly sufficient for all now living in Judah.
‘Mizpah’, which means ‘watchtower’, was the name given to a number of cities in Judah and Israel. This was probably the well known Mizpah in Benjamin (Jos 18:25-26; 1Sa 7:5-13; 1Sa 10:17-25). It was not far from Gibeah of Saul (Isa 10:29; Jdg 19:13), but its identity is uncertain (as with so many identifications).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
SECTION 2 ( Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 ).
Whilst the first twenty five chapters of Jeremiah have mainly been a record of his general prophecies, mostly given during the reigns of Josiah and Jehoiakim, and have been in the first person, this second section of Jeremiah (Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5) is in the third person, includes a great deal of material about the problems that Jeremiah faced during his ministry and provides information about the opposition that he continually encountered. This use of the third person was a device regularly used by prophets so that it does not necessarily indicate that it was not directly the work of Jeremiah, although in his case we actually have good reason to think that much of it was recorded under his guidance by his amanuensis and friend, Baruch (Jer 36:4).
It can be divided up as follows:
1. Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of What Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets (Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32).
2. Promises Are Given Of Eventual Restoration And Of A New Covenant Written In The Heart (Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26).
3. YHWH’s Continuing Word of Judgment Is Given Through Jeremiah And Its Repercussions Leading Up To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Revealed (Jer 34:1 to Jer 39:18).
4. Events Subsequent To The Fall Of Jerusalem (Jer 40:1 to Jer 45:5).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Commencement Of Judah’s Restoration Is Thwarted By The Assassination Of Gedaliah The Governor And By The Refusal Of The People To Listen To Jeremiah As They Take Refuge In Egypt ( Jer 40:1 to Jer 43:13 ).
This deals with ‘the word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH’ after he had been delivered from his manacles by Nebuzaradan. It opens with the historical background to this prophecy in which Gedaliah, Nebuchadrezzar’s appointed Governor, commences the re-establishment of Judah in the land (40), and is then assassinated (Jer 41:1-10), resulting in the decision by the people of Judah to seek refuge from Nebuchadrezzar’s revenge in Egypt (Jer 41:11-18). However, prior to doing so they consult Jeremiah who gives them ‘the word of YHWH’ that they are to remain in the land under His protection (42).
But as always Judah choose to disobey YHWH and do seek refuge in Egypt, with the consequence that Jeremiah vividly prophecies that Nebuchadrezzar’s retribution will overtake them there (43).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
SECTION 2 ( Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 continued).
As we have previously seen this Section of Jeremiah from Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 divides up into four main subsections, which are as follows:
1. Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of The Anguish That Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets (Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32).
2. Following On After The Anguish To Come Promises Are Given Of Eventual Restoration, Central To Which is A New Covenant Written In The Heart And The Establishment Of A Shoot (Branch) Of David On His Throne (Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26).
3. YHWH’s Continuing Word of Judgment Is Given Through Jeremiah, The Continuing Disobedience Of The People Is Brought Out, And Jeremiah’s Resulting Experiences Leading Up To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Revealed (Jer 34:1 to Jer 39:18).
4. Events Subsequent To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Described Including The Rejection By The Remnant Of Judah Of YHWH’s Offer Of Full Restoration (Jer 40:1 to Jer 45:5).
We have already commented on Subsections 1 in Jeremiah 4; subsection 2 in Jeremiah 5; and subsection 3 in Jeremiah 6. We must now therefore consider subsection 4 here. This subsection deals with various experiences of Jeremiah amidst what remained of Judah after the fall of Jerusalem.
SECTION 2. Subsection 4). Events Subsequent To The Fall Of Jerusalem, Including The Rejection By The Remnant Of Judah Of YHWH’s Offer Of Full Restoration, Resulting In Further Judgment On God’s Recalcitrant People ( Jer 40:1 to Jer 45:5 ).
Within this subsection, which opens with the familiar words ‘the word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ (which in this case indicates that the section as a whole which follows contains prophecies of Jeremiah which are put into an historical framework, for what immediately follows is historical narrative), we have described events subsequent to the fall of Jerusalem:
‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –.’ The appointment of Gedaliah as governor of Judah and his attempt, along with Jeremiah, to re-establish it as a viable state (Jer 40:1-16).
Gedaliah’s assassination by a recalcitrant prince of Judah, who himself then had to flee to Ammon, resulting in the feeling among many who had been re-established in Judah that it would be necessary to take refuge in Egypt (Jer 41:1-18).
The people promise obedience to YHWH and are assured by Jeremiah that if they remain in Judah and are faithful to Him YHWH will ensure that they prosper, whereas if they depart for Egypt it can only result in disaster (Jer 42:1-22).
Jeremiah’s protestations are rejected by the Judeans who take refuge in Egypt and are warned by Jeremiah that soon Nebuchadrezzar would successfully invade Egypt itself (Jer 43:1-13).
‘The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt –.’ Having settled in Egypt the people return to idolatry, rejecting Jeremiah’s warnings of the consequences, and are assured by him that they will suffer as Jerusalem has suffered, with only a remnant being able to return to Judah (Jer 44:1-30).
‘’The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah –.’ YHWH’s assurance given to the faithful Baruch in the days of Jehoiakim that He would be with him, come what may (Jer 45:1-5).
It will be noted that the markers given by the author actually divide the subsection into three parts, Jer 40:1 to Jer 43:13, Jer 44:1-30 and Jer 45:1-5. Thus ‘the word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH –’ is a phrase which covers the whole of Jer 40:1 to Jer 43:13, with Jer 40:1 b-42:6 being the necessary historical introduction to the actual ‘word from YHWH’ given in Jer 42:7 onwards. The importance of this word is emphasised by the ten day wait. (In comparison with this incorporation of a prophecy within an historical framework we should note how constantly in Genesis covenants and words from YHWH were regularly put within an historical framework).
The main purpose of this section is in order to establish:
1. that what has happened to Judah and Jerusalem was YHWH’s own doing, as verified even by Nebuchadrezzar’s imperial guard commander.
2. that nevertheless YHWH had not totally forsaken His people but would re-establish them if they looked to Him and were obedient,
3. that their future success depended on that obedience, an obedience which proved to be lacking.
It is difficult for us to realise quite what a crushing blow the destruction of Jerusalem would have been to Jewry worldwide. All their pet beliefs had been brought crashing down. Whilst many were in exile far away from their homeland they had gained confidence from the fact that the Temple still stood and that the covenant worship still continued. But now the idea of the inviolability of the Temple had proved invalid, Jerusalem had been destroyed, and the very power of YHWH was being called into question. Could therefore now any trust be placed in YHWH? It was therefore necessary in this regard that it be emphasised by Jeremiah that it was not YHWH Who had failed, but His people. He brought out that they had in fact brought their devastation on themselves. The new beginning that he had promised could only arise out of the ashes of the old, because the old had been distorted beyond all recognition. His words would be a bedrock on which their new ideas about YHWH could be fashioned.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jeremiah Set Free
v. 1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, v. 2. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said unto him, The Lord, thy God, hath pronounced this evil upon this place, v. 3. Now, the Lord hath brought it, v. 4. And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand, v. 5. Now, while he was not yet gone back, v. 6. Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
The first of a series of chapters (40-45.) describing Jeremiah’s fortunes and ministry after the fall of Jerusalem.
Jer 40:1-6
The liberation of Jeremiah.
Jer 40:1
The word that came to Jeremiah. The formula seems to announce a prophecy; but no prophecy follows. It is not allowable to suppose, with Keil and others, that “the word” describes the entire body of prophetic utterance in ch. 40-45 (in spite of the fact that Jer 44:1-30. and 45. have special headings). The use would be unexampled; and a prologue of forty verses (see Jer 42:7) is equally contrary to prophetic analogy. Apparently the “word,” or prophecy, which originally followed the heading has been lost or removed to some other place. Had let him go from Ramah. Here is an apparent discrepancy with the account in Jer 39:14. The brevity of the latter seems to account for it. No doubt the more precise statement in our passage is to be followed. After the capture of the city, a number of captives, including Jeremiah, were probably conducted to Ramah (see on Jer 31:15), where they had to wait for the royal decision as to their fate. Jeremiah, however, had already been in custody in the “court of the watch,” and the writer of Jer 29:14 simply omits the second stage of his captivity (Keil). In chains. See Jer 29:4, “The chains which were upon thine hand.”
Jer 40:3
The Lord hath brought it, etc. The colouring of the speech is that of a Jewish prophet (comp. Isa 36:10).
Jer 40:5
Now while he was not yet, etc. This rendering, however, seems against the Hebrew usage. Two renderings are open to us.
1. “But since one returneth not from Babylon, then go back to Gedaliah,” etc.; so Hitzig.
2. Taking Jer 40:5 as a continuation of “but if it seemeth ill to thee,” etc; “forbear” (in Jer 40:4), and, supplying, “I have spoken the word,” continue, “and it shall not be reversed; yea, go back;” so Graf, regarding the passage as an explanation of the permission to “forbear.” A reward; rather, a present.
Jer 40:6
To Mizpah. A place in the tribe of Benjamin, where Samuel judged, and where Saul was elected king (1Sa 7:15, 1Sa 7:16; 1Sa 10:17).
Jer 40:7-12
The Jewish fugitives resort to Gedaliah, who promises them protection as long as they are loyal to Babylon.
Jer 40:7
In the fields; rather, in the field; i.e. in the open country, as opposed to the towns. Men, and women, and children. Old and worn out men, helpless widows, and fatherless children. Royal princesses were among them (Jer 41:10).
Jer 40:8
Jonathan. This name is omitted in the parallel passage (2Ki 25:23), and by the Septuagint here. It may, of course, be a corruption of Johanan, as Ewald supposes. If so, we must read “son” for “sons,” with Septuagint. The Netophathite. Netophah was in the neighbourhood of Benjamin. The son of a Maachathite; rather, the Maachathite. Maachah was a Syrian district in the neighbourhood of Hermon (Deu 3:14; Jos 12:5). Jezaniah was, therefore, a naturalized foreigner, like Doeg the Edomite (Hitzig).
Jer 40:10
To serve the Chaldeans; rather, to stand before the Chaldeans (so literally); i.e. to mediate between you and them (comp. Jer 15:1). Gather ye wine, etc. It was the fifth or sixth month (comp. Jer 41:1; 2Ki 25:8), the end of July or the beginning of August, when grapes, figs, and olives become ripe. Observe, “wine” is here the wine in the grape; the Hebrew yayin seems originally to have meant a cluster of grapes, like the corresponding word (wain) in Arabic (comp. on Jer 48:33). That ye have taken; rather, that ye shall have taken. (The “captains” had up to this time been in the open country, Jer 40:7.)
Jer 40:13-16
Gedaliah receives a warning of a plot against his life.
Jer 40:14
Baalis the king of the Ammonites. Perhaps the same king referred to in Jer 27:3 as seeking alliance with Zedekiah. He was naturally opposed to the Babylonian official, Gedaliah. Hath sent Ishmael. Ishmael was connected with the royal family (Jer 41:1), and was probably jealous of Gedaliah.
HOMILETICS
Jer 40:1-5
Jeremiah’s release.
I. THE INNOCENT OFTEN SUFFER WITH THE GUILTY. It would seem that orders had been given in Jerusalem for the liberation of the prophet (Jer 39:11-14), but that, in the confusion of the sack of the city, inferior officers had led off Jeremiah in chains with the rest of the captives. Thus he shared the indignities and hardships of companions who deserved a fate from which his innocence should have saved him. It is part of the discipline of life that we should suffer one with another. Amongst men justice is irregular; ignorance and mistakes often result in unintentional cruelty. Men are dealt with in masses, and the individual must suffer with the multitude.
II. JUSTICE WILL BE ULTIMATELY EFFECTED. Jeremiah is discovered at Ramah, and the mistake rectified. This does not always happen so soon. It is sad to think that, even with our enlightened system of justice, there may be innocent men suffering long years of penal servitude in convict establishments, without a chance of clearing their character this side the grave. How much more often must such mistakes occur in more barbarous countries! But it is a consolation for all who are unjustly treated to know that this is but one of the trials of life, overruled to work wholesome discipline, and is but transitory. Ultimately God will visit each man individually with strict fairness and no possibility of error. There were mistakes made in the sack of Jerusalem; there will be none in the judgment of all men at the end of the world. All will be judged, but in the vast crowd of cases there can then be no error, for “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
III. A RECOGNITION OF THE JUSTICE OF GOD TENDS TO MAKE MEN MORE JUST. The captain of the guard had given sufficient attention to the teaching of Jeremiah to see that the destruction of Jerusalem was predicted by him as a punishment for the sins of the Jews. It may appear hypocritical for one of the soldiers, who had been engaged in the cruel carnage, to reflect piously on the Divine justice of the fate of his victims. But is it not quite possible that the impressive words of an inspired prophetof which his own are evidently a literal repetitionmay have led to his sincere adoption of this view? Alaric seemed to have honestly believed in his mission as a scourge of God. Might not some such idea have taken possesssion of Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers, if only as an after thought? Then it would raise their minds to the sense of the obligations of justice.
IV. LIBERTY IS ONE OF THE FIRST OF EARTHLY BLESSINGS. This is now accorded to Jeremiah. Like health and wealth, it is not appreciated till it is lost. We who enjoy it, however, should remember to be more grateful, and to fulfil our noble mission of carrying it to others who are yet languishing under tyranny or in slavery. One of the first promises of the gospel is the gift of liberty to captives (Isa 61:1). Physical freedom is but the smaller half of the liberty we need. We may have this and yet be slaves. Jeremiah could enjoy it to the full, because he was also possessed of that higher, glorious liberty of the sons of God.
Jer 40:6
The choice of a residence.
The captain of the guard gave to Jeremiah the choice between an honourable asylum in Babylon and a return to his own land. The prophet selected the latter course. Why did he do so? Although the circumstances of the case were peculiar, the answer to this question may throw light on some of the considerations which should guide men generally in the selection of their places of abode. Several characteristics may be noted in Jeremiah’s decision, viz.:
I. PATRIOTISM. Jeremiah had been accused of a treasonable friendship for Babylon. His conduct in deciding to remain in his native land, wrecked and deserted as it was after the war, in preference to enjoying the position of a privileged guest at Babylon, is an ample refutation of all such charges. Patriotism is more than a sense of duty, it is an affection. It does not speak much for the depth of a man’s nature that he can leave his native country without a sigh of regret. If we find it necessary to emigrate, genuine patriotism will certainly incline us to settle in one of the colonies of the British Empire rather than in a foreign country. This point should be insisted on as a duty, not merely treated as a question of sentiment.
II. CONSIDERATION FOR RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. Babylon was a heathen city. Jeremiah preferred to remain in the Holy Land. Surely the religious advantages of a neighbourhood should he taken into account as of first importance. Yet many people seem to be strangely blind to all such considerations. The soil, the scenery, the society, the convenience of the house, are duly considered; but the Church accommodation is scarcely thought of. A gravel soil is most essential; healthy religious influences are regarded as of very secondary interest. A beautiful view must be got, though the enjoyment of it means banishment from all healthy Church life. How strange that heads of families professing to be Christian should act like pagans in this matter, and care so little for the spiritual atmosphere in which their children are to be brought up!
III. THE SACRIFICE OF PERSONAL CONVENIENCE TO THE GOOD OF OTHERS. Ezekiel could minister to the captives in Babylon. Jeremiah had his work in comforting the remnant in the land of Israel. If he had consulted his own convenience, he might have accepted the offer of a safe and probably honourable position in the land of exile. But he had his work to do at home, and he stayed to do it. Such conduct is a fine example to those of us who, in choosing a place of residence, think of our own pleasure and profit rather than of the good we may do. More especially does this apply to Christian ministers. If the choice lay between easy work in a beautiful place in Devonshire, and the toil of service amid all the squalor and ugliness and wretchedness of a densely populated district in the east end of London, should we be willing to choose the harder but more useful life?
IV. CONTENTMENT AND SIMPLICITY. These are minor characteristics of the choice of Jeremiah, but they are not without their significance. Jeremiah was satisfied to stay in the old land with the poor, after the wealthy and great had been banished. To the luxuries of court life at Babylon he preferred the homely ways of the peasants of Israel. In abandoning simplicity for display and excitement, the fashion of our age drives men and women to a life that is neither healthy nor happy. Even if the outward surroundings of a quieter life are not so attractive, its true experience will give a restfulness and a satisfaction that cannot be found in the race of worldly pleasures.
Jer 40:7-12
The duties of adversity and their reward.
I. THE DUTIES.
1. Submission. We are not required to yield before avoidable troubles; but finding some to be irresistible, we are to learn the wisdom and obligation of bending to them without further demur. The captains were no cowards; they had fought and had lost. Their resistance against the inevitable was a mistake; continued resistance after defeat would have been nothing but folly. Submission is much easier when we remember that the trouble is in accordance with the will of a God who is always wise, fair, and merciful,
2. Industry. Gedaliah advised the people to set to work at their regular avocations. “But ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels,” etc. (Jer 40:10). It is difficult for a dispirited, humiliated, poverty striken people to settle down to quiet, earnest work. Nevertheless, their duty and their happiness lie in their doing so:
(1) their duty, for adversity is no excuse for indolence; and
(2) their happiness, because
(a) the fruits of their labour would be a beginning of a return to prosperity and wealth, and
(b) in the very exercise of work they would find a solace and a refreshment.
There is nothing so weak or so injurious as an idle brooding over trouble. Be up. and doing! And though the work is irksome at first, it will prove itself a great healer of distress.
II. THE REWARD.
1. A healthy influence over others. The example of the quiet condition of the remnant of Jews in their native country attracted fugitives to return from the neighbouring countries (Jer 40:11). Their action was a confirmation of the wisdom of their brethren. A man’s behaviour under great trial is keenly observed. If he do well then, he may be the means of influencing others as he can never influence them under ordinary circumstances. Thus he may find consolation for his sorrow in the enlargement of his service to his fellow men.
2. The successful issue of industry. The Jews reaped an unusually abundant grape and fruit harvest (Jer 40:12). “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” If we complain and despair under distress, we have no right to expect a happy issue out of it. But patient endurance and diligent attention to duty may make us reasonably expect brighter days in the future. Borne with these accompaniments, trouble often reveals itself as less terrible than our fears. When distress comes, we imagine that it has blighted every tree in the orchard and every grape in the vineyard, and so we neglect what consolation we might have in those fruits of patient industry which might still be given to us. Let us remember that during the sad seventy years, and even just after the horrors of the Chaldean invasion, the Jews could gather “wine and summer fruits very much.”
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Verse 18
Jer 41:4
The murder of Gedaliah; or, noble credulity.
No sooner was the new government in a fair way of being settled and prosperous, than untoward circumstances occurred. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, a connection of the royal house, inspired, perhaps, with a jealous feeling towards Gedaliah, began to plot with the King of Ammon against him. Under cover of paying his respects to the new governor, he visited him at Mizpah, and partook of his hospitality. Although warned by Johanan the son of Kareah that Ishmael entertained hostile designs against him, Gedaliah refused to credit the information, and indignantly forbade his informant carrying out his proposal to assassinate Ishmael. The latter, finding thus a clear way for his schemes, took advantage of the trustfulness of Gedaliah to accomplish his murderous purpose and to deceive his leading supporters. This done, crime followed upon crime with startling rapidity, until Jehanan overtook the miscreant at the “great waters that are in Gibeon,” and delivered the prisoners whom he was carrying off. In this tragic incident we see
I. HOW THE VIRTUE OF ONE POSITION MAY BE THE VICE OF ANOTHER. A trusting, ingenuous man like Gedaliah was out of place in more senses than one as governor of such a people. In any circumstances it is necessary that the utmost precaution should be taken with respect to the person of a ruler, as there are always evil disposed persons who may take advantage of an opportunity, and accidents and misfortunes are continually possible. The off hand openness, therefore, which is so admirable in the private citizen, upon whose life so little depends, is highly reprehensible in one occupying so responsible a position. When it is remembered that the people over whom Gedaliah ruled were wholly undisciplined, and had but recently been exposed to the most demoralizing influences, his rashness will be even more apparent. It is well when a ruler can combine the trustful ingenuousness of the private citizen with the sagacity and watchfulness his responsibilities impose upon him. Life is full of such misplaced virtues. The poor man open-handed and lavish as when he was wealthy; the rich man meanly careful as when he had everything to acquire, etc.
II. HOW MUCH IS REQUIRED TO JUSTIFY A WRONG ACTION It was a case, apparently, on Johanan’s showing, of self-protection. Ishmael contemplated murder and treachery; what more natural than that he should be killed? Yet this consideration had no weight with Gedaliah. His informant might be mistaken, and was, perhaps, interested. It was foreign to his disposition to be suspicious; and he could not brook the idea of assassination. If the governor was wrong in neglecting the most ordinary precautions, he was certainly right in this. The instinct of the true man is ever averse to underhand actions, even although their object be to avert contingent or certain evils. It is never right to do evil that good may come or evil may be averted. The weapons which God’s children have to wield are ever those of truth and honour; and these are sufficient if they be sagaciously handled.
III. HOW GREAT A CRIME AND CALAMITY MAY BE DivinELY PERMITTED.
1. Jeremiah, for the most part, resided with Gedaliah, and yet no warning appears to have been given him of the catastrophe. How was this? Had it not as profound a bearing on the future of God’s people as the march of Nebuchadnezzar’s armies? It is a great mystery, and there are many like it. How appalling the wickedness of our Saviour’s crucifixion.! Yet are the fruits of it a world’s salvation.
2. The dictates of common sense and worldly experience, had they been attended to, might have proved sufficient. God’s interpositions are not always to wait upon human folly. It is our duty to make the best of the means and information at our disposal This is especially incumbent with regard to the warnings and instructions of the gospel. The rich man, eager for an evangel from Hades to his careless, sinful brethren, is assured, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luk 16:31). We may wait long if we expect to be converted by a miracle. The commandment is binding now: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”M.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Jer 40:2, Jer 40:3
The blind seeing, the seeing blind.
This heathen captain, who could not be expected to know the truth, who was, as it were, born blind as to the truth of God, sees clearly that truth, and declares it; whilst the people of Judah and Jerusalem, their kings, their priests, their nobles, all of whom regarded themselves as knowing the truth, who, as in Joh 9:41, said, “We see,” are found to be completely blind as to that truth. Note herein –
I. HOW CLEAR WAS THE RECOGNITION OF GOD. He ascribes all to “the Lord thy God.” He recognizes the prophet as sent of God (Joh 9:3), “According as he hath said” He traces their calamities to their true causesin against God. He recognizes that Babylon and her troops are but ministers of God to do his will.
II. THE PROBABLE SOURCES OF HIS KNOWLEDGE. Perhaps:
1. The general belief that each nation had its own deity.
2. Yet more, the prophecies of Jeremiah.
3. Also the strength of Jerusalem. Never, apart from the people’s sin, has such a fortress been overthrown.
4. The madness of the people. Quem deus vult perdere prius dementat. Only a God forsaken people could have thrown away their well being as these had done.
5. The judgments that came upon them.
III. WHAT SUCH FACTS AS THESEthe blind seeing, etc.REVEAL.
1. How clear the light of truth which God has given! Were it not so clear, such as this heathen would not see it.
2. How dense the darkness which persistent sin spreads over the soul! Hence the “seeing blind.”
3. How awful the doom of those who seeing, see not! Cf. Mat 11:1-30; “Woe unto thee, Chorazin,” etc.!C.
Jer 40:4, Jer 40:5
A strait betwixt two.
St. Paul tells how he was in such strait. He was willing to stay, but ready to depart home to his eternal rest, which would be far better. And oftentimes we are in perplexities as to choice in the common events and circumstances of our lives. It is so difficult to see what we ought to do, what it would be best to do. Here we have an instance. The patriotic prophet had a perplexing choice put before him. Consider
I. THE ALTERNATIVES PROPOSED.
1. He might go to Babylon, where, no doubt, the same favour that had shown him such consideration thus far would bring him to honour there.
2. He might stay amongst his own people. Amid their poverty, their displeasure, their disgrace.
3. Or he might go anywhere he pleasedto Tarshish, as Jonah tried, if so he pleased.
II. THE ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST EACH.
1. For Babylon. Safety, wealth, honour, help to his countrymen there.
2. For staying in Israel. There he had been called; there he was yet needed; Ezekiel and Daniel were in Babylon. Against this, he had no command of God; the peril in which he would be placed.
III. THE DECISION. He resolved to stay. This come to, not because the captain (verse 5), who saw him lingering, bade him go back, but because the hardness of the duty seemed to declare it was his duty. In such cases choose what you like least.C.
Jer 40:7-12
That we may be godly and quietly governed.
These verses are an illustration of men’s desire for such government. In the disorder and confusion of the times, men were looking out for some settled rule. Companies of armed men were camping about, only waiting for some sign to indicate to whose standard they should repair. That which they wanted seemed to be found in Gedaliah. Hence they go to him (Jer 40:8). The incident here recorded suggests, in regard to government generally
I. THE COMMON CONSENT OF MEN AS TO ITS NECESSITY. It was not merely one company of the scattered Jews that were on the look out for a leader, but all the companies, and not the men only, but their officers also. And in every collection of human beings, however they group themselves, however casually they may have been thrown together, if they have to dwell and to work together the choosing of a leader, one who shall rule them, is a never disregarded need.
II. THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THIS CONSENT RESTS. They are such as these:
1. There can be no well beingstrength, peace, happinesswithout order.
2. No order without law.
3. No law without a lawgiver, and a law upholder, i.e. a government. It may be monarchical, an oligarchy, a republic, a democracy, only in some way law must be expressed and upheld. Because men feel that this last is necessary to the first, men will ever seek after government, good, if possible, but any is felt to be better than none. Anarchy is so much misery. Thus do men reason in regard to their temporal affairs.
III. THE EXCEPTION WHICH MEN MAKE TO THIS CONSENT. It is strange that there should be exception, but there is. We find it when we look at men’s spiritual affairs. Government there is as necessary as in that which is temporalindeed, far more so, considering the far greater value of the interests at stake. And yet men will not have it. Each seeks to do that which is right in his own eyes. What would be ruin in regard to their secular affairs they deem to be no great harm in things that are spiritual. We see this anarchy at times in the things of the Church. If the Church of Christ is to do her work and glorify her Lord, there must be unity, cohesion, subordination, obedience. But these words, and yet more the things they represent, are hateful to not a few. And so the paralysis that has come over large sections of the Church. The prince of this world knows the force and value of the maxim, Divide et impera, and he has sought all too successfully to do the one that he may attain to the other. And so in the individual sphere of the soul. The one rightful ruler is God, speaking by his vicegerent conscience. All our sin and misery is owing to our disregard of this rule. The world is so mournful a world because it is so sinful a world. Loyal obedience is our life and health and peace. And because we refuse this, we are weak and sad, as well as sinful.
IV. THE DIVINE METHODS OF BRINGING THIS EXCEPTION TO AN END. For he will bring it to an end, glory be to his Name. He must reign till he hath put all things under his feet. And he thus works to this end:
1. By powerful instructors. Conscience. His providence, shown now in blessing, now in stern judgment. His Word, in which his law is laid down.
2. By bringing to bear the most mighty of motives. Love, which rises at the cross of Christ. Hope of his acceptance and reward. Fear of his awful displeasure and doom.
3. By his Spirit striving ever with men. – C.
Jer 40:13
Jer 41:11
Misplaced charity.
“Charity” says St. Paul,” thinketh no evil.” But without question, there are times when it ought to think evil, and not to think so is evil. For else charity will be misplaced, thrown away, productive of hurt and harm and not of good. Now
I. THERE HAVE BEEN AND ARE MANY INSTANCES OF SUCH MISPLACED CHARITY.
1. The miserable way by which Gedallah came by his death, as told in the above section, is an illustration. He ought to have been on his guard. He was warned. He would not believe, but blamed severely the friend who warned him. And all because of his overconfidence in Ishmael, who murdered him.
2. And there have been many other such instances. Perhaps the king who said, concerning the wicked husbandmen, “They will reverence my son.” And Paul, who, though warned again and again, would go to Jerusalem. He thought that the loving gifts he bore from the Gentile Churches to the mother Church in Jerusalem would soften their hard hearts. But it was not so. The elder sonthough he was quite wrongthought that his father’s treatment of his prodigal younger brother was as unwise as it was kind. We have known those who would never let themselves speak anything but good of others, and the result was that they often misled those who trusted to their over lenient judgments. How often, after the most atrocious crimes, there will be found some who would try to prevent the criminal receiving the due reward of his deeds! What is it but charity in the wrong place?
3. But most of all are we guilty of this toward ourselves. We so little like to think harshly of ourselves, and hence we make all manner of excuse for our faults. We tamper with temptation; we spare ourselves when we ought to be most stern.
II. AND MUCH SORROW AND TROUBLE ARISE THEREFROM. Cf. above history; the massacres that followed; the ruin of the nation. Never did a seeming virtue work such ill. Charity to the evil is cruelty to the good. Choosing Barabbas means crucifying Christ. It discourages all virtue. Wherefore should I strive after excellence it the worthless are to be dealt with even as I? This was the elder son’s complaint (Luk 15:1-32.). And there seemed to be a good deal in it; hence the father took care to point out to him how much preferable was his own lot: “Son, thou art ever with me,” etc. Thy lot is ever so much the best, as the lot of him who never leaves the father’s house is far better than that of him who comes back after a wretched leaving of it for the far country. But most of all the evil results are seen in our misplaced charity to ourselves. Temptation tampered with triumphs, and we who would not be stern with ourselves perish. Hiding from ourselves the truth as to our real condition, we never g to him who alone can make us what we need to be, and so souls are lost.
III. HOW EXCELLENT THE EXAMPLE AND TEACHING OF OUR LORD ON THIS SUBJECT. Full of charity as he was, tender and gentle as a mother to the weak and sinful, to the poor outcasts who came to him, yet he was never guilty of any spurious charity. He did not, nor does he, warm vipers in his bosom who should sting him at the last. Cf. Joh 2:1-25. at end, “Jesus did not commit himself unto them.” “But”so the Gospel goes on; the word is unfortunately rendered “and” in our Authorized Version “there was a man of the Pharisees,” etc. (Joh 3:1).
1. It means that our Lord did commit himself to this manas we see he didsince he was very different from those whom our Lord could not and would not trust. His treatment of Judas was no exception to his rule. He knew him from the beginning. Nor is his treatment of ourselves, poor, sad recompense as we make him. He has taken us in hand, and he will not put us out of his hand until he has wrought in us all that he designs, he exemplified his own word about being, whilst harmless as doves, wise as serpents also. He says (Mat 7:1), “Judge not.” But almost the next verse bids us not cast pearls before swine! The intent is that, whilst we should not be censorious, we are not to be blind fools, who will imagine in their false charity that pearls will be appreciated by pigs. Charity is to think evil when evil is palpably there.
IV. WHAT LEADS TO THIS ERROR. Cf. the history.
1. Perhaps Gedaliah’s conscious integrity; his freedom from all intent of evil.
2. Or over elation at the loyalty and trust that were being displayed on all sides.
3. The accused man had himself (Joh 2:8) come to Gedaliah.
4. Or dislike to Johanan and his proposals.
5. Or reliance on his own capacity of taking all due care. And when we are wrongly charitable to what is evil, our motives are akin to these. We intend no evil; that which is said to be evil has wrought no harm in others. We intend to be on our guard and deem ourselves to be quite able to take care of ourselves. We dislike the safeguards proposed. We do not believe in the peril against which we are warned. We are disposed to think well of and to like the evil.
V. OUR SAFEGUARDS.
1. Seek the knowledge of man.
2. Seek the Spirit of Christ.C.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Jer 40:2-6
Jeremiah a free agent.
We have here an expansion of verses 13 and 14 of the previous chapter.
I. ONE OF THE BEST THINGS A MAN CAN HAVE IS FULL INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY. The royal master of the captain of the guard was anxious to do the best he could for the prophet; and he seems to have understood fully that only the prophet could decide on this best. The captain of the guard, in all he says, is but the mouthpiece of the king. Very likely the captain, if he had been left to decide, would have said, “What better thing can happen to this man than go to Babylon with me?” and so, meaning well enough, he might have done ill. Good intentions are not enough in providing for others. We go rather by our notion of what they want than by what they really want; and thus we are disappointed in our efforts. There never can be anything wrong in giving a man the largest scope to settle his path for himself. We may easily become cramped as a result of the ignorant kindness of others.
II. THERE WAS AN INCREASED RESPONSIBILITY FOR JEREMIAH. For a long time he had been in prison, and all he had to do was to endure captivity in a patient, trustful way. But now comes liberty, and in his case a peculiar responsibility. Few men, perhaps not even a single one, had the liberty enjoyed by him at this moment. Others had not been asked whether they would go to Babylon or stay. The conquerors settled all that. But Jeremiah has free choice, and he has to decide in very altered conditions of the land. Freedom brings human judgment into full strength and exercise.
III. JEREMIAH WAS SURE TO DECIDE RIGHTLY. Why? Because the first thing he would look to was the will of Jehovah. What lesson had he been learning all through his prophetic life but this, that negligence of the will of Jehovah brought incalculable mischief? Here is the necessity for us to keep in a state of discernment with respect to the will of God. As a general rule, we do not need special intimations of the Divine will; right is seen to be right and wrong to be wrong. But there are also times when, as we need such special intimations, they are sure to be given.Y.
Jer 40:7-12
The difficulties of a governor.
To govern a country is never an easy task; but how difficult it must be when the work is that of reconstruction! Gedaliah has to begin, as it were, at the beginning. One of his first difficulties is to know exactly what he has to deal with. There are turbulent as well as peaceful dements, bands of free-lances, who, now that the Chaldean has gone, make their appearance before the governor to see what the prospect may be. Another difficulty is that of inspiring confidence. Those who have just been plundered may be excused for apprehensions lest they should soon be plundered again. On the other hand, Gedaliah was better off than the king who had just been dethroned. The latter vainly held on to a tottering building, whose very foundations were going, while the former was free from the pernicious elements which so long had made all government in the land an abomination. With all his difficulties, Gedaliah had some encouragements. There appears to have been a general gathering to him as a centre. Most men generally tend to the point where there are the greatest prospects of social order, security, and stability.Y.
Jer 40:16
Trusting a traitor.
I. IN SPITE OF CAUTIONS. Gedaliah was told that Ishmael meditated his death. Told, not by one man, but by all who had opportunity of knowing the traitor’s designs. Was it, then, blameworthy in him to neglect the information? We cannot tell. It may have been that he knew of jealousies which made him think that the rest of the captains were slandering Ishmael. Slanderers, be it remembered, are quite as numerous as traitors. The fault of Gedaliah, if fault it was, was that of a generous heart. It is one of the weapons of a traitor to put on the semblance of a true man. Then probably Gedaliah was further influenced by the proposition to kill Ishmael. If the informers had merely urged him to guard himself, they might have been better attended to. But those were days when, if people wanted to get rid of a troublesome man, they had little scruple in taking the most effectual way.
II. AN INSTANCE OF RASH JUDGMENT. Gedaliah in one breath judged the traitor to be a true man and the speaker of truth to be a slanderer. In this world of uncertainties there is no need to refuse any accusation. Only let the accusation be accompanied with evidence. Trumped up evidence soon shows its faults and contradictions. If Gedaliah had bid Ishmael meet the accusation, he might have prevented the serious migration spoken of at the end of the next chapter, he had to take care of himself not only for his own sake, but as the representative of Babylon.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Jer 40:1. The word, &c. Some understand the word here in the sense of matter or thing;that which happened to Jeremiah from Jehovah, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
3. Jeremiah liberated in Ramah and committed the second lime to Gedaliah
Jer 40:1-6
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when1 he had taken him being bound in chains2 among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, 2which were carried away captive unto Babylon. And the captain of the guard took3 Jeremiah, and said unto him, The Lord [Jehovah] thy God hath pronounced 3this evil upon this place. Now the Lord [Jehovah] hath brought it,4 and done according as he hath said: because ye have [had] sinned against the Lord [Jehovah], and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. 4And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand.5 If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient 5[right] for thee to go, thither go. Now while he was not yet gone back [answered],6 he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward [present], and let him 6go. Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
In the unavoidable confusion Jeremiah, contrary to the command of the king (Jer 39:11-14), is included among the captives, and bound with chains. This error is first remarked in Ramah. The captain of the halberdiers has him immediately liberated, and gives him the choice to go with them to Babylon or remain in the country. As Jeremiah, as it appears, hesitated in answering, the captain of halberdiers, guessing the wish of the prophet, decides himself that he is to remain. Provided with a supply of food and presents, Jeremiah hereupon betakes himself to Gedaliah, who was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar governor over the country, in Mizpah.
Jer 40:1. The word unto Babylon. The superscription is of the larger kind. It extends over the four chh. 4043, for a similar one recurs only in Jer 44:1. Since the formula, the word that came, etc., appears constantly as the superscription to the longer sections (comp. Jer 7:1; Jer 11:1 [Jer 14:1]; Jer 18:1; Jer 21:1, etc.), it has gradually assumed a double character. It is primarily, according to the meaning of the words, the announcement of a word of God spoken to the prophet. Since, however, these words represent at the same time the main sections of the prophetic book, historical narrative being annexed only as introductory or supplementary commentary, the formula has gradually become the superscription of a main section, even where historical narrative predominates. This is certainly nowhere to so great an extent the case as here. In a less degree it is found also in Jer 21:1-3 (comp. And Jeremiah said, Jer 40:3). The formula is certainly never found as a superscription of a purely historical section. Nor are chh. 4043. such. For in Jer 42:7-22 we have an account of a revelation made to the prophet, to which all the previous and subsequent context is related as historical background. In Jer 43:8-13 is a second oracle, from which it again follows, that we are to regard the formula in this verse as a comprehensive title of a section, which may refer not only to other matter besides a revelation, but also to more than one revelation. Moreover the superscription here is related also to Jer 1:3. For there the narrative of the events till the deportation in the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah is announced. Our section, being written at a later date, records the events immediately after this date, and till the arrival in Egypt.When he had taken him. This is to explain why a liberation of Jeremiah can be spoken of, after what is narrated in Jer 39:11-14. Nebuzar-adan had to liberate the prophet in Ramah, because he had taken him captive (by a misunderstanding. Comp. rems. on Jer 39:11-13), and bound him with chains.Being bound, etc., more particularly describes in what condition Jeremiah was in consequence of being taken, and when he was liberated by Nebuzaradan.Among all, etc. This addition also is evidently to contribute to the explanation of Jeremiahs being bound. Jeremiah standing alone would not have suffered this indignity. It was only in consequence of his remaining among the people (Jer 39:14), and was contrary to the purpose of the general. It has been already remarked above that Ramah, being the first station after Jerusalem, served as the place of assembly and final arrangement of the caravan, (in reference to its position. Comp. rems. on Jer 31:15).
Jer 40:2-4. And the captain thither go. What Nebuzar-adan here says to Jeremiah presupposes that he was well acquainted with the purport of his prophecies, and that he acknowledged their fulfilment as a manifestation of the power of the God in whose name they had been pronounced. It could not be difficult for a heathen to admit that the national deity of the Jews, enraged because this people preferred other deities to Him, had given them up to their enemies. Nebuzar-adan may also have spoken Hebrew, though the mode of expression betrays that Jeremiah gives only the sense, not the precise words of his speech. Comp. Jer 16:10; Jer 19:15; Jer 32:42; Jer 36:31; Jer 39:16; Jer 44:2.
Jer 40:5-6. Now while in the land. The words mock at every attempt to explain them according to the grammar and lexicon. For 1. It is contrary to rule to take as simply equivalent to , since it is a complete sentence (and he is still), and either requires no predicate or it can have one only in the form of a participle or adjective. It must be , or , or , or , or something like this. 2. The connection with the following by the mere is likewise abnormal. We should expect, since in sense cannot simply continue the speech interrupted by a parenthesisas a contradiction would thus be producedsome connective formula like . 3. The meaning of is enigmatical. For whomsoever we take as the subject, Jeremiah or the king of Judah or Gedaliah, or (with Seb. Schmidt) the inhabitants of the place of residence selected by Jeremiah, or an indefinite they, no satisfactory meaning is obtained. The ancient translators therefore rendered with arbitrary freedom, LXX. , , . Vulg.: et mecum noli venire, sed habita apud Godoljam. Syr.: dixit etiam ad eum: si maneas, commorare in medio populi apud Gedaljam. Chald.: et si tu non vis reverti, revertere ad Gedaljam. I consider the text corrupt. Since in Jer 40:4 Nebuzar-adan leaves it to Jeremiah to go wherever he wishes, but Jer 40:4 says distinctly that he must return to Gedaliah, there must have stood between the two a sentence reporting the preference, which Jeremiah somehow intimated, to remain in the country. How this sentence read is no longer to be ascertained. Since from Jeremiahs not returning it could not be concluded that he wished to return, while from his not answering this conclusion might easily be drawn, since more honor would be done to the Chaldeans if Jeremiah preferred a residence in their country to one in his desolated home, I am of opinion, that originally some form of stood here, involving the idea of answering.Nebuzar-adan now dismisses the prophet with a supply of food (, comp. Jer 52:34; Pro 15:17) and presents (, literally load, what is carried away, i.e. presents. Comp. Est 2:18; Amo 5:11). Jeremiah, following the advice given him, betakes himself to Gedaliah in Mizpah, doubtless that city among the five of this name which was situated in Benjamin, and is named together with Gibeon and Ramah in Jos 18:25-26; comp. 1Sa 7:16; 1Sa 10:17; 1Ki 15:22; 1Ma 3:46; Raumer, Palst., S. 213. [This Ramah is supposed to have been about six miles north of Jerusalem, on the road to Bethel. Comp. Smith, Dict.S. R. A.]
Footnotes:
[1]Jer 40:1. is here causal. Comp. 2Ch 16:7; 2Ch 28:6.
[2]Jer 40:1.. The form with only here and in Jer 40:4. Besides in Job 36:8; Isa 45:14; Nah 3:10. From , Jer 40:4, we see that hand-fetters are meant.
[3]Jer 40:3.The construction of with is an Aramaism. Comp. Ewald, 277, e.
[4]Jer 40:3.The pronominal object of is to be supplied from the foregoing context. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 78, 2, Anm. The absence of the article before to which the Masoretes object, is no rare occurrence. Comp. Jer 32:14; Jer 38:14; Jer 50:16 : Naegelsb. Gr., 72, 2, Anm.
[5]Jer 40:4. ver. 4 may be taken both grammatically (comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 44,4, Anm.), and according to the sense either as singular or plural. On . Comp. Ewald, 335, a.
[6]Jer 40:5.[Naegelsb.: Since, however, he had not yet answered. See Exeg. and Crit. So J. D. Micraelis, Dahler, Umbreit, Neumann. But Jeremiah never uses the verb in this sense, but always in the sense of returning. Wordsworth.S. R. A.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Jer 40:1-3. Although the calamity, which has come upon Jerusalem, is great and terrible, God does not allow such evil to befal it that good will not result from it, as the Chaldean captain not obscurely intimates, that he has made a fair beginning in the knowledge of the true God. For he confesses, first, that the God of the prophet is a lord; secondly, that He knows future things; thirdly, that He causes His servants to proclaim these beforehand; fourthly, that God has conducted the war and done everything; fifthly, that He was displeased with the sinful manners of the people (among which idolatry was the worst); sixthly, that He has punished their disobedience to His word. Cramer.
2. On Jer 40:4. The friendliness, shown to the prophet, appears to proceed from men, but it comes from God. For Gods works are all made so that they are hidden among the creatures; for as He conceals His wisdom in the creation of heaven and earth, as He hides His kindness in the fruits of the earth, so also He disguises His help in the king of Babylon. For God executes. His works now by rational and anon by irrational creatures. As when He fed Elijah by the widow and by the ravens and by the angels (1Ki 17:3 sqq.; 14 sqq. and Jer 19:5). For all are His instruments. Cramer.
3. On Jer 40:2-3. Nebusaradan attestatione sua comprobat et confirmat veritatem ac certitudinem prdictionum prophet. Unde haud inscite colligi conjicique potest, quod Satrapa ille Babylonicus prditus fuerit agnitione veri Dei eque salvatus. Et sic Deus subinde aliquos ex Magnatibus ad sui agnitionem et ternam salutem traducit (Psalms 68). Potest istud exemplum obverti absoluto Calvinianorum decreto. Frster.
4. On Jer 40:5. In this, that Jeremiah preferred remaining in the country to going to Babylon, it strikes me furtherthat a discreet man, who knows the world and his heart and the true interest of Gods causeis as much as possible contented, and does not think to better himself by going further. He is willing to remain at court unknown, and at any rate he would rather be taken away than go away.The advice, which Solomon gives, is verified, Stand not in the place of great men. We are a generation of the cross, and our symbol is an evil name and little understood. Zinzendorf.
5. On Jer 40:5. In Babylonia honor and a comfortable life invited the prophet, in Judea danger, dishonor and need in the desolated country. In Babylonia a respectable field of labor was opened to him among the great mass of his people, in Judea he had only rabble and condottieri about him. Jeremiah, however, was not a bad patriot, as many accused him of being. By remaining in Judea he showed that the import of his prophecies, apparently friendly to the Chaldeans and hostile to the Jews, had proceeded from the purest love to his people and his fatherland. Thus he imitated Moses, of whom it is written in Heb 11:25, that he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. The holy ground of the fatherland bound him to it, and in additionif he went, who was to take spiritual oversight of the poor forsaken remnant, to proclaim the word of God and bestow on them consolation and admonition? Those who were in Babylon had Ezekiel. And could not the Lord raise up other prophets for them? So he remained with the sheep, who had no shepherd. Jeremiah had not sought his own through his whole life, nor did he here.
6. On Jer 40:7 sqq. Human reason, and indeed nature shows, that in worldly government men cannot be without a head. For as the been cannot be without a queen, or the sheep without a shepherd, so no large number of people can exist without a head and government. God has wisely ordered it, and we should be thankful for the authorities. Cramer.
7. On Jer 40:11 sqq. We may well perceive in this remnant of Judah a fulfilment of the prophecy in Isa 6:11 sqq.: Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and Jehovah have removed men far away, and great is the forsaking in the midst of the land. And if a tenth remains in it, this again must be removed. Yet as the terebinth and the oak, in which when they are felled, a ground-stock still remains, so is its stock a holy scion.
8. On Jer 40:13 sqq. Gedaliah, in whom not only Nebuchadnezzar, but also his people, had confidence, must have been a noble man, to whom it was difficult to think evil of his neighbor. Those who are of a pious disposition, cannot believe so much evil, as is told of people. But we must not trust too much, for the world is full of falseness (Wisd. 37:3). He who believes too easily, will be often deceived, and he who believes no one is also deceived. Therefore is he indeed a happy man, who can preserve the golden mean. Cramer.
9. On Jer 40:13 sqq. Misfortune is like the waves of the sea; when one is broken another follows, and the end of one trouble is the beginning of others. Cramer.
10. On Jer 41:1-3. Judass kiss and Jacobs brethren are very common in the world and take after their grandfather Cain, who spake kindly to Abel and yet had blood-thirsty thoughts (Gen 4:8). Yea, they take after their father, the devil, who is a murderous spirit (Joh 8:44), and disguises himself as an angel of light (2Co 11:14). Cramer.
11. On Jer 41:1 sqq. Similia perfidi exempla (simulat fraternitatis): 2Sa 13:24; 2Sa 20:9 sq. Quadrat etiam huc historia nuptiarum Parisiensium celebratum 1572 mense Augusto. Frster.
12. On Jer 41:4 sqq.
Murder and avarice love to go with each other,
And one crime is often a prolific mother.Cramer.
13. On Jer 41:16 sqq. It is very remarkable that even this last centre and rendezvous of the unfortunate people must be destroyed. It might be supposed that with the destruction of the city and deportation of the people the judgments would have terminated. It seems as if the deed of Ishmael and the removal of the remnant to Egypt transcended the measure of punishment fixed by Jehovah, for the Lord did not send Ishmael, and the removal to Egypt He directly forbade. And yet it seems that only by Ishmaels act and the flight to Egypt could the land obtain its Sabbath rest, which is spoken of in Lev 26:34-35.
14. On Jer 42:1-6. Had not Johanan and his people asked for advice, but gone directly to Egypt, their sin would not have been so great. They feigned, however, submission to the will of God, while they yet adhered to their own will. It is a common fault for people to ask advice while they are firmly resolved what they will do. For they inquire not to learn what is right, but only to receive encouragement to do what they wish. If we advise them according to their inclination they take our advice, if not, they reject it.We must be on our guard when we appeal to Gods decision, that we do not previously decide for ourselves. For thus we fall into hypocrisy, which is the most fatal intoxication and blindness. Heim and Hoffman, The Major Prophets. [Those will justly lose their comfort in real fears, that excuse themselves in sin with pretended fears. Henry.S. R. A.]
15. On Jer 42:7. After the murder of Gedaliah the anger of Nebuchadnezzar seemed inevitable. But the Lord, to whom nothing is impossible (Jer 32:17), promises to perform a miracle, and restore Israel to new prosperity in their land if they will give Him the honor and trust in Him. Nebuchadnezzars heart is indeed in His hand. If this is not acknowledged and Nebuchadnezzar more feared than the Lord, their sin is then against the first commandment.
16. On Jer 42:13 sqq. God reminds His people of the favor with which He adopted them as His people, which was the most sacred obligation to obedience; that Egypt was to them a land of destruction, a forbidden land, as indeed all confidence in human aid is forbidden to those who would live by faith, which was known to them from the history of their fathers and all the prophets. It is a great sin to deem ones self safer under the protection of man than under that of God. It is incomprehensible, how blind unbelief makes people, so that the Jews have not yet learned the truth in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple of God. Heim and Hoffman. Fides futurorum certa est ex prcedentibus. Tertull. Venient hc quoque sicut ista venerunt. Augustin.Frster.
17. On Jer 43:2 sqq. Hypocrites forsooth do not wish to be regarded as rejecting and setting themselves in opposition to Gods word, or accusing God of falsehood. For then is all the world pious, and no one refuses to be submissive to the dear Lord. God is truly God and remains so. It is only against this parson Jeremiah that they must act he lies, he is not sent, his ruling and preaching cannot be endured. Cramer.
18. On Jer 43:3. Observe the old diabolical trick: when preachers practice Gods word and their office with zeal, the world understands how to baptize it with another name and call it personal interest, as even here Baruch must bear the blame, as if he only wished to vent his anger on them and be contrary, Cramer.
19. On Jer 43:6. The ancients here examine the question why Jeremiah accompanied the people to Egypt and take occasion to discuss the 1 Comm. de fuga ministrorum with reference to Augustin. Epist. 150 ad Honorar. With respect to Jeremiah, it is clear that he did all in his power to avert the journey to Egypt. After the whole people, however, were once on their way it was impossible for him and Baruch to remain alone in the deserted country. They were obliged to go with their flock. The more these were wandering, the more need they had of the shepherds. Thus, even if they were not compelled, they had to go with them. It seems, however, to follow from the expression , Jer 43:5, that no choice was given them. The people wished to have the prophet with them. In no case can we say that Jeremiah fled, for according to his own prophecy, he knew that he was going to meet ruin in Egypt.
20. On Jer 43:8-13. At the present day when we wish to convey to posterity the account of some accomplished fact, or the prediction of some fact to be accomplished (ex. gr. a last testament), we take paper and ink, write it down, seal it, have it subscribed by witnesses and preserve it in the registrars or recorders office. In ancient times they took a simpler and surer way. Jacob and Laban simply erected a heap of stones (Genesis 31), the two and a half tribes (Joshua 22) built an altar on the bank of the Jordan. As long as the heap and the altar were standing, the record was transmitted from generation to generation for what object these stone witnesses were set up, and thus, that which it was desired to convey to posterity lived in the memory of men. Jeremiah also knows how to use ink and pen (Jeremiah 32), but here he returns once more to the old manner of preserving archives. He simply places great stones in the clay, declaring what they signify, viz., that here, on this spot, Nebuchadnezzars tent shall stand. Whether the Egyptians and Jews then believed him or not, is of no consequence. The record of these stones and their meaning at any rate remained alive, and the Lords word was thus safely preserved till the day of its fulfilment.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 40:1-12; Jer 41:1-3; Jer 42:1-16. Israel, the chosen nation, is in its destinies a type of human life in general. Consider only the exodus from Egypt. So also the destinies of the people of Israel, after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, are pretypical. For 1. The deportation of the whole people in chains and fetters is a type of our universal human misery, from which no one (not even Jeremiah) is free. 2. The fate of Gedaliah and the journey to Egypt is a type of the insufficiency of all mere human help. 3. As the Jews after Gedaliahs murder, so men at all times, find protection and deliverance in the Lord alone.
2. On Jer 40:1-6. The Christian in the tumult of the world. 1. He is regarded externally like others. 2. The eye of the Lord watches with special care over him, so that (a) not a hair of his head is bent, (b) all his wants are provided for. 3. He, however, on his part directs all his efforts to the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and will not be turned aside from this either by the violence or the friendliness of the world.
3. On Jer 40:7 to Jer 41:3. Gedaliahs fate an example of what befals even the most noble in times of deep corruption. 1. They enjoy general confidence. 2. They are incapable of attributing extreme wickedness to men. 3. They become a sacrifice to their confidence. 4. They are therefore not in a condition to stay the divine judgments.
4. On Jer 42:1-16. What is the surest way of coming to the right conclusion in difficult cases? 1. To inquire of the Lord. 2. To obey unconditionally the direction which the Lord communicates. [We must still in faith pray to be guided by a spirit of wisdom in our hearts, and the hints of Providence. Henry.S. R. A.]
5. On Jer 43:1-7. Characteristic example of the artfulness of the human heart: the Jews inquire of the Lord and promise to obey His direction (Jer 42:20). But when the direction does not accord with their wish, they at once declare it to be supposititious, not from the Lord. The prophet must be a liar, an alleged enemy has incited him. But what was long previously determined in the heart is obstinately brought to execution. [Those that are resolved to contradict the great ends of the ministry, are industrious to bring a bad name upon it. It is well for persons who are thus misrepresented that their witness is in heaven, and their record on high. Henry.S. R. A.].
6. On Jer 43:8-13. The ways of the Lord are wonderful. Israel flees before Nebuchadnezzar far away to Egypt. But there they are not safe. The Lord causes it to be proclaimed to them that at the entrance of the kings palace at Tahpanhes Nebuchadnezzars tent shall stand. Now indeed there is a brick-kiln there, in the clay of which Jeremiah is to place stones, the foundation stones, as it were, for the Chaldean kings pavilion. Thus the Lord lays the germs of future events, and whatever He prepares in secret He reveals in His own time to the glory of His wisdom, omniscience and omnipotence.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
We have here some of the events which took place at Jerusalem, immediately after the city was taken, the history is carried on.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
It is blessed to trace the Lord’s providences over the Lord’s people. Here was Jeremiah enjoying more freedom and happiness from the appointment of enemies, than he had from professed friends. I pray the Reader, however, not to overlook the cause, in the Lord’s appointment. How fully was that scripture proved: Pro 16:7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
XII
THE CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF JEREMIAH
Jeremiah 40-44
These closing scenes in the life of the prophet took place subsequent to the year 586 B.C. and probably before 580 B.C. They occupied a space of about four or five years, possibly a few more.
We commence this discussion by looking at the fate of Jerusalem, and the fate of Jeremiah immediately following that event. In Jer 40:6 we have an account of the fall of the city and its destruction by the men of the Babylonian army. Zedekiah and the chief captain, through a breach in the wall sought to make their escape into the valley of the Jordan and the plains of Moab beyond. The king and the remnant of his army were overtaken and captured by the Chaldeans and taken to Riblah, the headquarters of Nebuchadnezzar. Many of them doubtless escaped. Some of these found refuge in Moab, and some in the mountains of Judah. Thus there was a considerable number of the inhabitants that made their escape by fleeing in every direction.
When the forces of Nebuchadnezzar broke through the walls of the city and took it, the ruthless soldiers of the Chaldeans doubtless wreaked their vengeance upon the inhabitants. Judging from the picture in the book of Lamentations, many were slaughtered and many of the nobles were butchered, but they did not really sack the city. They took many captives. Their main object was to take the inhabitants alive, as there was value in them as slaves, and this was their aim more than mere butchery of the people. Of course, they sought to take the king’s family and all of his household; also the nobles and all the chief families.
When they were destroying the city and taking the royal families, they found Jeremiah, the prophet, for he was imprisoned in the court of the guard. He was bound and taken out as far as Ramah, Jer 40:2-4 : “The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, Jehovah thy God pronounced this evil upon this place; and Jehovah hath brought it, and done accordingly as he spake. . . . And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which are upon thy hand.” According to the account in the previous chapter he had received direct orders from the king to set Jeremiah free.
This heathen speaks as if he were a very pious man; as if he thoroughly believed in Jeremiah’s doctrine: “The Lord hath brought this evil upon this place and done as he spoke because ye have sinned against Jehovah.” Those are almost Jeremiah’s very words. He speaks to Jeremiah and tells him to go back to Gedaliah, the governor, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. This man that had been appointed governor was a member of the royal family and a great man, one of the princes of Jerusalem. Thus he returned and found that Gedaliah had called the people, and held a rally at Mizpah, about four or five miles from Jerusalem.
We have an account of the colony which was established at Mizpah (Jer 40:7-12 ). It is said that the people, when they heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, governor in the land, committed unto him the men and women and children. (Jer 40:8 gives the names of the princes and chief men. Gedaliah called the people together and made appointments as he had authority to do. It says in (Jer 40:9 , “And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam . . . [and this man, Ahikam, had saved the life of Jeremiah.] Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” Now, that was exactly what Jeremiah had been preaching for years.
Here was one man who was with Jeremiah. It was doubtless because of this fact that Nebuchadnezzar had appointed him to this position. He says in verse (Jer 40:10 : “As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans that shall come unto us.” They could not live in Jerusalem. The city was in ruins. He planned to live at Mizpah, to meet the Chaldeans that would come to him.
In the latter half of (Jer 40:10 , it says, “But ye, gather ye the wine and the summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.” In (Jer 40:11 he says, “The Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah, they returned to their native land.” In the latter part of (Jer 40:12 it says, “And gathered wine and summer fruits very much,” which seems to indicate that the people simply helped themselves to the fields and vineyards that had been left.
The king of Ammon, having heard of this new colony established at Mizpah, with Gedaliah as governor, set to work to induce a certain fanatical Jew by the name of Ishmael, to murder him. We do not know just why he desired the murder of the governor. It may be that he thought that it would mean increase of territory to him and that the people would rally to him and that would mean more power. Again, it may be that this man Ishmael was a fanatical Israelite who hated the Chaldeans and any one of his own people who was friendly to them. So he connived with the king of Ammon to do the deed. When Johanan found out this plot he warned Gedaliah, his friend) that Ishmael was about to take his life. But Gedaliah did not believe it. He felt that no one would dare to take his life, the life of the governor whom the great king of Babylon had appointed, for Nebuchadnezzar would not fail to punish a crime like that. But this man Johanan knew and so he says in (Jer 40:15 , “Let me go, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it.” He knew that if Ishmael should slay the royal governor, Nebuchadnezzar would take vengeance on the people, and all must suffer.
An account of the murder of Gedaliah and his friends is given in Jer 41:1-3 . Ishmael was a fanatical patriot. He came to see Gedaliah, and the chiefs of the king’s officers were with him. They came to Mizpah. So they ate bread together and among Orientals that is a sacred thing. But this man, Ishmael, did not scruple to violate this custom of his fellows. (Jer 41:2 says, “Then arose Ishmael . . . and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him.”
The murder of Gedaliah was concealed, verse Jer 41:4 : “And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it, that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even four score men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent.” They had frankincense and meal in their hands to bring them to the house of Jehovah. They were coming to worship. Note now the treachery of Ishmael. It is said in Jer 41:6 that he went forth to meet them, weeping all along as he went. He pretended to be in sorrow. He said to them when he met them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam,” and when they came in to the midst of the city Ishmael slew them and then cast them into the midst of the pit. But ten of them told this villain that they had stores of wealth, and begged him to spare them; so he saved them for the sake of their wealth. That gives us some idea of the character of this man, Ishmael. Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people and departed to go over to the children of Ammon (Jer 41:10 ).
Ishmael gathered together what people he had and started, but Johanan was not idle. He gathered others and pursued and when he came near, all the people who had been carried away captive by Ishmael came over to Johanan but Ishmael managed to escape.
Then the colony went to Bethlehem under the leadership of Johanan. We readily see the plight in which Johanan now found himself. Word would come to Nebuchadnezzar that his faithful governor had been slain. Johanan knew what that would mean, and so did the people. They knew that the great king would send his army, and then there would be no mercy shown. They were afraid of the Chaldeans because Ishmael had slain the governor, Gedaliah (Jer 41:18 ).
An account of the colony at Bethlehem and Jeremiah’s relation to it is found in Jer 42:1-43:7 . We are following the nucleus of the nation, that part of the nation which constituted the organized body of Israel. There were thousands of the Jews in other nations at that time, but we are following here the nucleus. This nucleus constituted the organized germ of the nation. The prophet had been forced to go with them. See verse Jer 42:2 : “Let, we pray thee, our supplication be presented before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God.” Again, in verse Jer 42:3 : “That Jehovah thy God may show us the thing we should do and wherein we should walk.” It looks now as if they were actually turning to the prophet; that they were on his side; that they were coming to his terms. Has he at last succeeded in winning the nation? Not at all, as we shall see.
The prophet said, Well, I will inquire of Jehovah for you. I will do this if you will promise me that you will do what he says. Ten days passed, and the prophet doubtless spent them in prayer, while the people spent them in consultation. At the end of the ten days Jeremiah received his message, and they had likewise made up their minds as to what they were going to do. We have that message in Jer 42:10-11 : “If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hands.” Note also Jer 42:13 : “But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so that ye obey not the voice of your God, but say, We will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no more war, . . . So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.”
The prophet is able to see through their motive. Notice particularly verse Jer 42:20 : “For ye have dealt deceitfully against your souls; . . . saying unto me, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God.” In other words, he says, While begging me to inquire of God you have already made up your minds what you are going to do. Verse Jer 42:21 : “And I have this day declared it unto you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of God.” Now, that is like many people in modern life. They may want to know what God is going to do, what his will is, and yet at the same time have made up their minds already as to what they are going to do.
They refused to remain in Judah. “Then they spake to Jeremiah and said unto him, Ye have spoken falsely, for Jehovah your God hath not sent you unto us to say, Ye shall not dwell in the land of Egypt, to sojourn there.” Now, that was a very strange saying. Jeremiah had prophesied during forty years that the city would be destroyed, and his prophecy had been fulfilled to the letter, and other things that he had foretold had come to pass, and here he is giving another prophecy, and they listen to him; then tell him that he prophesies falsely; that he is a lying prophet. Notice in Jer 43:3 : “But Baruch setteth thee on against us, to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans to carry us away.” So they went into Egypt.
Jeremiah’s symbolic action in Egypt is described in Jer 43:8-13 . As soon as they arrived Jeremiah performed another of his symbolic actions, verse Jer 43:9 : “Take great stones in thy hand and hide them in mortar in the brickwork, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.” Professor Petrie, perhaps the greatest of all Egyptologists, found a few years ago in the mortar of the brickwork of the ruins of that very city, great stones hidden in mortar. We do not know that these were the very stones that Jeremiah put there, but certainly it is very suggestive. It looks as if Jeremiah’s prophecy was verified. That city is in ruins. Verse Jer 43:12 : “I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive.”
Now let us look at Jeremiah’s message to the Jews in Egypt (Jer 44:1-14 ). There was a great assembly at Tahpanhes. Jeremiah seizes this opportunity to deliver his message to them about idolatry. Their sins brought punishment upon them. He urges them to repent and turn from idolatry. Verse Jer 44:4 : “Oh, do not this abominable thing.” But the people were determined to remain in idolatry (Jer 44:15-23 ). The men had gathered together and their idolatrous wives were gathered with them. Verse Jer 44:16 : “As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us, we will not hearken unto thee.” In Jer 44:17 he says, “But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven.” Now, we come to a remarkable passage. These people argue that because they stopped worshiping the queen of heaven, their calamities had come upon them. Jeremiah said that it was because they turned from Jehovah; they said that it was because they learned from the queen of heaven. That was the issue. They said that when Josiah made them stop worshiping the queen of heaven, then their troubles began. Then the women began to make their excuse. They said that their husbands allowed them to worship the queen of heaven. They did that, maybe, to keep peace in the family, and now they were being charged with the trouble. The meaning of it all was that these people had simply made up their minds that they would be idolaters, and no power in the universe could turn them from it. Jeremiah had been preaching against it for forty years, and they would not hearken. Now, they tell him that they will not listen, they will not obey. Then Jeremiah presented his argument in answer to their excuses and reasons: You have sinned and this is the reason for your calamity.
This is Jeremiah’s last sermon, that is, it is the last one that we have any record of. He speaks to the people another word: “Hearken to this word: I have sworn by my great name, saith Jehovah, that my name shall no more be named by any man of Judah in Egypt. . . . And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt few in number.” He continues as to Egypt: “Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra into the hands of his enemies, as I gave Zedekiah, the king of Judah, into the hands of his enemies.” Indeed, it was only a few years till Nebuchadnezzar did invade Egypt and took it. There were Jews in Egypt until the time of Christ, but unquestionably very few of these Jews in Jeremiah’s time escaped the perilous times that followed. According to the last trustworthy account we have of Jeremiah he was in Egypt. Tradition says that he died at the hands of his own people.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the date of this section?
2. Give an account of the capture of Zedekiah and the chief captain, and those who escaped.
3. What disposition did the Chaldeans make of the inhabitants of Jerusalem ?
4. Give an account of Jeremiah’s capture and release.
5. Give an account of the colony which was established at Mizpah (Jer 40:7-12 ).
6. Give an account of the plot against Gedaliah and the work of Johanan.
7. Give an account of the murder of Gedaliah and his friends (Jer 41:1-8 ).
8. Give an account of the murder of the seventy pilgrims (Jer 41:4-10 ).
9. Describe the counter-attack of Johanan and Ishmael’s escape (Jer 41:11-15 ).
10. What is the result of this murder to Johanan and the people?
11. Give an account of the colony at Bethlehem and Jeremiah’s relation to it (Jer 42:1-43:7 ).
12. What was Jeremiah’s symbolic action in Egypt? (Jer 43:8-13 .)
13. What was Jeremiah’s message to the Jews in Egypt? (Jer 44:1-14 .)
14. How did they receive his message and what reason did they assign? (Jer 44:15-23 .) Give details.
15. What the last words of Jeremiah, where did he die, and what tradition respecting his death?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Jer 40:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Ver. 1. The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah. ] This word, what it was, Jeremiah will show, Jer 42:7 after the circumstances of his enlargement related, and other matters of story premised. Vatablus rendereth it, Actio quam gessit Dominus cum Ieremiah.
After that Nebuzaradan had let him go from Ramah.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah Chapter 40
This is the first of a series of chapters which present the disorder and moral confusion that reigned among the Jews left behind in or near the land when the rest were carried captives to Babylon. Judgment by the hand of man has no softening effect on those who slight the word of God. We shall find those who would not bow to the chastening of Jehovah false and treacherous in their dealings with their brethren. The heathen shine in comparison with a reckless Jew without the fear of God, who in His word throws no veil over those that, nominally His people, had their hearts far from Him.
“The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, And said unto him, The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.” (Ver. 1-3.) We see hence that it is easy even for a man who has no part in God’s blessing for His people to own the truth after prophecy is accomplished, especially when it is to one’s own exaltation over the fallen adversaries. Nebuzar-adan can talk piously when his master had gained the victory over Jerusalem according to the declaration of the Lord. It is confessed that He had warned, and finally accomplished His word, and this because of their sins.
“And now, behold I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.” (Ver. 4.) But Jeremiah had no heart for Chaldea, whatever attractions might seem to be there. He preferred to suffer in the land with the meanest that man left behind. “Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go. Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.” (Ver. 5, 6.) It was love to abide in the scene of their humiliation; it was a pledge of restoration.
But the people of God can never be a sphere of ease, least of all can they afford security save where faith looks straight to the Lord. “Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away, captive to Babylon; then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.” (Ver. 7, 8.)
Things however were all out of course, and the return of the scattered captains and their forces was nothing, because the Lord was not at all in their thoughts. And a strange inversion is seen in the governor swearing to them, not they to him. “And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.” (Ver. 9, 10.) Nothing could be more conciliatory than the governor’s words nor more sincere than his ways. For he was content to do his duty to the conqueror in the distressful condition of the land, but to serve the people to the utmost of his power. And this had its effect. “Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that Were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan; even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.” (Ver. 11, 12.)
Thus there might have been a state of things, far from bright certainly, but by no means destitute of mercy from the Lord for the poor in the land. But sin ruins all and everywhere; and ambition and intrigue, treachery and violence, can work in prostrate Judea as surely as in victorious Babylon and more painfully. Evil men find nothing so intolerable as the good; and their own deep obligations sometimes may make the purpose so much the worse. Nor has wickedness long to wait for an opportunity, even if it have no excuse to cover its shame. A wicked Jew lends himself to the plans of a heathen neighbour, jealous of any order or mitigation of sorrow in the land. “Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, and said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.” (Ver. 13, 14.)
Thus, God did not fail to give timely and sufficient warning of the danger that hung over Gedaliah. And surely he was imprudent and careless to have despised it. But a good man does not love to hear evil; and having no feeling but of kindness toward others is slow to credit the malice of those he had only sought to serve. Nevertheless in this case it was not without fault. He was in a public and responsible position, and his life was of no small moment both for the help of the poor and as a security against the suspicion or the displeasure of the Chaldeans. When ample witnesses, more than two or three, bore their testimony to him of the plot between the king of the Ammonites and Ishmael against his life, Gedaliah ought to have inquired further and stood on his guard. But he believed them not and soon paid the price of his temerity.
It is not that Johanan was much better than Ishmael; as we shall see in the subsequent course of events, he had no real faith in God’s word and hardened himself in pride and rebellion of heart. And it is possible that Gedaliah knew there was little to choose between them; and so rejected the good warning no less than the bad offer to get rid of Ishmael made by Johanan “Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered and the remnant in Judah perish? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.” (Ver. 15, 16.) But in that evil day it was not wise nor well to despise the report that came even from a suspicious quarter. And Gedaliah, had he waited on God, would have been less quick either to impute falsehood to the one or to have acquitted the other. May we learn, though in another way suited to the christian calling, to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves!
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 40:1-6
1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. 2Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, The LORD your God promised this calamity against this place; 3and the LORD has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the LORD and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. 4But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will look after you; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, never mind. Look, the whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go. 5As Jeremiah was still not going back, he said, Go on back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go. So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ration and a gift and let him go. 6Then Jeremiah went to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.
Jer 40:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD Notice no word/message is recorded. One wonders if the theological quote from Jer 40:2-3 were a part of that message. The theology recorded is so specific and unexpected from the lips of a Babylonian military commander.
Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard From 2Ki 25:3; 2Ki 25:8 it seems that this man came one month after the capture of Jerusalem to oversee the complete destruction of the city.
Ramah This city was on the route of the Judean exiles to Babylon (cf. Jer 31:15).
he had taken him bound in chains The Jewish Midrash says Jeremiah saw the young men in chains and joined them. But it seems he was mistakenly arrested and taken as far north as Ramah before Nebuchadnezzar’s orders (cf. Jer 39:11-14) were finally carried out.
Jer 40:2-4 These verses are often rejected by scholars because of their high theological content. It is quite possible that Jeremiah’s prophecies were relayed to the Babylonians after the city’s downfall.
Jer 40:4 This verse has several idioms and IMPERATIVES.
1. if you would prefer is literally it is good in your eyes
2. came. . .came – This is a Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT and a Qal IMPERATIVE (BDB 97, KB 112)
3. I will look after you is literally set my eyes on
4. if you would prefer is literally it is evil in your eyes
5. never mind is literally cease – BDB 292, KB 292, Qal IMPERATIVE
6. look – BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal IMPERATIVE
7. go. . .to go – This is an INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT and Qal IMPERATIVE (BDB 229, KB 246). This same phrase is repeated in Jer 40:5.
Jer 40:5 as Jeremiah was still not going back The Hebrew here is very confusing. Literally and still he will not remain then return to Gedaliah. Both VERBS are BDB 996, KB 1427.
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam This man’s father was a supporter and helper of Jeremiah (cf. Jer 26:24). Gedaliah was entrusted with Jeremiah’s care in Jer 39:14. This was a godly family (cf. 2Ki 22:14).
Jer 40:6 Mizpah This means watchtower (BDB 859). There are several cities by this name. One of them was the location of Saul being chosen as king (cf. 1Sa 10:17 ff). It became a central meeting place for the tribes (cf. Jgds. Jer 20:1-3). This is where Gedaliah had his headquarters.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
The Thirty-Sixth Prophecy of Jeremiah (see book comments for Jeremiah).
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
chains = the two fetters, as in Jer 39:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 40
Now as we come into the fourth part of the book of Jeremiah, these are the prophecies of Jeremiah to the people after Zedekiah was carried away and the remnant of the people who stayed here in the land. They still did not take everybody. Remember he left the poor people in the land to just have the land. Take over the vineyards and everything else and you can just have it. So the poor of the people, the poor people were given the land. So this Jeremiah remained with them, and this is the word that the Lord that came to Jeremiah.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah ( Jer 40:1 ),
Now Ramah is Ramallah, which is only about five miles from Jerusalem. So Jeremiah had been taken by the Babylonians and was being led and the message came from Nebuchadnezzar, “Hey, let him do whatever he wants.” And so they released him and he was able to come back. So they let him go from Ramah.
when he had taken him being bound in chains among those that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon ( Jer 40:1 ).
So he was bound in chains with the rest of those that they were leading back to Babylon. Wouldn’t that be a sad and terrible journey? Talk about some of these death marches and so forth, to go to Babylon from Jerusalem about 200 miles or so, and in chains. Oh, and here the prophet had said, “Hey look, just go over to them. Surrender, go on out, sneak out, give yourself over to them and you’ll be okay.” And yet the people chose to rebel and against the word of the Lord and against the Babylonians, and now the consequences.
And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. Now the LORD hath brought it, and he has done according as he has said ( Jer 40:2-3 ):
Always true. God will always keep His word. He has done as He said.
because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you ( Jer 40:3 ).
Now, it is interesting that the enemies of Judah recognized the reason for their problems and difficulties. “God has done this to you because you didn’t obey Him.”
And now, behold, I am loosing thee this day from the chains which are on your hands. And if it seems good unto you to come with me to Babylon, come on; and I will look unto your well being: but if it doesn’t seem good to you to come with me into Babylon, then you don’t have to: behold, all of the land is before you: and wherever it seems good and convenient for thee to go, there you can go ( Jer 40:4 ).
So Jeremiah was given a totally free reign. “Come on to Babylon, we’ll treat you well. Stay here if you want. Just wherever you want to go, the whole land is before you, you can go where you want.”
Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto you to go. So the captain of the guard gave him food and a reward, and they let him go. Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land. Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of those that were not carried away captive to Babylon; Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan [and these various captains], and they came with their men. And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you ( Jer 40:5-9 ).
So Gedaliah was being faithful to the responsibilities given to him by Nebuchadnezzar, encouraging the people, “Don’t rebel any more. Just live and dwell in the land. It’s going to be all right.”
As for me, behold, I am going to dwell here at Mizpah, and serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but you, gather your wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken ( Jer 40:10 ).
Now Jerusalem was left desolate. It had been so destroyed by the Babylonians. No sense of even trying to go back there with the poor people that he had. So just dwelling in Mizpah instead, and you men dwell in the cities that you have.
Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab [across the Jordan River from them], and among the Ammonites, and those that were in Edom [south from Moab], and those that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan; Even all the Jews returned out of every place whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruits very great. Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, and said unto him, Do you not certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to kill you? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray you, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man will know it: for why should he slay you, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant that are in Judah perish? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing: for you are speaking falsely of Ishmael ( Jer 40:11-16 ).
May God help us to give heed to the Word of God and to the warnings of God. Jesus said, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church” ( Rev 2:7 ). And may God give to us ears to hear and a heart that will respond unto the Lord. May the Lord bless and keep you. May the Lord guide you in your activities this week. May the hand of the Lord be upon your life for good that He might bless you. In Jesus’ name. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Jer 40:1-6
Jer 40:1-4
GEDALIAH WAS APPOINTED GOVERNOR
The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, that were carried away captive unto Babylon. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, Jehovah thy God pronounced this evil upon this place; and Jehovah hath brought it, and done according as he spake: because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which are upon thy hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well unto thee; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee; whither it seemeth good and right unto thee to go, thither go.
The captain…
let him go from Ramah (Jer 40:1). Many writers have difficulty discussing what is written in the Bible, being continually troubled with what they call difficulties! Graybill wrote: It is difficult to reconcile the statement here that Jeremiah was released after being held a prisoner at Ramah with the inference of the previous chapter (Jer 39:13-14) that the Babylonian princes freed him from the Jerusalem prison. The simple answer is that Jeremiah was released twice. Could there be any wonder that something like that occurred in the confusion and disordered bedlam of the siege and destruction of a great city? See our more complete discussion of this under Jer 39:14. It is high time that men stopped criticizing the Bible and started reading it!
Another alleged “difficulty” concerns Jer 40:2-3, in which the captain of the guard uses the very language of Jeremiah in describing what happened to Jerusalem. “Some believe that such a quotation is incongruous in the mouth of a Babylonian”; and from this false judgment deny the integrity of the passage. Such an error again springs from the lack of information on the part of the critics. They should know that both the Assyrians and the Babylonians were familiar with the religion of conquered peoples; and they were skilled in the use of all those religions in their psychological warfare.
A startling example of using the religion of opponents against them is that of Rabshakeh (2Ki 18:19-25), in which event Rabshakeh pointed out that Hezekiah had destroyed the high places of Jehovah all over Judaea, and claimed that Jehovah had sent him (his master Sennacherib) to attack and destroy Jerusalem!
In addition to all this, Nebuzaradan had without doubt spent much time with Gedaliah (about to be appointed governor), and from him had learned all about Jeremiah’s life-long campaign to persuade Israel to submit to Babylon, and the reasons that underlay God’s decision to destroy the nation of Judah. Upon what other basis, may it be supposed, would the Babylonians have released Jeremiah?
Thus, as Feinberg noted, “Nebuzaradan knew of Jeremiah’s preaching and was merely quoting it in Jer 40:2-3, upon an appropriate occasion.”
Because ye have sinned against Jehovah…
(Jer 40:3). The word ye here is plural, referring not to Jeremiah, but to the whole nation.
In addition to the familiarity with Gedaliah, there were countless deserters to the Babylonians who most certainly would have told them about Jeremiah’s preaching.
Jer 40:5-6
Now while he was not yet gone back, Go back then, [said he], to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wheresoever it seemeth right unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a present, and let him go. Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
Now while he was not yet gone back…
(Jer 40:5). The Revised Standard Version noted that the Hebrew text here is obscure, rendering it, If you remain, then return to Gedaliah, … etc.
In this abbreviated account, Jeremiah’s answer is not recorded, but his choice was obvious enough. He elected to remain in poverty and hardship with the poor remnant of the people left behind to make a new beginning in Judah.
Jeremiah went with Gedaliah. to Mizpah
(Jer 40:6). There were several places called Mizpah, but this one was, a Benjaminite town near Gibeon and Ramah a few miles northwest of Jerusalem. F11
TRAGEDY BEYOND TRAGEDY
Jer 40:1 to Jer 45:5
Chapters 40-44 are a continuation of the narrative begun in chapter 37 which was interrupted briefly by the oracle to Ebed-melech in Jer 39:15-18. The events take place in two geographical areas-Judah (Jer 40:1 to Jer 43:7) and Egypt (Jer 43:8 to Jer 44:30). Chapter 45 serves as an appendix to the entire second division of the Book of Jeremiah (chapters 26-45).
The introductory formula at the beginning of Jer 40:1 would lead one to expect a prophetic utterance to follow. The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord. As a matter of fact no oracle or prophecy occurs until Jer 42:9. Some suppose that a prophetic word or prophecy originally followed this introduction and that it has been lost or removed to some other part of the book. Others think that the word includes all the revelations given at various times during the critical period pictured in chapters 40-44. Probably, however, the expression the word should be taken in a wider sense, including history as well as prophecy.
EVENTS IN JUDAH Jer 40:1 to Jer 43:7
The events in Judah following the fall of Jerusalem center around the Babylonian appointed Gedaliah, his administration (Jer 40:1-12), his assassination (Jer 40:13 to Jer 41:16) and the aftermath of his death (Jer 41:17 to Jer 43:7). This section contains biographical narrative (Jer 40:1 to Jer 42:6; Jer 43:1-7) and one prose sermon (Jer 42:7-22). With the exception of Jer 40:1-6, a brief account of the release of Jeremiah, the life of the prophet is not mentioned in chapters 40 or 41. The term biographical narrative is still appropriate however in that these chapters are the necessary transition to the last chapter of the prophets life, his forced immigration to Egypt.
The Preferential Treatment of Jer 40:1-6
In chapter 39 Jeremiah was freed from prison and committed to the care of Gedaliah. He was taken to his home where he must have remained for some time. Evidently while mingling with the people, Jeremiah was picked up by Babylonian soldiers under orders to fetter the Jews and prepare them for deportation. Perhaps Gedaliah was away from Jerusalem on business for Nebuchadnezzar at the time. In the absence of his protector Jeremiah did not receive any special favor from the soldiers who were in charge of the deportation. When Jerusalem was put to the torch the captives Were removed to Ramah which appears to have been the processing point for deportation to Babylon (Jer 40:1).
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the occupational forces, found Jeremiah among the captives in Ramah. He quickly and apologetically removed the chains from the wrists of the prophet. How embarrassed Nebuzaradan must have been to discover that Jeremiah had been subjected to the indignities of being a captive when Nebuchadnezzar had expressly given orders that he be treated with kindness. This seems to be the first face to face meeting between Jeremiah and this powerful general. Nebuzaradan must have been quite accurately informed about the preaching of Jeremiah. He certainly speaks the very language of the prophet in Jer 40:2-3. Most commentators regard these two verses as later insertion by some pious reader. A heathen could never have spoken in this manner! But is it not possible that this heathen might have heard of the predictions of Jeremiah? Perhaps he was impressed with the way in which these predictions had been so accurately fulfilled. It is, of course, possible that Jeremiah is merely paraphrasing the words of Nebuzaradan and putting his thoughts into language that would be meaningful to an Israelite. At any rate there are several other examples in Scripture of amazingly perceptive language attributed to heathen leaders. As for example the edicts of Cyrus (Ezr 1:3-4) and Darius (Ezr 6:1-12), of Huram of Tyre (2Ch 2:11-12); Pharaoh Necho at the battle of Megiddo (2Ch 35:21) and Rabshakehs boast outside the walk of Jerusalem (2Ki 18:25).
Upon freeing Jeremiah, Nebuzaradan allows the prophet to choose his own course of action. He may either go to Babylon with the other captives or remain in the homeland with the remnant of the people. If he should choose the former alternative, Nebuzaradan promises to personally see to his welfare. NOW while he was not yet gone back, i.e., while he was still in the process of making up his mind, Nebuzaradan suggested that if he should choose to remain in the homeland he should join Gedaliah the newly appointed governor. Jeremiah chose to cast his lot with the humble people who remained in the land. Like Moses before him, he chose to suffer ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the prestige and pleasure of a royal court. So Jeremiah was given a supply of food, a present of some kind, and then was sent on his way. The prophet elected to follow the advice of Nebuzaradan and join Gedaliah who had set up his headquarters at Mizpah.
Mizpah is generally identified with Tell en-Nasbeh, seven miles north of Jerusalem on the main road to Shechem. This town had played an important role in the history of Israel. Here Samuel led the nation in a great revival (1Sa 7:5); Saul was publicly named king of Israel (1Sa 10:17). Excavations have revealed no signs of a destruction of Mizpah in the sixth century B.C. It may be that Mizpah opened its gates to the Babylonians and as a result was made an administrative center by the conquerors.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Chapters forty and forty-one, which contain the prophecies of Jeremiah after the fall of Jerusalem, constitute his last messages to the chosen people. These fall into two parts-first, prophecies against going into Egypt, and, second, prophecies in Egypt.
Jeremiah was evidently taken with the captives, but was released, and Nebuzaradan offered him his choice between going into Babylon and settling anywhere in the land he chose. Jeremiah chose to go to Gedaliah, the governor appointed by the king of Babylon over the cities of Judah. To him certain of the people submitted, and he sought to restore order. There gathered back many of the Jews who were scattered in the surrounding countries. It was reported to the governor by Johanan that Ishmael was there as the emissary of the king of the children of Ammon, and that with intent to take his life. Gedaliah refused to believe the story, and declined to allow Johanan to take the life of Ishmael as he desired to do. This chapter gives us some idea of the appalling condition of affairs. All the rulers and leading men had been carried captive to Babylon. Only the poorest were left, and among them was a spirit of disaffection threatening to manifest itself in many ways.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ISHMAEL’S TREACHERY AND THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT
(Chaps. 40-44)
Kaleidoscopic were the changes through which the remnant passed, while left in the land by the clemency of Nebuchadrezzar, in the year following the destruction of Jerusalem.
Gedaliah, the governor, was a truly pious man, of upright principles, but not at all the kind of a person to take the lead in the troublous times that had fallen upon his native land. Brave, honorable and unsuspicious, he yet lacked that genius for true leadership, and that necessary sternness in dealing with evil, which the times demanded. It was not long, therefore, ere he became the victim of a diabolical conspiracy which resulted in his assassination by one whom his too generous heart had implicitly trusted, and who owed his own preservation from death to the man he so basely murdered.
Nebuzaradan having given him his liberty Jeremiah, as we have seen, attached himself to the governor. The Chaldean captain had given him free choice as to his abode; even offering him a safe and comfortable asylum in Babylon, had he desired it.
How much this man really understood the ways of the Lord in the chastening of His people, we know not; but he shows himself to be at least familiar with the words spoken by both Ezekiel and Jeremiah, alleging this in his interview with the latter: “The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place” (Jer 40:1-2).
He gives, too, the correct reason for this strange dealing.
Because Judah had sinned, and not obeyed His voice, their GOD had brought these afflictions upon them. Sad it is to note that this heathen conqueror had a clearer sense of the truth than the majority of the leaders among the Jews.
Loosing Jeremiah from his chains, he gave him the king’s message:
“If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go” (Jer 40:4).
Then, apparently divining the prophet’s mind, and courteously seeking to relieve him of the embarrassment of refusing his well-meant offer to go to the imperial city, which, after all, represented the power of the oppressor of his people, Nebuzaradan added, “Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go.” (Jer 40:5)
This offer Jeremiah accepted, and departed to seek the governor, receiving both victuals and a reward from the captain of the guard. He found Gedaliah at Mizpah, a historic trysting-place never to be forgotten by lovers of Israel. Many and varied had been the scenes enacted there, both in the unsettled days of the judges and the early days of the kings. Here Gedaliah kept his simple and unostentatious court, and here Jeremiah dwelt with him, “among the people left in the land” (Jer 40:6).
It was the choice of a man who walked with GOD, and could view things in the light of His presence. To many it might have been considered a fine thing to be invited to the conqueror’s capital, there to be honored as a sage and a seer, and to receive various tokens of the king’s appreciation because of his steady opposition to the policy of resistance to Babylon and dependence upon Egypt. But in all this, Jeremiah had been in no sense the servant or tool of the Chaldean emperor. He had remained to the last the simple prophet of the Lord.
– If he counseled submission to Babylon, it was because the Word of the Lord so directed.
– If he warned the princes and the people of the folly of counting upon the Egyptian alliance, he did so because he had the mind of the Lord regarding it.
This did not alter his personal abhorrence of all that Babylon stood for. None knew better than he its abominable paganism and its cruel tyranny. None knew more clearly, too, the doom soon to fall upon it. In GOD’s government He had used it to chastise His erring people. Soon it also must pass under the rod of His vengeance. Consequently the city by the Euphrates had no charms for the man of GOD. Far better a small place among “the poor of the flock” (Zec 11:11) in Immanuel’s land, than a large place in the Gentile oppressor’s palace.
He desired not the world’s patronage, as he feared not its wrath. In this he is the consistent type of the man of GOD still – in the world, but not of the world” – perchance even serving the world; as Abraham long before had, in delivering Lot, really served Sodom; but looking for no recognition from the world: leaving all that to the judgment-seat of CHRIST.
Self-interest would surely have taken Jeremiah to Babylon. Providence, too, might have seemed to favor such a move; for, how useful to his people might he not have been in the councils of the empire – as in the cases of Mordecai and Nehemiah at the court of Medo-Persia some years later.
Faith, however, kept him in the desolated land of Canaan, among the poor and distressed remnant who called upon the name of the Lord. Like Moses, he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of GOD than to enjoy the temporary prosperity that an abode in the royal city might have brought him. Faith ever runs counter to the mere pleadings of nature.
We shall see something very different to this disinterested and unselfish devotion to the Lord and His people as we now turn to consider the captains of the roving bands of the Jews, concerning which the next part of the chapter treats.
Jerusalem being destroyed, several companies of unsubdued warriors remained, or fled to mountain fastnesses and wilderness hiding-places, thus safely eluding the Chaldean armies.
These bands, formed in what we call “guerrilla corps,” officered by daring, impetuous leaders, were determined not to own the sway of the king of Babylon. Hearing that Gedaliah, one of their number, had been appointed governor, and that he had established himself at Mizpah, these outlawed bands now gathered about him, hoping doubtless to find independence and rebellion.
Ishmael, two sons of Koreah (Johanan and Jonathan by name), Seraiah, Jezaniah, together with the sons of Ephai, with their companies, were the ones who repaired thither (Jer 40:7-8). If they expected Gedaliah to break his plighted word, and assist in him one who would further their schemes of them in throwing off the yoke of Chaldea, they soon learned their mistake.
He faithfully counseled submission, bidding them: “Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you” (Jer 40:9).
As for himself, he declared his full determination to dwell at Mizpah, and to render service to the nation into whose power GOD had given them. He also counseled them to cease from warfare, and to seek to reap the fruits of peace and quietness, bidding them gather wine, and summer fruits and oil, and dwell in the cities they had taken (Jer 40:10). We read of no dissenting voice on the part of the guerrilla captains or their men; but it is plain from what follows that they were thoroughly opposed to what must have seemed to them a peace-at-any-price policy. Resentment burned fiercely in the heart of one at least, Ishmael, though he was politic enough to hide his feelings for the time.
Hearing the cruel war was over – even if disastrously ended – numbers of Jews who had fled to Moab, Ammon, and Edom, also returned to their land and gathered to Mizpah, owning the gentle sway of the pious Gedaliah. These quietly followed the advice given, and proceeded to harvest the summer fruits and wines, thus making provision for the approaching winter (Jer 40:11-12). A people not strong were they, but they prepared their meat in the summer (Pro 30:25).
Meantime Ishmael, returning from the country of the Ammonites, was secretly plotting the assassination of Gedaliah. We gather from the context he had pledged himself to Baalis, the king of Ammon, before he left, to do this, if Gedaliah was not prepared to be a tool in his hands. The too-confiding governor was warned of the foul errand upon which the captain of the sinister name had come, for there was jealousy and treachery among the various outlawed chiefs, leading Johanan and the rest of the captains at last to inform upon the traitor.
They told Gedaliah the errand upon which he had come, sent by Baalis the Ammonite.
Simple and honest himself, the governor discredits the tale of Ishmael’s depravity, and takes no measures to protect his life, so valuable to his compatriots at this dark period. Johanan accordingly sought another, and this time a private, interview with him, assuring him of the truth of the former report, and pleaded for commission to forestall the murder, by himself taking the life of Ishmael in secret, so that no man should know it, pleading that in no other way could the death of, not only the governor, but all the Jews that were gathered with him, be averted. The noble-hearted Gedaliah replied, “Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael” (Jer 40:13-16). The sequel shows how ill-placed his confidence was.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
III. AFTER THE FALL OF JERUSALEM (40-45)
CHAPTERS 40-41
The Treachery in the Land and the Flight to Egypt
1. Jeremiahs choice (Jer 40:1-6)
2. Gedaliah and Ishmaels deed (Jer 40:7-16; Jer 41:1-3)
3. Ishmaels further atrocities and retreat (Jer 41:4-18)
Jer 40:1-6. The opening paragraph of this chapter tells us of the choice which was given to Jeremiah. He was loosed from the prisoners chains and told by the captain of the guard If it seems good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come and I will look well unto thee, but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me to Babylon, forbear; behold all the land is before thee, whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. Jeremiah decided to stay with his people in the land.
Jer 40:7-16; Jer 41:1-3. The history of this section is as follows: Gedaliah had been made governor by the victorious king. When the captains heard it they came to him at Mizpah and Gedaliah exhorted them to loyalty to the Chaldeans. Then Gedaliah is warned that Baalis, the King of Ammon, has sent Ishmael to assassinate him, but Gedaliah refuses to believe the report. Then Johanan declares himself ready to kill Ishmael, so that the dreadful results of the murder of the governor Gedaliah might be averted. Gedaliah thinks it is all slander and forbids it. In the seventh month Ishmael, with ten men, who are being entertained by Gedaliah, murders him and all the Jews and Chaldeans, who are present. It is a horrible story.
Jer 41:4-18. The next day Ishmael met eighty men who came from the north; he invited them to come to Gedaliah, who was dead in his house. When they came to the place he slew them, except ten men, who offered to reveal to him hidden treasures of food. Then he carried off all the rest of the people who were left in Mizpah, to go to the land of Ammon. When Johanan and the captains heard of what Ishmael had done, they pursued him unto Gibeon, but Ishmael with eight men escaped to the Ammonites. Johanan took those whom they had rescued out of the clutches of the monster Ishmael, and, fearing the Chaldeans, purposed to go to Egypt.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
trust
(See Scofield “Psa 2:12”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
The word: This, and the four following chapters, record the events which occurred in Judea from the taking of Jerusalem to the retreat of the remnant of the people to Egypt; and contain several prophecies of Jeremiah concerning them there; which were “the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.” It appears that Jeremiah, after being freed from prison, continued among the Jews, till he was bound, with others of them, and carried to Ramah; where he was set a liberty in the manner related.
after: Jer 39:11-14
Ramah: Jer 31:15, Jos 18:25, 1Sa 7:17
bound: Psa 68:6, Psa 107:16, Act 12:6, Act 12:7, Act 21:13, Act 28:20, Eph 6:20, *marg.
chains: or, manacles
Reciprocal: 2Ki 25:8 – Nebuzaradan Jer 39:9 – Nebuzaradan Jer 39:14 – took Eze 7:23 – a chain
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 40:1. History and prophecy are blended together in the closing chapters of this hook, and the events are not always chronological, either in the order of their occurrences or the dates. The principal thing for us to learn is what happened and to whom. The preceding chapter tells us of the special favor that was extended to Jeremiah on orders from the king of Babylon. It meant that he was to be taken out of the court of the prison and to be committed to the care of Gedaliah who had the oversight of the Jews at Mizpeh and other places. After telling us about that favor the writer proceeds to a later fact and says, so he dwelt among the people. However, this was not immediately carried out upon the fall of Jerusalem. In the general disturbance of that event Jeremiah was put in chains and taken to Jtamah for the time where Nebuzar-adan had his headquarters. Then when this chief captain was ready to go to Babylon with the prisoners who were destined for that place, he first arranged to carry out tbe orders given him concerning Jeremiah: that is where this chapter begins. The word that came to Jeremiah refers to some message God gave the prophet after being released by Nebuzar-adan.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
LAST MESSAGE TO THE REMNANT
Chapter 40 opens with an account of Nebuchadnezzars kindness to Jeremiah, inspired by what he had known of the latters advice to his countrymen (Jer 40:1-4). Jeremiah had been the friend of Babylon, but not necessarily the enemy of his own nation. His patriotism was unquestioned, but the highest expression of his patriotism was his counsel to Judah to obey the will of God and submit to Babylon.
Jeremiahs choice of action is in Jer 40:5-6. The new governor is loyal and things promise well (Jer 40:7-12). But the Ammonites see an opportunity to get even with their old enemy and obtain control of their land through the treachery of an apostate Jew (Jer 40:13-16).
Chapter 41 narrates how the plot is carried out (Jer 41:1-10), and the resultant fear on the part of the people (Jer 41:11-18). This fear leads them to plan an exodus from Judah into Egypt.
Chapter 42 shows them consulting with the prophet before carrying out this plan, albeit they are determined to do it.
Chapter 43 is a prophecy of Egypts conquest by Babylon (Jer 43:8-13) delivered after Jeremiahs arrival there (Jer 43:4-7). Today the place indicated in verse nine is marked by a ruined column.
JEREMIAHS LAST MESSAGE
The contents of chapter 44 may be regarded as the continuation of the preceding, though how long after the entrance into Egypt the prophecy was uttered is impossible to say. Some have surmised twenty-five years. Certainly the Jews had spread themselves considerably (Jer 44:1). The prophecy opens with a retrospect (Jer 44:2-6); but present conditions are no improvement over the past (Jer 44:7-10); only doom can await them (Jer 44:11-14). Opposition is aroused as of old (Jer 44:15-19), showing the former infatuation (Jer 44:17). They had forgotten that God gave them these good things even when they were rebelling against him (Hosea 2). So men still trace misfortune to everything but the true cause, which is sin. Notice the prominence of women here, on whose regeneration that of society still depends. The prophecy concludes with the prediction of an awful judgment, the truth of which will be established by an appeal to history (Jer 44:20-30).
BARUCH COUNSELLED
Chapter 45 is a word to Baruch, the prophets amanuensis and friend spoken doubtless at an earlier period than its position indicates, and some would say just after the events of chapter 36. Weighed down by responsibility and dismayed at the aspect of things, he is seeking better things for himself an easier lot dare we say? At all events he is warned of his moral danger at the same time that he is promised physical deliverance at least, in the dire hour coming on the land (Jer 45:5). He accompanied Jeremiah into Egypt, and to his labors doubtless, we trace the copies of these prophecies which have circulated in that country, and given rise to a Greek version of them (the Septuagint so-called).
QUESTIONS
1. Explain Nebuchadnezzars interest in Jeremiah.
2. Did this interest compromise the prophets character of a patriot in any way?
3. What is Jeremiahs choice of a location, and with whom does he now take up his home?
4. Give the history of Gedaliahs brief authority in your own words.
5. Give the history of the peoples dealings with Jeremiah at this crisis.
6. Analyze the prophets last message.
7. Explain chapter 45.
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Jer 40:1. The word which came to Jeremiah, &c. This relates to the prophecy recorded Jer 42:7, which was occasioned by the story that here follows concerning Ishmaels conspiracy against Gedaliah. After that Nebuzar-adan had let him go from Ramah After Jeremiah was taken out of the court of the prison, he was carried, probably by mistake, expressly contrary to Nebuchadnezzars orders, among the other prisoners to Ramah, a city in the tribe of Benjamin near Gibeon. Here, it seems, the mistake was discovered, and the prophet was discharged by the special order of the court.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 40:1. The word which came to Jeremiah bound in chains. This word is found in Jer 42:9; and the intervening history is a parenthesis of Ishmaels treason. Jeremiah was now about seventy two years of age. What a sight to see him brought out of prison loaded with a chain; a day of liberation to him, and of death and captivity to his enemies.
Jer 40:6. Then went Jeremiahto Mizpah, to Gedaliah, a prince of Davids house, now made governor over the poor. Mizpah, mentioned in Jos 15:38, was now the seat of the new government. It lay about sixteen miles south of Jerusalem, and had escaped destruction in the war. The elders of Israel had repeatedly assembled here on national business. 1Ki 15:22, 2Ch 16:6.
Jer 40:7. All the captains of the forcesheard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor in the land. These five captains commanded detachments, or local assemblages of men in distant parts of the land; and being of a princely rank, they seem to have fled with Zedekiah. Their names are given in 2Ki 25:23. Ishmael, Johanan, Jonathan, Seraiah, and Jezaniah. Under these princes, Judea might have recovered a little, had not the crying sins of the people demanded the full execution of the sentence, that the land should lie desolate.
Jer 40:10. I will dwell at Mizpah. The Chaldees established their head quarters between this place and Ramah during the siege. Hence they left their official persons there in Gedaliahs court.
Jer 40:14. Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael to slay thee? Gedaliah, meditating good for his country, could not believe that any one would conspire against him. But those captains knew the character and pride of Ishmael, and that he, as a prince of Davids house, could not bear to see Gedaliah fill his fathers throne, though under the appellation of governor. Kings and princely rulers should have guards. Of what use is power without an arm? Times of trouble are times of caution and alarm. But Baalis and Ishmael were blind in seeking a sovereignty over Judah by crimes. They knew not that Rabbah would in four years more be in flames like Jerusalem, where it is probable that both those wicked men perished. See Jer 49:2.
Jer 40:15. Let me goand I will slay Ishmael. Gedaliah was just in disallowing this advice to slay a bad man, and a prince of Davids house too, on mere suspicion; but he foolishly lost his life, and the lives of all his household in making Ishmael a feast, instead of being on his guard, having assassins and murderers for his guests.
REFLECTIONS.
The Chaldees having swept the country of Judea as with a besom of rapine and carnage, generously showed mercy to a remnant of the poor, who were not thought proper for captivity; and it is generally the case, that a poor mans condition is more safe than a rich mans in times of national confusion.
The Lord who directs the storm of national visitation, has a particular care of the righteous. God having preserved Jeremiah unhurt, though daily speaking terrible things against his country, at last permitted him to be imprisoned. His enemies did this with a view to take his life. But God commissioned them to send him thither that his cell might be an asylum of safety, and that as a state prisoner he might be recommended to the particular notice of the Chaldeans. Who then would fear to trust the Lord in the dark and cloudy day? How admirable was the piety of this holy prophet, to prefer poverty with his desolate flock in Judea, to affluence in Babylon, under royal patronage.
When God arises in anger against his enemies he pursues them to extremities. Not only the poor, but many of the nobles, and the soldiers of Zedekiah escaped the calamities of the siege by retiring to the fields or corners of the land; yet because of their apostasy and wickedness, vengeance would give them no repose. Ishmael, of Davids line, who had taken refuge with the king of Ammon, was so piqued at seeing Gedaliah made governor, that he resolved to assassinate both him and his court, and bring the whole under the influence of the king of Ammon. What wickedness oozes from the heart of man when malignant passions agitate the soul, and how shamefully does passion triumph over reason. Surely this monster never thought that all the world would hate him for his deeds; that his memory would be execrated, that the king of Ammon would ultimately both fear and hate his guest, and that divine vengeance would pursue both his body and his soul. When calamities hang over the heads of men, God often gives them warning for their good. So Gedaliah was warned of Ishmaels intention; and he perished in his folly for not putting his visitor, the emissary of a hostile prince, under an arrest.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jeremiah 40-44. The next five chapters continue the biography of Jeremiah, including connected events, after the capture of Jerusalem.
Jer 40:1-6. Release of Jeremiah.This paragraph is possibly a later expansion of Jer 39:11 f.; the opening words do not suit what follows, and Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian general, would not speak as in Jer 40:2 f., whilst, according to Jer 39:14, Jeremiah had been given into Gedaliahs charge a month before. Jeremiah, one of a band of captives to be deported to Babylon, was released at Ramah (Jer 31:15) by the Babylonian commander, with full liberty of choice as to his future residence; he chose to join Gedaliah (Jer 39:14) at Mizpah (4 m. NW. of Jerusalem).
Jer 40:5. Omit Now . . . gone back, with LXX; the Hebrew is strange, and the clause awkward.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
The second account of Jeremiah’s release 40:1-6
This account describes other things associated with Jeremiah being set at liberty. It contains more detail than Jer 39:11-14.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The phrase "the word of the LORD came [to Jeremiah]" in Jer 1:2 introduced Jeremiah’s prophecies in chapters 1-39, before the destruction of Jerusalem. Similarly, "the word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD" in Jer 40:1 introduces his prophecies in chapters 40-45, after the fall of Jerusalem. [Note: Keil, 2:126.]
Evidently, after Jeremiah’s release in Jerusalem, Babylonian soldiers arrested him when they saw him in the city streets, supposing him to be a regular Judean. They took Jeremiah to Ramah, about five miles north of Jerusalem, along with the other chained Judean prisoners headed for exile. Ramah appears to have been a collection point for deportees before the long trip to Babylon.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER XIII
GEDALIAH
Jer 39:1-18; Jer 40:1-16; Jer 41:1-18; Jer 52:1-34
“Then arose Ishmael ben Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote with the sword and slew
Gedaliah ben Ahikam ben Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon had made king over the land.” Jer 41:2
WE now pass to the concluding period of Jeremiahs ministry. His last interview with Zedekiah was speedily followed by the capture of Jerusalem. With that catastrophe the curtain falls upon another act in the tragedy of the prophets life. Most of the chief dramatis personae make their final exit; only Jeremiah and Baruch remain. King and princes, priests and prophets, pass to death or captivity, and new characters appear to play their part for a while upon the vacant stage.
We would gladly know how Jeremiah fared on that night when the city was stormed, and Zedekiah and his army stole out in a vain attempt to escape beyond Jordan. Our book preserves two brief but inconsistent narratives of his fortunes.
One is contained in Jer 39:11-14. Nebuchadnezzar, we must remember, was not present in person with the besieging army. His headquarters were at Riblah, far away in the north. He had, however, given special instructions concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the general commanding the forces before Jerusalem: “Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do with him even as he shall say unto thee.”
Accordingly Nebuzaradan and all the king of Babylons princes sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah ben Ahikam ben Shaphan, to take him to his house. And Jeremiah dwelt among the people.
This account is not only inconsistent with that given in the next chapter, but it also represents Nebuzaradan as present when the city was taken, whereas, later on, {Jer 52:6-12} we are told that he did not come upon the scene till a month later. For these and similar reasons, this version of the story is generally considered the less trustworthy. It apparently grew up at a time when the other characters and interests of the period had been thrown into the shade by the reverent recollection of Jeremiah and his ministry. It seemed natural to suppose that Nebuchadnezzar was equally preoccupied with the fortunes of the great prophet who had consistently preached obedience to his authority. The section records the intense reverence which the Jews of the Captivity felt for Jeremiah. We are more likely, however, to get a true idea of what happened by following the narrative in chapter 40.
According to this account, Jeremiah was not at once singled out for any exceptionally favourable treatment. When Zedekiah and the soldiers had left the city, there can have been no question of further resistance. The history does not mention any massacre by the conquerors, but we may probably accept Lam 2:20-21, as a description of the sack of Jerusalem:-
“Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword:
Thou hast slain them in the day of Thine anger;
Thou hast slaughtered, and not pitied.”
Yet the silence of Kings and Jeremiah as to all this, combined with their express statements as to captives, indicates that the Chaldean generals did not order a massacre, but rather sought to take prisoners. The soldiers would not be restrained from a certain slaughter in the heat of their first breaking into the city; but prisoners had a market value, and were provided for by the practice of deportation which Babylon had inherited from Nineveh. Accordingly the soldiers lust for blood was satiated or bridled before they reached Jeremiahs prison. The court of the guard probably formed part of the precincts of the palace, and the Chaldean commanders would at once secure its occupants for Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah was taken with other captives and put in chains. If the dates in Jer 52:6; Jer 52:12, be correct, he must have remained a prisoner till the arrival of Nebuzaradan, a month later on. He was then a witness of the burning of the city and the destruction of the fortifications, and was carrried with the other captives to Ramah. Here the Chaldean general found leisure to inquire into the deserts of individual prisoners and to decide how they should be treated. He would be aided in this task by the Jewish refugees from whose ridicule Zedekiah had shrunk, and they would at once inform him of the distinguished sanctity of the prophet and of the conspicuous services he had rendered to the Chaldean cause.
Nebuzaradan at once acted upon their representations. He ordered Jeremiahs chains to be removed, gave him full liberty to go where he pleased, and assured him of the favour and protection of the Chaldean government:-
“If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well unto thee; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee; go whithersoever it seemeth to thee good and right.”
These words are, however, preceded by two remarkable verses. For the nonce, the prophets mantle seems to have fallen upon the Chaldean soldier. He speaks to his auditor just as Jeremiah himself had been wont to address his erring fellow countrymen:-
“Thy God Jehovah pronounced this evil upon this place: and Jehovah hath brought it, and done according as He spake; because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing is come unto you.”
Possibly Nebuzaradan did not include Jeremiah personally in the “ye” and “you”; and yet a prophets message is often turned upon himself in this fashion. Even in our day outsiders will not be at the trouble to distinguish between one Christian and another, and will often denounce a man for his supposed share in Church abuses he has strenuously combated.
We need not be surprised that a heathen noble can talk like a pious Jew. The Chaldeans were eminently religious, and their worship of Bel and Merodach may often have been as spiritual and sincere as the homage paid by most Jews to Jehovah. The Babylonian creed could recognise that a foreign state might have its own legitimate deity and would suffer for disloyalty to him. Assyrian and Chaldean kings were quite willing to accept the prophetic doctrine that Jehovah had commissioned them to punish this disobedient people. Still Jeremiah must have been a little taken aback when one of the cardinal points of his own teaching was expounded to him by so strange a preacher; but he was too prudent to raise any discussion on the matter, and too chivalrous to wish to establish his own rectitude at the expense of his brethren. Moreover he had to decide between the two alternatives offered him by Nebuzaradan. Should he go to Babylon or remain in Judah?
According to a suggestion of Gratz, accepted by Cheyne, Jer 15:10-21 is a record of the inner struggle through which Jeremiah came to a decision on this matter. The section is not very clear, but it suggests that at one time it seemed Jehovahs will that he should go to Babylon, and that it was only after much hesitation that he was convinced that God required him to remain in Judah. Powerful motives drew him in either direction. At Babylon he would reap the full advantage of Nebuchadnezzars favour, and would enjoy the order and culture of a great capital. He would meet with old friends and disciples, amongst the rest Ezekiel. He would find an important sphere for ministry amongst the large Jewish community in Chaldea, where the flower of the whole nation was now in exile. In Judah he would have to share the fortunes of a feeble and suffering remnant, and would be exposed to all the dangers and disorder consequent on the break up of the national government-brigandage on the part of native guerilla bands and raids by the neighbouring tribes. These guerilla bands were the final effort of Jewish resistance, and would seek to punish as traitors those who accepted the dominion of Babylon.
On the other hand, Jeremiahs surviving enemies, priests, prophets, and princes, had been taken en masse to Babylon. On his arrival he would find himself again plunged into the old controversies. Many, if not the majority, of his countrymen there would regard him as a traitor. The protege of Nebuchadnezzar was sure to be disliked and distrusted by his less fortunate brethren. And Jeremiah was not a born courtier like Josephus. In Judah, moreover, he would be amongst friends of his own way of thinking; the remnant left behind had been placed under the authority of his friend Gedaliah, the son of his former protector Ahikam, the grandson of his ancient ally Shaphan. He would be free from the anathemas of corrupt priests and the contradiction of false prophets. The advocacy of true religion amongst the exiles might safely be left to Ezekiel and his school.
But probably the motives that decided Jeremiahs course of action were, firstly, that devoted attachment to the sacred soil which was a passion with every earnest Jew; and, secondly, the inspired conviction that Palestine was to be the scene of the future development of revealed religion. This conviction was coupled with the hope that the scattered refugees who were rapidly gathering at Mizpah under Gedaliah might lay the foundations of a new community, which should become the instrument of the divine purpose. Jeremiah was no deluded visionary, who would suppose that the destruction of Jerusalem had exhausted Gods judgments, and that the millennium would forthwith begin for the special and exclusive benefit of his surviving companions in Judah. Nevertheless, while there was an organised Jewish community left on native soil, it would be regarded as the heir of the national religious hopes and aspirations, and a prophet, with liberty of choice, would feel it his duty to remain.
Accordingly Jeremiah decided to join Gedaliah. Nebuzaradan gave him food and a present, and let him go.
Gedaliahs headquarters were at Mizpah, a town not certainly identified, but lying somewhere to the northwest of Jerusalem, and playing an important part in the history of Samuel and Saul. Men would remember the ancient record which told how the first Hebrew king had been divinely appointed at Mizpah, and might regard the coincidence as a happy omen that Gedaliah would found a kingdom more prosperous and permanent than that which traced its origin to Saul.
Nebuzaradan had left with the new governor “men, women, and children of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon.” These were chiefly of the poorer sort, but not altogether, for among them were “royal princesses” and doubtless others belonging to the ruling classes. Apparently after these arrangements had been made the Chaldean forces were almost entirely withdrawn, and Gedaliah was left to cope with the many difficulties of the situation by his own unaided resources. For a time all went well. It seemed at first as if the scattered bands of Jewish soldiers still in the field would submit to the Chaldean government and acknowledge Gedaliahs authority. Various captains with their bands came to him at Mizpah, amongst them Ishmael ben Nethaniah, Johanan ben Kareah and his brother Jonathan. Gedaliah swore to them that they should be pardoned and protected by the Chaldeans. He confirmed them in their possession of the towns and districts they had occupied after the departure of the enemy. They accepted his assurance, and their alliance with him seemed to guarantee the safety and prosperity of the settlement. Refugees from Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, and all the neighbouring countries flocked to Mizpah, and busied themselves in gathering in the produce of the oliveyards and vineyards which had been left ownerless when the nobles were slain or carried away captive. Many of the poorer Jews revelled in such unwonted plenty, and felt that even national ruin had its compensations.
Tradition has supplemented what the sacred record tells us of this period in Jeremiahs history. We are told that “it is also found in the records that the prophet Jeremiah” commanded the exiles to take with them fire from the altar of the Temple, and further exhorted them to observe the law and to abstain from idolatry; and that “it was also contained in the same writing, that the prophet, being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go with him, as he went forth unto the mountain, where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of God. And when Jeremiah came thither, he found a hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle and the ark and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door. And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it: which when Jeremiah perceived he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather His people again together and receive them to His mercy.”
A less improbable tradition is that which narrates that Jeremiah composed the Book of Lamentations shortly after the capture of the city. This is first stated by the Septuagint; it has been adopted by the Vulgate and various Rabbinical authorities, and has received considerable support from Christian scholars. Moreover, as the traveller leaves Jerusalem by the Damascus Gate, he passes great stone quarries, where Jeremiahs Grotto is still pointed out as the place where the prophet composed his elegy.
Without entering into the general question of the authorship of Lamentations, we may venture to doubt whether it can be referred to any period of Jeremiahs life which is dealt with in our book: and even whether it accurately represents his feelings at any such period. During the first month that followed the capture of Jerusalem the Chaldean generals held the city and its inhabitants at the disposal of their king. His decision was uncertain; it was by no means a matter of course that he would destroy the city. Jerusalem had been spared by Pharaoh Necho after the defeat of Josiah, and by Nebuchadnezzar after the revolt of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah and the other Jews must have been in a state of extreme suspense as to their own fate and that of their city, very different from the attitude of Lamentations. This suspense was ended when Nebuzaradan arrived and proceeded to burn the city. Jeremiah witnessed the fulfilment of his own prophecies when Jerusalem was thus overtaken by the ruin he had so often predicted. As he stood there chained amongst the other captives, many of his neighbours must have felt towards him as we should feel towards an anarchist gloating over the spectacle of a successful dynamite explosion; and Jeremiah could not be ignorant of their sentiments. His own emotions would be sufficiently vivid, but they would not be so simple as those of the great elegy. Probably they were too poignant to be capable of articulate expression; and the occasion was not likely to be fertile in acrostics.
Doubtless when the venerable priest and prophet looked from Ramah or Mizpah towards the blackened ruins of the Temple and the Holy City, he was possessed by something of the spirit of Lamentations. But from the moment when he went to Mizpah he would be busily occupied in assisting Gedaliah in his gallant effort to gather the nucleus of a new Israel out of the flotsam and jetsam of the shipwreck of Judah. Busy with this work of practical beneficence, his unconquerable spirit already possessed with visions of a brighter future, Jeremiah could not lose himself in mere regrets for the past.
He was doomed to experience yet another disappointment. Gedaliah had only held his office for about two months, when he was warned by Johanan ben Kareah and the other captains that Ishmael ben Nethaniah had been sent by Baalis, king of the Ammonites, to assassinate him. Gedaliah refused to believe them. Johanan, perhaps surmising that the governors incredulity was assumed, came to him privately and proposed to anticipate Ishmael: “Let me go, I pray thee, and slay Ishmael ben Nethaniah, and no one shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish? But Gedaliah ben Ahikam said unto Johanan ben Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.”
Gedaliahs misplaced confidence soon had fatal consequences. In the second month, about October, the Jews in the ordinary course of events would have celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, to return thanks for their plentiful ingathering of grapes, olives, and summer fruit. Possibly this occasion gave Ishmael a pretext for visiting Mizpah. He came thither with ten nobles who, like himself, were connected with the royal family and probably were among the princes who persecuted Jeremiah. This small and distinguished company could not be suspected of intending to use violence. Ishmael seemed to be reciprocating Gedaliahs confidence by putting himself in the governors power. Gedaliah feasted his guests. Johanan and the other captains were not present; they had done what they could to save him, but they did not wait to share the fate which he was bringing on himself.
“Then arose Ishmael ben Nethaniah and his ten companions and smote Gedaliah ben Ahikamand all the Jewish and Chaldean soldiers that were with him at Mizpah.”
Probably the eleven assassins were supported by a larger body of followers, who waited outside the city and made their way in amidst the confusion consequent on the murder; doubtless, too, they had friends amongst Gedaliahs entourage. These accomplices had first lulled any suspicions that he might feel as to Ishmael, and had then helped to betray their master.
Not contented with the slaughter which he had already perpetrated, Ishmael took measures to prevent the news getting abroad, and lay in wait for any other adherents of Gedaliah who might come to visit him. He succeeded in entrapping a company of eighty men from Northern Israel: ten were allowed to purchase their lives by revealing hidden stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey; the rest were slain and thrown into an ancient pit, “which King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel.”
These men were pilgrims, who came with shaven chins and torn clothes, “and having cut themselves, bringing meal offerings and frankincense to the house of Jehovah.” The pilgrims were doubtless on their way to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles: with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, all the joy of their festival would be changed to mourning and its songs to wailing. Possibly they were going to lament on the site of the ruined temple. But Mizpah itself had an ancient sanctuary. Hosea speaks of the priests, princes, and people of Israel as having been “a snare on Mizpah.” Jeremiah may have sanctioned the use of this local temple, thinking that Jehovah would “set His name there” till Jerusalem was restored even as He had dwelt at Shiloh before He chose the City of David. But to whatever shrine these pilgrims were journeying, their errand should have made them sacrosanct to all Jews. Ishmaels hypocrisy, treachery, and cruelty in this matter go far to justify Jeremiahs bitterest invectives against the princes of Judah.
But after this bloody deed it was high time for Ishmael to be gone and betake himself back to his heathen patron, Baalis the Ammonite. These massacres could not long be kept a secret. And yet Ishmael seems to have made a final effort to suppress the evidence of his crimes. In his retreat he carried with him all the people left in Mizpah, “soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs,” including the royal princesses, and apparently Jeremiah and Baruch. No doubt be hoped to make money out of his prisoners by selling them as slaves or holding them to ransom. He had not ventured to slay Jeremiah: the prophet had not been present at the banquet and had thus escaped the first fierce slaughter, and Ishmael shrank from killing in cold blood the man whose predictions, of ruin had been so exactly and awfully fulfilled by the recent destruction of Jerusalem.
When Johanan ben Kareah and the other captains heard how entirely Ishmael had justified their warning, they assembled their forces and started in pursuit. Ishmaels band seems to have been comparatively small, and was moreover encumbered by the disproportionate number of captives with which they had burdened themselves. They were overtaken “by the great waters that are in Gibeon,” only a very short distance from Mizpah.
However Ishmaels original following of ten may have been reinforced, his band cannot have been very numerous and was manifestly inferior to Johanans forces. In face of an enemy of superior strength, Ishmaels only chance of escape was to leave his prisoners to their own devices-he had not even time for another massacre. The captives at once turned round and made their way to their deliverer. Ishmaels followers seem to have been scattered, taken captive, or slain, but he himself escaped with eight men-possibly eight of the original ten-and found refuge with the Ammonites.
Johanan and his companions with the recovered captives made no attempt to return to Mizpah. The Chaldeans would exact a severe penalty for the murder of their governor Gedaliah, and their own fellow countrymen: their vengeance was not likely to be scrupulously discriminating. The massacre would be regarded as an act of rebellion on the part of the Jewish community in Judah, and the community would be punished accordingly. Johanan and his whole company determined that when the day of retribution came the Chaldeans should find no one to punish. They set out for Egypt, the natural asylum of the enemies of Babylon. On the way they halted in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem at a caravanserai which bore the name of Chimham, {2Sa 19:31-40} the son of Davids generous friend Barzillai. So far the fugitives had acted on their first impulse of dismay; now they paused to take breath, to make a more deliberate survey of their situation, and to mature their plans for the future.