Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 40:2
And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Verse 2. The Lord thy God hath pronounced] I know that thou art a true prophet, for what thou hast predicted from thy God is come to pass.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
2. The Babylonians were in somemeasure aware, through Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jer39:11), that they were the instruments of God’s wrath on Hispeople.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah,…. When he mustered his prisoners, to his great surprise he found the prophet among them, whom he took out from them, and set him free; though, before he dismissed him, he had the following conversation with him:
and said unto him, the Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil on this place; the city of Jerusalem; from whence the prophet and the rest of the captives were just brought, and which now lay in ruins; the houses burnt; the walls broken down; and the inhabitants spoiled and carried captive. This was the evil which the Lord, he says, had “decreed”, as the Targum renders it; had purposed to bring upon it; and which he had declared and pronounced by the mouth of Jeremiah, whose Lord God he was, being his prophet, and a worshipper of him: this Nebuzaradan was apprized of by the Jews that deserted to the Chaldeans; and particularly, as is probable, by Gedaliah.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. The captain said unto him This message is certainly a most remarkable one. The language is not heathen, but Jewish. Probably Nebuzaradan had become fully possessed of the substance of Jeremiah’s predictions, and had come to feel that they were really from God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 40:2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Ver. 2. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah. ] Took him and loosed him, as he should have done before.
Saying, The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the guard. See note on Jer 39:9.
said. Nebuzar-adan takes all the credit to himself. Compare Jer 39:11.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
evil = calamity. Hebrew. ra’a. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
The Lord: Jer 22:8, Jer 22:9, Deu 29:24-28, 1Ki 9:8, 1Ki 9:9, 2Ch 7:20-22, Lam 2:15-17
Reciprocal: Deu 29:25 – Because Neh 9:30 – therefore Jer 11:17 – pronounced Jer 15:11 – verily I Jer 25:9 – Nebuchadrezzar Jer 50:7 – We offend Eze 20:48 – General Eze 39:23 – the heathen Act 28:16 – captain
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 40:2. We know that God sometimes spoke to heathen persons when they were involved in some of the affairs of His people (Dan 4:11; Ezr 1:2). Here the chief captain repeated to Jeremiah what the prophet had himself previously declared.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 40:2-4. The captain of the guard said, The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil, &c. Although each of the Gentile or heathen nations worshipped its peculiar god or gods, yet they did not reject or deny the gods of other nations; and therefore the captain of the guard speaks here to Jeremiah of Jehovah as his God, and the God of the Jews, and attributes all the calamities which had befallen this people to the indignation of this their God against them, because they had not obeyed and served him as they ought to have done. This seems a much more probable interpretation of Nebuzar-adans words than to understand them as expressive of his faith in the living and true God, of whom it is likely he knew little or nothing. And now, behold, I loose thee this day, &c. This captain of the guard, like a faithful servant, remembers his princess orders about the prophet, and offers to him greater favour than to any of the other prisoners. With respect to them, he uses the power which conquest had given him over them, and they must go whither the king of Babylon pleased to send them; but he gives Jeremiah liberty to choose whether he would go along with him to Babylon, or stay in his own country, assuring him that if he would go to Babylon he would take particular care of him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
40:2 {a} And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
(a) From Jer 40:2 to Jer 42:7 it seems to be as a parenthesis and separated matter and there this story begins again and this vision is declared what it was.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In Ramah, Nebuzaradan learned that Jeremiah was among the captives about to be sent to Babylonia, so he released him again. The captain of the guard confirmed to Jeremiah that Yahweh had done to Jerusalem just as He had said He would because of the sins of His people. This pagan could see what Yahweh was doing, whereas Judah’s leaders could not see because they were spiritually blind.
"As God’s people, we have to bow in shame when the world publicly announces the sins of the saints (Gen 12:10-20; Gen 20:1 ff; 2Sa 12:14)." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 131.]