Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 52:1

Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Ch. Jer 52:1-11. Capture of the city

1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old ] So 2Ch 36:11, but, if we compare 1Ch 3:15 and 2Ki 23:31 (= 2Ch 36:2), we find that, supposing the numbers which we now read there to be correct, Zedekiah should by this time have been thirty-four or thirty-five years of age. An error has somewhere crept in.

his mother’s name was Hamutal ] or Hamital, the other reading of MT. both here, and in 2 Kgs. Zedekiah was thus brother of Jehoahaz but half-brother of Jehoiakim (2Ki 23:31; 2Ki 23:36).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Jer. 52 is an historical appendix to the Book of Jeremiah, giving details of the capture of Babylon additional to those contained in Jer. 39: The last words of the foregoing chapter affirm that Jeremiah was not the author, and the view adopted by most commentators is, that this chapter is taken from the 2nd Book of Kings, but that the person who added it here had access to other valuable documents, and made several modifications in it, the principal being the substituation of the account of those led captive by Nebuchadnezzar Jer 52:28-30, for the narrative given in 2Ki 25:22-26, where see the notes.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER LII

This chapter was added after Jeremiah’s time probably by Ezra,

after the return from the captivity, of which it gives a short

account, nearly the same as in Jer 52:2; Jer 24:18-20; Jer 25:1-30.

It is very properly subjoined to the preceding prophecies, in

order to show how exactly they were fulfilled. It likewise

forms a proper introduction to the following Lamentations, as

it gives an account of the mournful events which gave rise to

them. Zedekiah’s evil reign and rebellion against

Nebuchadnezzar, 1-3.

Jerusalem is taken by the Chaldeans after a siege of eighteen

months, 4-7.

Zedekiah pursued and taken in the plains of Jericho, and his

whole army dispersed, 8, 9.

The king’s sons and all the princes of Judah slain in Riblah,

10.

Zedekiah has his eyes put out by order of the Chaldean monarch;

and is afterward bound in chains, carried to Babylon, and

imprisoned for life, 11.

Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, burns and spoils the

city and temple, 12-19.

The two pillars of the temple, with their dimensions and

ornaments, 20-23.

The officers of the temple, and several others, carried away

captives into Babylon, and then slain by order of

Nebuchadnezzar, 24-27.

The number of Jews that Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive in

the seventh year of his reign, 28;

in his eighteenth year, 29;

and in his twenty-third year, 30.

Evil-merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, in the year of his

accession to the throne of Babylon, (which was in the

thirty-seventh year of the captivity, and the one hundred and

ninety-first from the building of Rome, according to the

computation of Varro,) orders Jehoiachin to be taken out of

prison, and treats him kindly for the remainder of his life,

31-34.

NOTES ON CHAP. LII

Verse 1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old] See 2Kg 24:18.

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

Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign,…. Whose name was Mattaniah; and who was set on the throne by the king of Babylon, in the room of his brother’s son Jehoiachin,

2Ki 24:17;

and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; so that he was thirty two years of age when he was taken and carried captive into Babylon:

and his mother’s name [was] Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah; see 2Ki 24:18.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Fate of King Zedekiah at the taking of Jerusalem; cf. 2Ki 24:18; 2Ki 25:7, and Jer 39:1-7. The statements regarding Zedekiah’s ascension and his government, Jer 52:1-3, agree word for word with 2Ki 24:18-20, even to the variation , Jer 52:3, for (Kings). The length of the siege of Jerusalem, Jer 52:4-7, and the flight, capture, and condemnation of King Zedekiah and the princes of Judah, Jer 52:7-11, not only agrees with 2Ki 25:1-7, but also with Jer 39:1-7, where it is merely the forcible entrance into the city by the Chaldeans that receives special detail; see on Jer 39:3. The variation , Jer 52:4, instead of (2Ki 25:1), does not affect the sense. As to the account given of the flight, capture, and condemnation of the king, both Jer 39 and 2 Kings omit the notices given in Jer 52:10, “and also all the princes of Judah he caused to be slain (i.e., executed) at Riblah,” and in Jer 52:11, “and he put him in the prison-house till the day of his death.” has been rendered by the lxx; on this fact Hitzig bases the opinion that the Hebrew words signify “the house of punishment,” or “the house of correction,” in which Zedekiah was obliged to turn the mill like other culprits, and as Samson was once obliged to do (Jdg 16:21). But this meaning of the words cannot be substantiated. means “oversight, mustering, or visitation ( Heimsuchung ), or vengeance,” e.g., Isa 10:3, but not punishment ( Strafe ), and the plural, “watches” ( Eze 9:1) and “custody,” Ezek. 54:11; hence the expression used here signifies “the house of custody,” or “the house of the watches.” The translation of the lxx can decide nothing against this, because their interpretation is based upon traditions which are themselves unfounded. Regarding this, Ewald well remarks ( History of the People of Israel, iii. p. 748 of 2nd ed.): “That Zedekiah must have laboured at the mill, as is mentioned in later chronicles (see Aug. Mai, Scriptorum veterum nova collectio , t. i. P. 2, p. 6; cf. Chr. Sam. Ch. xlv.), is probably a mere inference from Lam 5:13.”

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Jerusalem Taken by Nebuchadnezzar.

B. C. 588.

      1 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.   2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.   3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.   4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.   5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.   6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.   7 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.   8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.   9 Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.   10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.   11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

      This narrative begins no higher than the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, though there were two captivities before, one in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the other in the first of Jeconiah; but probably it was drawn up by some of those that were carried away with Zedekiah, as a reproach to themselves for imagining that they should not go into captivity after their brethren, with which hopes they had long flattered themselves. We have here, 1. God’s just displeasure against Judah and Jerusalem for their sin, v. 3. His anger was against them to such a degree that he determined to cast them out from his presence, his favourable gracious presence, as a father, when he is extremely angry with an undutiful son, bids him get out of his presence, he expelled them from that good land that had such tokens of his presence in providential bounty and that holy city and temple that had such tokens of his presence in covenant-grace and love. Note, Those that are banished from God’s ordinances have reason to complain that they are in some degree cast out of his presence; yet none are cast out from God’s gracious presence but those that by sin have first thrown themselves out of it. This fruit of sin we should therefore deprecate above any thing, as David (Ps. li. 11), Cast me not away from thy presence. 2. Zedekiah’s bad conduct and management, to which God left him, in displeasure against the people, and for which God punished him, in displeasure against him. Zedekiah had arrived at years of discretion when he came to the throne; he was twenty-one years old (v. 1); he was none of the worst of the kings (we never read of his idolatries), yet his character is that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, for he did not do the good he should have done. But that evil deed of his which did in a special manner hasten this destruction was his rebelling against the king of Babylon, which was both his sin and his folly, and brought ruin upon his people, not only meritoriously, but efficiently. God was greatly displeased with him for his perfidious dealing with the king of Babylon (as we find, Ezek. xvii. 15, c.) and, because he was angry at Judah and Jerusalem, he put him into the hand of his own counsels, to do that foolish thing which proved fatal to him and his kingdom. 3. The possession which the Chaldeans at length gained of Jerusalem, after eighteen months’ siege. They sat down before it, and blocked it up, in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, in the tenth month (v. 4), and made themselves masters of it in the eleventh year in the fourth month, v. 6. In remembrance of these two steps towards their ruin, while they were in captivity, they kept a fast in the fourth month, and a fast in the tenth (Zech. viii. 19): that in the fifth month was in remembrance of the burning of the temple, and that in the seventh of the murder of Gedaliah. We may easily imagine, or rather cannot imagine, what a sad time it was with Jerusalem, during this year and half that it was besieged, when all provisions were cut off from coming to them and they were ever and anon alarmed by the attacks of the enemy, and, being obstinately resolved to hold out to the last extremity, nothing remained but a certain fearful looking for of judgment. That which disabled them to hold out, and yet could not prevail with them to capitulate, was the famine in the city (v. 6); there was no bread for the people of the land, so that the soldiers could not make good their posts, but were rendered wholly unserviceable; and then no wonder that the city was broken up, v. 7. Walls, in such a case, will not hold out long without men, any more than men without walls; nor will both together stand people in any stead without God and his protection. 4. The inglorious retreat of the king and his mighty men. They got out of the city by night (v. 7) and made the best of their way, I know not whither, nor perhaps they themselves; but the king was overtaken by the pursuers in the plains of Jericho, his guards were dispersed, and all his army was scattered from him, v. 8. His fright was not causeless, for there is no escaping the judgments of God; they will come upon the sinner, and will overtake him, let him flee where he will (Deut. xxviii. 15), and these judgments particularly that are here executed were there threatened, Deu 28:52; Deu 28:53, c. 5. The sad doom passed upon Zedekiah by the king of Babylon, and immediately put in execution. He treated him as a rebel, gave judgment upon him, &lti>v. 9. One cannot think of it without the utmost vexation and regret that a king, a king of Judah, a king of the house of David, should be arraigned as a criminal at the bar of this heathen king. But he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet; therefore God thus humbled him. Pursuant to the sentence passed upon him by the haughty conqueror, his sons were slain before his eyes, and all the princes of Judah (v. 10); then his eyes were put out, and he was bound in chains, carried in triumph to Babylon; perhaps they made sport with him, as they did with Samson when his eyes were put out; however, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, wearing out the remainder of his life (I cannot say his days, for he saw day no more) in darkness and misery. He was kept in prison till the day of his death, but had some honour done him at his funeral, ch. xxxiv. 5. Jeremiah had often told him what it would come to, but he would not take warning when he might have prevented it.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

PART V

AN HISTORICAL POSTSCRIPT – From the Reign of Zedekiah to the Liberation of Jehoiachin

(Chapter 52)

FROM ZEDEKIAH’S REIGN TO JEHOIACHIN’S RELEASE

In this chapter one finds fuller vindication of Jeremiah’s ministry through the fulfillment of his word. The content is very close to the record found in 2 Kings 24-25 and 2 Chronicles 36.

Vs. 1-3a: EVIL IN THE LORD’S SIGHT

1. Zedekiah began to reign in Judah when he was 21 years old, and reigned for 11 years, (vs. 1; comp. 2Ki 24:18-20; 2Ch 36:11-13).

a. He was a son of the good king Josiah, whom Jeremiah dearly loved.

b. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah

2. He did evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his brother, Jehoiakim had done, (vs. 2; comp. 1Ki 14:22; Jer 36:30-31).

3. Their corruption surpassing the boundaries of God’s endurance, He, in righteous indignation, cast them away from His presence, (vs. 3; comp. Isa 3:1; Isa 3:4-5).

Vs. 3b-11: ZEDEKIAH’S REBELLION

1. Though, by the name of Jehovah, he had sworn loyalty to king Nebuchadnezzar, the stiff-necked Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, (vs. 3b; 2Ch 36:13).

2. As a result of Zedeklah’s rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar and his army set a siege around Jerusalem (in the 9th year, 10th month and 10th day of Zedekiah’s reign); it was kept there until approximately 18 months later, when, in the midst of a sore famine in the city, a breach was made in the wall of Jerusalem, (vs. 4-7a; Jer 39:1; 2Ki 25:1-7; comp. Eze 24:1).

3. Thus, Zedekiah and all his men of war tried to escape by night, but were apprehended in the plains of Jericho – his army being scattered, (vs. 7b-8; Jer 39:4-7).

4. He was taken before Nebuchadnezzar, at Riblah, where sentence was passed upon him – illustrating the high cost of rebellion against the word of the Lord! (vs. 9-11).

a. Nebuchadnezzar slew all the sons of Zedekiah before his very eyes (Jer 22:30; Jer 39:6)-with all the princes of Judah.

b. Then he put out the king’s eyes (Jer 39:7; Eze 12:13), bound him in chains, and took him to Babylon where he was imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.This chapter forms a historical appendix to the Book of Jeremiah. Its AUTHORSHIP is conjectural. They who think Jeremiah penned it urge that the closing words of chap. 51, Thus far the words of Jeremiah, really ended the original form of the book. Yet this chapter may have been a separate roll, penned earlier than chap. 51, and now added to the book as supplying additional details to those be gave in chap. 39; or, indeed, be may have written it, copying part of the Book of Kings (2Ki. 24:18; 2Ki. 25:21) as a historical preface to his Book of Lamentations. Others urge that the men of the Great Synagogue took the chapter from Kings and added it here. Others suggest Ezra. Probably some unknown hand appended the account from Kings, adding to that account other items which valuable documents in his possession supplied.

For Chronology of the Chapter and General Notes, vide chaps. 34, 39 in loc.

The DATES given in Jer. 52:28-30 differ from those in other Scripture accounts. The first deportation of Jews under Nebuchadnezzar is ascribed to the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzars reign; but the numeral here must be the seventeenth, the ten having dropped out of the text; for the earliest deportation was in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki. 24:12), and the captives were far more numerous than those here reckoned. Most probably the deportations mentioned here are all connected with the final war with Zedekiah; and even then the dates are one year too early throughout. See in verses below.

SUBJECT OF THE CHAPTER: CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM

See for homiletic arrangements of events, The Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, pp. 599, 560, and chap. 39.

HOMILIES AND COMMENTS ON CHAPTER 52

Jer. 52:1-11. Theme: THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH.

I. The immediate causes of the captivity (Jer. 52:1-4).

1. Moral. He did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

(1.) This is the divine summing up of Lam. 1:6.

(2.) The history of every nation and of every individual proves that sin against God as surely brings ruin as that any physical cause produces its legitimate effect
(3.) This law in Gods moral universe is an all-sufficient answer to the materialist of any and every age. (a.) A universe without a moral cause could have no moral law. (b.) A class of beings without a moral nature could not be legitimate subjects of such a law. (c.) But the law exists, and mankind are subjects of it; therefore, &c. &c.

2. The political cause (Jer. 52:3). Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

(1.) The invasion of Nebuchadnezzar was politically just. (a.) Zedekiah accepted the throne of Judah from the hands of Nebuchadnezzar as his vassal. (b.) Every principle of good faith bound Zedekiah to be true to his Babylonian master. (c.) To this course he was advised by Jeremiah the prophet, nay, commanded by God (Jer. 27:12-14). (d.) Zedekiahs rebellion was no less perfidious, in view of his relation to Nebuchadnezzar, than was his disobedience to God.

II. The terrible sufferings which immediately preceded the captivity (Jer. 52:5-11).

1. The city was besieged for the space of two years and a half.

(1.) This was a time of terrible suffering (Lam. 4:4-10). (a.) The children perished with hunger and thirst. (b.) The dunghills were searched for scraps of offal. (c.) Mothers cooked and ate their own children. (d.) The complexion of men grew black with famine. (e.) What a type of the sufferings of all who reject God!

2. At the end of the siege, when the city was taken, the sufferings were still more terrible.

(1.) Zedekiah, who with his wives and sons, and men of war, fled from the captured city, was overtaken in the plain of Jericho, brought before Nebuchadnezzar, who ordered the sons of Zedekiah to be slain before their fathers eyes, and then Zedekiahs own eyes to be dug out; and in this pitiable condition he was taken to Babylon, cast into prison, where in blindness and wretchedness he languished till the day of his death.
(2.) Thousands of the unfortunate people were carried away captive to Babylon, whose sufferings have never been written.

(3.) But over all this must be written for the confusion or conviction of men: Righteous art Thou, O Jehovah, and upright are Thy judgments! (Psa. 119:137).

Practical Lessons

1. Nowhere are found more striking illustrations of the hardness and blindness which impenitence produces than do the kings of Judah and Israel furnish.

2. Nowhere are found more striking illustrations of the mercy and forbearance of Almighty God.

3. Nowhere are found more striking illustrations of the divine truth, He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy (Pro. 29:1).Rev. D. C. Hughes.

Jer. 52:3. Theme: REBELLION AND VENGEANCE. Through the anger of the Lord it came to pass that Zedekiah rebelled.

i. ANGER IN GODS HEART against His covenant, yet now apostate, people.

ii. GODS ANGER IN ACTION: Till He had cast them out of His presence. Comp. 2Ki. 23:26-27.

iii. HUMAN AGENCIES OF PUNISHMENT. It came to pass that Zedekiah rebelled, i.e., against Nebuchadnezzar; and that was the moving cause of Jerusalems destruction. God exercised no restraint upon Zedekiah to prevent his rebelling and thus involving Judahs overthrow.

iv. VENGEANCE THE REQUITAL OF A VIOLATED OATH. He rebelled, notwithstanding his sacred oath of fealty to Nebuchadnezzar, and notwithstanding all Gods commands. Comp. 2Ch. 36:13.

Thus we see why God sometimes places ungodly rulers over a countryto punish it for its sins with degradation and destruction.

Jer. 52:6. Theme: FAMINE. The famine was sore in the city, &c.

I. Bread is the gift of God.

1. In the first instance it was the product of His creative power, not as now, the result of growth. This is obvious. The first grain of wheat could not have proceeded from another grain: it was a direct creation.

2. Its very growth is the result of His laws. Let them be suspended: no rain, &c., and the sower might sow in vain.

II. Bread, Gods gift, withheld as a punishment of sins.

For judicial reasons, God sometimes breaks the whole staff of bread and sends famine into a city or throughout a land. This either by successive failures in the crops or by permitting an invading army to invest and besiege a city.

The famine in Egypt in Josephs time was occasioned by a seven years failure in the crops; so the famine in Canaan in Ahabs reign resulted from a three years and six months drought.

The famine in Jerusalem was caused by a state of siege (Jer. 52:4-5). So was the scarcity in Paris during the reign of Napoleon III., when William, king of Prussia, besieged the city five months.

Thus He who gives bread can take it away; and He does take it away when a land like Egypt becomes tyrannical and oppressive, and a city like Jerusalem or Paris forgets God, lives in defiance of His authority, and tramples under foot divine and human laws.

III. God visits guilty cities with sore distress.

When cities fall into moral guilt and depravity, their prosperity is desolated, their doom is sealed. With expressions of His anger He visited Jerusalem, with famine first, and then with ruin (Jer. 52:7). Equally with proofs of displeasure He visited France: famine in the city, Paris desolated, the Emperor overturned, the valiants of the army slain. Thus events in A.D. 187071 reaffirm the meaning of events in Jerusalems overthrow nearly six hundred years before Christ.

Superficial observers may see in these events only the hand of man; but what saith God? See Isa. 60:12; Jer. 5:9, whether with war, or pestilence, or famine, God deals with nations and men after their sins.

IV. Famished cities on earth suggest thoughts, as a glad contrast, of the blessed city of God above, the heavenly Jerusalem. Of its inhabitants it is declared, They shall hunger no more, &c. Many of its residents did hunger when here on earth, e.g., Paul (2Co. 11:27).

No more assaults of foes, nor penalties of sin, nor sufferings and deprivation, will be known in the Holy City, the Jerusalem above.Arranged from Walks with Jeremiah.

Comments

Jer. 52:9-11. Nebuchadnezzar GAVE JUDGMENT upon Zedekiah. See on chap. Jer. 39:14; also Jer. 32:4; Jer. 34:3.

Jer. 52:12. In the tenth day of the month. Note in 2Ki. 25:8 it is given as the seventh day. But the different preposition explains the difference of dates. He came unto Jerusalem on the seventh, and into Jerusalem on the tenth day; or he moved towards Jerusalem on the seventh, and entered on the tenth day.

Jer. 52:17-23. Spoils of the Temple carried away, thus fulfilling the prediction of chap. Jer. 27:19-22.

The minute enumeration of these articles and of their construction shows how precious was the remembrance of them to the godly Israelite. This heightened the bitterness of their loss.

Jer. 52:24. CAPTURE OF THE PRIESTS.

As teachers are often to blame for their behaviour that sin gets the upper hand in a community, it is exceedingly just when God brings such for an example into great punitive judgment (1Sa. 2:27-34).Starke.

The priests are caught and slain

1. Because they could not believe the truth for themselves.

2. Because they led others astray.

3. Because they appealed to the Temple of the Lord.

4. Because they persecuted the true prophets.

5. Because they troubled the whole Church of God.

But he who troubleth shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be (Gal. 5:10).Cramer, quoted in Lange.

Jer. 52:27-30. DEPORTATION OF CAPTIVES.

The present account of the deportation of captives by Nebuchadnezzar himself (not by Nebuzar-adan) is subordinate and supplemental to other narratives of those taken from Jerusalem at other times. Two of the deportations here mentioned are of the Jews; only one was from Jerusalem itself. That this is their true character is evident from the smallness of the number here specified. The total of these three deportations is only 4600, whereas in 2Ki. 24:14-16 they who are carried captive with Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar, in the eighth year of his reign, were 18,000 souls. How many were carried away with Zedekiah by Nebuzar-adan when Jerusalem was burnt we are not told, but probably a still larger number.Wordsworth.

According to this account, Nebuchadnezzar, in his seventeenth (usually called his eighteenth) year, while the siege of Jerusalem was going on, selected 3023 Jews for deportation to Babylon. In the next year, his eighteenth (i.e., nineteenth), upon the capture of Jerusalem, he selected 832 more, the smallness of the number evincing the desperate tenacity with which the Jews had defended themselves during the year and a half of the siege, and the havoc made in them by famine, pestilence, and the sword. We must bear in mind, however, that Nebuchadnezzar had not left more than 6000 or 7000 people in Jerusalem under Zedekiah, and must not exaggerate this fewness. Finally, five years afterwards, Nebuchadnezzar selected 745 more, not from Jerusalem (as is said expressly of the 832), but Jews simply, the occasion probably being war with the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites.

Another point often noticed is the small number generally of the exiles carried away compared with the 42,360 men who returned with Ezra (Ezr. 2:64-65), leaving a large Jewish population behind at Babylon. But if these were mere supplementary deportations, they show that a continual drain of people from Judea was going on, and thus help to solve the difficulty.Dr. Payne Smith.

Jer. 52:31-34. Theme. MERCY TO A CAPTIVE KING.

These verses recount the deliverance of Jehoiachin.

I. It shows us that the Lord can help us

1. Out of great distress: grievous imprisonment of thirty-seven years.
2. In a glorious manner.

II. It admonishes us

1. To steadfast patience.

2. To believing hope (Psalms 13)Naegelsbach.

Jer. 52:31-34. Theme: RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVE. The king of Babylon lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, brought him forth, spake kindly, set his throne, &c.

The obscure portions of the Word of God are worthy of notice, like the filings of gold which the artist preserves. They often illustrate great principles.

I. The deliverance which the king of Babylon accomplished for Jehoiachin.

1. It is specially noticed, as an act, no doubt, acceptable to God. God is the Father of mercies, and He loves exercises so like His own. Many events are unrecorded, but this has a conspicuous place. It throws a lovely light over the dark events of this chapter.

2. It is every way complete.

Nothing is left undone that could relieve his sad captivity. Released from prison; spoken kindly to; a seat of honour given him among other princes; his prison garments changed; he constantly is a guest at the kings table; a continual diet is given him; the kindness extends to the very close of life.
3. It is worthy of practical imitation.

Pure religion and undefiled, &c. (Isaiah 8.) Inasmuch as ye did it unto me, &c. If thine enemy hunger, &c. Remember them in bonds. See Isa. 58:6-7.

II. The greater deliverance which Christ accomplishes. To rebels, to traitors.

1. He emancipates us from the power of sin.

Conversion is the opening of the prison. To open their eyes, &c. He is made of God to us redemption.
2. He speaks in accents of kindness and compassion. Margin reads, Good things with Him. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, to preach good tidings to the weak, &c.

3. He clothes us with the robe of mercy.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, &c. Changed his prison garments (Zec. 3:3-4).

4. He feeds us with the bread of life.

Man did eat angels food. He thus nourishes us freely, daily, constantly, to the very end.

5. He exalts us to the throne of immortality.

On the career of Jechoniah, see Personal Allusions, p. 419, Jer. 52:24, Coniah, son of Jehoiachin; also Theme, Woe to Coniah, pp. 430, 431.

Notes

No one should despair in misfortune, for the right hand of the Highest can change all (Psa. 57:10), and Christ rules even in the midst of His enemies (Psa. 110:2).Cramer.

St. Jerome reports, from an ancient tradition of the Jews, that Evil-Merodach, having had the government of the Babylonish empire during the distraction of his father, used his power so ill, that as soon as the old king came to himself he put him in prison for it, where he contracted a peculiar acquaintance with Jehoiachin, his fellow-prisoner; and that this was the cause of the great kindness he expressed towards him. This elevation of the captive king was evidently an act of grace by Evil-Merodach on the occasion of his ascending the throne, 561 B.C.

Lange asks here: May not the influence of Daniel and other highly esteemed Jews at the Babylonian court have operated in favour of the imprisoned king?

Wordsworth reflects thus: The change vouchsafed at Babylon by Gods mercy even to Jehoiachin, after the terrible maledictions denounced against him (Jer. 22:24-30), and after a long exile of thirty-seven years, was like a message of mercy and comfort from God Himself, and was a prelude and a pledge of the liberation and exaltation of the Jewish nation when it had been humbled and purified by the discipline of suffering, and of its return to its own land. And it was like a joyful free announcement of that far more glorious future restoration, which the prophets in the Old and the apostles in the New Testament foretellof Israel to GOD IN CHRIST.

Jer. 52:32. Theme: KIND WORDS. He spake kindly unto him.

After thirty-seven years of captivity, during which had passed away the youth and joyousness of King Jehoiachin, his prison doors were opened, his prison garments changed, and his throne exalted among the vanquished kings in Babylon; and yet we can well imagine that better far than the earthly distinction thus awarded him were the sunshine and comfort in his stricken heart when Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, spake kindly unto him.

A little word in kindness spoken,

A motion, or a tear,

Hath often healed the heart thats broken,

And made a friend sincere.

A worda lookhath crushed to earth

Full many a budding flower,

Which, had a smile but owned its birth,

Would bless lifes darkest hour.

Then deem it not an idle thing

A pleasant word to speak;

The face you wear, the thought you bring,

A heart may heal or break.Whittier.

I. Kindness should be a natural interchange between man and man.

The very word kindness comes from the cognate word kinned, i.e., or of the same kin or race, acknowledging or reminding us of the fact that all men are brethren, all of the same blood, and therefore all should act as brethren. All who are of the same kindred should be kind. The same analogy is found in the word humane, from human.

Tis the first sanction Nature gave to man,
Each other to assist in what they can.

Denham.

II. Small ministries of kindness may readily find occasion.

Life affords but few opportunities of doing great services for others, but there is scarcely an hour of the day that does not afford occasion of performing some little, it may be unnoticed, kindness.

Scorn not the slightest word or deed,

Nor deem it void of power;

Theres fruit in the wind-wafted seed,

Waiting its natal hour.

A whispered word may touch the heart,

And bring it back to life;

A look of love bid sin depart,

Or still unholy strife.

III. Kindly words effect more than pompous speech.

Loud talking, blustering pledges, ostentatious promises, are less agreeable to a man than honest though gentle words of affection, and win his heart less.
Good words do more than hard speeches, as the sunbeams without any noise will make the traveller cast off his cloak, which all the blustering winds could not do, but only make him bind it the closer to him.Leighton.

You can give me kind words if you can do nothing else for me, said a poor woman to her district visitor, and they make my heart glad. You cannot think how I look for the day of your coming, that I may tell you all my trials. Ah! she added, if only people thought a little about the trials and troubles of the poor, and the comfort and encouragement of a few kind words, they would not let them be so scarce.

IV. How touching the power of kind words on the suffering!

A compassionate visitor entered a prison hospital, and conversed with one of the most degraded and ignorant of men anywhere to be found. As he spoke kindly to him, the man drew the bed-clothes over his head and sobbed convulsively. As soon as he could speak he said to the visitor, Sir, you are the first man that ever spoke a kind word to me since I was born, and I cant stand it.

If a soul thou wouldst redeem,

And lead a lost one back to God,

Wouldst thou a guardian angel seem

To one who long in guilt hath trod?

Go kindly to him, take his hand,

With gentlest words, within thine own,

And by his side a brother stand,

Till all the demons thou dethrone.

Mrs. Sawyer.

Thus closes this plaintive Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, with a gleam of light on the gloom of exile, with a record of mercy rejoicing against judgment, of kindness shown to a long-suffering captive, of Gods pity for the degraded and dethroned king. So also may we in lifes deepest and most prolonged sufferings find gracious alleviation; in our dethronisationwhich sin has wroughtrecover exaltation to spiritual honour and privilege; and in our earthly life of exile from the land very far off, enjoy the favour of the glorious King, and be nourished with a continued diet of sacred grace given us of the King, every day a portion until the day of our death. Amen

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER TWENTY

AN HISTORICAL APPENDIX

Jer. 52:1-34

Chapter 51 closes with an editorial note: Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. Whoever was responsible for appending chapter 52 to the book must have added these words so as to carefully distinguish between his own contribution and that of the great prophet. Just who the author of Jeremiah 52 was nobody knows. Some have tried to argue that Jeremiah himself was the author even though the note at the end of chapter 51 seems to clearly imply the contrary. The argument for the Jeremian authorship of the chapter is basically this: Jeremiah 52 was taken from the Book of Kings and appended to the book of the prophet. Since Jeremiah is said in Jewish tradition to have been the author of Kings he must also be the author of Jeremiah 52. But this argument assumes that the Jewish tradition which attributes the Book of Kings to Jeremiah is reliable. It further assumes that Jeremiah 52 was in fact borrowed from Kings. Finally the argument for the Jeremian authorship of this chapter ignores the plain implication of the editorial comment at the end of chapter 51. The most likely candidate for the authorship of Jeremiah 52 is Baruch the faithful secretary of Jeremiah. He, no doubt, was the one responsible for putting the Book of Jeremiah together and he it was in all probability who added chapter 52.

But why would Baruch add this historical appendix to the Book of Jeremiah? After all, the prophet himself is not mentioned a single time in the chapter, and most of the material can be found in the Book of Kings and, in an abridged form, in Jeremiah 39. Baruch probably had a two-fold purpose in this appendix. First, this chapter describes in detail the fall of Jerusalem, the event which vindicated the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah. What a fitting conclusion, to allow the facts of history to bear witness to the truth of the prophetic word. Second, Baruch wished to call attention to the release of Jehoiachin (Jer. 52:31-34) which gave promise that after the midnight tragedy of judgment a brighter day was beginning to dawna day which Jeremiah had foreseen and described in such grand style. Jeremiah 52, then, proclaims that Gods word of judgment has been fulfilled; His word of promise must surely follow.

1. THE FALL OF JERUSALEM Jer. 52:1-23

A. The Reign of Zedekiah Jer. 52:1-11

TRANSLATION

(1) Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign and he ruled over Jerusalem for eleven years. The name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. (2) And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD just as Jehoiakim had done. (3) For because of the anger of the LORD this condition continued to be in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. (4) And it came to pass in the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, he and all his army, came against Jerusalem and encamped against her and built siege-works against her on every side. (5) And the city was under siege until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. (6) In the ninth day of the fourth month famine gripped the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. (7) The city was breached and the men of war fled going out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the walls which lies beside the garden of the king (the Chaldeans were all around the city) and went off in the direction of the Arabah. (8) But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, all his army having been scattered from him. (9) And they took the king and brought him unto the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath who then pronounced sentence over him. (10) The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also slew all the princes of Judah at Riblah. (11) And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, took him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day if his death.

COMMENTS

Zedekiah was but twenty-one years old when he came to the throne of his country as the vassal of a foreign king (Jer. 52:1). Religiously he followed the same course that his brother Jehoiakim had followed in that he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord (Jer. 52:2). Abundant evidence exists within the Book of Jeremiah to substantiate this general charge against Zedekiah (cf. Jer. 37:2-3; Jer. 38:5; Jer. 38:24 etc.). A prophet of God with divine counsel was available to him, yet Zedekiah refused to submit to the program of God. Jeremiah advised submission to Babylon; Zedekiah plotted rebellion. Throughout his reign Zedekiah refused to give heed to the word of God. Because the political leaders and populace of Jerusalem repudiated the will of God, the Lord was angry with His people and saw to it that they were cast out of His presence (Jer. 52:3 a).

Yielding to the advice and pressure of his youthful advisers, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 52:3 b). Jeremiah 27 tells of his attempted conspiracy with neighboring nations. Zedekiahs disastrous policy was apparently built on the false premise that the Lord would intervene and save Jerusalem as He had previously done in the reign of Hezekiah (cf. Jer. 21:2). How presumptuous for men to expect God to work miracles when they are not willing to submit themselves to His will! Nebuchadnezzar was not long in bringing his forces to punish the rebellious vassal. The tenth day of the tenth month became a date of infamy in the history of Judah (Jer. 52:4). For almost seventy years the Jews took note of that sad occasion by fasting (cf. Zec. 8:19). Jerusalem withstood the Chaldean siege for eighteen months (Jer. 52:5). The sacred writer has shown amazing reserve[425] as he describes those last agonizing weeks: the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land (Jer. 52:6).

[425] The pathetic plight of the people is recorded in more detail in the Book of Lamentations (Lam. 1:19-20; Lam. 2:11-12; Lam. 2:20; Lam. 4:9-10).

In the fourth month of Zedekiahs eleventh year (July 587 B.C.) the Chaldeans were successful in making a breach in the walls of the city. This day too for years was commemorated by a fast (see Zec. 8:19). Zedekiah and the remnants of his army attempted to flee by night, thus unwittingly fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel (Eze. 12:12). The king and his men fled in the direction of the Arabah, the lowland region through which the river Jordan flows (Jer. 52:7). Perhaps they were attempting to escape across the Jordan to some friendly neighboring nation. When the Chaldeans caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho the bodyguard of the king deserted him; it was every man for himself (Jer. 52:8).

The Chaldeans dealt ruthlessly with Zedekiah. After his capture near Jericho, Zedekiah was taken some two hundred miles north to Riblah where he was brought face to face with the Great King to whom he had sworn allegiance eleven years earlier. There Nebuchadnezzar pronounced judgment upon his faithless vassal (Jer. 52:9). At the time a vassal treaty between two kings was ratified the vassal would pronounce horrible maledictions upon himself should he be unfaithful to his treaty obligations. It may well be that Nebuchadnezzar now read those maledictions to Zedekiah. If that be the case then Zedekiah pronounced judgment upon himself. Be that as it may the judgment upon king Zedekiah is one of the saddest recorded in the Bible. First he witnessed the execution of his own sons and also some of the princes of the land (Jer. 52:10). That turned out to be the last sight he saw, for Nebuchadnezzar had his eyes put out. Finally, he lost his freedom; he was carried to Babylon where he remained in prison until the day of his death (Jer. 52:11). Bitter are the consequences for that soul who neglects the will of the Almighty!

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

1-3. Zedekiah king of Babylon These three verses are of the same purport with 2Ki 24:18-20, with only two unessential differences. The word for is not to be taken as causal, but is simply the statement of the effect.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

A Brief Summary Of Zedekiah’s Reign ( Jer 52:1-3 ).

This parallels 2Ki 24:18-20, and briefly summarises Zedekiah’s reign as ‘evil in the sight of YHWH’ because of his maintenance of idolatry and gross breach of the covenant with YHWH as contained in the books of Moses.

Jer 52:1

‘Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.’

Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign (in 597 BC) and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem ‘the city which YHWH had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name there’ for David’s sake (1Ki 14:21). It was to be the last eleven years of Jerusalem’s existence. The name of the queen mother was Hamutal. Her father was Jeremiah ( a different Jeremiah) of Libnah, a large city in the foothills (the Shephelah). Zedekiah was thus the full brother of Jehoahaz (Jer 23:31), and the half-brother of Jehoiakim.

Jer 52:2

‘And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, in accordance with all that Jehoiakim had done.’

Zedekiah continued to walk in the same way as Jehoiakim had done, permitting the continuation of the worship of Baal and Asherah, as well as necessarily having to perpetuate the worship of the gods of Babylon. He also allowed gross breaches of the covenant. (Neither Jehoahaz nor Jehoiachin had reigned long enough to be seen as a pattern). All Josiah’s efforts had, in the long term, seemingly been in vain, and the Temple was being defiled. Zedekiah chose to ape Jehoiakim rather than his own godly father. YHWH had given Judah its last chance and it had rejected it.

‘He did what was evil in the sight of YHWH.’ This is a constant refrain in the book of Kings indicating the promulgation of idolatry and of false gods, and gross disobedience to the covenant.

Jer 52:3

‘For through the anger of YHWH did it come about in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.’

The fact of YHWH’s anger against Judah and Jerusalem, and their removal from His sight is an important theme in 2 Kings (2Ki 21:12-14; 2Ki 22:13; 2Ki 23:26; 2Ki 24:2-3), and also in Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jer 4:8; Jer 4:26; Jer 7:18-20; Jer 8:19; Jer 11:17; and often). It had been His continual purpose from the time of Manasseh. The warnings of Lev 18:25; Lev 18:28; Lev 26:28-35; Deu 29:28 were being fulfilled. And it was being brought about by YHWH Himself. But it should be noted that humanly speaking it was brought on them by the actions of the king and his advisers. It was Zedekiah who, against all YHWH’s advice through Jeremiah, rebelled against the king of Babylon.

This rebellion appears to have been inspired as a result of news being received of an internal rebellion in Babylon in which many Jews were involved (there was constant contact with Babylon), and was no doubt partly stirred up by the continuing urgings of Egypt, who would indeed at one stage send an army to temporarily relieve Jerusalem (Jer 37:5). Tyre and Sidon, Edom, Moab and Ammon all appear to have been involved (Jer 27:1-11).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

An Account Of The Taking And Destruction Of Jerusalem Which Is Then Followed By The Part Restoration Of The Davidic King ( Jer 52:1-34 ).

In this narrative, which on the whole is a repetition of 2Ki 24:18 to 2Ki 25:30, there appear to be certain emphases:

King Zedekiah, and the people with him, ‘did what was evil in the sight of YHWH’. This phrase always indicates participation in idolatry and gross disobedience to the covenant. It explains all that follows (Jer 52:2).

YHWH was angry and was determined to cast them out of His presence (Jer 52:3).

King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon arrived with his army, besieged Jerusalem, bringing the people to starvation level, and thereby took it (Jer 52:4-6).

King Zedekiah was taken, and was blinded, having witnessed the execution of his sons, along with other dignitaries, after which he was taken to Babylon and was kept in prison until he died (Jer 52:9-11).

YHWH’s House was burned down, along with the palace and all the great houses of Jerusalem, and the walls of Jerusalem were broken down (Jer 52:13-14).

The cream of the people were carried off to Babylon, whilst the poorest of the land (who would have been much more numerous) were left to tend the land (Jer 52:15-16).

All that was valuable in the house of YHWH was carried off to Babylon (Jer 52:17-23).

A number of dignitaries were executed, and the cream of the people were then carried off to Babylon. This latter fact is emphasised by an enumeration of people taken to exile in Babylon in three main exiles, something not included in the account in 2 Kings (24-30).

Jehoiachin, the true Davidic king of Judah, is released from prison and raised to a position of honour in Babylon (31-34).

It will be seen that in a number of ways this narrative emphasises the fulfilment of the prophecies of Jeremiah, and explains why it was all necessary. The House of YHWH had been dishonoured and tainted by idolatrous worship and therefore had to be destroyed (Jer 7:2-15; Jer 26:6), and then time had to be allowed while it lay in ruins for the taint of dishonour to evaporate (time is required for ‘sanctifying’. Compare how when a man washed himself he was not clean ‘until the evening’ e.g. Lev 15:16-22; Num 19:8). King Zedekiah and his associates had to be punished for the evil that they had done. The cream of the people had to share in that punishment as they had shared in the dishonour. They too were to be removed from the land so that it could be purified. But through it all YHWH would not forget His people or the Davidic house, something indicated by the restoration of Jehoiachin, giving hope for the fulfilment of Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning the Davidic house (Jer 23:5; Jer 30:9; Jer 33:15-21; etc.).

We have, of course, no way of knowing when this narrative was added to Jeremiah’s prophecies but it would appear that it was done in order to stress, at least in part, their historical fulfilment. Nor do we know what its source (and the source of the passage in 2 Kings) was. Only that it was ‘prophetic’. The restoration of Jehoiachin indicates a date after that event, which took place in around 562 BC. It is possible that it was Jeremiah himself who added it in his old age, especially if, as Jewish tradition suggests, he authored the book of Kings. Others suggest Baruch under Jeremiah’s guidance.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jer 52:1-34 The Third Siege Against Jerusalem – Jer 52:1-34 is practically identical to 2Ki 24:18 to 2Ki 25:30, being almost a word for word copy.

STUDY NOTES ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

Using a Theme-based Approach

to Identify Literary Structures

By Gary H. Everett

THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS

January 2013 Edition

All Scripture quotations in English are taken from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Some words have been emphasized by the author of this commentary using bold or italics.

All Old Testament Scripture quotations in the Hebrew text are taken from Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: With Westminster Hebrew Morphology, electronic ed., Stuttgart; Glenside PA: German Bible Society, Westminster Seminary, 1996, c1925, morphology c1991, in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004.

All New Testament Scripture quotations in the Greek text are taken from Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (with Morphology), eds. Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, M. Robinson, and Allen Wikgren, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft (United Bible Societies), c1966, 1993, 2006, in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004.

All Hebrew and Greek text for word studies are taken from James Strong in The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, c1996, 1997, in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004.

The Crucifixion image on the book cover was created by the author’s daughter Victoria Everett in 2012.

Gary H. Everett, 1981-2013

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without prior permission of the author.

Foundational Theme How to Serve the Lord with All Our Heart

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart,

and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Deu 6:4-5

Structural Theme – We are Predestined to Reflect the Image of Christ

as We Follow God’s Plan for our Lives (Body)

How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!

how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations,

and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

Lam 1:1

Imperative Theme Fear God and Keep His Commandments: The Children of Israel Serve as a Testimony of Man’s Need of Redemption Through the Lord Jesus Christ Through Serving the Lord as a Covenant Nation

Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned;

renew our days as of old.

Lam 5:21

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS

Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures supports the view of the verbal, plenary inspiration of the biblical text of the Holy Scriptures, meaning that every word originally written down by the authors in the sixty-six books of the Holy Canon were God-breathed when recorded by men, and that the Scriptures are therefore inerrant and infallible. Any view less than this contradicts the testimony of the Holy Scriptures themselves. For this reason, the Holy Scriptures contain both divine attributes and human attributes. While textual criticism engages with the variant readings of the biblical text, acknowledging its human attributes, faith in His Word acknowledges its divine attributes. These views demand the adherence of mankind to the supreme authority of the Holy Scriptures above all else. The Holy Scriptures can only be properly interpreted by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, an aspect of biblical scholarship that is denied by liberal views, causing much misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Holy Scriptures.

Introductory Material – The introduction to the book of Lamentations will deal with its historical setting, literary style, and theological framework. [1] These three aspects of introductory material will serve as an important foundation for understanding God’s message to us today from this divinely inspired book of the Holy Scriptures.

[1] Someone may associate these three categories with Hermann Gunkel’s well-known three-fold approach to form criticism when categorizing the genre found within the book of Psalms: (1) “a common setting in life,” (2) “thoughts and mood,” (3) “literary forms.” In addition, the Word Biblical Commentary uses “Form/Structure/Setting” preceding each commentary section. Although such similarities were not intentional, but rather coincidental, the author was aware of them and found encouragement from them when assigning the three-fold scheme of historical setting, literary style, and theological framework to his introductory material. See Hermann Gunkel, The Psalms: A Form-Critical Introduction, trans. Thomas M. Horner, in Biblical Series, vol. 19, ed. John Reumann (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1967), 10; see also Word Biblical Commentary, eds. Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, and Glenn W. Barker (Dallas, Texas: Word Incorporated, 1989-2007).

HISTORICAL SETTING

“We dare not divorce our study from understanding the historical setting of every passage of Scripture

if we are going to come to grips with the truth and message of the Bible.”

(J. Hampton Keathley) [2]

[2] J. Hampton Keathley, III, “Introduction and Historical Setting for Elijah,” (Bible.org) [on-line]; accessed 23 May 2012; available from http://bible.org/seriespage/introduction-and-historical-setting-elijah; Internet.

Each book of the Holy Scriptures is cloaked within a unique historical setting. An examination of this setting is useful in the interpretation of the book because it provides the context of the passage of Scripture under examination. The section on the historical setting of the book of Lamentations will provide a discussion on its title, historical background, authorship, date and place of writing, recipients, and occasion. This discussion supports the Jewish tradition that Jeremiah was the author of the book of Lamentations, writing during his public ministry.

I. The Title and Placement in the Old Testament Canon

The ancient Hebrew manuscripts entitled the book of Lamentations by its opening word ( ay-kaw’), meaning “How” and placed it among the third division of their Scriptures called “The Writings.” [3] The rabbis called this book by the name , meaning “dirges, elegies, laments.” [4] The LXX moved it beside the book of Jeremiah and t itled it “Threni,” from the Greek word , meaning “laments.” Josephus apparently places this book in the division of “the Prophets” ( Against Apion 1.8), [5] and Eusebius tells us it was placed beside Jeremiah in the canon of Melito ( Ecclesiastical History 6.25). While the Talmud now places Lamentations in the Writings, the English bibles have followed the arrangement of the Latin Vulgate.

[3] The books of the Pentateuch, Proverbs and Lamentations are among those given Hebrew titles using the opening word of the book.

[4] C. W. Eduard Naegelsbach, The Lamentations of Jeremiah, trans. Wm. H. Hornblower, in A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, ed. John Lange (New York: Charles Scribner and Co., 1871), 1.

[5] Josephus writes, “For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another [as the Greeks have], but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. This interval of time was little short of three thousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life.” See Flavius Josephus, Flavius Josephus Against Apion, in The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, trans. William Whiston (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, c1987, 1996), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), 541.

II. Historical Background

III. Authorship

A. Internal Evidence – The book of 2 Chronicles makes a reference to a book of lamentations, “And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations .” (2Ch 35:25)

B. External Evidence – If we look outside of biblical literature for clues to authorship and into other ancient Jewish literature from which much Jewish tradition is found, the Babylonian Talmud says that Jeremiah wrote his own book, Kings and Lamentations.

“And who wrote all the books? Moses wrote his book and a portion of Bil’am [Numbers, xxii.], and Job. Jehoshua wrote his book and the last eight verses of the Pentateuch beginning: “And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died.” Samuel wrote his book, Judges, and Ruth. David wrote Psalms, with the assistance of ten elders, viz.: Adam the First, Malachi Zedek, Abraham, Moses, Hyman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korach. Jeremiah wrote his book, Kings, and Lamentations. King Hezekiah and his company wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, Songs, and Ecclesiastes. The men of the great assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Daniel, and the Book of Esther. Ezra wrote his book, and Chronicles the order of all generations down to himself. [This may be a support to Rabh’s theory, as to which, R. Jehudah said in his name, that Ezra had not ascended from Babylon to Palestine until he wrote his genealogy.] And who finished Ezra’s book? Nehemiah ben Chachalyah.” ( Babylonian Talmud, Tract Baba Bathra (Last Gate), 1.Mishna 5) [6]

[6] Michael L. Rodkinson, New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, vol. 13 (New York: New Talmud Publishing Company, 1902), 45.

IV. Date

V. Recipients

VI. Occasion

LITERARY STYLE (GENRE)

“Perhaps the most important issue in interpretation is the issue of genre.

If we misunderstand the genre of a text, the rest of our analysis will be askew.”

(Thomas Schreiner) [7]

[7] Thomas R. Schreiner, Interpreting the Pauline Epistles, second edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, c1990, 2011), 11.

Within the historical setting of the early kingdom of Israel, the author of the book of Lamentations chose to write using the literary style of poetry and song. Thus, the book of Lamentations is assigned to the literary genre called “psalms.”

The book of Lamentations is written as an acrostic poem. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 consist of twenty-two verses each, with every verse beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in proper order. Chapter 3 has sixty-six verses because the Hebrew alphabet is used in proper order to begin three verses at a time, instead of a single verse. For example, Jer 52:1-3 begin with the first Hebrew letter, while Jer 52:4-6 begin with the second Hebrew letter and so on until all twenty-two Hebrew letters are used. Although chapter 5 has twenty-two verses, the first words of each verse are not arranged in an acrostic order. This acrostic nature of Lamentations divides the book into five clearly defined sections.

THEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK

“Scholarly excellence requires a proper theological framework.”

(Andreas Ksenberger) [8]

[8] Andreas J. Ksenberger, Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011), 161.

Based upon the historical setting and literary style of the book of Lamentations, an examination of the purpose, thematic scheme, and literary structure to this book of the Holy Scriptures will reveal its theological framework. This introductory section will sum up its theological framework in the book of Lamentations for preaching and teaching passages of Scripture while following the overriding message of the book. Following this outline allows the minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to take his followers on a spiritual journey that brings them to the same destination that the author intended his readers to reach.

VII. Purpose

VIII. Thematic Scheme

The underlying theme of the Old Testament Scriptures is the office and ministry of God the Father as He works out His divine plan of redemption for mankind through His divine foreknowledge and sovereign intervention in the affairs of man. The underlying theme of the books of poetry in the Old Testament is how to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. (In contrast, the historical books teach us how to trust in the Lord with all of our strength, and the prophet books teach us how to trust in the Lord with all of our mind.) No three men suffered greater than the authors of the poetic books of Job, Psalms and Lamentations; for we see in the lives of Job, David, who wrote much of the book of Psalms, and Jeremiah, who wrote Lamentations, a testimony of how to trust in God in the midst of hardships. Their hardships were not occasioned by sin in their lives, but because God needed vessels in which to work out His divine plan of redemption for mankind. When He finds a vessel who will suffer for Him, then the testimony of His Son Jesus Christ His Son can be declared to all of mankind.

A. Primary Theme (Foundational) – Poetry: How to Worship the Lord with all our Heart – The common underlying theme of the Hebrew poetry of the Scriptures is “How to Worship the Lord with all our Heart.” Poetry is primarily written to express the mood of man’s heart. When we read these books in the Old Testament, we are emotionally moved as we identify with the poet or psalmist. Although there are many poetic passages in the Scriptures, for the purposes of identifying thematic schemes, this division of the Old Testament includes Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations, although scholars group this biblical genre differently. The first book of Hebrew poetry we encounter as we read through the Old Testament is the book of Job, which opens with an account of this man worshipping God at an altar of sacrifice (Job 1:5). The Psalms of David show us how to worship the Lord during all seasons of life while the book of Job and Lamentations teaches us how to worship during the times of the greatest tragedies in life. As we journey through this life, we will have times of ecstasy when we are caught up in worship and we will have times of trials when we cry out to God for deliverance. However, most of our days are given to simple routines and decisions that determine our future well-being. We must then look to the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Songs for a pattern of how to worship the Lord with our hearts during such uneventful days.

The writings of Solomon provide three phases of man’s spiritual journey in learning to love God with all his heart, while Job, Lamentations, and Psalms provide real life illustrations of people who have experienced these aspects of a devout life of faith in God. Although all three writings of Solomon emphasize man’s relationship with God, it is important to note that each one places emphasis upon a different aspect of man’s make-up. Scholars have proposed themes for the writings of Solomon since the time of the early Church fathers. Origen (A.D. 185-254) recognized a three-fold aspect to the books Solomon by saying Proverbs focused on morals and ethics, Ecclesiastes focused on the natural aspect of man’s existence, and the Song of Songs focused on the divine, spiritual realm of man. He says:

“First, let us examine why it is, since the churches of God acknowledge three books written by Solomon, that of them the book of Proverbs is put first, the one called Ecclesiastes second, and the book of Song of Songs has third place.We can give them the terms moral, natural and contemplativeThe moral discipline is defined as the one by which as honorable manner of life is equipped and habits conducive to virtue are prepared. The natural discipline is defined as the consideration of each individual thing, according to which nothing in life happens contrary to nature, but each individual thing is assigned those uses for which it has been brought forth by the Creator. The contemplative discipline is defined as that by which we transcend visible things and contemplate something of divine and heavenly things and gaze at them with the mind alone, since they transcend corporeal appearance” ( PG 13, col. 74a-b) [9]

[9] J. Robert Wright, ed., Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament IX, ed. Thomas C. Oden (Downer Grover, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 278-288; Rowan A. Greer, trans., Origen: An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer and Selected Writings (New York: Paulist Rowan A., 1979), 231-232, 234.

Theodoret of Cyrrhus (A.D. 393-466) makes a similar three-fold evaluation of the writings of Solomon, saying:

“It is also necessary to say by way of introduction that three works belong to Solomon: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. Proverbs offers those interested moral benefits, while Ecclesiastes comments on the nature of visible realities and thoroughly explains the futility of the present life so that we may learn its transitory character, despise passing realities and long for the future as something lasting. The Song of Songsbrings out the mystical intercourse between the bride and the bridegroom, the result being that the whole of Solomon’s work constitutes a king of ladder with three steps moral, physical and mystical. That is to say, the person approaching a religious way of life must first purify the mind with good behavior, then strive to discern the futility of impermanent things and the transitory character of what seems pleasant, and then finally take wings and long for the bridegroom, who promises eternal goods. Hence this book is placed third, so the person treading this path comes to perfection.” ( Preface to Commentary on Song of Songs) ( PG 81, cols. 4 6d-47a) [10]

[10] J. Robert Wright, ed., Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament IX, ed. Thomas C. Oden (Downer Grover, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 288; Pauline Allen, et al., eds., Early Christian Studies (Strathfield, Australia: St. Paul’s Publications, 2001), 2.32.

John Calvin (1509-1564) refers to the theme of the book of Psalms and the writings of Solomon in his argument to the epistle of James, saying:

“The writings of Solomon differ much from those of David, both as to matter and style. Solomon directs his view, chiefly, to form the external man, and to deliver to us the precepts of political life: David constantly chooses the spiritual worship of God, peace of conscience, or the gracious promise of salvation, for his theme.” ( Argument to the Epistle of James) [11]

[11] John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentary on the Epistle of James: Newly Translated from the Original Latin (Aberdeen: J. Chalmers and Co., 1797), iii.

Although all three writings of Solomon emphasize man’s relationship with God, it is important to note that each one places emphasis upon a different aspect of man’s make-up. (1) Proverbs and Job – The secondary theme of the book of Proverbs teaches us to make wise decisions in our life by pursuing God’s wisdom. It is structured in a way that teaches us how to take our mental journey through this life. We begin this spiritual journey by responding to wisdom’s call to learn of God’s ways as the book of Proverbs reveals. It is by the fear of the Lord that we embark upon this initial phase of learning to love the Lord by understanding and following the path of divine wisdom. The story of Job serves as an excellent illustration of a man that feared God and walked in wisdom with his fellow men, and thus serves as an excellent illustration of the teachings of Proverbs. (2) Ecclesiastes and Lamentations – As we walk in wisdom, we soon perceive that God has a divine plan for our lives in the midst of the vanities of life, as taught in the book of Ecclesiastes. It is at this phase of our spiritual journey that we offer our bodies in obedience to God purpose and plan for our lives as we continue to fear the Lord, which is the secondary theme of Ecclesiastes. The writer of Lamentations teaches us about the results of fearing God and keeping His commandments, and thus serves as an excellent illustration of Ecclesiastes. (3) Song of Solomon and Psalms – We then come to the phase of our spiritual journey where we learn to enter into God’s presence and partake of His intimacy, which is the secondary theme of Songs. The Song of Songs tells us about the intimacy and love that man can have in his relationship with God. It is structured in a way that teaches us how to take our spiritual journey through this life. The Song of Solomon teaches us to move from a level of fearing the Lord into the mature walk of loving God with all of our hearts. The Psalms of David teach us about a man that learned to love the Lord with all of his heart, and thus serves as an excellent illustration of the Songs of Solomon. Summary – Therefore, Proverbs emphasizes our minds, while Ecclesiastes emphasizes our strength, while the Song of Songs reveals to us how to worship the Lord with oneness of heart. In these three books, Solomon deals with the three-fold nature of man: his spirit, his mind and his body. These writings inspire us to commune with God in our hearts.

As a review, the foundational theme of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon is how to serve the Lord with all our hearts. The secondary theme of this three-fold series of writings is what gives these books their structure:

1. Proverbs Wisdom Calls Mankind to Understand His Ways (Mind)

2. Ecclesiastes God Gives Mankind a Purpose in Life When We Serve Him (Body)

3. Song of Solomon God Calls Mankind to Walk With Him in the Cool of the Day (Heart)

The third theme of this three-fold series of writings reveals the results of applying the book’s message to our daily lives:

1. Proverbs – The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom. The virtuous woman is a reflection of a person walking in wisdom and the fear of God.

2. Ecclesiastes Fear God and Keep His Commandments. The man who keeps God’s commandments has a purpose and destiny in Christ.

3. Song of Solomon Loving God is Mature as We Abide in Christ & Labour in His Vineyard. The man who abides in Christ and produces fruit that remains.

Combining these three themes to see how they flow together in each of Solomon’s writings, we see that Proverbs teaches us to serve the Lord with all of our mind as the fear of the Lord moves us to wise choices above foolishness. The outcome of this journey is the development of a person who is strong in character, symbolized by the virtuous woman. This is illustrated in the story of Job. In Ecclesiastes, the believer serves the Lord with all of his strength by obeying God’s commandments because of his fear of the Lord. The outcome of this journey is the development of a person who walks in his purpose and destiny, rather than in the vanities of this world. This is illustrated in the book of Lamentations. The Song of Solomon reveals the most mature level of serving the Lord with all of one’s heart. This person yields to God’s love being poured into him by learning to abide in constant holy communion with the Lord. The outcome of this journey is the development of a person who overflows in the fruits and gifts of the Spirit. This is illustrated in the book of Psalms.

The themes of the books of the Holy Bible can be often found in the opening verses, and we now can easily see these three themes in opening passages of the writings of Solomon. Proverb’s opening verses emphasize the need to make sound decisions through wisdom, instruction and understanding.

Pro 1:2, “To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;”

Ecclesiastes’ opening verses emphasizes the vanity of human labour when one does not serve the Lord.

Ecc 1:3, “What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?”

Song of Songs emphasizes the intimacy of love that proceeds from man’s heart.

Son 1:2, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.”

Thus, it is easy to see why King Solomon would follow such a three-fold structure in his writings. Since Deu 6:4-5 was one of the more popular passages of Scripture for the children of Israel, it would make sense that Solomon, in his quest for the meaning of life, would follow this three-fold approach in his analyze of what it meant to worship God. Although the book of Proverbs places emphasis upon serving the Lord by making wise decisions, a careful study of the book of Proverbs will reveal that this three-fold emphasis upon the spirit, soul and body is woven throughout the book.

In addition, the book of Job gives us an extension of the theme of Proverbs, as both of these books serve as wisdom literature, teaching us through poetry to serve the Lord with all our mind. The book of Lamentations gives us an extension of the theme of Ecclesiastes, as both of these books serve as poetic explanations for the vanities of life, teaching us through poetry to serve the Lord with all our strength. The book of Psalms gives an extension of the theme of Songs, as both of these books serve as poetry to edify the heart, teaching us through poetry to serve the Lord with all our heart. Finally, the redemptive message of the poetical books reveals that even when a man like Job walks in wisdom, he finds himself in need of a redeemer. Lamentations reveals a nation who has a divine destiny and purpose, yet the children of Israel find themselves in need of a redeemer. The psalms of David reveal that even when man is at his best intimacy with God, like David, he still finds himself in need of a redeemer.

Job

Lamentations

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Songs

Figure 6 – Thematic Scheme of the Books of Poetry

C. Secondary Theme (Structural) – We are Predestined to Reflect the Image of Christ as We Follow God’s Plan for our Lives (Body) –

C. Third Theme (Imperative) – The Children of Israel Serve as a Testimony of Man’s Need of Redemption Through the Lord Jesus Christ Despite Them Serving the Lord as a Covenant Nation The third theme of the book of Lamentations reveals that despite the fact that Israel served the Lord as a covenant nations, they serve as a testimony of their need of a redeemer.

The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Songs are structured as a spiritual journey. Each of these journeys leads us into rest. Proverbs tells us that serving the Lord with all of our mind leads us into rest. The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us that serving God with all of our strength and not mammon leads us into rest. The Song of Solomon teaches us that mature love towards God leads us into rest.

IX. Literary Structure

I. First Poem ( Jer 1:1-19 ) The first poem of Lamentations emphasizes God’s righteousness (Jer 1:18) and man’s sinfulness and need of a comforter (and a redeemer) (Jer 1:9; Jer 1:16).

Lam 1:18, “The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.”

II. Second Poem ( Jer 2:1-22 ) The second poem of Lamentations emphasizes the fulfillment of God’s Word upon Jerusalem (Jer 2:17), which required divine judgment for her sins.

Lam 2:17, “The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.”

III. Third Poem ( Jer 3:1-25 ) – The third poem of Lamentations emphasizes man’s journey of divine judgment and affliction because of his sins. This poem varies from the other four poems in that it is structured as a triple acrostic; that is, a group of three verses begins with a Hebrew letter, using all twenty-two letters of the alphabet, requiring sixty-six verses for this section of Lamentations. Perhaps this triple acrostic structure represents the fact that God’s purpose and plan is implemented upon earth when a man serves the Lord in the midst of affliction, as Jeremiah the prophet served Him.

IV. Fourth Poem ( Jer 4:1-22 )

V. Fifth Poem ( Jer 5:1-22 )

X. Outline of Book

BIBLIOGRAPHY

COMMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations, vol. 5. Trans. John Owen. Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1855.

Calvin, John. Calvin’s Commentary on the Epistle of James: Newly Translated from the Original Latin. Aberdeen: J. Chalmers and Co., 1797.

Dods, Marcus. Song of Solomon and Lamentations. In The Expositor’s Bible. In Ages Digital Library, v. 1.0 [CD-ROM]. Rio, WI: Ages Software, Inc., 2001.

Gill, John. Lamentations. In John Gill’s Expositor. In e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM]. Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005.

House, Paul R. Lamentations. In Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 23B. Dallas, Texas: Word, Incorporated, 2002. In Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004.

Metzger, Bruce M., David A. Hubbard, and Glenn W. Barker, eds. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, Texas: Word Incorporated, 1989-2007.

Naegelsbach, C. W. Eduard. The Lamentations of Jeremiah. Trans. Wm. H. Hornblower. In A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. Ed. John Lange. New York: Charles Scribner and Co., 1871.

Wright, John R. and Thomas C. Oden, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. Ed. J. Robert Wright. In Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament, vol. IX. Ed. Thomas C. Oden. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005.

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen, Pauline, et al., eds. Early Christian Studies. Strathfield, Australia: St. Paul’s Publications, 2001.

Greer, Rowan A., trans. Origen: An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer and Selected Writings. New York: Paulist, 1979.

Gunkel, Hermann. The Psalms: A Form-Critical Introduction. Trans. Thomas M. Horner. In Biblical Series, vol. 19. Ed. John Reumann. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1967.

Josephus, Flavius. Flavius Josephus Against Apion. in The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Trans. William Whiston. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, c1987, 1996. in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004.

Keathley, III, J. Hampton. “Introduction and Historical Setting for Elijah.” (Bible.org) [on-line]. Accessed 23 May 2012. Available from http://bible.org/seriespage/introduction-and-historical-setting-elijah; Internet.

Ksenberger, Andreas J. Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011.

Rodkinson, Michael L. New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, vol. 13. New York: New Talmud Publishing Company, 1902.

Schreiner, Thomas R. Interpreting the Pauline Epistles, second edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, c1990, 2011.

Singh, Sadhu Sundar. At the Master’s Feet. Trans. Arthur Parker. London: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1922 [on-line]. Accessed 26 October 2008. Available from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/singh/feet.html; Internet.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Circumstances Attending the Capture of Jerusalem

v. 1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, when Nebuchadnezzar made him a tributary ruler over Judah, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. Note that the entire account of the chapter is parallel and, in part, supplementary to the narrative of 2Ki 24:18 to 2Ki 25:7 and Jer 39:1-7.

v. 2. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. Cf 2Ch 36:11-13.

v. 3. For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, His wrath over their idolatry causing Him to cast them from His presence and to permit the rebellion of Zedekiah, which resulted in the final overthrow of the southern kingdom, till He had cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

v. 4. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem and pitched against it, establishing the camp of the besieging army, and built forts against it round about, very likely towers of wood used for purposes of observation and as foundations for casting missiles into the city.

v. 5. So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

v. 6. And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, reaching a height which made conditions very serious, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

v. 7. Then the city was broken up, the enemies penetrating through the outer line of defenses, and all the men of war fled and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now, the Chaldeans were by the city round about;) and they went by the way of the plain, down toward the lowlands of the Jordan, near Jericho. Jer 39:4-7.

v. 8. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him, for in a panic, as they were, there was no thought of real resistance.

v. 9. Then they took the king and carried him up unto the king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Harrath, where Nebuchadnezzar had meanwhile established his headquarters, leaving the taking of Jerusalem to one of his generals, Nebuzar-adan, where he gave judgment upon him, for perjury and rebellion.

v. 10. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah, because they had agreed to, and promoted, the rebellion of Zedekiah.

v. 11. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, which meant the extremity of humiliation, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death, literally, “in the house of visitations,” in penal servitude, which may have been a little less dishonorable than incarceration, for which reason he may also have had an honorable burial. Jer 34:1-5.

v. 12. Now, in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, one of the chief officers of the Chaldean king, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, or, having started from Riblah on the seventh, he actually reached Jerusalem on the tenth, 2Ki 25:8,

v. 13. and burned the house of the Lord, the magnificent Temple of Solomon, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem and all the houses of the great men, all the prominent buildings of the city, burned he with fire;

v. 14. and all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the guard brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about, so that all its fortifications were demolished down to the very foundations.

v. 15. Then Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive certain of the poor of the people and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. Jer 39:9. Thus the capture of the city was effected in exact agreement with the prophecy of the Lord against Jerusalem.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

The contents of this chapter prove that it is not an independent narrative, but the concluding part of a history of the kings of Judah. It agrees almost word for word with 2Ki 24:18-25:30, from which we are justified in inferring that it is taken from the historical work which the editor of the Books of Kings closely followed. It is most improbable that Jeremiah was the author. Would the prophet have contented himself with the meagre statement that Zedekiah “did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (verse 2), or with such a summary description of the siege of Jerusalem? Apparently the editor who attached Jer 52:1-34. as an appendix to the Book of Jeremiah omitted the account of Gedaliah (preserved in 2Ki 25:22-26) because a fuller narrative had been already given in ch. 40-42. Apparently, too, either the same or some later editor inserted verses 28-30 from another source; the passage differs in several respects from 2Ki 24:1-20. The text of ch. 52. seems to be a nearer approach to the original document than that of 2Ki 24:18-25:30 (see Graf’s commentary). Compare ch. 39.

Jer 52:3

It came to pass. The implied subject of the verb is Zedekiah’s evil doing. That Zedekiah rebelled. There ought to be a full stop before these words, and “that” should rather be “And.”

Jer 52:6

The famine was sore (see the pathetic descriptions in Lam 1:19, Lam 1:20; Lam 2:11, Lam 2:12, Lam 2:20; Lam 4:9, Lam 4:10).

Jer 52:7

Broken up; rather, broken into. The plain. The Hebrew has,” the Arabah,” the name constantly given to the chalky depression in the midst of which the Jordan ran.

Jer 52:9

Gave judgment (see on Jer 1:16).

Jer 52:11

In prison; literally, in the house of custody.

Jer 52:22

All of brass, etc.; rather, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar, and pomegranates.

Jer 52:23

On a side; rather, towards the outside.

Jer 52:28

In the seventh year. As Ewald and Keil agree, we should correct “seventh” into “seventeenth” (just as in 2Ch 36:9, for “eight” we should read “eighteen”). On the small number of Jews deported Ewald remarks, “Nothing so clearly shows the extent to which the best men from the upper classes had been already despatched by the Chaldeans across the Euphrates, as the fact that in all the years of the second, and, if it be insisted on, of the third revolt, put together, they found only 4600 men more whom they thought worth the trouble of transporting” (‘History of Israel,’ 4.265). As to the third deportation, see on Jer 41:1.

Jer 52:31

Lifted up the head of Jehoiachin. Ewald thinks that Jehoiachin was regarded by the Jews in exile as the legitimate king, and compares Lam 4:20; Lam 2:9.

HOMILETICS

Jer 52:4-7

The siege and capture of Jerusalem.

I. GENERAL LESSONS OF THE SIEGE.

1. God will perform his threats. The capture of Jerusalem had been long and frequently predicted. The accumulated prophecies were now fulfilled.

2. Delay of judgment is no reason for expecting it to be permanently withheld. The fate of Jerusalem seemed to be long postponed. But at length it came.

3. Previous immunity is no security for the future. The Jews fondly idolized Jerusalem as a charmed city. It seemed impossible that she should fall into the hands of her foes. We grow careless and confident through a series of fortunate escapes. But our confidence is irrational unless it has any deeper ground.

4. The favour of God is no protection against the punishment of sin. The Jews regarded themselves as Divine favourites. They had received many peculiar privileges. But these made the duty of fidelity only the more obligatory. For the most favoured people to be faithless was a great and terrible wickedness. Indeed, the favour of God, instead of mitigating punishment, makes a heavier penalty to be fitting for those who are so ungrateful as to sin against it.

II. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE SIEGE.

1. It was thorough. The great king Nebuchadnezzar came in person and “all” his army, and pitched a camp and built forts. Every effort was made to secure the city. The instruments of Divine vengeance are terrible, earnest, and vigorous.

2. It was protracted. It lasted for eighteen months How wearily those days and weeks and months must have dragged themselves along, every hour increasing the agony! But what is this period to the vast, dim reaches of the “punishment of the ages,” which awaits lost souls?

3. It produced horrible sufferings. In the madness of famine, women devoured their own children. Thus God punished

(1) “satiation and disgust towards his holy Word and soul food;

(2) the terrible offering up of children to Moloch;

(3) the loose discipline of children” (Cramer, quoted by Naegelsbach).

From a merely selfish position, who that knew and realized the frightful consequences of his sins would bring these upon his head for the sake of the poor pleasures of an hour?

4. It was successful. The siege ended in the capture of Jerusalem. The force of Nebuchadnezzar was great and terrible, but behind it was the judicial will of Heaven. To withstand this was certainly futile. All resistance to the decrees of Divine judgment must be vain. Our one hope is not in opposition, but in penitent cries for God’s mercy and unresisting submission to his will.

Jer 52:8-11

The fate of Zedekiah.

I. THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE FATE OF ZEDEKIAH.

1. The general calamity of his nation. The king suffers with his people. Unfortunately it too often happens that an innocent people is punished for the fault of its sovereign. We must not be surprised if the converse is sometimes true. We are all members one of another. Not only kings, but in a less degree private individuals, must expect to share the troubles of the community, apart from the exact measure of private desert. In this life the execution of Divine justice is general; in the next life it will be particularthen the judgment will be individualistic.

2. His own sin. Zedekiah did “evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Jer 52:2). Others may have done worse and escaped. But if we have no more severe a fate than we deserve, we can find no ground for complaint in the fact that more wicked men receive (at present) a milder treatment.

3. His weakness. Zedekiah was more weak than wicked. It is often observable in history that the weak king suffers calamities which the bad king escapes. But weakness is a culpable defect in a sovereign. If he is not strong enough for his duties he should resign the reins of power. No one has a right to retain a post which he cannot efficiently fulfil. Moral weakness is always wrongto be blamed as much as to be pitiedfor it can be overcome (Isa 40:29-31).

4. His erroneous policy. Zedekiah was set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar; he plotted with Pharaoh against his suzerain; and when his rebellion roused the vengeance of Babylon, he found Egypt to be only “a broken reed.” In his case the vanity of trust in princes was illustrated.

5. The will of God. The fate of Zedekiah had been predicted by Jeremiah (Jer 34:1-7). The prophecy implied a Divine decree. God has no hard, cruel decrees irrespective of our conduct and will. But following our wrong doing, God’s fixed counsels of judgment make flight hopeless.

II. THE LEADING FEATURES OF THE FATE OF ZEDEKIAH.

1. He was captured in the agonies of flight. According to Josephus, this was not till he had reached the banks of the Jordan. How terrible to be so nearly saved, and yet to fall a prey to vengeance at last! To be only almost saved is worse than never to have had a hope of deliverance. They who have been near to the kingdom of heaven and have not entered it will feel the more bitterly the doom that they will share with the city of Destruction. “Remember Lot’s wife.”

2. He was carried to Babylon and tried before King Nebuchadnezzar. The triumph of the great monarch was the shame of his vassal.

3. His children were slain before his eyes. Parents suffer in the sufferings of their children more than in the pain of their own bodies. The action of Nebuchadnezzar was cruel, brutal, devilish. There are no such spiteful elements in God’s punishment of the wicked. His is given in sorrow and with reluctance.

4. His eyes were put out. Here was the greatest refinement of cruelty. Zedekiah’s sight was preserved till he had witnessed the death agonies of his children. Then he was blinded, so that the last vision to dwell in his memory was the harrowing spectacle of his children’s massacre. But after so terrible a sight would the wretched man care to look on the light of day?

5. He was detained in prison till his deatha punishment worse than death. Dethroned, humiliated, in chains, in a dungeon, bereaved of his children, the poor blind king is left to the agony of his own bitter thoughts. May God deliver us from a similar fate in the future world!

Jer 52:13

The destruction of the temple.

I. THE GREATEST EARTHLY SPLENDOUR IS DESTRUCTIBLE. Solomon’s temple was the pride of the Jews. For centuries it had stood mellowing with age. But when the brutal Chaldeans flung their torches at it the magnificent pile of buildings was soon reduced to a mass of smouldering ruins. Sic transit gloria mundi. An invasion, a revolution, a conflagration, may destroy the work of years in a night. Splendid possessions are poor refuges. A palace is not necessarily a castle.

II. THERE IS NO SAFETY IN HOLY PLACES AND CONSECRATED THINGS. The temple was burnt, and its treasures and sacred vessels were carried to Babylon. The flames that leaped up on the private houses of Jerusalem found no charmed circle to keep them off from the temple. The building was holy only in so far as it was put to holy uses. But when it was desecrated by sin no magical influence could prevent it from complete destruction. And if the temple could not preserve itself, much less could it protect its superstitious devotees. It was vain indeed for them to cry, “The temple of the Lord,” as though the words were a spell to ward off trouble. Thus all who trust in holy sites, ceremonial services, etc; apart from spiritual devotion, will find their faith wrecked, even if the idol of their superstition is not destroyed.

III. WHEN THE SPIRIT OF DEVOTION HAS FORSAKEN A TEMPLE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BUILDING MAY BE A GOOD RATHER THAN AN EVIL. The temple is then worse than useless; it is a snare, tempting men to believe that all is well so long as it stands. So the ordinances of religion delude men into false confidence. While these are duly administered with imposing solemnity, it is difficult to believe that the spirit of religion has fled. Let these go too and men have their eyes open to their true condition. The temple without true worship is a mockery to God. When the soul has gone the body had better be put away as soon as possible. If the Christian has ceased to offer spiritual sacrifices in his body as in a temple of the Holy Ghost, his life is no longer of any true value. When this temple is destroyed the fate is striking and alarming, yet it is but little after its sad desecration through sin.

IV. THE ONLY DURABLE WORK IS SPIRITUAL AND HOLY WORK, “Each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire” (1Co 3:13). There will be a test to the work of life. This may be splendid as a temple, but if it is unholy and earthly in character it must pass away ultimately. How many temples, and cities, and kingdoms, “cloud-capped towers, and gorgeous palaces” have left “not a rack behind”! It is the spiritual work of a man that endures. Even this fails, fruitless, unless it is good in character.

Jer 52:16

Sparing the poor.

I. THE FACT. Whilst the king, the nobles, the wealthy, and many others were carried into exile, certain of the poor were still left in the land. We are accustomed to speak of the hardships of poverty, but there are compensating advantages not a few. Many evils of the worst character only visit the rich. In times of public trouble the houses of the rich are attacked and the persons of the great are threatened, while the poor are left in happy neglect. Great men are beset with anxieties such as are unknown to the simpler lives of the poor. Who would be a king now that kings are all marks for the assassin? In those countries where the sovereign is compelled to take elaborate precautions for his safety, the poor citizen can move about the streets without fear. The one is a prisoner in his own palace, the other a free man with liberty to roam over the whole kingdom. Ambition aims at distinction, but that is a poor crown to win. Distinguished men have peculiar vexations and dangers of their own. There is more happiness in obscurity. The wise man will say, “Give me neither poverty nor riches;” and the Christian will add, “Not my will, but thine, be done,” knowing well that for him that lot is best which his heavenly Father assigns to him.

II. THE EXPLANATION. What was there in the condition of the poor to induce the Chaldeans to spare them?

1. Their innocence. The peasants had not been plotting against Nebuchadnezzar, and the vengeance that the Babylonian monarch vented on the king and the seat of his government was naturally averted from the quiet country folk. These men were also more innocent in the sight of God. The leading people had shown their faithlessness in turning from Jehovah to Egypt; they, too, had probably descended the lowest in the vices of the age, which brought upon the nation the wrath of God. Poor men may be bad men. But there are sins to which they are less liable than great men.

2. Their weakness. While the great men were removed to Babylon, there would appear to be little danger of an insurrection among the poor people scattered over the farms, who had enough to do to earn their daily bread. There is a protection in weakness. A little strength often courts danger. They who are weak in themselves may be strong in the protection of God’s providence.

3. Their usefulness. These poor people were left to work as “vine dressers and husbandmen.” Nebuchadnezzar had no wish to see his newly acquired territory converted into a desert. It was for his advantage that some of the people should be spared. There is no protection like usefulness. Be serviceable and you will be safe. lie who lives for the real. good of his fellow men and the glory of his great Master may be sure that no harm can touch him so long as he is faithful to his task.

Jer 52:31-34

The deliverance of Jehoiachin.

The new king signalized his accession to power by an act of clemency. Possibly he saw no reason to continue the cruelty of his predeceesor now that the Jews were quieted; possibly he was influenzal by Daniel. Whatever the cause of it may have been, it is pleasant to see how mercy “becomes the throned monarch better than his crown.”

I. DELIVERANCE MAY COME AT LENGTH AFTER PROLONGED SUFFERING. Jehoiachin had endured thirty-seven years of imprisonment. He must have lost hope long before his liberation. Yet the longest night has its end. If trouble outlast life, there is the blessed liberator, death, that ultimately frees the most wretched from his distresses. Then what will thirty-seven years of suffering be to the ages of eternity? It is a weary time to endure, but, Compared with the life beyond, it will seem both light and brief.

II. THE PROLONGED ENDURANCE OF SUFFERING MUST MAKE THE RETURN OF THE COMMON MERCIES OF LIFE A WONDERFUL BLESSING. What a meaning there is in the word “liberty” in the ears of the captive! Only the sufferers from thirst know the sweetness of water. The sick, when restored, enjoy health as the strong never can. Jehoiachin would find his change of circumstances wonderful beyond all expression.

III. NO EARTHLY DELIVERANCE IS PERFECT. The old man had endured captivity so long that he must have been bewildered and distracted by his release. For him, once a proud tyrant, now an aged, humiliated captive, crushed with the imprisonment of more than a third of a century, the thoughtless merriment of a court would seem like the life of another world or like a dream of childhood. His sufferings must have been too severe and too protracted for him to enter at once into the liberty and honour that were offered to him; One can scarcely think that he could ever feel at home with them. We know not what will be the first impressions of a new world when the soul escapes from its earthly captivity and enters the court of heaven. But there is an essential difference between Jehoiachin’s condition and this. Jehoiachin remained an old man, worn with suffering as well as with years. The Christian has the gift of eternal life. To him the liberation by death is more than a change of external circumstances. He looks for the renewal of the fresh vigour of youth. Jehoiachin was never restored to his kingdom; at best he was an honoured subject of Babylon. But the Christian is restored to more than the primitive rights of manto glory and kingship. Finally, there is no indication that Jehoiachin was changed in character. His long, lonely sufferings and the many reflections of thirty-seven years of imprisonment may have humbled him to penitence. But the historian does not appear to know of any such change. Yet a man’s greatest enemy is himself. Deliverance of the body from a dungeon is a small boon if the soul is still captive to sin. The salvation in Christ effects this complete deliverance.

HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY

Jer 52:1

Zedekiah.

(Cf. former homily, Jer 37:1.)C.

Jer 52:3

The Lord creating evil.

This is one of the passages of Scripture the meaning of which does not lie on the surface. It seems to represent God as instigating sin. For “through the anger of the Lord” it is said “that Zedekiah rebelled.” But it was for that very rebellion he was so sorely punished, and yet it is said it was “through the Lord.” Note

I. THERE ARE OTHER PASSAGES LIKE THIS. Cf. “the Lord hardening Pharaoh’s heart.” The history of Judas. “None of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might, be fulfilled” (Joh 17:12). Again,” Is there evil in the city and I have not done it?” (Amo 3:6; Isa 45:7). And St. Peter’s word to the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:23). They wickedly did what nevertheless God had determined before to be done. And there are yet other Scriptures besides these.

II. THEY GIVE ELSE TO GREAT DIFFICULTY. It is not difficult to understand that men should do wrong, or even the particular wrong which is charged against them and for which they are punished; but the difficulty is that the sin should be seemingly ascribed to God. And the Jews seem to have believed that God did prompt men to sin; cf. Joh 9:1, “Who did sin, this man or his parents in order that () he should be born blind?” The effect, the man’s blindness, they looked on as designed and intended by God, and hence the cause producing that effect must have been designed also. As we read over Scriptures like these, the question of Abram starts immediately to our lips, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (cf. Rom 3:5-8). God “may and must transcend our understanding. He will by the very nature of the case dazzle and confound our imagination by the unsuspected riches and glory of his many mansions; but he must not trouble our sense of right if he would retain our homage and our love.” But it is this sense of right that is troubled by what seems to be the teaching of Scriptures like these. They seem to teach that God prompts men to sin and then punishes them for it. Some who reasoned with St. Paul appear to have suggested (cf. Rom 3:1-31) that in such cases God was “unrighteous'” who took “vengeance.” The apostle does not attempt to argue the matter, but treats the suggestion with a sort of “Get thee behind me, Satan,” which is what his really amounts to. And where the suggestion is made from mere captious motives, or with the intent only to support a foregone conclusion and determination to disregard God, then such a reply is the proper one to make. But it can never be other than right to endeavour to meet the honest difficulties which some of the utterances of God’s Word and some of the actings of his providence do unquestionably give rise to. If the suggestion were true that God made men to sin and then damned them for it, nothing could be more horrible, and no possible force could make men trust, love, or sincerely worship a God who would act so. But the suggestion is not true; for

III. THE DIFFICULTY IS APPARENT, NOT REAL. God is never the author of sin. “The Lord is holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works.” “Let no man say when he is tempted,” etc. (cf. Jas 1:13). But when sin has been Begotten in a man’s soul by his own evil desires, then the special form in which that sin shall manifest itself is very often ordered by God. This is how we understand all these passages. That very Babylon in connection with which this Joh 9:3 is written may supply an apt illustration. Isaiah calls Babylon “the desert of the sea,” for when, by reason of the melting of the snows which fed the Euphrates and her many tributaries, the great river overflowed its hanks, the great plain on which Babylon stood became like a vast sea. But the great Assyrian lords cut their canals and constructed their massive dams and reservoirs so that the superabundant and otherwise destructive waters were directed into safe channels, and could do no further harm. Those monarchs were not the authors of the floods, but by their skill and wisdom they directed which way those floods should flow. On one of our great railways a little while ago, a signalman saw to his horror that an engine had somehow got away without its driver, and was rushing on with ever-increasing speed to its own destruction and that of the first unhappy passenger trainand one was nearly duethat it should meet. Quick as thought the signalman seized his levers and turned the runaway into a siding where it could harm no one but itself. In every large fire the firemen act in a similar way. And so God. When sin has broken out by no will of his, but altogether contrary to his will, he does not let it run riot, as it might, but he orders the way it shall take. Thence it came to pass “through the Lord” that “Zedekiah rebelled against the King of Babylon” (verse 3).

IV. THIS ORDERING OF SIN‘S WAY ON THE PART OF GOD IS A THING MUCH TO BE REMEMBERED.

1. For our consolation and comfort. Mad and monstrous as sin is, it is yet under God’s control. Like as to the raging sea, he can say and does say to it, “Thus far shalt thou go, and no further,” etc; and cf. Jer 5:22.

2. For the warning of the sinner. The flames of the eternal fire are lit within our own soul. Sin is ever twisting and knotting its own scourge. What a man soweth that shall he also reap. The seed of all our punishments was sown by our own hand, though we never intended the harvest. The way sin shall take is utterly out of our power. If it does somewhat that we did intend, it does for men that we never dreamt of nor desired.

3. For instruction to all thoughtful readers of God’s Word and beholders of his providence. God “does” the evil that is in the city (Isa 45:1-25.), but he does not originate it, and that which he does is but the ordering of its way.C.

Jer 52:4-34

The march of doom.

These verses tell of the awful progress of the judgment of God on the doomed city of Jerusalem, her king, and people. To all who imagine that God is too full of love and graciousness to sternly judge and punish men, the contemplation of the events told of here may be painful, but assuredly they will be salutary also. We are shown the Babylonian armies gathering round the city; the long and dreadful siege; the gaunt famine that fastens upon the besieged; the walls broken at last and the inrush of the infuriated foe; the flight, capture, and tragedy of the king; the burning of the city and temple; and the carrying off into exile or slaughter of all but the poorest of the people. Ten weary years are covered by these events, and they were years full of lamentation, affliction, and woe. Now, all this teaches plainly

I. THAT THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE SLOW TO BEGIN. He is slow to anger. How long he bore with Judah and Jerusalem ere these tribulations came!

II. BUT WHEN BEGUN THEY GO ON. What a procession of one calamity after another it is!

III. THEY CANNOT BE ARRESTED OR TURNED ASIDE. All that endurance, courage, and skill could do was done in that memorable siege. Cf. Eze 7:6, “An evil, an only evil, behold, it is come,” etc.

IV. THE DISTRESS AND ANGUISH DEEPEN. (Cf. Eze 7:1-27.; 8.; 11.; Lam 2:11, Lam 2:12, Lam 2:19; Lam 4:4, etc.)

V. THEY ARE RELENTLESS AND KNOW NO PITY. Prayers and entreaties are in vain (cf. Pro 1:24-31).

VI. THEY CEASE NOT FILL THEIR WORK IS DONE. See this history. The heart of the deceived evil doer protests that God cannot deal so. But he has dealt so with ungodly men, not once nor twice alone; and when he declares that he will again, of what avail is man’s mere protest that he will not? Cf. the whole Book of the Revelation. How loudly, therefore, do facts like these cry out to the sinner, “Flee from the wrath to come”!C.

Jer 52:4, Jer 52:6, Jer 52:12

Days whose duties are indelible.

Note the particularity of the dates given in each of these verses. Not the year only, but the month; and not the month only, but the day; and sometimes not the day only, but the hour, whether morning or evening, during the light or dark. Now

I. THERE ARE SUCH DAYS. In the record of the Flood we have such exactness of date. And in the later history of Jerusalem, the story of its decline and fall under its last kings, we again and again, as in this chapter, meet with such careful giving of exact dates. And in our own experience, looking back over the record of our lives, how vividly some dates stand out! We know the year, the month, the day, and hour, and it seems likely that we shall never forget them nor the events connected with them.

II. BUT THESE DAYS ARE NEARLY ALWAYS DAYS OF PAIN AND DISTRESS. It was so in the instances given in these verses. There are anniversaries which we keep, but these are for the most part joyous days, the memory of which we will not willingly let die. But the fact of our keeping them shows that there is probability that such memory would die if we did not carefully keep it up. But the days whose dates are indelible need no anniversaries to remind us of them. We cannot forget them, though, perhaps, we would fain do so. They are burnt in upon our souls so deeply that they are written as on a rock forever. And they are days, not of joy, but of sore distress; as when first the fierce Babylonian forces beleagured the holy city, and as when after weary months of obstinate defence the awful famine at length broke them down; and as when the proud conqueror in his rage burned down the sanctuary of God. Days of judgment were they, never to be forgotten by Israel any more. And there were many such days. We read of the “fasts” of the different months, many of which commemorated these sad events.

III. AND THEIR DATES ARE INDELIBLY WRITTEN IN OUR SOULS.

1. Because of the contrast which they offer to well nigh all other days. If any mark stands out conspicuouslike the black marks on a white page, or white on blackit proves that the ground upon which such mark stands out so conspicuously is of an entirely opposite colour, a complete contrast. And so the very blackness of these indelible days proves that the days against which they stand out so conspicuously have been of a far other and happier kind. Our very trials, by the vividness with which we remember them, prove the general goodness of our God, because they are such exception to his rule.

2. Because of their intensity. The mark is not merely dark, but deep. The sword pierces through the soul. It is the intensity of the pain that makes it so memorable.

3. Because of the shadow they cast. All our after life may be darkenedit often is soby the effect of some awful blow, and the shadow ever starts from and guides our thoughts up to the terrible fact which has caused it.

IV, BUT THESE DATES ARE NOT INDELIBLE FOREVER. Cf. our Lord’s illustration: “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, but as soon as she is delivered she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy.” So it is oftentimes even in this world. Life would not be bearable were all sorrows indelible. But they are not. The lapse of time, the pressure of necessary work, the awakening of other interests, and, above all, the bestowment of new joysall tend to scatter the gloom of the soul and to thrust into oblivion memories that could only give pain. And none of them shall follow us into our eternal home. We shall notit does not appear possibleforget facts that have occurred, but we shall see them in such new lights and irradiated by such love of God that all the pain that belonged to them will depart and be seen no more.

“Help, Lord, that we may come
To thy saints’ happy home.
Where a thousand years
As one day appears;

Nor go

Where one day appears
As a thousand years

For woe!”

C.

Jer 52:6

Famine.

One of the most frightful that over befell any city is told of here. Its ghastly details may be traced out from this verse and different parts of the writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. This verse tells how the store of bread gradually failed; Jer 37:21 and 38:29 with what difficulty ever so little was gained (also Eze 5:16; Eze 5:16; Eze 12:19) Then Lam 4:7 and Lam 5:10 tell of the sufferings of the nobles; Lam 4:5 and Eze 4:12-15 of the degradation of the high-born ladies of Jerusalem, snatching morsels of bread from the dunghills. The cries of the poor little children (Lam 2:11, Lam 2:12, Lam 2:19; Lam 4:4); the hard-heartedness of their parents (Lam 4:3). Fathers ate the flesh of their own sons (Eze 5:10); mothers that of their new-born babes (Lam 2:20; Lam 4:10). Thus frightful was this famine. And it is ever a fearful thing, let the cause be what it may. Note

I. WHEREFORE THEY ARE SENT.

1. As punishment:

(1) For violation of natural law. When men will crowd together in space too limited or on lands that will not yield sufficient, or will out of greed or selfishness refuse to cultivate aright the land they have, then sooner or later famine will come.

(2) For violation of Divine laws. So in the case of famine told of here. But:

2. They are sent as prompters and promoters of repentance and amendment. In case of violated natural laws they have again and again performed this needed office. Men have spread themselves abroad, communications between one district and another have been opened up, improved methods of cultivation have been adopted, wiser and juster laws have been enacted, and men’s energies and thoughts have been roused to devise remedies and safeguards against the recurrence of the evil. And when it is the Divine laws that have been violated, the Divine laws against sinfor natural laws are also Divinefamine has brought many a prodigal to himself, and led him to say,” I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned.” It did so in the case of the Jews.

II. BUT FAMINE IS AN UNNECESSARY AND UNNATURAL THING. For in our Father’s house there is bread enough and to spare, and none need perish with hunger. The world contains ample store; the resources of nature are in no degree exhausted, and therefore it can only be by negligence of God’s laws in nature that famine can in ordinary cases occur. And why need any go away into the far country of sin, and so compel the righteous and loving Father to send such sore judgment after them in order to bring them back? “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself!” It is not according to God’s will in any case.

III. AND WHAT IS TRUE OF THE LITERAL IS TRUE ALSO OF THE SPIRITUAL FAMINE.

1. It is caused by man’s disobedience. So it was at the first. Sin thrust him forth from the Father’s house, the happy home where he never knew what want was. And so it is still. Had those who knew of Christ and his redemption but obeyed the word, “Let him that heareth say, Come,” long ere this the whole world would have been evangelized. And if the same command were obeyed now, the like result would speedily follow. Christ has given a self-propagating power to his Church, which it has failed to use, and therefore spiritual famines are and will be until the Church obeys her Lord’s commands. But:

2. Such famine need not be. Christ is the “Bread of life” for all, and there is enough and to spare for all

CONCLUSION. Let not thy brother hunger if thou canst give him of this bread. Think of what famine means, and let thy charity be aroused. Take care that thou eatestnot merely talkestof the Bread of life thyself.C.

Jer 52:8-11

The irony of a name.

These verses tell of King Zedekiahof the tragedy of Zedekiah, we might say, for never was there a tragedy more terrible than that in which he bore the chief part. But think of his name”Jehovah our Righteousness.” “As the last note of Jeremiah’s dirge ever Jehoiachin died away, he had burst forth into one of those strains of hope, in which he had represented the future ruler of Israel as the righteousness or justice of Jehovah (cf. Jer 23:5-7). It may be that, in allusion to this, the new king assumed that name Zedek-Jah on his accession to the throne. He was a mere youth, but not without noble feelings which, in a less critical moment, might have saved the state.” And his very name attested the hope which was cherished concerning him. But read the history of his career and his awful fate, and see if ever there could be sadder irony than in the name he bore. It was a glorious name, but how miserably belied! Defeated, dethroned, disgraced, bereaved, tortured, blind, an exile, a slave,so he dragged out the last weary years of his life. We know not how many they were, we can only hope they were but few.

I. SUCH IRONY OF NAMES IS FREQUENT. The degenerate bearers of noble and hallowed names are many. The children of Abraham were told by our Lord that they were children of the devil. A good name should be an inspiration; it often is; noblesse oblige. That it may be so is often the motive wherewith it is given by parents to their children. But, as with Zedekiah, their character and their names are in sad contrast.

II. NOTE THE CAUSE OF THIS SAD IRONY IN THIS CASE. It was not lack of right knowledge. For a while he was under the teaching and influence of God’s prophet Jeremiah. And men rarely go wrong from lack of knowledge. Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor. Nor for lack of right feeling. He had again and again good purposes and aspirations. So with men like him. Nor were there wanting sundry endeavours to act according as God prompted him. He made one and another attempt. But the secret of his sad failure was his lack of strength, infirmity of will, weakness of resolve. And thus it perpetually is with men who turn out failures in life. There is no more pitiful sight in this world than the spectacle of these ruined men. Jeremiah lamented bitterly over Zedekiah, as he well might.

III. LET THIS ILL–APPLIED NAME LEAD US TO THINK OF HIM WHOSE NAME WAS NOTHING BUT BLESSED TRUTHJESUS. He was called Jesus because “he should save his people from their sins.” For in him is the remedy for all such as Zedekiah was. Give up our will to him, come to be in him by a living faith, and his strength shall be reproduced in us, and out of weakness we shall be made strong.C.

HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG

Jer 52:1-3

Zedekiah as king.

I. THE POSITION OF A YOUNG MAN. He was twenty-one years old when he began to reign. Out of boyhood, looking round him at a time when he had become responsible for the conduct of his life. In England the age of twenty-one is full of significance to many young men, for then they become free from legal disabilities and restrictions. Any young man about the age of Zedekiah becomes thereby an object of special interest.

II. AN UNEXPECTED POSITION. At least we may fairly assume this from 2Ki 24:17. Zedekiah was not in the succession. Of course it is just possible there may have been aims and intrigues by which Zedekiah gained the crown. But that does not make less noticeable the fact that young men often do find themselves in unexpected positions. They have been making ready for one course, when all in a moment they are turned into a new course where they have to act without much time for consideration.

III. A RESPONSIBLE POSITION. Responsible in any case as that of a young man; peculiarly responsible as being called to a throne. To be called to a position of peculiar responsibility may sober a man if he is inclined to be reckless, may rouse him if inclined to be easy going and self-indulgent. This point may be illustrated by the traditional belief in the change that came over Henry V. on his accession to the throne, especially as this view is brought out in Shakespeare.

IV. A POSITION UNUSUALLY DIFFICULT. A king appointed by a foreign conqueror would be regarded with dislike by many. In such circumstances the best of personal qualities were needed, decision of character combined with the utmost circumspection.

V. A POSITION IN WHICH ZEDEKIAH HAD A COMPETENT ADVISER. Not any of his own courtiers, though there may have been men among them marked by prudence and insight. He has a prophet of Jehovah, a man with a keen sense of right and wrong, a man with revelations from on high, to help him. Moreover, it is on record that he actually sought Jeremiah out. Note the many references in the course of the book to the dealings between the king and the prophet. By the plain speaking of such a man many doubts might be cleared and many errors corrected. It is the censure on Zedekiah (2Ch 36:12) that “he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.” Y.

Jer 52:8

Zedekiah’s army scattered.

Zedekiah’s aim was to keep his army together, for as long as he could do that there was a chance of averting the evil day, and perhaps in the end escaping it altogether. But without his army he was utterly helpless. He could not bring himself to heed Jeremiah’s counsels, doing the right and putting his trust in Jehovah. And so when the army was gone everything was gone. Nothing remained but random, desperate attempts at flight, and the certainty of ultimate capture. We have to ask ourselves what we shall do when our army is scattered from us, when the resources of our own making are vanished. The chief battles of our life are not to be fought with external resources at all. In every warfare where the weapons are carnal the weapons must fail at last. Only when we are engaged in truly spiritual warfare, and have the hosts of heaven on our side, can we be sure that our army will not be scattered from us.Y.

Jer 52:11

Zedekiah’s fate.

Here is a triple bondagethe bondage of blindness, fetters, and imprisonment. Truly a dreadful doom! Look

I. AT THE CAUSE OF IT.

1. The cause so far as it lies in his own conduct. There was no need for him to accept a throne as viceroy for Babylon, but, having done so, he had entered into an implied covenant. No wonder that the King of Babylon took special care to stamp such conduct in a peculiar way.

2. The cause so far as it lies in the notions of the time. Zedekiah was treated, not only vindictively, but savagely. The meaning must have been to humiliate him, to make the iron enter into his very soul. What a difference Christianity has made in the treatment of conquered foes! The change has Come very slowly, but it is real and stable. One cannot imagine the time returning when a captured enemy would be deprived of his eyesight.

II. AT A CONTRAST IMMEDIATELY SUGGESTED. One cannot but think of Samson, whose external condition was exactly that of Zedekiah, blinded, fettered, and imprisoned. Reduced to this state the Philistines reckoned he was impotent. Zedekiah really was impotent; he seems to have gone on to the day of his death in monotonous submission to what he felt necessity. But it was only necessity because he made it so. The worst limitations our fellow men can put on us may become in certain conditions like an easily snapped thread. Zedekiah might have risen above all these insults and pains. Perhaps he did rise. It is well for us to recollect how God has placed the essential liberty of every individual in his own hands.Y.

Jer 52:12, Jer 52:13

A great burning.

I. THE BURNING IN GENERAL. The sum of the details amounts to a statement that the city was reduced to ashes. For this not Babylon is to be blamed, but Zedekiah and his predecessors, together with their advisers. Babylon was only acting according to the fashion of the times. The hand of Jehovah was withdrawn, the hand that might have averted the torch; and it was withdrawn because the destruction of Jerusalem had become a better thing for the world than its preservation. Still, it is not to be said in the fullest sense of the word that Jehovah destroyed Jerusalem say as he destroyed Babylon. In the course of a few generations Jerusalem rose from its ashes, temple included. The mere destruction of buildings, terrible as it is at the time, may soon be got over, as witness the rebuilding of London, and Chicago. The decay of national spirit and national resources is the thing to be feared.

II. THE BURNING OF THE TEMPLE IN PARTICULAR. Babylon had no fear in destroying the house of the Lord. Doubtless it was quite a common thing in war to destroy the temples of gods, for they were looked upon merely as part of the resources of nations. We must distinguish between what is essentially sacred and what is sacred only by association and to serve a purpose. When the purpose is accomplished the sacred sinks back into the common. God dwelleth not in temples made with hands. He was none the poorer for all this burning. Babylon learned hereafter that, though his house had been burned, his power was not at all diminished. The chief value of the temple lay in this, that it had been an expression of the piety and devotion of David and Solomon. Kings and people alike had proved themselves unworthy of their great ancestors.Y.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Jer 52:1. Zedekiah was one-and-twenty years old The present chapter, seems to belong to the book of Lamentations, and serves as a kind of proem to them. The generality of commentators are agreed, that this chapter could not be added by Jeremiah, not only because a great part of it is a repetition of what he himself had related in the 39th and 40th chapters of his prophesy, but because mention is made in it of the reign of Evil-merodach; and of some transactions which happened at the end of Jeconiah’s reign, and after Jeremiah’s death. Indeed, the chapter is chiefly taken out of the latter part of the second book of Kings, with some few additions, probably supplied by Ezra. It is therefore most reasonable, to conclude, that this chapter was added by Ezra, who designed this brief history of the desolations of the Jewish nation as an introduction to the book of Lamentations. See Grotius, Calmet, and the notes on 2Ki 24:18; 2Ki 24:20 to the end of chap. 25:

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

1. The capture of the city, together with the circumstances immediately previous and subsequent thereto

Jer 52:1-11

1Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mothers name was Hamutal the daughter 2of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, 3according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For1 through the anger of the Lord [For so] it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah [that Jehovah was angry] till he had cast them out from his presence, that [And] Zedekiah rebelled against the king 4of Babylon. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month,2 in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts [a rampart]3 5against it round about. So the city was besieged4 unto the eleventh year of king 6Zedekiah. And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land [the 7common people]. Then the city was broken up [through], and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the kings garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city 8round about;) and they went5 by the way of [to] the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho;9and all his army was scattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave 10judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before 11his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riolah. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains [a double chain], and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Jer 52:1-3. Zedekiah king of Babylon. These three verses are of the same purport with 2Ki 24:18-20, with only two unessential differences. In the latter passage, Jer 52:20, we find for , and for , in both cases an easier and more correct reading, of which it is more natural to suppose that it arose out of the other, than the reverse. The present passage then has the presumption of originality in its favor. Comp., moreover, 2Ch 36:11-13.For through the anger, etc. The reason for Jehovahs anger is punishment, in Jer 52:2, however, to which the for refers, it is sin, not punishment, which is spoken of. Accordingly the words are not to be taken as causal, but as was shown on Jer 32:31 (p. 287) is used here as frequently elsewhere for or , and is the statement of the effect: it came to pass that Jehovah was angeredwhich may be said of what happened in Jerusalem, as well as against it.

Jer 52:4-5. And it came to pass Zedekiah. These words are found almost exactly the same in 2Ki 25:1-2, and in an abridged extract in Jer 39:1. Compare also Eze 24:1. For the exposition of the parts reproduced in Jeremiah 39., see there the differences between our text and that of the Book of Kings. Comp. the Textual Notes.

Jer 52:6-7. And in the fourth month the plain. These opening words, found also in Jer 39:2, are wanting in 2 Kings, although the statement of the day without that of the month, makes no sense, and also the words and went out of the city, though thus the sentence loses its predicate. Keil (on 2Ki 25:4) supposes that not only the predicate has fallen out after all the men of war, but also still more before these words, in 2 Ki. and Jeremiah 52., namely, the words found in Jer 39:3, and it came to pass, when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, because the king (according to 2Ki 25:5; Jer 52:8; Jer 39:5) was among the fugitives, and because the words and all the men of war, have no proper connection with the previous context and could not form an adverbial sentence. But if Keil were right, the whole verse Jer 39:3 must have dropped out, since them refers to the persons mentioned in it. We have already shown on Jeremiah 39. that Jer 52:1-2; Jer 52:4-10 are only an abridged extract from Jeremiah 52. and that the words quoted above are only a connecting clause between the original and genuine Jer 52:3, and the following verses derived from Jeremiah 52. These words are therefore of later date than Jeremiah 52., and cannot have been omitted before and all the men, etc. The previous mention of the king is not necessary, since he is included; the sentence moreover is not adverbial, but a narrative of a by no means unusual construction (comp. Ewald, 346, b).

Jer 52:8-11. But the army of his death. The Book of Kings reads him instead of Zedekiah. It is plain that the former could be more easily derived from the latter than the reverse.In the land of Hamath is wanting in 2Ki 25:6, while it is found ib. Jer 52:21 (comp. 2Ki 23:33).He gave judgment.2Ki 25:6, has they gave, etc., on which comp. rems. on Jer 32:5.The first half of Jer 52:10 agrees with Jer 39:6, even to the there added words, in Riblah. In 2Ki 25:7 it reads, and they slew the sons, etc., the Chaldeans of Jer 52:5 being still the subject. The second half of Jer 52:10 is entirely wanting in 2 Kings. The blinding and binding in chains of king Zedekiah is narrated in both places in the same way, but in 2 Ki. the singulars put out () and bound him () are the more surprising, as the sentence is contained in the plural carried him (). 2 Kings 25. is entirely silent on the confinement of Zedekiah in Babylon. Hitzig justly calls attention to the fact that is not simply a prison, this being always otherwise expressed (comp., e.g., Jer 52:31). Jeremiah, who is not blinded, is put into prison; but Zedekiah, the more guilty, is blinded and put into the house of correction. Comp. Simson on Jdg 16:21. The LXX. also has . Yet it appears that towards the end his confinement was less rigorous, and that an honorable interment was granted him after his death, for this is the purport of the promise made to him through Jeremiah in Jer 34:1-5.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Docemur hoc capite, quod comminationes divin rum sint de pelvi fulgura, quodque Deus pro misericordia sua infinita calamitates a se immissas mitigare plerumque soleat, si seria interveniat pnitentia. Frster.

2. On Jer 52:1-3. From this we see why God sometimes places ungodly rulers over a country, who cast it to destruction. It is done on account of the rulers and the peoples sins, that they may draw down the well merited punishment, as Sirach says. On account of violence, injustice and avarice, a kingdom passes from one nation to another (Jer 10:8). So also says king Solomon. Because of the sins of a nation occur many changes of rulers, but for the sake of the people who are intelligent and reasonable, the State is prolonged (Pro 28:2). Wurtemb. Summarien.

3. On Jer 52:4. God allows many slight and mild punishments to come as warnings, till at last comes the finishing stroke. This is a witness to the divine long-suffering (Rom 2:4). Cramer.

4. On Jer 52:6. The fact that in this siege compassionate women had to kill and eat their own children (Lam 4:10) is a reminder that by bodily hunger God would punish; 1. satiation and disgust towards His holy word and soul-food; 2. the terrible offering up of children to Moloch; 3. the loose discipline of children. Cramer.

5. On Jer 52:7. No fortress can protect the ungodly, even though they had their nest in the clouds. Cramer.

6. On Jer 52:8. An example of faithless, perjured men of war. But as Zedekiah broke his oath to the king at Babylon, he was paid back in the same coin. Cramer. His people forsook the poor king Zedekiah on his flight and he was captured, from which we see that great men cannot depend on their body-guard; these flee in time of need, and leave their masters in the lurch. The surest and best protection is when we have the holy angels for our guard This angelic protection is, however, to be obtained and preserved by faith and godliness, but is lost by unbelief and ungodly conduct. Wurtemb. Summ.

7. On Jer 52:9-11. The punishment of perjury. Ubi monemur, quod fides hosti, etiam barbaro, qualis hodie Turca, a Christianis data, mimine violanda. Frster.

8. On Jer 52:9. sqq. God had shown Zedekiah by Jeremiah a way in which he could escape the calamity. But because he forsook the Lord and would not follow it, the others were only leaky cisterns (Jer 2:13). For woe to the rebellious who take counsel without the Lord (Isa 30:1). This is useful for an instance against the holy by works, who reject Gods way of escaping the Devil; when they devise other ways for themselves they are caught by the Chaldeans of hell. Cramer.

9. On Jer 52:12 sqq. Holy places, external ceremonies and opus operatum do not avail for hypocrites If God punished His own institution so severely, how shall human institutions remain unpunished? Cramer.

10. On Jer 52:12. Quale fatum, ne et nostris obtingat templis caveamus, ne profanemus templa ulterius tum externa vel materialia, tum interna vel spiritualia in cordibus nostris, de quibus 1Co 3:16 sqq.; Jer 6:19 sqq. Frster.

11. On Jer 52:15. It is another work of mercy that some of Judah were preserved. For Gods grace is always to be found in His punishments. Cramer.

12. On Jer 52:15. He who will not serve God and his neighbor at home and in quiet, must learn to do it in a strange land in affliction and distress. Cramer.

13. On Jer 52:24 sqq. As teachers are often to blame for their behaviour that sin gets the upper hand in a community, it is exceedingly just when God brings such for an example into great punitive judgment (1Sa 2:27-34). Starke.

14. On Jer 52:24. The priests are caught and slain; 1. because they could not believe the truth for themselves; 2. because they led others astray; 3. because they appealed to the temple of the Lord; 4. because they persecuted the true prophets; 5. because they troubled the whole church of God. But he who troubleth shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be (Gal 5:10). Cramer.

15. On Jer 52:31 sqq. Sane omnino verisimile videtur judicio Philippi Melanchthonis in Chron. part, I fol. 33 Evilmerodachum amplexum esse doctrinam Danielis de Vero Deo, quam et pater publico edic professus est, eamque ob causam clementiam exercuisse erga regem Jechoniam. Frster.Narrant Hebri hujusmodi fabulam: Evilmerodach, qui patre suo Nabuchodonosor vivente per septem annos inter bestias, ante regnaverat, postquam ille restitutus in regno est, usque ad mortem patris cum Joakim rege Jud in vinculis fuit; quo mortuo, quum rursus in regnum succederet, et non susciperetur a principibus, qui metuebant, ne viveret qui dicebatur extinctus, ut fidem patris mortui faceret, aperuit sepulcrum et cadaver ejus unco et funibus traxit. Jerome on Jer 14:18-19. Josephus speaks of it as follows: , , . (Antiqq., X. 11, 21.)

16. On Jer 52:31 sqq. Ceterum potest hoc exemplo, quod Jechonias rex dignitati su in exilio Babylonico restitutus, refutari exceptio Judorum contra vaticinium Jacobi (Gen 49:10) de Messia jamdudum exhibito, postquam per Romanos sceptrum de Juda ablatum, id quod Messi jamjam nascituri esse debuit. Frster.

17. On Jer 52:31 sqq. No one should despair in misfortune, for the right hand of the Highest can change all (Psa 77:10) and Christ rules even in the midst of His enemies (Psa 110:2). For His are the praise, the glory and the power from everlasting to everlasting. Amen. Cramer.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

1. On Jer 52:1-11. The truth of the word What a man soweth, that shall he also reap, exhibited in the example of the Jewish State under Zedekiah.1. The seed (Jer 52:2); 2. The crop (a) the siege, (b) the famine, (c) the capture of the city and flight of the king, (d) the punishment of the king and his princes, (e) the fate of the people (Jer 52:3).

2. On Jer 52:12-20. The rejection of Judah appears at first sight a contradiction. For Jerusalem is the holy city (Mat 4:5; Neh 11:1; Neh 11:18), the city of God (Psa 46:5; Psa 48:2; Psa 48:9; Psa 78:3); the temple is the house of Jehovah (Jer 7:2. etc.); Gods service rests on divine authority (Ex. chh. 2527, 30, 31). But God cannot contradict Himself. We have, therefore, to show the unity of the divine thoughts in the choice and rejection of Jerusalem. 1. The rejection was a conditional one (Jer 7:3 sqq). Hence notwithstanding the election the rejection involved nothing contradictory, but was a necessary consequence of the unfulfilled condition.2. The election remains (a) objectively notwithstanding the rejection; it is (b) subjectively brought to its realization by the rejection; the latter as a means of discipline operating to produce the disposition, from which alone thefulfillment of this condition can proceed. Comp. rems. on Jer 32:41, p. 288.

3. On Jer 52:24-27. That great lords sometimes make an example of gross miscreants, promotes righteousness, only it must not be done on the innocent, or with such severity that there is no proportion between the crime and its punishment (Jos 7:25). Starke.

4. On Jer 52:31-34. The deliverance of Jehoiachin. 1. It shows us that the Lord can help (a) out of great distress (grievous imprisonment of thirty-seven years), (b) in a glorious manner. 2. It admonishes us (a) to steadfast patience, (b) to believing hope, Psalms 13 [It was a prelude and pledge of the liberation and exaltation of the Jewish Nation, when it had been humbled and purified by the discipline of suffering; and of its return to its own land; and a joyful pre-announcement of that far more glorious future restoration which the prophets in the Old Testament, and the Apostles in the New foretellof Israel to God in Christ; to whom, with the Father and Holt Ghost, be ascribed all honor, glory, dominion, adoration and praise, now and forever. Amen. Wordsworth.S. R. A.].

Footnotes:

[1]Jer 52:3., if there be no mistake in the writing, is an abnormal form of the infinitive. Comp. Olsh., 191, b, f; Ewald, 238, d. On the neuter meaning of the fem. verb comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 60, 6, b; Isaiah 11:20; 2Ki 24:3.

[2]Jer 52:4.The differences between the text here and in 2Ki 25:1-2 are as follows: 1. Instead of here there. The latter mode of expression (anno noni, i.e., numeri, comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 65, 2, c) is found in Jer. also in Jer 28:1, Chethibh; Jer 32:1. Chethibh; Jer 46:2; Jer 51:59. Besides also in Jer 52:28; Jer 29:30 2. 2 Kings has the Liter form in Heb., Nebuchadnezzar (comp. Jer 21:2-7; Jer 24:1; Jer 32:1; Jer 35:11; Jer 39:11; Jer 43:10; Jer 44:30; Jer 46:2; Jer 50:17 with Jer 27:6; Jer 27:20; Jer 28:3; Jer 39:5; Hitzig on Jer 24:1). 3. 2 Kings, instead of , which is required by .

[3]Jer 52:4.The word occurs, besides here and in the parallel passages, only in Eze 4:2; Eze 17:17; Eze 21:27; Eze 26:8. It is thus a later word. The root does not occur in Hebrew, but is very common in the Chaldee, Syriac and Samaritan, where it has the meaning, speculari, inspicere, circumspicere, is therefore specula; the watch-tower, from which the besieged city may be watched and assailed. With this agrees well Isa 23:13, where the of the Chaldeans are spoken of. It is surprising that the word never occurs in the plural, as we should expect, if it designated only, the single towers. We may therefore suppose that it signifies the whole line of circumvallation, including the towers and is thus a potiori, a collective designation. As the chaldeans were celebrated for their skill in sieges (comp. Herzog, Real-Enc., IV., S. 394), the word may have passed from their language into the Hebrew. Comp. Keil on 2Ki 25:1; Haevernick on Eze 4:2, S. 49; Gesen., Thes., p. 330.

[4]Jer 52:5. is primarily coarctatio in general and then specially coarctatio by means of obsidio, hence it assumes the latter meaning in connections like (Psa 31:22; Psa 60:11), (Deu 20:20), (Eze 4:2), (2Ki 24:10; 2Ki 25:2), without involving a complete suppression of the radical signification. Comp. Jer 10:17; Jer 19:9.

[5]Jer 52:7.Instead of we find in 2 Ki. the manifestly less correct form, .

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

This Chapter contains the historical relation of the siege of Jerusalem; the capture of the city and people, and the deplorable treatment of Zedekiah and his Sons, and nobles.

Jer 52

The relation of this history hath been already gone through, almost word by word, in the book of the Kings: so that it would be to swell unnecessarily the relation on any commentary here. If the Reader will compare this Chapter with the account of the siege, and destruction of Jerusalem, as it is rehearsed at large in 2Ki 24:18 through the whole of the 25th Chapter that follows (2Ki 25 ), (including only a parenthesis, as a portion before related in Jer 40:16 ) he will find the agreement in all the particulars. I only add therefore, that we ought to pay the greater attention to those portions of the word of God, which the divine wisdom hath been pleased to have twice recorded, as demanding this respect from us. And when we consider the awful subject of which they both treat; and that, notwithstanding the Lord’s love to his Church, he will not leave that Church without his severe chastisement; we have abundant reason to observe what the Apostle hath said on these solemn judgments in general, lest for our transgression; the Lord visit us also. Be not high minded but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee? Precious Jesus! how blessed is it to see to whom our safety is alone owing; and in whom all our security stands. Lord! hasten thy kingdom, and bring home thine heritage. And let thy redeemed behold the New Testament Babylon destroyed forever, and all the enemies of our salvation; that that blessed time may soon arrive, when the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever. Amen.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Fifty-five Years Old

Jer 52:31-34

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign in Judah. Jehoiachin reigned three months. He had hardly been a king at all before he was taken away captive. In captivity he spent thirty-seven years: therefore he was fifty-five years old when this took place. What changes may occur in life: who can tell what we may come to? After thirty-seven years there arose a king who took a fancy to Jehoiachin, and made quite a favourite of him in the court. Good fortune is often tardy in coming to men; we are impatient, we want to be taken out of prison today, and set among kings at once, and to have all our desires gratified fully, and especially at once. See what has befallen Jehoiachin. For the first time for seven-and-thirty years the man of authority has spoken kindly to him. Kind words have different values at different times; sometimes a kind word would be a fortune if not a fortune in the hand, a fortune in the way of stimulating imagination, comforting disconsolateness, and so pointing to the sky that we could see only its real blue beauties, its glints of light, its hints of coming day. When we have an abundant table, what do we care for an offered crust? that crust may be regarded by our sated appetite as an insult: but when the table is bare, and hunger is gnawing, and thirst is consuming, what then is a crust of bread, or a draught of water? Thus we get down to reality; we are no longer in the region of fancies, decoration, luxury, but we are on the line of life, and we begin to realise what we do in very deed require, and our hearts glow with thankfulness to the man who would offer us bread of the plainest kind for the satisfaction of our intolerable hunger. More men hunger for kind words than for bread. There is a hunger of the heart. It is possible to be in a house all bread, and yet not to know the meaning of satisfaction or contentment: all the walls glow with colour, all the echoes tremble with music, of an artificial and mechanical kind; but the oppression is an oppression of grandeur: one line of civility, one hint of courtesy, one approach of love, one smile of interest and sympathy, would be worth it all, ten thousand times told.

Here is an office we can all exercise. Where we cannot give much that is described as substantial we can speak kindly, we can look benignantly, we can conduct ourselves as if we would relieve the burden if we could: thus life would be multiplied, brightened, sweetened, a great comforting sense of divine nearness would fall upon our whole consciousness, and we should enter into the possession and the mystery of heavenly peace. See what fortune has befallen Jehoiachin! After thirty-seven years he is recognised as king and gentleman and friend, and has kind words spoken to him in a kind of domestic music. Was not all this worth living for? If Jehoiachin could have foreseen all this, would he not have been glad with a great joy? But the programme is not so plainly written as this, nor is it confined to comforts of this particular sort. It is a subtly drawn programme; the hand that executed this outline of friendship is no ‘prentice hand; every finger was a master. Jehoiachin not only had kind words spoken to him, and great regard shown to him in various ways, but he was lifted up above the kings that were with the monarch in Babylon. He was at the head of the list; he took precedence at the royal table; no man must take the seat of Jehoiachin, king of Judah: see how with the port of a king he advanced to his eminent position. Was not all this worth living for? The thirty-seven years were forgotten in this elevation, this honour, this recognition of personal supremacy. Who can tell, too, how subtle was the action of this arrangement in its humiliation of the other kings? Critics have an easy trick of praising one author that they may smite another in the face; they do not care for the particular author, but through him they want to anger some other writer, to snub and rebuke and chastise and humble some other man. Who can tell what plan the monarch of Babylon had in all this arrangement of his table? You can insult a whole score of guests by your treatment of one of them, and that treatment shall be a treatment of honour, singling out one individual for recognition, and leaving others to look on until they burn with jealousy. More still: Jehoiachin had an abundance to eat and drink “He did continually eat bread before the king all the days of his life. And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.” Was not this worth waiting for? or is it a poor description? Is it a kind of anticipation of a portrait drawn by the Master Artist, when he covered with ineffable humiliation a man by simply describing him as a rich man clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day? There are some compliments that are bad to bear as a whiff of perdition. What man could ever recover that description? A man described by his bank-book, his coat, and his dinner! and there was nothing more left of him to be described. That was making as little of himself as he could make. There is a modesty that is sarcastic. What a delightful end of a suffering course! Who would not be content to live for such an issue? After thirty-seven years you may come to elevation and honour of the kind awarded to Jehoiachin. Lift up your heads, sursum corda, cheer yourselves!; you cannot tell what you may be on the earth; your one little pound may become ten pounds, and the ten ten thousand, and the little house a great palace, and the small dinner an abundant banquet, and the draught of water a goblet of foaming wine. What an end to live for! What a heaven after thirty-seven years!

All this is not the fact. The teacher may take advantage or us, in order that, having mocked us, he may afterward draw us into deeper prayer, and fasten our attention with a more religious constancy upon the reality of the case. But we have so many superficial readers, persons who would not be able to distinguish the chasm between the text and the sermon. Provided the sentences run fluently, who cares what they mean, where they came from, where they are going to! What have we been doing in thus dwelling upon the good fortune of Jehoiachin? We have been playing the fool. We have been reckoning up social precedences, better clothes, and abundance of food; we have been taking a minute of circumstances, noting the opening of the day with its abundant banquet, the dressing hour with its hundred wardrobes and acres of looking-glass; and we have been adding up how much the man must have worn and eaten and drunken within the twenty-four hours, and all the while the king looking at him benignantly, speaking to him as an equal, dealing out to him kind words, the whole constituting an ineffable insult. Yet how prone we are to add up circumstances, and to speak of social relations, as if they constituted the sum-total of life. Now look at realities. Jehoiachin was in his heart a bad man. That is written upon the face of the history of the kings of Judah, and not a single word is said about his change of heart; and bad men cannot have good fortune. Bad men cannot have a good dinner, it turns to bad blood when it begins to work in the system. They can be satisfied as a dog might be satisfied with a bone, but they know nothing of the deeper contentment, the eating that is sacrificial, the drinking that is sacramental, the patience that culminates in peace that passeth understanding. Everything is wasted upon a bad man. For Jehoiachin has undergone no change of heart; he is just what he was when he was first taken away. The prison does not make converts. There is nothing regenerative in penal endurance literally taken as such. A man is as great a thief when he leaves the gaol as he was when he went in, unless his heart, disposition, will, soul, self has been changed. There are persons that come out of prison expecting you to receive them with delight, as “Hail fellow, well met; you have been in prison, but have come out here is my hand.” That is not the law of God; that is not the philosophy of reason. A period of imprisonment cannot turn a thief into an honest man: one hour of penitence may, one hour of real broken-heartedness without one taint of hypocrisy will do it. Let us fix our mental vision upon this Jehoiachin king of Judah. He has been taken out of prison in the narrow sense of the term, his head has been lifted up, a place of precedence has been accorded him at the royal table, and his bread and water have been made sure for the rest of his days: what a delightful situation! No. Jehoiachin at his best was only a decorated captive; he was still in Babylon. That is the sting. Not what have we, but where are we, is Heaven’s piercing inquiry. Not how great the barns; state the height, the width, the depth, the cubic measure of the barns; but, What wheat have we in the heart, what bread in the soul, what love-wine for the Spirit’s drinking?

Here we have a man who has a seat at the royal table distinguished from all other seats; we have a brother-king speaking kind words to him: but he is only a captive, he is a promoted dog. Why do you not fix your mind upon the reality of your situation? There were times when we used to hear how well off the slaves were, with their nice whitewashed huts, and their clean clothes; and pious but purblind ministers of Christ have been taken round to see how well off the slaves were, A slave cannot be well off. That is the thing that must be spoken. See that rubicund man at the hut door: how well he looks, what a face he has, what a glowing eye! why, in that eye I see laughter, song, love of mirth, silent enjoyment of life’s panorama as it moves; how well off he is! No. Why is he not well off? Because he is a slave. No man with a chain on his arms can be well off”. Let Jehoiachin try to leave Babylon, and he will see what all the kind words amount to, and all the good clothes, and all the abundant food; let his heart ache for home, and let him tell his heartache to Evil-merodach king of Babylon, and he will know exactly what he is a decorated hound. Ask what collar the dog has on! but do not tell us that a man who is a captive can be well off, and ought to be content with the trough at which he feeds.

This is the case with men who do not know it. There are persons who are perfectly content to be well off in circumstances without ever inquiring how they are off in character. This is common to nineteenth-century civilisation. Ask concerning the welfare of your friend: what is the reply? doing admirably; has a farm of over five thousand acres; is a great flock-master; is a magistrate; is looked up to by the surrounding population; he eats and drinks with the best society in that province. Is that all? What does he read? Does he ever look with other than an ox’s eye upon the landscape? Has he the land, or the landscape? Does he conduct commerce with heaven? Has he many a ship going to and fro between the countries, bringing from heaven’s green shore things to make glad the heart? What ideas has he? What speculation is there in his eye? of what stature is his mind? Yet there are Christian people who would hear that a man is well-read, thoroughly intelligent, truly pious, excellent in moral tone and temper, but But what? His income is very small! Oh! when Christians yield to that kind of criticism their pretended Christianity is an arrant hypocrisy. A man is what he is in his soul. Jeremiah down in the mire is a happier man then Jehoiachin sitting at the head of the captive kings. For all the kings we read about here were captive kings, taken by the monarch of Babylon, and worn by him as men wear medals and stars and decorations. A religious martyr was a happier man than Jehoiachin. A poor man may be richer than a millionaire. A wise man may be stronger than an army. When you report your son’s condition, for God’s sake tell me what his heart is like. He cannot want his coat long; do not dwell upon that, as if it were an essential feature in the case: reverse your mode of reckoning, let all circumstances be counted at the lower end of things, and let there stand first might in prayer, spotlessness of purity, chivalry of nobleness, patience that never complains, giving that never begrudges. The fear is that men will not take to this way of reckoning. Poor Jehoiachin! take thy seat, eat plentifully, gorge thyself, thou promoted dog; leave nothing behind, eat it all thou art feeding for the grave! Poor man, loving books, loving truth, loving wisdom, loving God, loving Christ, thy wealth may be described as unsearchable riches. Take the right view; measure things by the right standard; and the first shall be last, and the last first, and the poor man shall have the honours of the house. What is the sublime, profound, eternal doctrine? It is that only the free can be blessed; only the free can be happy. If a man is held back by a bad habit he is in captivity; if a man has the hand of the creditor upon his shoulder, he cannot be really content and peaceful; if a man is the victim of a tormenting memory, his song is a lie, and his feast a new way of taking poison; if a man is haunted by remorse that pricks his pillow, he may have all the bullion of the bank, but in his soul he is a pauper, and he would part with it all if he could kill the demon that makes his life a pain. What is the doctrine which the Christian teacher has to promulgate? It is that only the free can be happy. How can men become free? Jesus Christ did not hesitate to tell; he said, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Paul spoke of the liberty that is in Christ as “glorious liberty.” Liberty is gladness; freedom is bliss. Yet the true freedom is to be found in slavery to Christ. His bondage is liberty. His servitude is freedom. To be the slave of Christ is to be the free man of the universe. Saviour, Man of the five wounds, make us free!

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

Jer 52:1 Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Ver. 1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old, &c. ] For the exposition of this whole chapter, see the notes on 2Ki 24:17-20 ; 2Ki 25:1-30 2Ch 36:11-21 Jer 39:1-3 , &c. It is altogether historic, and set here fitly by Ezra, or some other prophet, as an appendix to the foregoing prophecy, and as a preface to the Book of the Lamentations, which is nothing else but Jeremiah’s elegy over their doleful captivity – not over King Josiah’s death, as Jerome would have it; nor yet is it that book that Jehoiakim cut, and afterwards cast into the fire, Jer 36:22-23 as some of the Jewish doctors have noted. The Septuagint have set this title upon it: And it came to pass after that Israel was carried captive, and Jerusalem laid waste, the prophet Jeremiah sat weeping, and wailing, and bitterly lamenting the case of his people. Thus they knit together this chapter and the ensuing Lamentations, which the Jews also are still said to read together in their synagogues on the ninth day of the month Ab, which answereth to our July, because that on that day the city was taken and destroyed by the Chaldeans. Jer 52:7 a

a A Lapide Proleg. in Thren. ex Petro a Figneiro.

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

Jeremiah Chapter 52

The last chapter appears to be an inspired appendix to the prophecy of Jeremiah rather than his own composition. it is substantially similar to the last chapter of 2 Kings, but with some remarkable points of difference in dates and numbers, owing, I presume, to a difference in the way of looking at the facts.

The chapter opens with Zedekiah’s reign in Jerusalem for eleven years, evil in Jehovah’s eyes according to that of Jehoiakim. There was this especially which provoked the anger of Jehovah, that he rebelled against the king of Babylon, to whom, on the apostasy of Judah, the empire of the world had been given. It was the bounden duty of the faithful to bow to God’s sovereignty in this, and the more because it was the idolatrous sin of the people of Judah and the king of David’s house, which was the final occasion of this solemn change in the government of the world.

Zedekiah ought to have been a pattern of subjection therefore, in owning the just judgment of God. It was their evil pre-eminently which had not only hindered the blessing of all nations of the earth as independent powers; but had precipitated not themselves only, but all others with them, under the empire of the golden head, the king of Babylon. And now Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, which was really against the sentence of Jehovah, who was thus, as it were, morally compelled to cast out the Jews from His presence. (Ver. 1-3.)

“And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about. So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah, And in the fourth mouth, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about); and they went by the way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then be put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.” (Ver. 4-11.) Thus far the account minutely agrees, dates and all, with 2Ki 25:1-7 , save that Jer 52 is somewhat more detailed, and attributes to the king of Babylon personally what the history gives to his servants under his orders.

Verse 12 furnishes an instance of the first striking discrepancy in appearance with 2Ki 25 , verse 8 of which seems at first sight to fix the entrance of Nebuzar-adan to the seventh day of the fifth month, whereas in the prophecy it is connected with the tenth. But there is a real difference in the original statement which the Authorized Version appears to have represented by “unto Jerusalem” in 2 Kings, and “into Jerusalem” in Jeremiah; and this is substantially correct. The truth is that there is no preposition whatever in the former, and therefore the natural rendering would be that the servant of the king of Babylon had only come to Jerusalem on the seventh day, not that he had actually entered then. On the other hand, in the prophecy, we are told that he was in Jerusalem on the tenth day of the mouth; and this is distinctly expressed by the particle.

Nebuzar-adan then “burned the house of Jehovah, and the king’s house: and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire: and all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen. Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon. The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass, wherewith they ministered, took they away. And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away, The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of Jehovah: the brass of all these vessels was without weight. And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow. And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranites upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these. And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.” (Ver. 13-23.)

It is remarkable that among the prisoners who are specified in verse 25, we have seven men here who answer to five men in 2Ki 25:19 . I presume that two more were added of which this inspired account takes notice in addition to the more general description given in the history. We have already remarked its greater precision. There were five, but this does not hinder the addition of two more in a notice of greater detail. “So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them, to the king of Babylon to Riblah. And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.” (Ver. 26, 27.)

In verses 28-30 we have an account of three minor deportations to Babylon in the seventh, eighteenth, and twenty third years of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, amounting in all to four thousand and six hundred. But 2Ki 24:12 , 2Ki 24:16 speaks of another carrying away of Jews, as Dan 1 tells us of those that were carried away in the first year of his reign, which was a more considerable affair.

The last incident of the chapter is the compassion which Evil-merodach the king of Babylon extended to Jehoiachin in the seven and thirtieth year* of his captivity. Not only did he bring the captive king of Judah out of prison with kind words, But set his throne above the subject monarchs that were there, and gave him to eat bread before himself continually for the rest of his life. Thus, if after solemn warnings of the prophets, one king of Judah was now proving the truth in his own misery, God was showing in Jehoiachin’s case that He has the hearts of all men under His control, and that long years of languishing may be changed at His will to a peaceful end of life, though not a prosperous one, according to His word. (Jer 22:30 .) But this does not hinder His pitifulness and tender mercy.

*Dr. Henderson changes the twenty-fifth to the fifteenth day of the twelfth month, as it would appear against the form of the word, and perhaps through mere oversight, as he makes no remark. The usual version is right.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

Jeremiah

‘AS SODOM’

Jer 52:1 – Jer 52:11 .

This account of the fall of Jerusalem is all but identical with that in 2Ki 25:1 – 2Ki 25:30 It was probably taken thence by some editor of Jeremiah’s prophecies, perhaps Baruch, who felt the appropriateness of appending to these the verification of them in that long-foretold and disbelieved judgment.

The absence of every expression of emotion is most striking. In one sentence the wrath of God is pointed to as the cause of all; and, for the rest, the tragic facts which wrung the writer’s heart are told in brief, passionless sentences, which sound liker the voice of the recording angel than that of a man who had lived through the misery which he recounts. The Book of Lamentations weeps and sobs with the grief of the devout Jew; but the historian smothers feeling while he tells of God’s righteous judgment.

Zedekiah owed his throne to ‘the king of Babylon,’ and, at first, was his obedient vassal, himself going to Babylon Jer 51:59 and swearing allegiance Eze 17:13. But rebellion soon followed, and the perjured young king once more pursued the fatal, fascinating policy of alliance with Egypt. There could be but one end to that madness, and, of course, the Chaldean forces soon appeared to chastise this presumptuous little monarch, who dared to defy the master of the world. Our narrative curtails its account of Zedekiah’s reign, bringing into strong relief only the two facts of his following Jehoiakim’s evil ways, and his rebellion against Babylon. But behind the rash, ignorant young man, it sees God working, and traces all the insane bravado by which he was ruining his kingdom and himself to God’s ‘wrath,’ not thereby diminishing Zedekiah’s responsibility for his own acts, but declaring that his being ‘given over to a reprobate mind’ was the righteous divine punishment for past sin.

An eighteen months’ agony is condensed into three verses Jer 52:4 – Jer 52:6, in which the minute care to specify dates pathetically reveals the depth of the impression which the first appearance of the besieging army made, and the deeper wound caused by the city’s fall. The memory of these days has not faded yet, for both are still kept as fasts by the synagogue. We look with the narrator’s eye at the deliberate massing of the immense besieging force drawing its coils round the doomed city, like a net round a deer, and mark with him the piling of the mounds, and the erection on them of siege-towers. We hear of no active siege operations till the final assault. Famine was Nebuchadnezzar’s best general. ‘Sitting down they watched’ her ‘there,’ and grimly waited till hunger became unbearable. We can fill up much of the outline in this narrative from the rest of Jeremiah, which gives us a vivid and wretched picture of imbecility, divided counsels, and mad hatred of God’s messenger, blind refusal to see facts, and self-confidence which no disaster could abate. And, all the while, the monstrous serpent was slowly tightening its folds round the struggling, helpless rabbit. We have to imagine all the misery.

The narrative hurries on to its close. What widespread and long-drawn-out privation that one sentence covers: ‘The famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people’! Lamentations is full of the cries of famished children and mothers who eat the fruit of their own bodies. At last, on the memorable black day, the ninth of the fourth month say July, ‘a breach was made,’ and the Chaldean forces poured in through it. Jer 39:3 tells the names of the Babylonian officers who ‘sat in the middle gate’ of the Temple, polluting it with their presence. There seems to have been no resistance from the enfeebled, famished people; but apparently some of the priests were slain in the sanctuary, perhaps in the act of defending it from the entrance of the enemy. The Chaldeans would enter from the north, and, while they were establishing themselves in the Temple, Zedekiah ‘and all the men of war’ fled, stealing out of the city by a covered way between two walls, on the south side, and leaving the city to the conqueror, without striking a blow. They had talked large when danger was not near; but braggarts are cowards, and they thought now of nothing but their own worthless lives. Then, as always, the men who feared God feared nothing else, and the men who scoffed at the day of retribution, when it was far off, were unmanned with terror when it dawned.

The investment had not been complete on the southern side, and the fugitives got away across Kedron and on to the road to Jericho, their purpose, no doubt, being to put the Jordan between them and the enemy. One can picture that stampede down the rocky way, the anxious looks cast backwards, the confusion, the weariness, the despair when the rush of the pursuers overtook the famine-weakened mob. In sight of Jericho, which had witnessed the first onset of the irresistible desert-hardened host under Joshua, the last king of Israel, deserted by his army, was ‘taken in their pits,’ as hunters take a wild beast. The march to Riblah, in the far north, would be full of indignities arid of physical suffering. The soldiers of that ‘bitter and hasty’ nation would not spare him one insult or act of cruelty, and he had a tormentor within worse than they. ‘Why did I not listen to the prophet? What a fool I have been! If I had only my time to come over again, how differently I would do!’ The miserable self-reproaches, which shoot their arrows into our hearts when it is too late, would torture Zedekiah, as they will sooner or later do to all who did not listen to God’s message while there was yet time. The sinful, mad past kept him company on one hand; and, on the other, there attended him a dark, if doubtful, future. He knew that he was at the disposal of a fierce conqueror, whom he had deeply incensed, and who had little mercy. ‘What will become of me when I am face to face with Nebuchadnezzar? Would that I had kept subject to him!’ A past gone to ruin, a present honey-combed with gnawing remorse and dread, a future threatening, problematical, but sure to be penal- these were what this foolish young king had won by showing his spirit and despising Jeremiah’s warnings, It is always a mistake to fly in the face of God’s commands. All sin is folly, and every evildoer might say with poor Robert Burns:

‘I backward cast my e’e

On prospects drear!

An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,

I guess an’ fear.’

Nebuchadnezzar was in Riblah, away up in the north, waiting the issue of the campaign. Zedekiah was nothing to him but one of the many rebellious vassals of whom he had to make an example lest rebellion should spread, and who was especially guilty because he was Nebuchadnezzar’s own nominee, and had sworn allegiance. Policy and his own natural disposition reinforced by custom dictated his barbarous punishment meted to the unfortunate kinglet of the petty kingdom that had dared to perk itself up against his might. How little he knew that he was the executioner of God’s decrees! How little the fact that he was so, diminished his responsibility for his cruelty! The savage practice of blinding captive kings, so as to make them harmless and save all trouble with them, was very common. Zedekiah was carried to Babylon, and thus was fulfilled Ezekiel’s enigmatical prophecy, ‘I will bring him to Babylon, . . . yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there’ Eze 12:13.

The fall of Jerusalem should teach us that a nation is a moral whole, capable of doing evil and of receiving retribution, and not a mere aggregation of individuals. It should teach us that transgression does still, though not so directly or certainly as in the case of Israel, sap the strength of kingdoms; and that to-day, as truly as of old, ‘righteousness exalteth a nation.’ It should accustom us to look on history as not only the result of visible forces, but as having behind it, and reaching its end through the visible forces, the unseen hand of God. For Christians, the vision of the Apocalypse contains the ultimate word on ‘the philosophy of history.’ It is ‘the Lamb before the Throne,’ who opens the roll with the seven seals, and lets the powers of whom it speaks loose for their march through the world. It should teach us God’s long-suffering patience and loving efforts to escape the necessity of smiting, and also God’s rigid justice, which will not shrink from smiting when all these efforts have failed.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 52:1-11

1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2He did evil in the sight of the Lord like all that Jehoiakim had done. 3For through the anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. 5So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 8But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 10The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah. 11Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.

Jer 52:1-3 This information is also found in 2Ki 24:18-20 and 2Ch 36:11-21. Zedekiah reigned from 597 B.C. – 586 B.C.

He succeeded Jehoiachin who was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar after only three months (cf. 2Ki 24:8-17). At that time Nebuchadnezzar made his uncle, named Mattaniah, a puppet king of Judah in his place. The uncle was given the throne name Zedekiah. He was the youngest of the children of Josiah to reign (i.e., Jehoahaz, exiled by Pharaoh Necho and Jehoiakim, cf. 1Ch 3:15). He was a spiritually weak and easily manipulated person, as the writings of Jeremiah clearly show.

Jer 52:1 Hamutal The meaning of the name is uncertain (BDB 327, KB 326). She was the wife of King Josiah and mother of

1. Jehoahaz – 2Ki 23:31

2. Zedekiah – 2Ki 24:18; here

Jer 52:2 he did evil in the sight of the Lord Jeremiah uses the word evil (BDB 948) more than any other OT author. This phrase became a standard evaluation of all the kings of Israel and most of the kings of Judah. Moses had given the covenant people a clear choice (i.e., good or evil, obedience or disobedience, prosperity or judgment, cf. Deu 30:15). They said they would choose good (cf. Jos 24:16-28) but they could not/did not.

1. did not seek YHWH – 2Ch 12:14

2. did not keep the covenant – Deu 31:29

3. made and worshiped pagan gods – Deu 4:25; Jdg 2:11; Jdg 3:7; Jdg 3:12; Jdg 4:1; Jdg 6:1; Jdg 10:6; Jdg 13:1; 1Ki 14:22; 1Ki 15:26; 1Ki 15:34; 1Ki 16:19; 1Ki 16:25; 1Ki 16:30; 1Ki 22:52; 2Ki 3:2; 2Ki 8:18; 2Ki 8:27; 2Ki 13:2; 2Ki 13:11; 2Ki 14:24; 2Ki 15:9; 2Ki 15:18; 2Ki 15:24; 2Ki 15:28; 2Ki 17:2; 2Ki 17:17; 2Ki 21:2; 2Ki 21:16; 2Ki 21:20; 2Ki 23:32; 2Ki 23:37; 2Ki 24:19.

4. all disobedience is viewed as doing evil (cf. 1Sa 15:19) but obedience brings acceptance (cf. 2Ch 19:3)

Jer 52:3 YHWH is the God of love and acceptance. He wants all humans made in His image to know Him but when His overtures of covenant revelation are rejected or compromised, wrath is the response.

In this text it is expressed by the powerful phrase He cast them out from His presence (cf. Jer 7:15; 2Ki 13:23; 2Ki 17:20; 2Ki 24:20; Psa 51:11).

His presence is literally face to face. This is what we as humans were created for! Fellowship with our creator is the basic need of mankind. YHWH wants to cast away our sins (cf. Isa 38:17; Mic 7:19), not us!

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon The absence of YHWH’s presence caused him to make poor choices!

Jer 52:4 The date of the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem is very specific (as is the fall of the city, Jer 52:5-7).

Jer 52:7 the city was broken into Although it does not state specifically how, the implication is that the siege machines broke down a gate or a piece of the outer wall.

A siege machine was a portable A-frame with ropes, suspending a large log. This was placed next to the outer wall where it repeatedly rammed the building blocks.

between the two walls Many ancient cities had double outer walls (i.e., Jericho). The space between them was designed to be a killing zone, but here this space provided a way of escape when the wall was breached in another part of the city.

the Arabah This refers to the Jordan Rift Valley, which extends from the area of the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba (cf. 2Sa 4:7). It was lower than the surrounding area and had dense forest and vegetation. South of the Dead Sea (cf. Deu 2:8) it would be the large wilderness depression going south/southwest.

Jer 52:8-11 This is a summary of what happened to Judah’s royalty.

1. Zedekiah was captured as he fled the city, Jer 52:8

2. Zedekiah was brought north to Nebuchadnezzar’s camp in Riblah in the land of Hamath, for a face-to-face meeting, Jer 52:9

3. Nebuchadnezzar killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, Jer 52:10

4. he also killed Zedekiah’s officials and generals (lit. princes), Jer 52:10

5. he blinded Zedekiah, Jer 52:11

6. he exiled him and put him in prison until his death in Babylon, Jer 52:11

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Zedekiah. Compare 2Ki 24:18-20. Reigned from 489 to 477 B.C.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Jer 52:1-16

Jer 52:1-16

A HISTORICAL RECORD OF JEREMIAH’S PROPHECIES FULFILLED

This chapter is usually styled “Historical Appendix”; but its obvious application to the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecies suggests the title we have given it.

Although many writers speak of this chapter’s being a copy of 2Ki 24:18 – 2Ki 25:30, this is true only of certain verses in this chapter. The chapter does apparently quote from 2 Kings, “but with a very significant omission (regarding events leading to the assassination of Gedaliah as given in 2Ki 25:22-26), and a very significant addition in vv. 28-30 where is found material given nowhere else in the Bible.”

The appearance here of unique material, along with some variations from the account in 2 Kings, including a variant spelling of the name of Nebuchadnezzar, led Keil to the conclusion that both of the accounts in 2 Kings and in this last chapter of Jeremiah, “Have a common origin in which the fall of the Kingdom of Judah was more fully described than in the historical books of the canon.”

To this writer, it appears that the principal reason for including this chapter from a source independent of Jeremiah was for the specific purpose of demonstrating historically the fulfillment of his marvelous prophecies. It has also been suggested that another reason could reside in the note of hope injected into the final verses regarding the restoration of Jehoiachin to his royal status under the house-arrest of Judah’s last king, but as an honored guest at the table of the king of Babylon. The captives might have received that dramatic change in the status of their former king as a good omen related to the end of their captivity and their return to Judah.

There are five things treated in this chapter: (1) Jerusalem falls, and Zedekiah is captured (Jer 52:1-16); (2) the Temple is despoiled (Jer 52:17-23); (3) Zedekiah’s advisors were executed (Jer 52:24-27); (4) the three deportations of the Jews are related (Jer 52:28-30); and (5) the record of Jehoiachin’s kind treatment by the new king of Babylon (Jer 52:31-34).

Jer 52:1-16

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM AND THE CAPTURE OF IT AND ZEDEKIAH

Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of Jehovah did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about. So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about;) and they went toward the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem: and he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people that were left in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

Through the anger of Jehovah it came to pass…

(Jer 52:3). Some have complained that this makes it appear that the anger of Jehovah caused Judah’s rebellion; whereas, on the other hand, it was the result of it. Such complaints fail to notice the meaning of through the anger of Jehovah, which does not mean because of his anger, but is a reference to the fact that through (during) the anger of Jehovah, as revealed by the prophet Jeremiah, and in spite of his repeated warnings against it, they went right on stubbornly in their rebellion.

Practically all of this passage, although somewhat abbreviated, is found in Jer 39:1-9. See comments there. The instructions of Nebuchadnezzar for Jeremiah’s safety (Jer 39:11 f) are omitted here.

In prison till the day of his death…

(Jer 52:11 b). This note regarding Zedekiah’s imprisonment till death is found nowhere else in the Bible.

The nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar…

(Jer 52:12). This same occasion is called the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar in Jer 52:29. One mode or reckoning counted the year of accession to the throne, and the other did not. There is no contradiction.

AN HISTORICAL APPENDIX

Jer 52:1-34

Chapter 51 closes with an editorial note: Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. Whoever was responsible for appending chapter 52 to the book must have added these words so as to carefully distinguish between his own contribution and that of the great prophet. Just who the author of Jeremiah 52 was nobody knows. Some have tried to argue that Jeremiah himself was the author even though the note at the end of chapter 51 seems to clearly imply the contrary. The argument for the Jeremian authorship of the chapter is basically this: Jeremiah 52 was taken from the Book of Kings and appended to the book of the prophet. Since Jeremiah is said in Jewish tradition to have been the author of Kings he must also be the author of Jeremiah 52. But this argument assumes that the Jewish tradition which attributes the Book of Kings to Jeremiah is reliable. It further assumes that Jeremiah 52 was in fact borrowed from Kings. Finally the argument for the Jeremian authorship of this chapter ignores the plain implication of the editorial comment at the end of chapter 51. The most likely candidate for the authorship of Jeremiah 52 is Baruch the faithful secretary of Jeremiah. He, no doubt, was the one responsible for putting the Book of Jeremiah together and he it was in all probability who added chapter 52.

But why would Baruch add this historical appendix to the Book of Jeremiah? After all, the prophet himself is not mentioned a single time in the chapter, and most of the material can be found in the Book of Kings and, in an abridged form, in Jeremiah 39. Baruch probably had a two-fold purpose in this appendix. First, this chapter describes in detail the fall of Jerusalem, the event which vindicated the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah. What a fitting conclusion, to allow the facts of history to bear witness to the truth of the prophetic word. Second, Baruch wished to call attention to the release of Jehoiachin (Jer 52:31-34) which gave promise that after the midnight tragedy of judgment a brighter day was beginning to dawn-a day which Jeremiah had foreseen and described in such grand style. Jeremiah 52, then, proclaims that Gods word of judgment has been fulfilled; His word of promise must surely follow.

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM Jer 52:1-23

The Reign of Zedekiah Jer 52:1-11

Zedekiah was but twenty-one years old when he came to the throne of his country as the vassal of a foreign king (Jer 52:1). Religiously he followed the same course that his brother Jehoiakim had followed in that he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord (Jer 52:2). Abundant evidence exists within the Book of Jeremiah to substantiate this general charge against Zedekiah (cf. Jer 37:2-3; Jer 38:5; Jer 38:24 etc.). A prophet of God with divine counsel was available to him, yet Zedekiah refused to submit to the program of God. Jeremiah advised submission to Babylon; Zedekiah plotted rebellion. Throughout his reign Zedekiah refused to give heed to the word of God. Because the political leaders and populace of Jerusalem repudiated the will of God, the Lord was angry with His people and saw to it that they were cast out of His presence (Jer 52:3 a).

Yielding to the advice and pressure of his youthful advisers, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:3 b). Jeremiah 27 tells of his attempted conspiracy with neighboring nations. Zedekiahs disastrous policy was apparently built on the false premise that the Lord would intervene and save Jerusalem as He had previously done in the reign of Hezekiah (cf. Jer 21:2). How presumptuous for men to expect God to work miracles when they are not willing to submit themselves to His will! Nebuchadnezzar was not long in bringing his forces to punish the rebellious vassal. The tenth day of the tenth month became a date of infamy in the history of Judah (Jer 52:4). For almost seventy years the Jews took note of that sad occasion by fasting (cf. Zec 8:19). Jerusalem withstood the Chaldean siege for eighteen months (Jer 52:5). The sacred writer has shown amazing reserve[425] as he describes those last agonizing weeks: the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land (Jer 52:6). The pathetic plight of the people is recorded in more detail in the Book of Lamentations (Lam 1:19-20; Lam 2:11-12; Lam 2:20; Lam 4:9-10).

In the fourth month of Zedekiahs eleventh year (July 587 B.C.) the Chaldeans were successful in making a breach in the walls of the city. This day too for years was commemorated by a fast (see Zec 8:19). Zedekiah and the remnants of his army attempted to flee by night, thus unwittingly fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel (Eze 12:12). The king and his men fled in the direction of the Arabah, the lowland region through which the river Jordan flows (Jer 52:7). Perhaps they were attempting to escape across the Jordan to some friendly neighboring nation. When the Chaldeans caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho the bodyguard of the king deserted him; it was every man for himself (Jer 52:8).

The Chaldeans dealt ruthlessly with Zedekiah. After his capture near Jericho, Zedekiah was taken some two hundred miles north to Riblah where he was brought face to face with the Great King to whom he had sworn allegiance eleven years earlier. There Nebuchadnezzar pronounced judgment upon his faithless vassal (Jer 52:9). At the time a vassal treaty between two kings was ratified the vassal would pronounce horrible maledictions upon himself should he be unfaithful to his treaty obligations. It may well be that Nebuchadnezzar now read those maledictions to Zedekiah. If that be the case then Zedekiah pronounced judgment upon himself. Be that as it may the judgment upon king Zedekiah is one of the saddest recorded in the Bible. First he witnessed the execution of his own sons and also some of the princes of the land (Jer 52:10). That turned out to be the last sight he saw, for Nebuchadnezzar had his eyes put out. Finally, he lost his freedom; he was carried to Babylon where he remained in prison until the day of his death (Jer 52:11). Bitter are the consequences for that soul who neglects the will of the Almighty!

The Destruction of Jerusalem Jer 52:12-16

The account of the destruction of Jerusalem, already summarized in Jer 39:8-10, is almost identical with 2Ki 25:8-17. After the city of Jerusalem fell to the Chaldeans the soldiers awaited further instructions concerning the fate of the city. A month after the successful breaching of the walls, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard arrived from Riblah with the orders of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:12). On the title of Nebuzaradan see note on Jer 39:9. The English text of Kings and Jeremiah seems to present a contradiction as to the date that Nebuzaradan arrived at Jerusalem. According to the former account he arrived on the seventh day of the month while in the present narrative it is the tenth day of the month (cf. 2Ki 25:8). The simpliest solution is that Nebuzaradan arrived at Jerusalem on the seventh day and for some unexplained reason did not enter Jerusalem until the tenth day of the month. In the Hebrew the word Jerusalem has no preposition attached to it in 2Ki 25:8 but has the preposition beth in Jeremiah 62:12. Nebuzaradans orders were to destroy Jerusalem and prepare its inhabitants for deportation to Babylon. The entire city including the Temple area was put to the torch (Jer 52:13) and the walls were razed (Jer 52:14). Both Psalms (Psa 74:6-7) and Lamentations (Jer 2:7-9) provide vivid poetic descriptions of this destruction. Those who had deserted to the Chaldeans during the siege, and the rest of the multitude (i.e., the country people)[428] were prepared for the long trip to Babylon (Jer 52:15). Some prefer to translate the Hebrew word as artisans. In the light of the parallel passage 2Ki 25:11 multitude is the best translation. Only the very poorest people were left in the land to serve as vinedressers and husbandmen (Jer 52:16).

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The last chapter of the Book of Jeremiah consists of a historical appendix written, as the final words of the previous chapter show, by another hand. It first gives a brief account of the capture of the city, tracing the main events which led up thereto in the reign of Zedekiah, and giving the account of how he was arrested, compelled to look on the execution of his sons, had his own eyes put out, and was carried in fetters to Babylon, where he abode in prison until his death.

It then describes with some detail the sack of the city and the oppression of the people, detailing how the materials and vessels of the house of the Lord were carried away by the victorious army, and the priests and the leaders of the people slain at Riblah.

The forlorn condition of the people may be gathered from the list which this appendix gives of Nebuchadnezzar’s captives. All told, they numbered 4,600. The last item of the history tells how Jehoiachin, who had already been in captivity eleven years when the city fell, was taken out of prison twenty-six years later by Evilmerodach, and given a large measure of privilege and liberty in the city of Babylon until his death.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

THE HISTORICAL APPENDIX

(Chap. 52)

We have no means of knowing to whom, under GOD, we are indebted for the historical account of Zedekiah’s captivity here narrated. It has pleased GOD not to reveal the name of the man whom He chose for this. The chapter is practically a duplication of 2Ki 24:18-20; et. al.

Doubtless the Holy Spirit was pleased to have it transcribed from the other record in order that the prophecy and the record of its literal fulfilment might thus appear together. It is not necessary that we know exactly who the writers of the various Old Testament books were, in order to be sure of their divine inspiration.

Our Lord has settled that beyond the peradventure of a doubt by declaring that “the Scripture cannot be broken;” (Joh 10:35) thus setting His seal upon every portion of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, as we know them. The Holy Ghost has likewise told us, through the apostle Paul, that “all Scripture is inspired (2Ti 3:16) [God-breathed];” and it is to be remembered that the present portion was accepted as a part of the Scripture at the time the words were written.

False prophets had predicted the ultimate triumph of Zedekiah over Nebuchadrezzar. Jeremiah had proclaimed the unpopular truth of his crushing overthrow. History attests the reliability of his words. Zedekiah reigned eleven years in all. He was a brother of both Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, and therefore a son of the pious Josiah; his mother being identical with the mother of the former king, namely, Hamutal the daughter of another Jeremiah, whose ancestral home was in Libnah (Jer 52:1).

We have already noted that this Zedekiah, like his two immediate predecessors, forsook the ways of his father, and “did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” (Jer 52:2)

He had been placed upon the throne as a kind of vice-king by Nebuchadrezzar after the carrying away of his brother to Babylon, having pledged himself to serve the Chaldean. Treacherous, and in every sense untrustworthy, he shortly after added to his manifold iniquities that of rebellion against his liege lord, in violation of his oath of fealty (Jer 52:2-3), seeking an alliance with Egypt. This it was that brought the armies of the king of Babylon once more to the gates of Jerusalem.

The siege was begun on the tenth day of the tenth month, in the ninth year of Zedekiah. Upon the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year, the garrison became so weakened by means of war, pestilence, and eventually by famine in the city, that a breach was made in the wall, and all the men of war fled “by night by the way of the gate, between the two walls, which is by the king’s garden.” (Jer 52:7)

Zedekiah himself essayed to go with them, as before noted in chapter 39, only to be apprehended in the plains of Jericho, by the Chaldeans.

Taken to Riblah, where Nebuchadrezzar was at the time, he was most severely dealt with. His two sons slain and his own eyes put out, he was carried in fetters to Babylon and kept in prison until the day of his death (Jer 52:8-11). Thus he had to learn that it was an evil thing and bitter to have forsaken the Lord his GOD. Jerusalem was burned to the ground (including the temple built by Solomon) and the walls broken down; it doubtless being the intention of the conqueror that it should be ruined beyond repair (Jer 52:12-14). This was not GOD’s mind, however; He had decreed as to Babylon what its king ought to do to the capital of Judah.

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, transported the bulk of the surviving population to Babylon, leaving a few of the poorest of the people to be vinedressers and husbandmen. Even in this he was fulfilling the Word of the Lord, though he probably knew it not (Jer 52:15).

With the captives, he carried away the temple furniture, and even its pillars, thus despoiling the house of the Lord and dedicating its sacred things to idols. The various pieces are mentioned in detail, recorded in GOD’s book, and are precious as setting forth in various aspects the Person or work of His beloved Son (Jer 52:17-23); and when the impious Belshazzar defiantly used them in honor of his false deities in his revelry, how fitting that the predicted judgment should fall on that night of culminative blasphemy! *

* Shortly after this, by order of Cyrus, they were brought out from the idol temples where Nebuchadrezzar had placed them; and, carefully numbered, were returned to Jerusalem with the returning remnant. (See Ezr 1:7-11).

A number of priests, as well as officers and princes, besides threescore men of the city, were taken to Riblah and slain before the haughty tyrant who held court there. Thus, without mercy, was Judah devoured by the wild beast of the nations (Jer 52:24-28).

Three separate times the king of Babylon carried away a portion of the people. In his seventh year he deported over three thousand Jews (2Ki 24:12). In his eighteenth year over eight hundred and thirty more were enslaved. This is the occasion here referred to. Later, in his twenty-third year, he was responsible for the carrying away of seven hundred and forty-five persons, making thus three distinct deportations (Jer 52:28-30).

Thus had Judah been ruined; her cities destroyed; her fields trodden down; and her people slain or brought into captivity. Such had been the awful result of forgetting the law of her GOD.

But He had thoughts of compassion for her still, and would yet grant a deliverance from her cruel enemy. Accordingly, the book closes by giving a hint of better days coming.

In the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, Evil-Merodach (who came to the throne of Babylon 561 B. C).. conferred signal honor upon the deposed king of Judah by taking him out of the prison and speaking kindly to him: giving him a throne and a position of honor above other vassal kings in Babylon, he changed his prison garments and gave him to eat of the royal fare (Jer 52:31-34). Thus a measure of prosperity was restored to him, through the favor of Evil-Merodach, who appointed him a regular allowance till the day of his death.

Zedekiah had died in prison. His predecessor on the throne was advanced to a position of honor. Jerusalem still lay a ruined heap amid the desolations of Immanuel’s land; but GOD’s heart was toward His people, and the year of her release drew on.

~ end of chapter 26 ~

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Jer 52:8-11

Of the many truths which the passage before us teaches, the mysterious intervolution of the plans of God with the plans of men will seem to some minds the most impressive.

I. The enclosure of the plans of men within the plans of God is such that commonly men appear to be left very much to themselves.

II. In leaving men to themselves in the forming and working of their own plans, Divine control does not prevent the occurrence of very shocking catastrophes.

III. Yet the plans of God envelop and use the plans of men with more than motherly tenderness for every man, every woman, every child.

IV. The interlacing of the plans of God with the plans of man goes far towards explaining the mystery of shocking and exceptional calamity. Suffering is God’s great remedial antithesis to sin.

V. The interworking of the plans of God with the plans of men suggests the only true method of happy as well as holy living. It is to make our plans one with God’s plans.

A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book, p. 215.

Reference: Jer 52:11.-J. Kennedy, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 140.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

am 3406-3416, bc 598-588

one: 2Ki 24:18, 2Ch 36:11

began to reign: Heb. reigned

Libnah: Jos 10:29, Jos 15:42

Reciprocal: 2Ki 24:17 – the king 2Ch 36:17 – the king Ezr 2:1 – whom Nebuchadnezzar Neh 7:6 – whom Nebuchadnezzar Neh 9:32 – on our kings Jer 1:12 – I will Jer 21:1 – when Jer 50:17 – this Eze 36:3 – they have made Eze 40:1 – after Hab 1:17 – and

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 52:1-27. General remarks: From verse 1 through verse 27 this chapter is a duplicate of the history in 2Ki 24:18 to 2Ki 25:21. Since those verses have been commented upon in their proper place I shall not take up the Hpace to repeat them here; they are in volume 2 of this COMMENTARY and the reader is requested to see that place.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jer 52:1-11. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old The first three verses of this chapter are word for word the same with 2Ki 24:18-20, where see the notes; and for the six following verses, see those on 2Ki 25:1-6. Where he gave judgment upon him Namely, for rebelling against him when he had taken an oath of allegiance to him. Of Nebuchadnezzars slaying the sons of Zedekiah, putting out his eyes, binding him with chains, &c., see note on 2Ki 25:7.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jer 52:1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign. This and the two following verses are taken from 2Ki 24:18-20; and the seven succeeding verses are taken from the thirty ninth chapter of this book. Hence Ezra, or some other holy man, added this chapter to show the accomplishment of Jeremiahs prophecies, and to make the book complete.

Jer 52:12. On the tenth day of the month. The general of the Chaldeans had been three days in the city before he burnt the temple, which had stood four hundred and seventy years. It was the manner of the Chaldeans to burn temples, and it was the custom of the Medes to revere them. The Romans also burnt the temple of Jerusalem exactly on the same day of the month! The city and temple shared in the common sentence of Almighty God, being both alike polluted.

Jer 52:13. And burnt the house of the Lord. This is also described in Mic 3:12.

Jer 52:21. The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits. It is said in 2Ch 3:15, that the pillars were thirty five cubits high. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that the pillars are reckoned both together at seventeen cubits and a half each, allowing half a cubit for the base. The Jews had gloried much in these pillars as the noblest in the world. But Herodotus says, that before the vestibule of the temple of Vulcan in Egypt, there stood two statues twenty five cubits high; the one represented summer, the other winter. These were one third higher than Solomons pillars of Jachin and Boaz.

Jer 52:24. Seraiah the chief priest, the father of Ezra. Zephaniah was the second priest, or sagon.

REFLECTIONS.

Here is the tragic end of a sinful nation. Many strokes had the sword of justice laid at the branches of the dying tree, which did not revive, and now therefore it is cut down. Here is the fate of men and nations who stifle conscience, who harden themselves against the ministry, and despise the edification of milder visitations. We cannot but deplore the obstinacy of the princes, the priests, and rulers of the land, which brought them and their country to ruin. They had been long and fully warned, but they would not believe; nay, they hated the light, and sought the death of the prophet. Now he is preserved, and they are delivered to the sword. Zedekiah had wilfully shut his eyes against all light, and all admonition; and now his eyes are put out, after seeing his infant children put to death for their fathers sins. He had rebelled against the Lord, he had rebelled against the Chaldeans, and now both heaven and earth fight against him. He delivered not Jeremiah from prison, though he consulted him as a prophet, and now there is no man to remove his chain.

From Jehoiachins short reign, and long imprisonment, awful instances of Babylonian cruelty, we learn the vicissitudes of life, and the calamities attendant upon greatness. The wheels of providence elevated him early to a momentary throne; thence he descended into the mire and gloom of the dungeon, and thence to the first throne of captive kings who awaited restoration. Hence all men in affliction, who have no visible ray of hope, should nevertheless hope in God. He can brighten the darkest day, and break the iron fetters. He can turn adversity to the greatest glory, and become the covenant portion of his people.

Though God cut down the Jewish nation, and gave the enemy wages for his work, yet he left hopeful branches to restore the nation. Seraiah the priest died for his sin; but Ezra, his infant son, found a better school in Babylon than he could have found in Judea. Adversity proved a better tutor than luxury and pride. The hope of Israel withered in the hands of the father, but flourished under the care of the son. Thus all the chastisements of providence are proportioned by weight and measure, and they have, in the issue, mercy for their object. Let us therefore review the ways of providence, till our hearts, burning like the seraphim, constrain us to say, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jeremiah 52. Historical Appendix.This is taken from 2Ki 24:18 ff., and gives an account of the capture of Jerusalem, etc., in 586, i.e. of the fulfilment of Jeremiahs repeated declarations. Except for Jer 52:28-30, this chapter has been taken, virtually verbatim, from its source, which should be consulted for the commentary (see mgg.). The differences of text are of minor importance, e.g. the addition here of Jer 52:10 b, and the last clause of Jer 52:11, the reading tenth, for seventh (2Ki 25:7) in Jer 52:12, seven, for five in Jer 52:25 (2Ki 25:19), five for seven in Jer 52:31 (2Ki 25:25), the expansion here of the details of Jer 52:18 ff. In Jer 52:15, the clause, of the poorest sort of the people (cf. Jer 52:16) should be omitted with 2Ki 25:11. The added verses (Jer 52:28-30), which are not found in LXX, give the number of the Jews deported under Nebuchadrezzar. They serve to replace a passage in 2 K. summarising the events of Jeremiah 40-43.

Jer 52:28. seventh: usually emended to seventeenth, as the number of exiles differs from that of 2Ki 24:16, the deportation under Jehoiachin in 597.

Jer 52:30. This third deportation is probably to be connected with the campaign of Nebuchadrezzar mentioned in Josephus, Ant. x. 9. 7.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

A. The fall of Jerusalem and the capture of Zedekiah 52:1-16

This is one of four accounts of the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 25; 2Ch 36:11-21; Jer 39:1-14). The repetition underlines the importance of the event.

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

Zedekiah (Mattaniah, 2Ki 24:17) was the last king of the Davidic dynasty to rule over Judah from Jerusalem. He was 21 years old when he began reigning in 597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar selected him to rule after Zedekiah’s nephew Jehoiachin proved unfaithful (2Ki 24:17). Zedekiah ruled as Nebuchadnezzar’s vassal for 11 years, until the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. His mother, the queen mother, was Hamutal, the daughter of a certain Jeremiah of Libnah. "Queen mothers" exercised considerable authority, and enjoyed great prestige in ancient Near Eastern countries, which accounts for Hamutal’s mention here (cf. Jer 13:18).

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.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary