12 I spake H1696 also to Zedekiah H6667 king H4428 of Judah H3063 according to all these words, H1697 saying, H559 Bring H935 your necks H6677 under the yoke H5923 of the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and serve H5647 him and his people, H5971 and live. H2421
Zedekiah H6667 was one H259 and twenty H6242 years H8141 old H1121 when he began to reign, H4427 and reigned H4427 eleven H259 H6240 years H8141 in Jerusalem. H3389 And he did H6213 that which was evil H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD H3068 his God, H430 and humbled H3665 not himself before H6440 Jeremiah H3414 the prophet H5030 speaking from the mouth H6310 of the LORD. H3068 And he also rebelled H4775 against king H4428 Nebuchadnezzar, H5019 who had made him swear H7650 by God: H430 but he stiffened H7185 his neck, H6203 and hardened H553 his heart H3824 from turning H7725 unto the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel. H3478
Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 to me; Make H6213 thee bonds H4147 and yokes, H4133 and put H5414 them upon thy neck, H6677 And send H7971 them to the king H4428 of Edom, H123 and to the king H4428 of Moab, H4124 and to the king H4428 of the Ammonites, H1121 H5983 and to the king H4428 of Tyrus, H6865 and to the king H4428 of Zidon, H6721 by the hand H3027 of the messengers H4397 which come H935 to Jerusalem H3389 unto Zedekiah H6667 king H4428 of Judah; H3063
Moreover the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came unto me, saying, H559 Say H559 now to the rebellious H4805 house, H1004 Know H3045 ye not what these things mean? tell H559 them, Behold, the king H4428 of Babylon H894 is come H935 to Jerusalem, H3389 and hath taken H3947 the king H4428 thereof, and the princes H8269 thereof, and led H935 them with him to Babylon; H894 And hath taken H3947 of the king's H4410 seed, H2233 and made H3772 a covenant H1285 with him, and hath taken H935 an oath H423 of him: he hath also taken H3947 the mighty H352 of the land: H776 That the kingdom H4467 might be base, H8217 that it might not lift itself up, H5375 but that by keeping H8104 of his covenant H1285 it might stand. H5975 But he rebelled H4775 against him in sending H7971 his ambassadors H4397 into Egypt, H4714 that they might give H5414 him horses H5483 and much H7227 people. H5971 Shall he prosper? H6743 shall he escape H4422 that doeth H6213 such things? or shall he break H6565 the covenant, H1285 and be delivered? H4422 As I live, H2416 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 surely in the place H4725 where the king H4428 dwelleth that made him king, H4427 whose oath H423 he despised, H959 and whose covenant H1285 he brake, H6565 even with him in the midst H8432 of Babylon H894 he shall die. H4191 Neither shall Pharaoh H6547 with his mighty H1419 army H2428 and great H7227 company H6951 make H6213 for him in the war, H4421 by casting up H8210 mounts, H5550 and building H1129 forts, H1785 to cut off H3772 many H7227 persons: H5315 Seeing he despised H959 the oath H423 by breaking H6565 the covenant, H1285 when, lo, he had given H5414 his hand, H3027 and hath done H6213 all these things, he shall not escape. H4422 Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 As I live, H2416 surely mine oath H423 that he hath despised, H959 and my covenant H1285 that he hath broken, H6331 even it will I recompense H5414 upon his own head. H7218 And I will spread H6566 my net H7568 upon him, and he shall be taken H8610 in my snare, H4686 and I will bring H935 him to Babylon, H894 and will plead H8199 with him there for his trespass H4603 that he hath trespassed H4604 against me. And all his fugitives H4015 with all his bands H102 shall fall H5307 by the sword, H2719 and they that remain H7604 shall be scattered H6566 toward all winds: H7307 and ye shall know H3045 that I the LORD H3068 have spoken H1696 it.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 27
Commentary on Jeremiah 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Jer 27:1-22. The Futility of Resisting Nebuchadnezzar Illustrated to the Ambassadors of the Kings, Desiring to Have the King of Judah Confederate with Them, under the Type of Yokes. Jeremiah Exhorts Them and Zedekiah to Yield.
1. Jehoiakim—The prophecy that follows was according to this reading given in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, fifteen years before it was published in the reign of Zedekiah to whom it refers; it was thus long deposited in the prophet's bosom, in order that by it he might be supported under trials in his prophetic career in the interim [Calvin]. But "Zedekiah" may be the true reading. So the Syriac and Arabic Versions. Jer 27:3, 12; Jer 28:1, confirm this; also, one of Kennicott's manuscripts. The English Version reading may have originated from Jer 26:1. "Son of Josiah" applies to Zedekiah as truly as to "Jehoiakim" or "Eliakim." The fourth year may, in a general sense here, as in Jer 28:1, be called "the beginning of his reign," as it lasted eleven years (2Ki 24:18). It was not long after the fourth year of his reign that he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 51:59; 52:3; 2Ki 24:20), in violation of an oath before God (2Ch 36:13).
2. bonds—by which the yoke is made fast to the neck (Jer 5:5).
yokes—literally, the carved piece of wood attached at both ends to the two yokes on the necks of a pair of oxen, so as to connect them. Here the yoke itself. The plural is used, as he was to wear one himself, and give the others to the ambassadors; (Jer 27:3; 28:10, 12) proves that the symbolical act was in this instance (though not in others, Jer 25:15) actually done (compare Isa 20:2, &c.; Eze 12:3, 11, 18).
3. And send them to the king of Edom, &c.—Appropriate symbol, as these ambassadors had come to Jerusalem to consult as to shaking off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. According to Pherecydes in Clement of Alexandria [Miscellanies, 567], Idanthura, king of the Scythians, intimated to Darius, who had crossed the Danube, that he would lead an army against him, by sending him, instead of a letter, a mouse, a frog, a bird, an arrow, and a plough. The task assigned to Jeremiah required great faith, as it was sure to provoke alike his own countrymen and the foreign ambassadors and their kings, by a seeming insult, at the very time that all were full of confident hopes grounded on the confederacy.
5. God here, as elsewhere, connects with the symbol doctrine, which is as it were its soul, without which it would be not only cold and frivolous, but even dead [Calvin]. God's mention of His supreme power is in order to refute the pride of those who rely on their own power (Isa 45:12).
given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me—(Ps 115:15, 16; Da 4:17, 25, 32). Not for his merits, but of My own sole good pleasure [Estius].
6. beasts of the field—not merely the horses to carry his Chaldean soldiers, and oxen to draw his provisions [Grotius]; not merely the deserts, mountains, and woods, the haunts of wild beasts, implying his unlimited extent of empire [Estius]; but the beasts themselves by a mysterious instinct of nature. A reproof to men that they did not recognize God's will, which the very beasts acknowledged (compare Isa 1:3). As the beasts are to submit to Christ, the Restorer of the dominion over nature, lost by the first Adam (compare Ge 1:28; 2:19, 20; Ps 8:6-8), so they were appointed to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, the representative of the world power and prefigurer of Antichrist; this universal power was suffered to be held by him to show the unfitness of any to wield it "until He come whose right it is" (Eze 21:27).
7. son … son's son—(2Ch 36:20). Nebuchadnezzar had four successors—Evil-merodach, his son; Neriglissar, husband of Nebuchadnezzar's daughter; his son, Labosodarchod; and Naboned (with whom his son, Belshazzar, was joint king), son of Evil-merodach. But Neriglissar and Labosodarchod were not in the direct male line; so that the prophecy held good to "his son and his son's son," and the intermediate two are omitted.
time of his land—that is, of its subjugation or its being "visited" in wrath (Jer 27:22; Jer 25:12; 29:10; 50:27; Da 5:26).
serve themselves of him—make him their servant (Jer 25:14; Isa 13:22). So "his day" for the destined day of his calamity (Job 18:20).
8. until I have consumed them by his hand—until by these consuming visitations I have brought them under his power.
9. ye—the Jews especially, for whom the address to the rest was intended.
enchanters—augurs [Calvin], from a root, the "eyes," that is, lookers at the stars and other means of taking omens of futurity; or another root, a "fixed time," observers of times: forbidden in the law (Le 19:26; De 18:10, 11, 14).
10. to remove you—expressing the event which would result. The very thing they profess by their enchantments to avert, they are by them bringing on you. Better to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, and remain in your land, than to rebel, and be removed from it.
11. serve … till it—The same Hebrew root expresses "serve" and "till," or "cultivate." Serve ye the king of Babylon, and the land will serve you [Calvin].
12. I spake also—translate, "And I spake," &c. Special application of the subject to Zedekiah.
13. Why … die—by running on your own ruin in resisting Nebuchadnezzar after this warning (Eze 18:31).
14. lie—(Jer 14:14).
15. in my name—The devil often makes God's name the plea for lies (Mt 4:6; 7:22, 23; Jer 27:15-20, the test whereby to know false prophets).
16. The "vessels" had been carried away to Babylon in the reign of Jeconiah (2Ki 24:13); also previously in that of Jehoiakim (2Ch 36:5-7).
18. at Jerusalem—that is, in other houses containing such vessels, besides the house of God and the king's palace. Nebuzara-dan, captain of the guard under Nebuchadnezzar, carried all away (2Ki 25:13-17; 2Ch 36:18). The more costly vessels had been previously removed in the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jeconiah.
19. (Jer 52:17, 20, 21).
22. until … I visit them—in wrath by Cyrus (Jer 32:5). In seventy years from the first carrying away of captives in Jehoiachin's reign (Jer 29:10; 2Ch 36:21).
restore them—by the hand of Cyrus (Ezr 1:7). By Artaxerxes (Ezr 7:19).