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Jeremiah
Chapter Twenty-six
Jeremiah 26
Chapter Contents
The destruction of the temple and city foretold. (1-6)
Jeremiah's life is threatened. (7-15) He is defended by the elders. (16-24)
Commentary on Jeremiah 26:1-6
(Read Jeremiah 26:1-6)
God's ambassadors must not seek to please men, or to save
themselves from harm. See how God waits to be gracious. If they persisted in
disobedience, it would ruin their city and temple. Can any thing else be
expected? Those who will not be subject to the commands of God, make themselves
subject to the curse of God.
Commentary on Jeremiah 26:7-15
(Read Jeremiah 26:7-15)
The priests and prophets charged Jeremiah as deserving
death, and bore false witness against him. The elders of Israel came to inquire
into this matter. Jeremiah declares that the Lord sent him to prophesy thus. As
long as ministers keep close to the word they have from God, they need not
fear. And those are very unjust who complain of ministers for preaching of hell
and damnation; for it is from a desire to bring them to heaven and salvation.
Jeremiah warns them of their danger if they go on against him. All men may
know, that to hurt, or put to death, or to show hatred to their faithful
reprovers, will hasten and increase their own punishment.
Commentary on Jeremiah 26:16-24
(Read Jeremiah 26:16-24)
When secure sinners are threatened with taking away the
Spirit of God, and the kingdom of God, it is what is warranted from the word of
God. Hezekiah who protected Micah, prospered. Did Jehoiakim, who slew Urijah,
prosper? The examples of bad men, and the bad consequences of their sins,
should deter from what is evil. Urijah was faithful in delivering his message,
but faulty in leaving his work. And the Lord was pleased to permit him to lose
his life, while Jeremiah was protected in danger. Those are safest who most
simply trust in the Lord, whatever their outward circumstances may be; and that
He has all men's hearts in his hands, encourages us to trust him in the way of
duty. He will honour and recompense those who show kindness to such as are
persecuted for his sake.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Jeremiah》
Jeremiah 26
Verse 10
[10] When
the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's
house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of
the LORD's house.
When —
When the nobles, and other civil magistrates, heard of the tumult, they came
from the king's court, where the nobles and great officers of nations usually
are, to the temple.
At the entry — It
was the place where their sanhedrim, who were to judge of false prophets, were
wont to sit.
Verse 11
[11] Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the
people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this
city, as ye have heard with your ears.
The priests —
"In the corrupt state of all kingdoms, the ecclesiastical officers always
were the greatest enemies to the faithful ministers of God." They speak to
the members of the court who are called princes, and to the people who were in
the court.
Verse 18
[18]
Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and
spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion
shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the
mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
Micah —
This was that Micah, whose prophecies are part of holy writ, as appears by Micah 1:1; 3:12, where are the very words of the prophecy
here mentioned, the substance of whose prophecy was the same with this, that
Zion should be plowed up, and the place where the temple stood, should become
so desolate that trees should grow there, as in a forest.
Verse 19
[19] Did
Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear
the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he
had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our
souls.
Thus —
Now, if we should take a quite contrary course, and put this man to death, we
should do ourselves no good, but procure great evil against our souls; that is
against ourselves.
Verse 20
[20] And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah
the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and
against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:
And there was —
This is a story which we have recorded in no other part of scripture. They are
probably the words of some others, who were enemies to Jeremiah.
Verse 23
[23] And
they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the
king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of
the common people.
Cast his body —
Not in the sepulchers of the prophets, but amongst the vulgar people.
Verse 24
[24]
Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they
should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
Nevertheless —
Tho' Jeremiah's enemies pleaded this instance of Urijah, a case judged in this
very king's reign; yet the hand, that is, the power and interest of Ahikam, one
of Josiah's counsellors, and the father of Gedaliah, was with Jeremiah.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Jeremiah》
26 Chapter 26
Verses 1-24
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of
Judah.
Afflictions, distresses, tumults
Jehoiakim was, perhaps, the most despicable of the kings of Judah.
Josephus says that he was unjust in disposition, an evil-doer; neither pious
towards God nor just towards men. Something of this may have been due to the
influence of his wife, Nehushta, whose father, Elnathan, was an accomplice in
the royal murder of Urijah. Jeremiah appears to have been constantly in
conflict with this king; and probably the earliest manifestation of the
antagonism that could not but subsist between two such men occurred in
connection with the building of Jehoiakim’s palace. Though his kingdom was
greatly impoverished with the heavy fine of between forty and fifty thousand
pounds, imposed by Pharaoh-Necho afar the defeat and death of Josiah, and
though the times were dark with portents of approaching disaster, yet he began
to rear a splendid palace for himself, with spacious chambers and large
windows, floors of cedar, and decorations of vermilion. Clearly, such a monarch
must have entertained a mortal hatred towards the man who dared to raise his
voice in denunciation of his crimes; and, like Herod with John the Baptist, he
would not have scrupled to quench in blood the light that cast such strong
condemnation upon his oppressive and cruel actions. An example of this had been
recently afforded in the death of Urijah, who had uttered solemn words against
Jerusalem and its inhabitants in the same way that Jeremiah had done. But it
would appear that this time, at least, his safety was secured by the interposition
of influential friends amongst the aristocracy, one of whom was Ahikam, the son
of Shaphan (Jeremiah 26:20-24).
I. The divine
commission. Beneath the Divine impulse, Jeremiah went up to the court of the
Lord’s house, and took his place on some great occasion when all the cities of
Judah had poured their populations to worship there. Not one word was to be
kept back. We are all more or less conscious of these inward impulses; and it
often becomes a matter of considerable difficulty to distinguish whether they
originate in the energy of our own nature or are the genuine outcome of the
Spirit of Christ. It is only in the latter ease that such service can be
fruitful. There is no greater enemy of the highest usefulness than the presence
of the flesh in our activities. There is no department of life or service into
which its subtle, deadly influence does not penetrate. We meet it after we have
entered upon the new life, striving against the Spirit, and restraining His
gracious energy. We are most baffled when we find it prompting to holy
resolutions and efforts after a consecrated life. And lastly, it confronts us
in Christian work, because there is so much of it that in our quiet moments we
are bound to trace to a desire for notoriety, to a passion to excel, and to the
restlessness of a nature which evades questions in the deeper life, by flinging
itself into every avenue through which it may exert its activities. There is
only one solution to these difficulties. By the way of the cross and the grave
we can alone become disentangled and discharged from the insidious domination
of this evil principle, which is accursed by God, and hurtful to holy living,
as blight to the tender fruit.
II. The message and
its reception. On the one side, by his lips, God entreated His people to repent
and turn from their evil ways; on the other, He bade them know that their
obduracy would compel Him to make their great national shrine as complete a
desolation as the site of Shiloh, which for five hundred years had been in
ruins. It is impossible to realise the intensity of passion which such words
evoked. They seemed to insinuate that Jehovah could not defend His own, or that
their religion had become so heartless that He would not. “So it came to pass,
when Jeremiah had made, an end of speaking all that the Lord commanded him to
speak unto all the people,” that he found himself suddenly in the vortex of a
whirlpool of popular excitement. There is little doubt that Jeremiah would have
met his death had it not been for the prompt interposition of the princes. Such
is always the reception given on
the part of man to the words of God. We may gravely question how
far our words are God’s, when people accept them quietly and as a matter of
course. That which men approve and applaud may lack the King’s seal, and be the
substitution on the part of the messenger of tidings which he deems more
palatable, and therefore more likely to secure for himself a larger welcome.
III. Welcome
interposition. The princes were seated in the palace, and instantly on
receiving tidings of the outbreak came up to the temple. Their presence stilled
the excitement, and prevented the infuriated people from carrying out their
designs upon the life
of the defenceless prophet. They hastily constituted themselves into a court of
appeal, before which prophet and people were summoned. Then Jeremiah stood on
his defence. His plea was that he could not but utter the words with which the
Lord had sent him, and that he was only re-affirming the predictions of Micah
in the darts of Hezekiah. He acknowledged that he was in their hands, but he warned them that
innocent blood would bring its own Nemesis upon them all; and at the close of
his address he re-affirmed his certain embassage from Jehovah. This bold and
ingenuous defence seems to have turned the scale in hie favour. The princes
gave their verdict: “This man is not worthy of death, for he hath spoken to us
in the name of the Lord our God.” And the fickle populace, swept hither and
thither by the wind, appear to have passed over en masse to the same
conclusion; so that princes and people stood confederate against the false
prophets and priests. Thus does God hide His faithful servants in the hollow of
His hand. No weapon that is formed against them prospers. They are hidden in
the secret of His pavilion from the strife of tongues. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Verses 1-24
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of
Judah.
Afflictions, distresses, tumults
Jehoiakim was, perhaps, the most despicable of the kings of Judah.
Josephus says that he was unjust in disposition, an evil-doer; neither pious
towards God nor just towards men. Something of this may have been due to the
influence of his wife, Nehushta, whose father, Elnathan, was an accomplice in
the royal murder of Urijah. Jeremiah appears to have been constantly in
conflict with this king; and probably the earliest manifestation of the
antagonism that could not but subsist between two such men occurred in
connection with the building of Jehoiakim’s palace. Though his kingdom was
greatly impoverished with the heavy fine of between forty and fifty thousand
pounds, imposed by Pharaoh-Necho afar the defeat and death of Josiah, and
though the times were dark with portents of approaching disaster, yet he began
to rear a splendid palace for himself, with spacious chambers and large
windows, floors of cedar, and decorations of vermilion. Clearly, such a monarch
must have entertained a mortal hatred towards the man who dared to raise his
voice in denunciation of his crimes; and, like Herod with John the Baptist, he
would not have scrupled to quench in blood the light that cast such strong
condemnation upon his oppressive and cruel actions. An example of this had been
recently afforded in the death of Urijah, who had uttered solemn words against
Jerusalem and its inhabitants in the same way that Jeremiah had done. But it
would appear that this time, at least, his safety was secured by the
interposition of influential friends amongst the aristocracy, one of whom was
Ahikam, the son of Shaphan (Jeremiah 26:20-24).
I. The divine
commission. Beneath the Divine impulse, Jeremiah went up to the court of the
Lord’s house, and took his place on some great occasion when all the cities of
Judah had poured their populations to worship there. Not one word was to be
kept back. We are all more or less conscious of these inward impulses; and it
often becomes a matter of considerable difficulty to distinguish whether they
originate in the energy of our own nature or are the genuine outcome of the
Spirit of Christ. It is only in the latter ease that such service can be
fruitful. There is no greater enemy of the highest usefulness than the presence
of the flesh in our activities. There is no department of life or service into
which its subtle, deadly influence does not penetrate. We meet it after we have
entered upon the new life, striving against the Spirit, and restraining His
gracious energy. We are most baffled when we find it prompting to holy
resolutions and efforts after a consecrated life. And lastly, it confronts us
in Christian work, because there is so much of it that in our quiet moments we
are bound to trace to a desire for notoriety, to a passion to excel, and to the
restlessness of a nature which evades questions in the deeper life, by flinging
itself into every avenue through which it may exert its activities. There is
only one solution to these difficulties. By the way of the cross and the grave
we can alone become disentangled and discharged from the insidious domination
of this evil principle, which is accursed by God, and hurtful to holy living,
as blight to the tender fruit.
II. The message and
its reception. On the one side, by his lips, God entreated His people to repent
and turn from their evil ways; on the other, He bade them know that their
obduracy would compel Him to make their great national shrine as complete a
desolation as the site of Shiloh, which for five hundred years had been in
ruins. It is impossible to realise the intensity of passion which such words
evoked. They seemed to insinuate that Jehovah could not defend His own, or that
their religion had become so heartless that He would not. “So it came to pass,
when Jeremiah had made, an end of speaking all that the Lord commanded him to
speak unto all the people,” that he found himself suddenly in the vortex of a
whirlpool of popular excitement. There is little doubt that Jeremiah would have
met his death had it not been for the prompt interposition of the princes. Such
is always the reception given on
the part of man to the words of God. We may gravely question how
far our words are God’s, when people accept them quietly and as a matter of
course. That which men approve and applaud may lack the King’s seal, and be the
substitution on the part of the messenger of tidings which he deems more
palatable, and therefore more likely to secure for himself a larger welcome.
III. Welcome
interposition. The princes were seated in the palace, and instantly on
receiving tidings of the outbreak came up to the temple. Their presence stilled
the excitement, and prevented the infuriated people from carrying out their
designs upon the life
of the defenceless prophet. They hastily constituted themselves into a court of
appeal, before which prophet and people were summoned. Then Jeremiah stood on
his defence. His plea was that he could not but utter the words with which the
Lord had sent him, and that he was only re-affirming the predictions of Micah
in the darts of Hezekiah. He acknowledged that he was in their hands, but he warned them that
innocent blood would bring its own Nemesis upon them all; and at the close of
his address he re-affirmed his certain embassage from Jehovah. This bold and
ingenuous defence seems to have turned the scale in hie favour. The princes
gave their verdict: “This man is not worthy of death, for he hath spoken to us
in the name of the Lord our God.” And the fickle populace, swept hither and
thither by the wind, appear to have passed over en masse to the same
conclusion; so that princes and people stood confederate against the false
prophets and priests. Thus does God hide His faithful servants in the hollow of
His hand. No weapon that is formed against them prospers. They are hidden in
the secret of His pavilion from the strife of tongues. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Verses 8-16
When Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had
commanded him, the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
The characteristics of a true prophet
I. The true
prophet has a stern message to deliver (4-7). If they ally themselves with
Egypt, the Temple will be made desolate, as Shiloh had been destroyed by the
Assyrians at the deportation of Israel after the fall of Samaria, 710 b.c.
Jerusalem will become a curse to all nations (will be recognised by all nations
as having fallen by the curse of God). To prophesy smooth things in a sinful
world is to be false to God. How often does even our blessed Lord denounce sin,
and remind men of the wrath of God for it! (Matthew 11:21-24; Matthew 12:41-42; Matthew 23:31-38, &c.)
II. The true
prophet may not “diminish a word” of God’s message, however unpopular, or
unpleasant, or personal.
1. This message referred to the public policy of the nation. The
morality of a nation as imperative as that of an individual
2. Other messages assail the sins of classes, from the king to the
humblest citizen.
III. The true
prophet will speak fearlessly.
IV. The true
prophet is promised the support of God.
V. The true
prophet never was and never can be popular, but must raise up enemies against
himself.
IV. The true
prophet will speak peace as well as wrath if men repent. (J. Cunningham
Geikie, D. D.)
Prophetic virtues
“The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house.” In this apology
of the prophet thus answering for himself with a heroic spirit, five noble
virtues, fit for a martyr, are by an expositor observed.
1. His prudence in alleging his Divine mission.
2. His charity in exhorting his enemies to repent.
3. His humility in saying, “Behold I am in your hand.”
4. His magnanimity and freedom of speech in telling them that God
would revenge his death.
5. His spiritual security and fearlessness of death in so good a
cause and with so good a conscience. (John Trapp.)
A Saint’s resignation, meekness, and cheerfulness in persecution
One thousand eight hundred years ago an aged saint was being led
into Rome by ten rough Roman soldiers, to be thrown to the wild beasts in the
amphitheatre. Can you imagine anything more dreary and deplorable? Was he
unhappy? Did he count cruelty and martyrdom as evil? No. In one of the seven
letters that he wrote on his way, he says: “Come fire and iron, come rattling
of wild beasts, cutting and mangling and wrenching of my bones, come hacking of
my limbs, come crushing of my whole body, come cruel tortures of the devil to
assail me! Only be it mine to attain to Jesus Christ! What are those words of
St. Ignatius but an echo of the
apostle’s, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss that I may win Christ”?
How well the early Christians understood these things by which we opportunists,
cringing cowards, effeminate time-servers, as most of us are in this soft,
sensuous, hypocritical age, have so utterly forgotten! (Dean Farrar.)
.
Verse 14
──《The Biblical Illustrator》
26 Chapter 26
INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 26
This
chapter gives an account of Jeremiah's preaching; of his being apprehended by
the people; of his defence of himself, and acquittance upon it. The time when,
place where, and persons to whom the prophet delivered his discourse, are
pointed at in Jeremiah 26:1; the
substance of it was, that if the people of the Jews would repent of their sins
and turn from them, the Lord would avert the evil he had threatened them with;
but if not, he would make their temple like Shiloh, and their city a curse to
all the earth, Jeremiah 26:3; upon
hearing which the people seized him, and vowed he should die, because he had
prophesied of the destruction of their city and temple, Jeremiah 26:7;
which the princes hearing of, came from the king's house to one of the gates of
the temple, and sat as a court of judicature; to whom the priests and prophets
accused Jeremiah of the above things as worthy of death, Jeremiah 26:10; and
before whom the prophet made his defence, alleging his mission and orders from
the Lord; and therefore, instead of recanting, repeats his exhortation; and as
for himself, he was not careful what they did to him; but advises them not to
shed innocent blood, since it would bring evil upon them, Jeremiah 26:12; upon
which the princes acquit him, and declare him innocent, Jeremiah 26:16; and
this is confirmed by a like instance of Micah the prophet, in the times of Hezekiah,
who prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem, and yet was not put to death, Jeremiah 26:17; and
by a contrary instance of Uriah, in the then present reign of Jehoiakim, who
had been put to death for the like, but wrongly, Jeremiah 26:20;
and, in the issue, Jeremiah, through the good office of Ahikam, the son of
Shaphan, particularly, was saved from being put to death, Jeremiah 26:24.
Verse 1
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king
of Judah,.... So that the prophecy of this chapter, and the facts and
events connected with it, were before the prophecy of the preceding chapter,
though here related; that being in the fourth year, this in the beginning of
Jehoiakim's reign. Josiah was lately dead; Jehoahaz his son reigned but three
months, and then was deposed by Pharaohnecho king of Egypt; and this Jehoiakim,
another son of Josiah, who before was called Eliakim, was set on the throne;
and quickly after his coming to it
came this word from the Lord, saying; as follows,
to the prophet. This was in the year of the world 3394, and before Christ 610,
according to Bishop UsherF1Annales Vet. Test. p. 118. ; with whom
agree Mr, WhistonF2Chronological Tables, cent. 9. , and the authors
of the Universal HistoryF3Vol. 21. p. 58. .
Verse 2
Thus saith the Lord, stand in the court of the Lord's house,.... It, the
great court of Israel, where the people used to meet together for worship:
and speak unto all the cities of Judah; the
inhabitants of them; not only to those that dwelt at Jerusalem but in the rest
of the cities of Judah; for what he was to say concerned them all, they having
all sinned, and needed repentance and reformation; without which they would be
involved in the general calamity of the nation:
which come to worship in the Lord's house; as they did
three times in the year, at the feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles;
and it was now the last of these, as Bishop Usher thinks, when this prophecy
was to be delivered to them:
all the words that I command thee to speak to them: nothing must
be kept back, the whole counsel of God must be declared; not a word suppressed
through affection to them, or fear of them; God commanded, and must be obeyed,
let the consequence be what it will:
diminish not a word; soften not any
expression or alter any word, by putting one more smooth for one rough; or
change the accent, or abate of the vehemency of delivering it; but both for
matter manner, and form let it be as directed, without any subtraction and diminution,
change or alteration: a rule which every minister of the word ought to attend
to; seeking not to please men, but God that sends him and Christ whose minister
he is.
Verse 3
If so be they will hearken,.... And obey; which is
expressive not of ignorance and conjecture in God, but of his patience and long
suffering, granting space and time for repentance, and the means of it; which
disregarded, leave without excuse:
and turn every man from his evil way; his series
and course of life, which was evil, and was the case of everyone; so that as
their sin was general, the reformation ought to be so too:
that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them; or "am
thinking", or "devisingF4אשר אנכי חשב "quod ego (sum)
cogitans", Schmidt. to do unto them"; which repentance must be
understood not of a change of mind, but of the course of his providence towards
them, which, by his threatenings, and some steps taken, portended ruin and
destruction; yet, in case of repentance and reformation, he would change his
method of action agreeably to his will:
because of the evil of their doings; this was the reason why
he had threatened them with the evil of punishment, because of the evil of
their actions; which were breaches of his law, and such as provoked the eyes of
his glory.
Verse 4
And thou shalt say unto them,.... What follows is the
substance of the prophecy, and the sum of the sermon or discourse he was sent
to deliver, without diminishing a word of it:
thus saith the Lord, if ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my
law which I have set before you; first by Moses, by whose hands it was given
to their fathers; and by the prophets, the interpreters of it to them; before
whom it was set as a way for them to walk in, and a rule to walk by; a directory
for them in their lives and conversations; and which continues to be so, as it
is set before us Christians by our King and Lawgiver Jesus Christ; though not
to obtain righteousness and life by the works of it; which should not be sought
for, nor are attainable thereby.
Verse 5
To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets,.... The
interpretations they give of the law; the doctrines they deliver; the
exhortations, cautions, and reproofs given by them in the name of the Lord,
whose servants they were; and therefore should be hearkened to; since
hearkening to them is hearkening to the Lord himself, in whose name they speak,
and whose message they deliver:
whom I sent unto you, both rising up early and sending them; they had
their mission and commission from the Lord; and who was careful to send them
early, if they might be instruments to do them good and prevent their ruin;
they had the best of means, and these seasonable, and so were left without
excuse:
(but ye have not hearkened); neither to the Lord, nor
to his prophets; but went on in their own ways, neglecting the law of the Lord
and the instructions of his servants.
Verse 6
Then will I make this house like Shiloh,.... Where the
ark was until it was taken by the Philistines; and then the Lord forsook his
tabernacle there, Psalm 78:60; and so
he threatens to do the like to the temple at Jerusalem, should they continue in
their disobedience to him; See Gill on Jeremiah 7:12 and
See Gill on Jeremiah 7:14;
and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth; that is, the
city of Jerusalem, which should be taken up, and used proverbially in all
countries; who, when they would curse anyone, should say, the Lord make thee as
Jerusalem, or do unto thee as he has done to Jerusalem.
Verse 7
So the priests, and the prophets, and all the people,.... As it was
in the temple, in one of the courts of it, that Jeremiah was, and said the
above things, it is no wonder to hear of the "priests", since they
were there about their work and service; the "prophets" were the
false prophets, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions expressly call them; and
"all the people" were all the males out of the several cities of
Judah, who were come up to the temple on the account of the feast; see Jeremiah 26:2; now
these
heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord; in the
temple; in the court of Israel; they heard him out, and did not interrupt him
while he was speaking; and having heard him, they were angry with him, and were
witnesses against him; they did not hear him so as to obey his words, receive
his instructions, and follow, his directions; but they heard him with indignation,
and were determined to prosecute him unto death.
Verse 8
Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking,.... For they
let him alone till he had done, either out of reverence of him as a priest and
prophet; or they were awed by a secret influence on their minds that they might
not disturb him:
all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the
people; he did as he was ordered, kept back nothing, not fearing the
resentment of the people, but fearing God:
that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, took him; the priests
and the prophets were the leading men in this action; they stirred up the
people against him, and through their instigation he was seized and laid hold
on:
saying, thou shall surely die; signifying that they
would bring a charge against him, which they were able to support, and which by
the law would be death; unless they meant in the manner of zealots to put him
to death themselves, without judge or jury; and which they would have put in
execution, had not the princes of the land, or the great sanhedrim, heard of
it; and therefore to prevent it came to the temple, as is afterwards related.
Verse 9
Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord,.... Made use
of his name in declaring a falsehood, as they would have it; this was the
crime: had he said what he thought fit to say in his own name, they suggest it
would not have been so bad; but to vent his own imaginations in the name of the
Lord, this they judged wicked and blasphemous, and deserving of death;
especially since what he said was against their city and temple:
saying, this house shall be like Shiloh; forsaken and
destroyed; that is, the temple:
and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? so they
wrested his words; for this he did not say, only that it should be a curse to
all the nations of the earth:
and all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of
the Lord; besides those that were in the temple that heard him, others,
upon a rumour that he was apprehended by the priests, and prophets, and people
in the temple, got together in a mob about him: or, they were "gathered
to"F5אל "ad Jeremiam",
Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt. him; to hear what he had
to say in his own defence; and it appears afterwards that they were on his
side, Jeremiah 26:16.
Verse 10
When the princes of Judah heard these things,.... The
tumult there was in the temple; these were the princes of the blood, or the
nobles of the realm, particularly the courtiers, and who were of the king's
privy council; or else the great sanhedrim, consisting of seventy persons, and
were the chief court of judicature:
then they came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord; from the
royal palace where they resided; by which it should seem that they were the
king's courtiers, and counsellors, and officers of state; unless in those times
the sanhedrim sat there; from hence they came up to the temple, where Jeremiah
and the priests, &c. were, which, being built on a hill, was higher than
the king's palace; and therefore are said to "come up" to it:
and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house; as a court of
judicature, to hear and try the cause between the prophet and his accusers.
This gate of the temple is thought to be the higher gate, which Jotham built, 2 Kings 15:35. The
Targum calls it the eastern gate; and so Kimchi says it was; and that it was
called the new gate, according to the Rabbins, because there they renewed the
constitutions and traditions; though he thinks the better reason is, because
newly repaired, or some new building was added to it. Jarchi also says it was
the eastern gate; and gives this reason for its being called new; that when
Jehoiakim was carried captive, and some of the vessels of the temple,
Nebuchadnezzar's army broke the eastern gate, which Zedekiah afterwards
repaired, and made new; but if so, it is here called new by a prolepsis; or
this account was written after that time.
Verse 11
Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes, and to
all the people,.... The priests and the prophets they were the accusers; the
princes were the court before whom the cause was brought; and the people were
the hearers of it; though it does not seem as if they were a sort of jury, or
had any vote in determining; though they sometimes had in instigating a court,
and the judges of it, to take on the side of the question they were for:
saying, this man is worthy to die; or, "the
judgment of death is to this man"F6משפט
מות לאיש הזה "judieium mortis est viro huic", V. L.
Vatablus, Pagninus, Montanus; "reatus mortis", &c. Schmidt. ; he
is guilty of a capital crime, and judgment ought to be given against him, and
he condemned to die:
for he hath prophesied against this city; the city of
Jerusalem; saying that it should be a curse to other nations; or, as they
interpreted it, that it should be utterly destroyed, and become desolate, and
none should inhabit it:
as ye have heard with your ears; this must be directed to
the people only; for the princes did not hear Jeremiah's prophecy.
Verse 12
Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes, and to all the people,
saying,.... In his own defence; which, as Jerom observes, was with
prudence, humility, and constancy:
the Lord sent me to prophesy against this house, and against this
city, all the words that ye have heard; he does not deny but
that he had prophesied against the city of Jerusalem and against the temple,
and that they should both come to ruin, unless the people repented and
reformed; but then he urges, that he was sent by the Lord on this errand, and
that every word that he had said, and they had heard, he was ordered to say by
the Lord; and therefore what was he, that he should withstand God? he surely
was not to be blamed for doing what the Lord commanded him to do; besides, all
this was threatened only in case they continued obstinate and impenitent;
wherefore he renews his exhortations to them in Jeremiah 26:13.
Verse 13
Therefore now amend your ways and your doings,.... Make them
good; leave your evil ways, and walk in good ways; forsake your evil works, and
do good works:
and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and that
because he is your God, as well as what his word directs to is good, and for
your good:
and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced
against you; will do as men do when they repent, change their method of
acting, and manner of behaviour; so the Lord is said to repent or turn, when he
changes the method and conduct of his providence towards men, though he never
changes his mind or counsel.
Verse 14
As for me, behold, I am in your hand,.... In their
power, as they were the chief court of judicature; and to whom it belonged to
judge of prophets, and to acquit or condemn them, as they saw fit; wherefore he
submits to their authority:
do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you; he was not
careful about it; he readily submitted to their pleasure, and should patiently
endure what they thought fit to inflict upon him; it gave him no great concern
whether his life was taken from him or not; he was satisfied he had done what
he ought to do, and should do the same, was it to do again; and therefore they
might proceed just as they pleased against him.
Verse 15
But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death,.... Take this
along with you, and then do as you will; that if ye take away my life on this
account, you may depend upon it; nothing is more certain than this:
ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon
this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof; that is, the guilt of
innocent blood, which would cry for vengeance upon them that brought the
accusation, and insisted upon his being brought in guilty; and upon those that
sat in judgment, and condemned him; and upon all the inhabitants of the city of
Jerusalem, who should agree to the putting him to death:
for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these
words in your ears; and therefore I am no false prophet, and am clear of the charge
brought against me; and have said nothing but what I had a mission and an order
from the Lord for, of which you may assure yourselves; and therefore he will
avenge my blood, should it be shed on that account; so that you will only
increase your guilt, and add to that great load that lies upon you, and will be
your ruin, unless you repent and reform.
Verse 16
Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to
the prophets,.... Hearing Jeremiah's apology for himself, by which it appeared
that he was to be justified in what he had done, took his part, and acquitted
him; and the people, who before were on the side of the priests and false
prophets; yet hearing what Jeremiah had to say for himself, and also the
judgment of the princes, took his part also, and joined with the court in an
address to the priests and prophets, who were the chief accusers, and who would
fain have had him brought in guilty of death:
this man is not worthy to die; or, "the
judgment of death is not for this man"; we cannot give judgment against
him; he is not guilty of any crime deserving death; See Gill on Jeremiah 26:11;
for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God; not in his
own name, and of his own head; but in the name of the Lord, and by his order;
and therefore was not a false, but a true prophet: what methods they took to know
this, and to make it appear to the people, is not said; very probably the
settled character of the prophet; their long acquaintance with him, and
knowledge of him; his integrity and firmness of mind; the plain marks of
seriousness and humility, and a disinterested view, made them conclude in his
favour.
Verse 17
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land,.... The same
with the princes; some of the court, who rose up as advocates for the prophet:
and spake to all the assembly of the people: to justify
the vote of the court, and to confirm the people in a good opinion of it, by
giving them examples and instances of the like kind:
saying; as follows:
Verse 18
Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of
Judah,.... Or, Micah of Maresha, as the Targum. Mareshah was a city of
the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:44; the
native place, of this prophet; who appears, by the following quotation, to be the
same Micah that stands among the minor prophets; and who is also so called, and
lived in the times of Hezekiah, Micah 1:1;
and spake to all the people of Judah; very openly
and publicly, and just as Jeremiah had done, Jeremiah 26:2;
saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Zion shall be ploughed like
a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps; Mount Zion, on part of
which the temple was built, and on the other the city of David, together with
the city of Jerusalem, should be so demolished, as that they might be ploughed,
and become a tillage; as the Jews say they were by Terentius, or Turnus Rufus,
as they call him, after their last destruction by the Romans:
and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest; covered with
grass and shrubs, and thorns and briers; even Mount Moriah, on which the temple
stood, which is designed by the house; and so the Targum calls it the house of
the sanctuary. Now this was saying as much against the city and temple as
Jeremiah did; and was said in the days of a good king too, who encouraged a
reformation, and carried it to a great pitch. See Micah 3:12.
Verse 19
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death?.... No, they
did not: neither the king, by his own authority; nor the sanhedrim, the great
court of judicature, for the nation; they never sought to take away his life,
nor sat in council about it; they never arraigned him, and much less condemned
him:
did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord; that is,
Hezekiah; he did, as knowing that Micah was a prophet of the Lord, and sent by
him; wherefore he received his prophecy with great awe and reverence, as coming
from the Lord, and made his supplications to him that he would avert the
judgments threatened:
and the Lord repented of the evil which he had pronounced against
them? the king and his people, the city and the temple; and so the
threatened evil came not upon them in their days:
thus might we procure great evil against our souls; should we put
Jeremiah to death: it is therefore much more advisable to do as Hezekiah did,
pray unto the Lord to avert the threatened evil, or otherwise it will be worse
with us. This precedent is urged to strengthen the decree of the council in
favour of Jeremiah.
Verse 20
And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord,.... These are
not the words of the same persons continued; because the following instance is
against them; but of some other persons in the sanhedrim, who were on the side
of the priests and prophets; who in effect said, why tell you us of an instance
in Hezekiah's time, when there is so recent an one in the present reign, of a
man that prophesied just as Jeremiah has done, and was put to death, and so
ought he? after this manner Kimchi interprets it; and so Jarchi, who adds, that
it is so explained in an ancient book of theirs, called Siphri; though some
think they are the words of the same persons that espoused the prophet's cause;
and observe the following instance with this view; that whereas there had been
one prophet of the Lord lately put to death for the same thing, should they
take away the life of another, it would be adding sin to sin, and bring great
evil upon their souls; and it might be observed, that Hezekiah prevented much
evil by the steps he took; whereas, should they proceed as they had begun in
the present reign, they might expect nothing but ruin, which they might easily
see with their own eyes was coming upon them: others are of opinion that this
instance is added by the penman of this book, either the prophet himself or
Baruch, to show the wonderful preservation of him; that though there had been
very lately a person put to death for the very same thing, yet he was preserved
through the good offices of a person mentioned at the close of the chapter; and
which seems to make this account probable. The name of the prophet was
Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim; which was a
city of Judah, Joshua 18:14; but
who he was is not known, there being no account of him elsewhere:
who prophesied against this city, and against this land, according
to all the words of Jeremiah; just as he had done, in much the same
words, if not altogether; so that their case was similar.
Verse 21
And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men,.... Either
his courtiers, or his soldiers, or both:
and all the princes, heard his words; the words of
the Prophet Urijah; not with their own ears very probably, but from the report
of others:
the king sought to put him to death; as being a messenger of
bad tidings, tending to dispirit his subjects, and allay the joy of his own
mind upon his advancement to the throne:
but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into
Egypt; which some understand as a piece of prudence in him; but rather
it was the effect of pusillanimity and cowardice: it seems to show want of
faith and confidence in the Lord; and the fear of man, which brings a snare;
and besides, it was no piece of prudence to go to Egypt, whatever it was to
flee; since there was such an alliance between the kings of Egypt and Judah;
and the latter, though dependent on the former, yet the king of Egypt would
easily gratify him in delivering up a subject of his, and a person of such a
character.
Verse 22
And Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt,.... To seek for him; and
to require the delivery of him upon being found:
namely, Elnathan the
son of Achbor; the father of this man very probably is the same we read of in
Josiah's time, 2 Kings 22:12; who
is called Abdon in 2 Chronicles 34:20;
and certain men with him, into Egypt; to assist him
in taking him, whose names are not mentioned; Elnathan's is, as being the
principal, and to fix an eternal infamy upon him.
Verse 23
And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt,.... Having
found him, they seized him, and brought him away, with the leave of the king of
Egypt: which, no doubt, was easily obtained:
and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword; very probably
with his own hand; or however it was done by his order, and in his presence,
most likely:
and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people; either where
they were buried in heaps promiscuously, as some think; or in the common
burying ground; and not where persons of distinction were laid, as prophets,
and othersF7Vid. Nicolai de Sepulchris Heb. c. 3. p. 126. ; this he
did to reflect dishonour upon the prophet.
Verse 24
Nevertheless, the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with
Jeremiah,.... Though this instance was urged as a precedent to go by,
being lately done; or though the king's cruelty had been so lately exercised in
such a manner; yet this man, who had been one of Josiah's courtiers and
counsellors, 2 Kings 22:12;
stood by Jeremiah, and used all his power, authority, and influence, in his
favour:
that they should not give him into the hand of the people, to put
him to death; that the sanhedrim should not; who, by the last precedent
mentioned, might seem inclined to it; but this great man, having several
brothers, as well as other friends, that paid a regard to his arguments and
solicitations; he prevailed upon them not to give leave to the people to put
him to death, who appear to have been very fickle and mutable; at first they
joined with the priests and false prophets against Jeremiah, to accuse him; but
upon the judgment and vote of the princes, on hearing the cause, they changed
their sentiments, and were for the prophet against the priests; and now, very
probably, upon the instance of Urijah being given as a precedent, they altered
their minds again, and were for putting him to death, could they have obtained
leave of the court; and which only Ahikam's interest prevented.
──《John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible》