Jeremiah 36
DOYLYchadrezzar — made king] He made him a tributary king, by imposing on him an oath of homage to the king of Babylon. See 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13; Ezek. xvii. 13. IV. Louth.
people.] He went forth from Jerusalem with the rest of his countrymen, to go into his native place, in the tribe of Benjamin, to live there apart for a time. Bp. Hall.
Jeremiah 36:3
- — Jehucel the son of Shelemiah] This man came in the place of Pashur, who, together with Zephaniah, brought the former message from Zedekiah. See the introductory note to chap. xxi. Dr. Blayney.
Jeremiah 36:13
- — in the gate of Benjamin.] The gate leading out of Jerusalem towards the country of Benjamin. W. Lowth. — — — Hananiah.] Probably that Hananiah, whose death Jeremiah foretold, chap. xxviii. 17. If so, this descendant of his thought to revenge his grandfather’s quarrel. W. Lowth.
Jeremiah 36:15
- — for they had made that the prison.] There is nothing extraordinary in making the dwelling-house of a great man a prison, according to either the ancient or modern manners of the East. See Gen. xxxix. 20. Even in the royal palace itself we find there was a prison, chap. xxxii. 2. Sir John Chardin says, “The Eastern prisons are not public buildings erected for that purpose, but a part of the house in which their criminal judges dwell. As the governor and provost of a town, or the captain of the watch, imprison such as are accused in their own houses, they set apart a canton of it for that purpose, when they are put into these offices, and choose for the jailor the most proper person they can find of their domesticks.” Jonathan’s house probably became a prison in consequence of his being made a royal scribe, or, as we should term him, a secretary of state. Dr. Blayney, Harmer.
Jeremiah 36:16
- — into the dungeon, and into the cabins.] Or “cells,” as in the margin. The dungeon appears to have been an underground prison with separate cells or apartments for the prisoners. Calmet. 17. — thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.] It is a proof of the firmness and integrity of the Prophet, that he should thus predict the captivity and afflictions of his sovereign: especially at a moment when he had incurred the perilous suspicion of favouring the cause of the enemy. Richards.
Jeremiah 36:20
- — lest I die there.] A discretionary power is given to the keeper to treat his prisoners just as he pleases. If he receives large fees, he will treat the accused well: but if he has a greater regard for those who have imprisoned a man, he will treat the prisoner with the greatest inhumanity. This account of Eastern imprisonment gives great force to the supplication of Jeremiah, that he might not be remanded to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest he should die there. Sir J. Chardin, Harmer.
Jeremiah 36:21
- — into the court of the prison.] Not belonging to the house of Jonathan the scribe, where the dungeon was; but the court of the prison in the king’s house, mentioned chap. xxxii. 2. Dr. Blayney. — — — the bakers’ street.] In ancient times an oven in the East was designed to serve only a single family. “The bakers’ street” was perhaps a temporary regulation to supply the wants of the soldiers assembled for the defence of Jerusalem; as at Algiers, according to Dr. Shaw, besides money, the soldiers receive each a number of loaves every day. If so, it was natural for the king to order Jeremiah a piece or cake of bread from thence every day after the same manner. Harmer. It is here to be noticed, that God protected Jeremiah, and softened the heart of Zedekiah towards him, so that he not only saved him from the dungeon, but fed him likewise, while the siege lasted and the famine prevailed in Jerusalem. Thus Providence sets bounds to the malice of the wicked, delivers the righteous, and causes good men to meet with comfort and assistance in the worst of times. Ostervald.