Jeremiah 22
PATThis discourse, or section, which begins from the eleventh verse of the twenty-first chapter, is a collection of prophecies, wherein Jeremiah foretold the fate of several kings of Jodah v The words to the twentieth verse are directed to king Jehoiakim, and from thence to the end of the chapter to Jeconiah. [chap. xxu. and took no care to defray the wages of his workmen; but maintained his own luxury by the oppression of those who were tolive by their labour: a crying sin, and too common among the great men of the world, severely prohibited both in the Old and New Testament. (See Deut. xxiv. 14,15. James v. 4.)
Jeremiah 22:2
JJ.EAR the ivord of the Lord, O king ofJudah, that sittest on the throne of David. The prophet directs his discourse to Jehoiakim; (see ver. 18.) and puts himin mind of the promises God had made to David’s family, if they lived in obedience to his will. (Sec 1 Kings viii. 25.) Thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that enter in by tliose gates.] Thy courtiers and other officers who attend continually on thee; (sec ver. 4.) comprehending likewise all the people of the city. (See the note on ver. 4.)
Jeremiah 22:3
And do no wrong, do no violence, &e. Compare ver. 17. where we find Jehoiakim taxed with those sins.
Jeremiah 22:4
For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house, &c. See the note on xvii. 25. Instead of the gates of this house, the text reads there, the gates of this city: and the context here shews, that the prophecy is directed not only to the king’s court in particular, but likewise to the whole city of Jerusalem, one part of which was called the city of David; and the whole looked upon as a royal city, and the place of their king’s residence. (Compare ver. 2.‘8.)
Jeremiah 22:5
I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. God’s confirming his threatcnings by an oath, is a sign that the sentence was immutable, and that nothing could reverse it but the people’s sincere repentance: which condition is expressed in the foregoing part of the verse. (See Hcb. vi. 17.)
Jeremiah 22:6
For thus saith the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah, Tliou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon, &c. Though thou wert never so precious in my sight, wert as valuable for riches and plenty as the fat pastures of Gilead, and thy buildings as beautiful for their statelincss, as the tall cedars of Lebanon; (see the notes on xxi. 14.) yet, unless thy princes and people reform, thou shalt become nothing but ruin and desolation. Ver.’ 7. And I will prepare destroyers against thee.] The Hebrew reads, I ivill sanctify destroyers: so xii. 3. where our translation reads, Prepare them for the day of slaughter; it is in the Hebrew, Sanctify them. (See the note on Isa. xiii. 3.) And they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.] The prophet compared the king’s palace, or the city of Jerusalem, to Lebanon, ver. 6. and here, pursuing the metaphor, he threatens to destroy both houses and inhabitants by the Chaldean army. (See the note on xxi. 14.)
Jeremiah 22:8
And many natiotis shall pass by this city,^and they shall say every one to his neighbour, &c. They that had heard that this city had heen called the city of God, and the place of his especial residence, would be astonished to find it a scene of his, judgments and vengeance. Thus’ was fulfilled that threatening of Moses, (Deut. xxviii. 37.) That God would make the Jews an astonishment to other nations. (See likewise 1 Kings ix. 8.)
Jeremiah 22:10
Weep not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away, &e. Weep not for Josiah, for he is buried in peace, and taken’ away from the evils to come; (see 2 Kings xxii. 20.) but rather lament Jehoahaz his successor, whom Pharaoh-Nechoh hath carried captive into Egypt, from thence never to return. (See 2 Kings xxiii.34.) t.
Jeremiah 22:11
For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son ofJosiah king of Judah, who reigned instead ofJosiah his father, &c. It is a great dispute among commentators and chronologers who this Shallum was, there being no person of that name mentioned in the succession of the Jewish kings in sacred history; and th’e Shallum mentioned as Josiah’s son, 1 Chron.iii.15. is expressly called his fourth son, who could not probably succeed his father immediately, as it is said expressly of Shallum here in the. text. Without entering far into this dispute, I shall lay this down as most probable, that the Shallum,’ mentioned in the text, is the same withJchoahaz: forthe characters here set down can agree to none else. It was he that reigned instead of his father Josiah; he likewise went out of Jerusalem, or was carried away captive, and never returned any more. (See ver. 11.) The same may be proved from the order, of the prophecies set down in this chapter: the eleventh and twelfth verses are concerning Jehoahaz: from the thirteenth to the twentieth relate to Jehoiakim, and the remaining part of the chapter regards the reign of Jeconiah. Why he is called Shallum, is not easy at this distance to conjecture; some suppose that name given him by way of reproach, because of the shortness of his reign, in which he resembled that king Shallum mentioned 2 Kings xv. 13. So Jeconiah is called Coniah, by way of contempt, ver. 24. it is farther certain, that this Shallum cannot be the same with him mentioned 1 Chron. iii. 15. (as Archbishop Usher supposed; see his Annal. V. T. ad An. M. 3371.) because that person is spoken of as younger than Zedokiah, whereas thi$ Shallum being the same with Jehoahaz, was without question older. (Compare 2 Kings xxiii. 13. with xxiv. 18.)
Jeremiah 22:13
Woe unto him that bnildeth his house by unrighteousness, &c. The prophet proceeds to denounce God’s judgments against Jehoiakim; (see ver. 18.) who it seems built himself a stately palace in those calamitous times,
Jeremiah 22:14
And cutteth him out ivindoivs. The word hallonai signifies literally my windows; and so our margin reads, but the affix is elsewhere redundant. (See Zech. xiv. 5.) Mr. Gregory, in his Observations upon tho Scripture, (chap. 13.) allows the marginal reading, and understands tho word of a private oratory, or chapel, which Jehoiakim ordered to be made in his palace; and that God reproves him for a vain ostentation of piety, when at the same time he had no regard to common justice, in making an offering to God out of other men’s labours.
Jeremiah 22:15
Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar?. Will a house, finely adorned and furnished, be a fortress and defence to thee against thy enemies, that come to deprive thee of thy kingdom? This is the sense of the words, if we follow the English translation; but the verb tichareh properly signifies to vie, or contend with; and so it is translated, Jer. xii. 5. and then the sense will be, Is this a proper method to secure thy kingdom, only to vie with other princes, who shall have the most stately palace? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then [or therefore, see Noldius’s Concordance, p. 7.] it was well with him?] Thy father Josiah lived in sufficient plenty, and in a state suitable to his character, and yet was a strict observer of justice, both in his public and private capacity, and did not betake himself to such sordid methods of injustice and oppression for the support of his grandeur: the reason was, because the blessing of God was upon him, as a reward of his justice and integrity. Ver. 1G. Was not this to know me, saith the Lord?] Such a strict regard to justice was the genuine effect of his piety and true knowledge of God.
Jeremiah 22:17
But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness, &c. For this cause Jehoiakim is compared to a lion by the prophet Ezekiel, xix. G.
Jeremiah 22:18
They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! &c. The prophet repeats part of the lessus, or funeral ditty, which the public mourners used to sing at funerals; (see the note on ix. 17. xx. 14. and compare 1 Kings xiii. 30.) signifying that Jehoiakim should not be buried with those solemn lamentations, with which the memory of his predecessors, particularly that of his father, had been honoured. (See 2 Chron. xxxv. 25.) They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah Lord! or, Ah his glory!] That is, how is his glory departed and vanished! Another burden, or chorus, of the funeral song.
Jeremiah 22:19
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, &c. Compare xxxvi. 30. Jehoiakim was advanced to the kingdom by Pharaoh-Nechoh king of Egypt, (2 Kings xxxiii. 34.) He followed the fortune of the king that set him up, and upon the conquest of Egypt by the Chaldeans, (see Jer. xlvi. 2.) after three years’ reign, he was taken prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar, and put into irons: (see Dau.i. 2. 2 Kings xxiv. 1. 2 Chron. xxxvi. G.) but afterward he< released him, and made him a tributary king. After three years’ obedience, Jehoiakim rebelled in confidence of assistance from Egypt: in the tenth year of his reign, Nebu- Digmzed oy microsoii^p ehadnezzar’s army overran Judea; (see 2 Kings xxiv. 2.) and in the following year they besieged Jerusalem, and probably took Jehoiakim prisoner in some sally that he made upon them; whereupon they killed him, and then cast out his dead body into the highway, like the carcass of an ass, denying him the common rites of burial. (See Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. cap. 7, 8.) Accordingly, he is said to have slept with his fathers, (2 Kings xxiv. G.) but not to have been buried with his fathers. [Ver. 19. Drawn and cast forth.] The expression is taken from the custom of dogs to draw about a carcass before they tear and devour it. Compare xv. 3. where it is in the Hebrew, The dogs to draw; our English reads, to tear; but the Hebrew word is the same in both places. See likewise xlix. 20.]
Jeremiah 22:20
Go up to Lebanon; and cry, and lift up thy voice in Bashan. An ironical expression, directed either to the land of Judea, or the city Jerusalem; as if he had said, You may go up to the tops of the highest mountains, and make what outcries or signals you can to implore foreign aid and assistance, but all to no purpose. And cry from the passages^] From the borders, or rivers, which are the bounds of. your country: some interpreters suppose the word Abarim to be a proper name, and understand it of Mount Abarim. (See Numb, xxvii. 12.) For all thy lovers are destroyed.] All thy foreign allies, whose friendship and assistance thou didst seek, and whom thou didst court by complying with their idolatries. (Compare iv. 30. Lain. i. 19. Ezek. xvi. 33. 37. Hos. viii. 9.) The prophet means more particularly the Egyptians, upon whose assistance they chiefly depended, but whose power was very much weakened by the king of Babylon. (See xxxvii. 5—7. 2 Kings xxiv. 7. Lam. iv. 17.)
Jeremiah 22:21
I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. The common infirmity of mankind, who, being puffed up with prosperity, think themselves too.wise to stand in need of good advice, and therefore put off the hearkening to it till they are in extremities, when it will do them little or no benefit. Tliis hath been thy manner from thy youth, &c] See ii. 7. iii. 25. vii.23, &c.xxii.30.
Jeremiah 22:22
TJie wind shall eat up all thy pastors. God’s judgments, like a blasting wind, (see iv. 11.) shall destroy all thy governors, both ecclesiastical and civil: (see the note on ii. 8.) their honour and authority shall cease, and the whole frame of government shall be dissolved. Tliy lovers shall go into captivity.] Thy allies (see ver. 20.) shall themselves be made captives by the Chaldeans, and shall not be able to preserve themselves, much less to give any assistance to thee. (See xxv. 9.)
Jeremiah 22:23
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars. A metaphorical description of Jerusalem, whose stately buildings are elsewhere compared to the tall cedars of a forest. (See the note on xxi. 14.) How gracious wilt thou be, when pangs come upon thee? &c] Or rather, How humble, or suppliant, ivilt thou be in those pangs of affliction that shall suddenly come upon thee; (see vi. 24. xxx. G.) whereas before thou wast too proud to hearken to any advice that was offered. (See ver. 21.) The verb hanan doth commonly signify to implore mercy or favour, and the noun tahanuniin is used in the same CHAP. XXII.] UPON JEREMIAH. sense, iii. 21. xxixi. 9. Sdine render the words, What grace or favour wilt thou find, ivhen pangs, &c.
Jeremiah 22:24
Though Goniah ivere the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence. Though he were never so near and dear to me, such a one as was always under my eye and care, (compare Cant. viii. 6. Hag. ii. 23.) yet his wickedness would make him forfeit all my favour towards him. (See 2 Kings xxiv. 9.) Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, as his name is writ, 1 Chron. iii. 16. is called Coniah here, and ver. 28. by way of contempt.
Jeremiah 22:26
And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, &c. See 2 Kings xxiv. 15. This implies that he had no children when he was carried away captive. (See ver. 28.)
Jeremiah 22:27
But unto the land whitlier they desire to return.". See xliv. 14.
Jeremiah 22:28
Is this man Coniah a despised broken idoW. An interrogation by way of admiration; q. d. Would any one have thought that this man, that was invested with royal dignity, should come to be no better than a broken image of royalty, divested of all power and authority, and an object of scorn and reproach? Nothing can be more contemptible than a broken idol, which can be put to no farther use, and is no longer an object of worship, but of derision. Wherefore are they cast out; lie and his seed, &c] The children which he probably had after he was carried to Babylon, where he lived many years a captive: (see 2 Kings xxv. 27.) though none of them lived to succeed in the royal authority. (See the note on ver. 30.)
Jeremiah 22:29
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. The prophets often bespeak men’s attention, by appealing to heaven and earth; that is, to all creatures, and particularly to the inhabitants of this world, to hearken to God’s words. (See Deut. xxxiii. 1. Isa. i. 2. xxxiv. 1. Micah i. 2. vi. 1, 2.) The word eretz may be rendered land, as it often is, and applied to Judea.
Jeremiah 22:30
Write ye this man childless. Or, Let this man be urritten childless: the personal being used for the impersonal. (See xx. 17.) When God commands a thing to be written, it signifies that such a truth is of great importance, and deserves to be recorded. (See the note on xxx. 2. and on Isa. xxx. 9.) " Quae scribuntur, certa sunt;" The committing things to writing denotes their certainty; as Castalio observes upon the place. So God would have it taken notice of as a remarkable judgment upon Jcconiah, that in him the direct line of the Jewish kings, derived from Solomon downward, should fail; and the next heir to the crown should be of a collateral branch; viz. Salathiel, who was the son of Neri, and derived his pedigree from Nathan the son of David, (Luke iii. 27. 31.) Salathiel is indeed called the son of Jeconiah, 1 Chron. iii. 17. and Matt. i. 12. but in both these places he is called so, not with respect to his natural extraction, but to his political succession, as being next heir to the crown; just as, at the sixteenth verse of the same chapter of the Chronicles, Zedekiah is called the son of Jeconiah, though he was really his uncle, because he succeeded him in the kingdom. And it is plain that St. Matthew did not intend to set down an exact genealogy from father to son, but only to prove, in general, that Christ was the son, both of David and Abraham, as he tells us, ver. 1. In order to which end, he divides the whole scries of time, from Abraham to David, into three parts, and then subdivides each portion of time into fourteen generations; to comply with which method, he omits three kings, Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah, (ver. 8.)