1So sprach Jehova: Geh hinab in das Haus des Königs von Juda, und rede daselbst dieses Wort 2und sprich: Höre das Wort Jehovas, König von Juda, der du auf dem Throne Davids sitzest, du und deine Knechte und dein Volk, die ihr durch diese Tore einziehet. 3So spricht Jehova: Übet Recht und Gerechtigkeit, und befreiet den Beraubten aus der Hand des Bedrückers; und den Fremdling, die Waise und die Witwe bedrücket und vergewaltiget nicht, und vergießet nicht unschuldiges Blut an diesem Orte. 4Denn wenn ihr dieses Wort wirklich tun werdet, so werden durch die Tore dieses Hauses Könige einziehen, welche auf dem Throne Davids sitzen , auf Wagen fahrend und auf Rossen reitend, er und seine Knechte und sein Volk. 5Wenn ihr aber nicht auf diese Worte höret, so habe ich bei mir geschworen, spricht Jehova, daß dieses Haus zur Einöde werden soll. 6Denn also spricht Jehova über das Haus des Königs von Juda: Du bist mir ein Gilead , ein Haupt des Libanon; wenn ich dich nicht zur Wüste machen werde, zu unbewohnten Städten! 7Und ich werde Verderber wider dich weihen, einen jeden mit seinen Waffen, und sie werden die Auswahl deiner Cedern umhauen und ins Feuer werfen. 8Und viele Nationen werden an dieser Stadt vorüberziehen, und einer wird zum anderen sagen: Warum hat Jehova an dieser großen Stadt also getan? 9Und man wird sagen: Weil sie den Bund Jehovas, ihres Gottes, verlassen und sich vor anderen Göttern niedergebeugt und ihnen gedient haben. 10Weinet nicht um den Toten, und beklaget ihn nicht; weinet vielmehr um den Weggezogenen, denn er wird nicht mehr zurückkehren und das Land seiner Geburt sehen. 11Denn so spricht Jehova von Schallum , dem Sohne Josias, dem König von Juda, welcher König ward an seines Vaters Josia Statt, und der aus diesem Orte weggezogen ist: er wird nicht mehr hierher zurückkehren; 12sondern an dem Orte, wohin sie ihn weggeführt haben, daselbst wird er sterben, und er wird dieses Land nicht wiedersehen. 13Wehe dem, der sein Haus mit Ungerechtigkeit baut und seine Obergemächer mit Unrecht, der seinen Nächsten umsonst arbeiten läßt und ihm seinen Lohn nicht gibt; 14der da spricht: Ich will mir ein geräumiges Haus bauen und weite Obergemächer! und er haut sich Fenster aus und deckt mit Cedern, und er streicht es an mit Zinnober. 15Bist du ein König, weil du in Cedern wetteiferst? Hat nicht dein Vater gegessen und getrunken und Recht und Gerechtigkeit geübt? da erging es ihm wohl. 16Er hat die Rechtssache des Elenden und des Armen gerichtet; da stand es wohl. Heißt das nicht mich erkennen? spricht Jehova. 17Denn deine Augen und dein Herz sind auf nichts gerichtet als auf deinen Gewinn, und auf das Blut des Unschuldigen, um es zu vergießen, und auf Bedrückung und Gewalttat, um sie zu verüben. 18Darum spricht Jehova von Jojakim, dem Sohne Josias, dem König von Juda, also: man wird nicht um ihn klagen: Wehe, mein Bruder! und: Wehe, Schwester! Man wird nicht um ihn klagen: Wehe, Herr! und: Wehe, seine Herrlichkeit! 19Mit dem Begräbnis eines Esels wird er begraben werden; man wird ihn fortschleifen und wegwerfen weit hinweg von den Toren Jerusalems. 20Steige auf den Libanon und schreie, und erhebe deine Stimme auf dem Gebirge Basan und schreie vom Abarim her; denn zerschmettert sind alle deine Buhlen. 21Ich redete zu dir in deinem Wohlergehen; du sprachst: Ich will nicht hören. Das war dein Weg von deiner Jugend an, daß du auf meine Stimme nicht hörtest. 22Der Wind wird alle deine Hirten abweiden , und deine Buhlen werden in die Gefangenschaft gehen. Ja, dann wirst du beschämt und zu Schanden werden ob all deiner Bosheit. 23Die du auf dem Libanon wohnst und auf den Cedern nistest, wie mitleidswürdig wirst du sein , wenn Schmerzen dich ankommen, Wehen, der Gebärenden gleich! 24So wahr ich lebe, spricht Jehova, wenn auch Konja , der Sohn Jojakims, der König von Juda, ein Siegelring wäre an meiner rechten Hand, so würde ich dich doch von dannen wegreißen. 25Und ich werde dich in die Hand derer geben, welche nach deinem Leben trachten, und in die Hand derer, vor welchen du dich fürchtest, und in die Hand Nebukadrezars, des Königs von Babel, und in die Hand der Chaldäer. 26Und ich werde dich und deine Mutter, die dich geboren hat, in ein anderes Land schleudern, wo ihr nicht geboren seid; und daselbst werdet ihr sterben. 27Und in das Land, wohin sie sich sehnen zurückzukehren, dahin werden sie nicht zurückkehren. - 28Ist denn dieser Mann Konja ein verachtetes Gefäß, das man zertrümmert, oder ein Gerät, an welchem man kein Gefallen hat? Warum werden sie weggeschleudert, er und sein Same, und in ein Land geworfen, das sie nicht kennen? - 29O Land, Land, Land, höre das Wort Jehovas! 30So spricht Jehova: Schreibet diesen Mann auf als kinderlos, als einen Mann, der kein Gedeihen hat in seinen Tagen; denn von seinem Samen wird nicht einer gedeihen, der auf dem Throne Davids sitze und fortan über Juda herrsche.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE; JUDGMENT ON SHALLUM, JEHOIAKIM, AND CONIAH. (Jer. 22:1-30)
Go down--The temple (where Jeremiah had been prophesying) was higher than the king's palace on Mount Zion (
Jer 36:10,
Jer 36:12;
2Chr 23:20). Hence the phrase, "Go down."
the king of Judah--perhaps including each of the four successive kings, to whom it was consecutively addressed, here brought together in one picture: Shallum,
Jer 22:11; Jehoiakim,
Jer 22:13-
Jer 22:18; Jeconiah,
Jer 22:24; Zedekiah, the address to whom (
Jer 21:1,
Jer 21:11-
Jer 21:12) suggests notice of the rest.
2 these gates--of the king's palace.
3 Jehoiakim is meant here especially: he, by oppression, levied the tribute imposed on him by Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt (
2Chr 36:3), and taxed his people, and took their labor without pay, to build gorgeous palaces for himself (
Jer 22:13-
Jer 22:17), and shed innocent blood, for example, that of Urijah the prophet (
Jer 26:20-
Jer 26:24;
2Kgs 23:35;
2Kgs 24:4).
4 upon the throne of David--literally, "or David on his throne" (see on
Jer 13:13). This verse is repeated substantially from
Jer 17:25.
his servants--so the Keri. But Chetib, singular, "his servant;" that is, distributively, "each with his servants;"
Jer 17:25, "their princes."
5 I swear by myself-- (
Heb 6:13,
Heb 6:17). God swears because it seemed to them incredible that the family of David should be cast off.
this house--the king's, where Jeremiah spake (
Jer 22:4).
6 Though thou art as beautiful as Gilead, and as majestic in Mine eyes (before Me) as the summit of Lebanon, yet surely (the Hebrew is a formula of swearing to express certainly: "If I do not make thee . . . believe Me not ever hereafter": so "as truly as I live,"
Num 14:28; "surely,"
Num 14:35). The mention of Gilead may allude not only to its past beauty, but covertly also to its desolation by the judgment on Israel; a warning now to Judah and the house of "David." "Lebanon" is appropriately mentioned, as the king's house was built of its noble cedars.
cities--not other cities, but the different parts of the city of Jerusalem (
2Sam 12:27;
2Kgs 10:25) [MAURER].
7 prepare--literally, "sanctify," or solemnly set apart for a particular work (compare
Isa 13:3).
thy choice cedars-- (
Isa 37:24). Thy palaces built of choice cedars (
Song 1:17).
8 (
Deut 29:24-
Deut 29:25). The Gentile nations, more intelligent than you, shall understand that which ye do not, namely, that this city is a spectacle of God's vengeance [CALVIN].
9 (
2Kgs 22:17).
10 Weep . . . not for--that is, not so much for Josiah, who was taken away by death from the evil to come (
2Kgs 22:20;
Isa 57:1); as for Shallum or Jehoahaz, his son (
2Kgs 23:30), who, after a three months' reign, was carried off by Pharaoh-necho into Egypt, never to see his native land again (
2Kgs 23:31-34). Dying saints are justly to be envied, while living sinners are to be pitied. The allusion is to the great weeping of the people at the death of Josiah, and on each anniversary of it, in which Jeremiah himself took a prominent part (
2Chr 35:24-25). The name "Shallum" is here given in irony to Jehoahaz, who reigned but three months; as if he were a second Shallum, son of Jabesh, who reigned only one month in Samaria (
2Kgs 15:13;
2Chr 36:1-4). Shallum means "retribution," a name of no good omen to him [GROTIUS]; originally the people called him Shallom, indicative of peace and prosperity. But Jeremiah applies it in irony.
1Chr 3:15, calls Shallum the fourth son of Josiah. The people raised him to the throne before his brother Eliakim or Jehoiakim, though the latter was the older (
2Kgs 23:31,
2Kgs 23:36;
2Chr 36:1); perhaps on account of Jehoiakim's extravagance (
Jer 22:13,
Jer 22:15). Jehoiakim was put in Shallum's (Jehoahaz') stead by Pharaoh-necho. Jeconiah, his son, succeeded. Zedekiah (Mattaniah), uncle of Jeconiah, and brother of Jehoiakim and Jehoahaz, was last of all raised to the throne by Nebuchadnezzar.
He shall not return--The people perhaps entertained hopes of Shallum's return from Egypt, in which case they would replace him on the throne, and thereby free themselves from the oppressive taxes imposed by Jehoiakim.
13 Not only did Jehoiakim tax the people (
2Kgs 23:35) for Pharaoh's tribute, but also took their forced labor, without pay, for building a splendid palace; in violation of
Lev 19:13;
Deut 24:14-
Deut 24:15. Compare
Mic 3:10;
Hab 2:9;
Jas 5:4. God will repay in justice those who will not in justice pay those whom they employ.
14 wide--literally, "a house of dimensions" ("measures"). Compare
Num 13:32, Margin, "men of statures."
large--rather, as Margin, "airy" from Hebrew root, "to breathe freely." Upper rooms in the East are the principal apartments.
cutteth him out windows--The Hebrew, if a noun, is rather, "my windows"; then the translation ought to be, "and let my windows (Jehoiakim speaking) be cut out for it," that is, in the house; or, "and let (the workman) cut out my windows for it." But the word is rather an adjective; "he cutteth it (the house) out for himself, so as to be full of windows." The following words accord with this construction, "and (he makes it) ceiled with cedar," &c. [MAURER]. Retaining English Version, there must be understood something remarkable about the windows, since they are deemed worthy of notice. GESENIUS thinks thinks the word dual, "double windows," the blinds being two-leaved.
vermilion--Hebrew, shashar, called so from a people of India beyond the Ganges, by whom it is exported [PLINY, 6.19]. The old vermilion was composed of sulphur and quicksilver; not of red lead, as our vermilion.
15 closest thyself--rather, "thou viest," that is, art emulous to surpass thy forefathers in the magnificence of thy palaces.
eat and drink--Did not Josiah, thy father, enjoy all that man really needs for his bodily wants? Did he need to build costly palaces to secure his throne? Nay, he did secure it by "judgment and justice"; whereas thou, with all thy luxurious building, sittest on a tottering throne.
then--on that account, therefore.
16 was not this to know me--namely, to show by deeds that one knows God's will, as was the case with Josiah (compare
John 13:17; contrast
Titus 1:16).
17 thine--as opposed to thy father, Josiah.
18 Ah my brother! . . . sister!--addressing him with such titles of affection as one would address to a deceased friend beloved as a brother or sister (compare
1Kgs 13:30). This expresses, They shall not lament him with the lamentation of private individuals [VATABLUS], or of blood relatives [GROTIUS]: as "Ah! lord," expresses public lamentation in the case of a king [VATABLUS], or that of subjects [GROTIUS]. HENDERSON thinks, "Ah! sister," refers to Jehoiakim's queen, who, though taken to Babylon and not left unburied on the way, as Jehoiakim, yet was not honored at her death with royal lamentations, such as would have been poured forth over her at Jerusalem. He notices the beauty of Jeremiah's manner in his prophecy against Jehoiakim. In
Jer 22:13-
Jer 22:14 he describes him in general terms; then, in
Jer 22:15-
Jer 22:17, he directly addresses him without naming him; at last, in
Jer 22:18, he names him, but in the third person, to imply that God puts him to a distance from Him. The boldness of the Hebrew prophets proves their divine mission; were it not so, their reproofs to the Hebrew kings, who held the throne by divine authority, would have been treason.
Ah his glory!--"Alas! his majesty."
19 burial of an ass--that is, he shall have the same burial as an ass would get, namely, he shall be left a prey for beasts and birds [JEROME]. This is not formally narrated. But
2Chr 36:6 states that "Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon"; his treatment there is nowhere mentioned. The prophecy here, and in
Jer 36:30, harmonizes these two facts. He was slain by Nebuchadnezzar, who changed his purpose of taking him to Babylon, on the way thither, and left him unburied outside Jerusalem.
2Kgs 24:6, "Jehoiakim slept with his fathers," does not contradict this; it simply expresses his being gathered to his fathers by death, not his being buried with his fathers (
Ps 49:19). The two phrases are found together, as expressing two distinct ideas (
2Kgs 15:38;
2Kgs 16:20).
20 Delivered in the reign of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah or Coniah), son of Jehoiakim; appended to the previous prophecy respecting Jehoiakim, on account of the similarity of the two prophecies. He calls on Jerusalem, personified as a mourning female, to go up to the highest points visible from Jerusalem, and lament there (see on
Jer 3:21) the calamity of herself, bereft of allies and of her princes, who are one after the other being cast down.
Bashan--north of the region beyond Jordan; the mountains of Anti-libanus are referred to (
Ps 68:15).
from the passages--namely, of the rivers (
Judg 12:6); or else the borders of the country (
1Sam 13:23;
Isa 10:29). The passes (
1Sam 14:4). MAURER translates, "Abarim," a mountainous tract beyond Jordan, opposite Jericho, and south of Bashan; this accords with the mention of the mountains Lebanon and Bashan (
Num 27:12;
Num 33:47).
lovers--the allies of Judea, especially Egypt, now unable to help the Jews, being crippled by Babylon (
2Kgs 24:7).
21 I admonished thee in time. Thy sin has not been a sin of ignorance or thoughtlessness, but wilful.
prosperity--given thee by Me; yet thou wouldest not hearken to the gracious Giver. The Hebrew is plural, to express, "In the height of thy prosperity"; so "droughts" (
Isa 58:11).
thou saidst--not in words, but in thy conduct, virtually.
thy youth--from the time that I brought thee out of Egypt, and formed thee into a people (
Jer 7:25;
Jer 2:2;
Isa 47:12).
22 wind--the Chaldees, as a parching wind that sweeps over rapidly and withers vegetation (
Jer 4:11-
Jer 4:12;
Ps 103:16;
Isa 40:7).
eat up . . . pastors--that is, thy kings (
Jer 2:8). There is a happy play on words. The pastors, whose office it is to feed the sheep, shall themselves be fed on. They who should drive the flock from place to place for pasture shall be driven into exile by the Chaldees.
23 inhabitant of Lebanon--namely, Jerusalem, whose temple, palaces, and principal habitations were built of cedars of Lebanon.
how gracious--irony. How graciously thou wilt be treated by the Chaldees, when they come on thee suddenly, as pangs on a woman in travail (
Jer 6:24)! Nay, all thy fine buildings will win no favor for thee from them. MAURER translates, "How shalt thou be to be pitied!"
24 As I live--God's most solemn formula of oath (
Jer 46:18;
Jer 4:2;
Deut 32:40;
1Sam 25:34).
Coniah--Jeconiah or Jehoiachin. The contraction of the name is meant in contempt.
signet--Such ring seals were often of the greatest value (
Song 8:6;
Hag 2:23). Jehoiachin's popularity is probably here referred to.
right hand--the hand most valued.
I would pluck thee thence--(Compare
Obad 1:4); on account of thy father's sins, as well as thine own (
2Chr 36:9). There is a change here, as often in Hebrew poetry, from the third to the second person, to bring the threat more directly home to him. After a three months' and ten days' reign, the Chaldees deposed him. In Babylon, however, by God's favor he was ultimately treated more kindly than other royal captives (
Jer 52:31-
Jer 52:34). But none of his direct posterity ever came to the throne.
25 give . . . into . . . hand--"I will pluck thee" from "my right hand," and "will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life."
26 thy mother--Nehushta, the queen dowager (
2Kgs 24:6,
2Kgs 24:8,
2Kgs 24:15; see
Jer 13:18).
27 they--Coniah and his mother. He passes from the second person (
Jer 22:26) to the third person here, to express alienation. The king is as it were put out of sight, as if unworthy of being spoken with directly.
desire--literally, "lift up their soul" (
Jer 44:14;
Ps 24:4;
Ps 25:1). Judea was the land which they in Babylon should pine after in vain.
28 broken idol--Coniah was idolized once by the Jews; Jeremiah, therefore, in their person, expresses their astonishment at one from whom so much had been expected being now so utterly cast aside.
vessel . . . no pleasure-- (
Ps 31:12;
Hos 8:8). The answer to this is given (
Rom 9:20-
Rom 9:23; contrast
2Tim 2:21).
his seed--(See on
Jer 22:29).
29 O earth! earth! earth!--Jeconiah was not actually without offspring (compare
Jer 22:28, "his seed";
1Chr 3:17-18;
Matt 1:12), but he was to be "written childless," as a warning to posterity, that is, without a lineal heir to his throne. It is with a reference to the three kings, Shallum, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah, that the earth is thrice invoked [BENGEL]. Or, the triple invocation is to give intensity to the call for attention to the announcement of the end of the royal line, so far as Jehoiachin's seed is concerned. Though Messiah (Mat. 1:1-17), the heir of David's throne, was lineally descended from Jeconiah, it was only through Joseph, who, though His legal, was not His real father. Matthew gives the legal pedigree through Solomon down to Joseph; Luke the real pedigree, from Mary, the real parent, through Nathan, brother of Solomon, upwards (
Luke 3:31).
no man of his seed . . . upon the throne--This explains the sense in which "childless" is used. Though the succession to the throne failed in his line, still the promise to David (
Ps 89:30-
Ps 89:37) was revived in Zerubbabel and consummated in Christ.
This forms the epilogue to the denunciations of the four kings, in Jer. 21:1-22:30.