1In the beginningH7225 of the reignH4467 of JehoiakimH3079 the sonH1121 of JosiahH2977 kingH4428 of JudahH3063 came this wordH1697 to JeremiahH3414 from the LORDH3068, sayingH559, 2Thus saithH559 the LORDH3068 to me; MakeH6213 for thee bondsH4147 and yokesH4133, and putH5414 them upon thy neckH6677, 3And sendH7971 them to the kingH4428 of EdomH123, and to the kingH4428 of MoabH4124, and to the kingH4428 of the AmmonitesH1121 H5983, and to the kingH4428 of TyreH6865, and to the kingH4428 of ZidonH6721, by the handH3027 of the messengersH4397 who comeH935 to JerusalemH3389 to ZedekiahH6667 kingH4428 of JudahH3063; 4And commandH6680 them to sayH559 to their mastersH113, Thus saithH559 the LORDH3068 of hostsH6635, the GodH430 of IsraelH3478; Thus shall ye sayH559 to your mastersH113; 5I have madeH6213 the earthH776, the manH120 and the beastH929 that are uponH6440 the groundH776, by my greatH1419 powerH3581 and by my outstretchedH5186 armH2220, and have givenH5414 it to whom it seemedH5869 rightH3474 to me. 6And now have I givenH5414 all these landsH776 into the handH3027 of NebuchadnezzarH5019 the kingH4428 of BabylonH894, my servantH5650; and the beastsH2416 of the fieldH7704 have I givenH5414 him also to serveH5647 him. 7And all nationsH1471 shall serveH5647 him, and his sonH1121, and his son’sH1121 sonH1121, until the very timeH6256 of his landH776 shall comeH935: and then manyH7227 nationsH1471 and greatH1419 kingsH4428 shall bringH5647 him into subjection. 8And it shall come to pass, that the nationH1471 and kingdomH4467 which will not serveH5647 the same NebuchadnezzarH5019 kingH4428 of BabylonH894, and that will not putH5414 their neckH6677 under the yokeH5923 of the kingH4428 of BabylonH894, that nationH1471 will I punishH6485, saithH5002 the LORDH3068, with the swordH2719, and with the famineH7458, and with the pestilenceH1698, until I have consumedH8552 them by his handH3027. 9Therefore hearkenH8085 ye not to your prophetsH5030, nor to your divinersH7080, nor to your dreamersH2472, nor to your enchantersH6049, nor to your sorcerersH3786, who speakH559 to you, sayingH559, Ye shall not serveH5647 the kingH4428 of BabylonH894: 10For they prophesyH5012 a lieH8267 to you, to remove you farH7368 from your landH127; and that I should drive you outH5080, and ye should perishH6. 11But the nationsH1471 that bringH935 their neckH6677 under the yokeH5923 of the kingH4428 of BabylonH894, and serveH5647 him, those will I let remain stillH3240 in their own landH127, saithH5002 the LORDH3068; and they shall tillH5647 it, and dwellH3427 in it. 12I spokeH1696 also to ZedekiahH6667 kingH4428 of JudahH3063 according to all these wordsH1697, sayingH559, BringH935 your necksH6677 under the yokeH5923 of the kingH4428 of BabylonH894, and serveH5647 him and his peopleH5971, and liveH2421. 13Why will ye dieH4191, thou and thy peopleH5971, by the swordH2719, by the famineH7458, and by the pestilenceH1698, as the LORDH3068 hath spokenH1696 against the nationH1471 that will not serveH5647 the kingH4428 of BabylonH894? 14Therefore hearkenH8085 not to the wordsH1697 of the prophetsH5030 that speakH559 to you, sayingH559, Ye shall not serveH5647 the kingH4428 of BabylonH894: for they prophesyH5012 a lieH8267 to you. 15For I have not sentH7971 them, saithH5002 the LORDH3068, yet they prophesyH5012 a lieH8267 in my nameH8034; that I might drive you outH5080, and that ye might perishH6, ye, and the prophetsH5030 that prophesyH5012 to you. 16Also I spokeH1696 to the priestsH3548 and to all this peopleH5971, sayingH559, Thus saithH559 the LORDH3068; HearkenH8085 not to the wordsH1697 of your prophetsH5030 that prophesyH5012 to you, sayingH559, Behold, the vesselsH3627 of the LORD’SH3068 houseH1004 shall now shortlyH4120 be brought againH7725 from BabylonH894: for they prophesyH5012 a lieH8267 to you. 17HearkenH8085 not to them; serveH5647 the kingH4428 of BabylonH894, and liveH2421: why should this cityH5892 be laid wasteH2723? 18But if they are prophetsH5030, and if the wordH1697 of the LORDH3068 isH3426 with them, let them now make intercessionH6293 to the LORDH3068 of hostsH6635, that the vesselsH3627 which are leftH3498 in the houseH1004 of the LORDH3068, and in the houseH1004 of the kingH4428 of JudahH3063, and at JerusalemH3389, goH935 not to BabylonH894. 19For thus saithH559 the LORDH3068 of hostsH6635 concerning the pillarsH5982, and concerning the seaH3220, and concerning the basesH4350, and concerning the restH3499 of the vesselsH3627 that remainH3498 in this cityH5892, 20Which NebuchadnezzarH5019 kingH4428 of BabylonH894 tookH3947 not, when he carried away captiveH1540 JeconiahH3204 the sonH1121 of JehoiakimH3079 kingH4428 of JudahH3063 from JerusalemH3389 to BabylonH894, and all the noblesH2715 of JudahH3063 and JerusalemH3389; 21Yea, thus saithH559 the LORDH3068 of hostsH6635, the GodH430 of IsraelH3478, concerning the vesselsH3627 that remainH3498 in the houseH1004 of the LORDH3068, and in the houseH1004 of the kingH4428 of JudahH3063 and of JerusalemH3389; 22They shall be carriedH935 to BabylonH894, and there shall they be until the dayH3117 that I visitH6485 them, saithH5002 the LORDH3068; then will I bringH5927 them up, and restoreH7725 them to this placeH4725.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE FUTILITY OF RESISTING NEBUCHADNEZZAR ILLUSTRATED TO THE AMBASSADORS OF THE KING, DESIRING TO HAVE THE KING OF JUDAH CONFEDERATE WITH THEM, UNDER THE TYPE OF YOKES. JEREMIAH EXHORTS THEM AND ZEDEKIAH TO YIELD. (Jer. 27:1-22)
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,
Jer 27:12;
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 (
2Kgs 24:18). It was not long after the fourth year of his reign that he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (
Jer 51:59;
Jer 52:3;
2Kgs 24:20), in violation of an oath before God (
2Chr 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;
Jer 28:10,
Jer 28:12) proves that the symbolical act was in this instance (though not in others,
Jer 25:15) actually done (compare
Isa 20:2, &c.;
Ezek 12:3,
Ezek 12:11,
Ezek 12:18).
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-
Ps 115:16;
Dan 4:17,
Dan 4:25,
Dan 4:32). 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
Gen 1:28;
Gen 2:19-
Gen 2:20;
Ps 8:6-
Ps 8:8), 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" (
Ezek 21:27).
7 son . . . son's son-- (
2Chr 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;
Jer 29:10;
Jer 50:27;
Dan 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 (
Lev 19:26;
Deut 18:10-
Deut 18:11,
Deut 18:14).
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 (
Ezek 18:31).
14 lie-- (
Jer 14:14).
15 in my name--The devil often makes God's name the plea for lies (
Matt 4:6;
Matt 7:22-
Matt 7:23;
Jer 27:15-
Jer 27:20, the test whereby to know false prophets).
16 The "vessels" had been carried away to Babylon in the reign of Jeconiah (
2Kgs 24:13); also previously in that of Jehoiakim (
2Chr 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 (
2Kgs 25:13-17;
2Chr 36:18). The more costly vessels had been previously removed in the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jeconiah.
19 (
Jer 52:17,
Jer 52:20-
Jer 52:21).
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;
2Chr 36:21).
restore them--by the hand of Cyrus (
Ezra 1:7). By Artaxerxes (
Ezra 7:19).