CHAPTER 22

Je 22:1–30. Exhortation to Repentance; Judgment on Shallum, Jehoiakim, and Coniah.

Belonging to an earlier period than the twenty-first chapter, namely, the reigns of Shallum or Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah (Je 22:10, 13, 20). Jeremiah often groups his prophecies, not by chronological order, but by similarity of subjects; thus Je 22:3 corresponds to Je 21:12. Grotius thinks that Jeremiah here repeats to Zedekiah what he had announced to that king’s predecessors formerly (namely, his brother and brother’s son), of a similar bearing, and which had since come to pass; a warning to Zedekiah. Probably, in arranging his prophecies they were grouped for the first time in the present order, designed by the Holy Spirit to set forth the series of kings of Judah, all four alike, failing in “righteousness,” followed at last by the “King,” a righteous Branch raised unto David, in the house of Judah, “the Lord our righteousness” (Je 23:6). The unrighteousness of Zedekiah suggested the review of his predecessors’ failure in the same respects, and consequent punishment, which ought to have warned him, but did not.

1. Go down—The temple (where Jeremiah had been prophesying) was higher than the king’s palace on Mount Zion (Je 36:10, 12; 2 Ch 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, Je 22:11; Jehoiakim, Je 22:13–18; Jeconiah, Je 22:24; Zedekiah, the address to whom (Je 21:1, 11, 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 (2 Ch 36:3), and taxed his people, and took their labor without pay, to build gorgeous palaces for himself (Je 22:13–17), and shed innocent blood, for example, that of Urijah the prophet (Je 26:20–24; 2 Ki 23:35; 24:4).

4. upon the throne of David—literally, “or David on his throne” (see on Je 13:13). This verse is repeated substantially from Je 17:25.

his servants—so the Keri. But Chetib, singular, “his servant;” that is, distributively, “each with his servants;” Je 17:25, “their princes.”

5. I swear by myself—(Heb 6:13, 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 (Je 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,” Nu 14:28; “surely,” Nu 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 (2 Sa 12:27; 2 Ki 10:25) [Maurer].

7. prepare—literally, “sanctify,” or solemnly set apart for a particular work (compare Is 13:3).

thy choice cedars—(Is 37:24). Thy palaces built of choice cedars (So 1:17).

8. (De 29:24, 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. (2 Ki 22:17).

10, 11. Weep … not for—that is, not so much for Josiah, who was taken away by death from the evil to come (2 Ki 22:20; Is 57:1); as for Shallum or Jehoahaz, his son (2 Ki 23:30), who, after a three months’ reign, was carried off by Pharaoh-necho into Egypt, never to see his native land again (2 Ki 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 (2 Ch 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 (2 Ki 15:13; 2 Ch 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. 1 Ch 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 (2 Ki 23:31, 36; 2 Ch 36:1); perhaps on account of Jehoiakim’s extravagance (Je 22:13, 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 (2 Ki 23:35) for Pharaoh’s tribute, but also took their forced labor, without pay, for building a splendid palace; in violation of Le 19:13; De 24:14, 15. Compare Mic 3:10; Hab 2:9; Jam 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 Nu 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 Jn 13:17; contrast Tit 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 1 Ki 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 Je 22:13, 14 he describes him in general terms; then, in Je 22:15–17, he directly addresses him without naming him; at last, in Je 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 2 Ch 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 Je 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. 2 Ki 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 (2 Ki 15:38; 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 Je 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 (Jdg 12:6); or else the borders of the country (1 Sa 13:23; Is 10:29). The passes (1 Sa 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 (Nu 27:12; 33:47).

lovers—the allies of Judea, especially Egypt, now unable to help the Jews, being crippled by Babylon (2 Ki 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” (Is 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 (Je 7:25; 2:2; Is 47:12).

22. wind—the Chaldees, as a parching wind that sweeps over rapidly and withers vegetation (Je 4:11, 12; Ps 103:16; Is 40:7).

eat up … pastors—that is, thy kings (Je 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 (Je 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 (Je 46:18; 4:2; De 32:40; 1 Sa 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 (So 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 Ob 1:4); on account of thy father’s sins, as well as thine own (2 Ch 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 (Je 52:31–34). 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 (2 Ki 24:6, 8, 15; see Je 13:18).

27. they—Coniah and his mother. He passes from the second person (Je 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” (Je 44:14; Ps 24:4; 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; Ho 8:8). The answer to this is given (Ro 9:20–23; contrast 2 Ti 2:21).

his seed—(See on Je 22:29).

29, 30. O earth! earth! earth!—Jeconiah was not actually without offspring (compare Je 22:28, “his seed”; 1 Ch 3:17, 18; Mt 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 (Mt 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 (Lu 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 89:30–37) was revived in Zerubbabel and consummated in Christ.