1Zedekiah sending to Jeremiah to enquire the event of Nebuchadrezzar's war against him, 3the prophet foretelleth a calamitous siege, and desolation in the end; 8he counselleth the people to fall to the Chaldeans: 11he exhorteth the king's house to execute right judgment, with threats against those that trusted in the strength of their situation.
1THE word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the 1son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
1 Of the posterity of this Melchiah, upon whose family fell the fifth lot in the division of the priests in David’s time, 1 Chron. 24:9, as upon the family of Maaseiah the four and twentieth lot, 1 Chron. 24:18.
2Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for 2Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us 3according to all his wondrous works, that 4he may go up from us.
2 Also verse 7, and often by this prophet. Otherwise called Nebuchadnezzar.
3 As He has done so often before, for the protection and deliverance of His people.
4 That Nebuchadnezzar may break up and leave the siege.
3¶Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
4Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will 5turn back the 6weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I 7will assemble them into the midst of this city.
5 That they shall be unprofitable, yea, hurtful for you, though ye think to defend yourselves by them, and to beat back the Chaldeans.
6 Hebr. instruments, or tools of war.
7 I shall permit the Babylonians or the Chaldeans to come in, or let them in, or, cause them to take the city. See of the Hebrew word Judges 19 on verse 15.
5And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
6And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both 8man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
8 Hebr. and the man and the beast.
7And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their 9life: and 10he shall smite them 11with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
9 That is, who hunt after their life. See Exod. 4 on verse 19; 2 Sam. 4 on verse 8.
10 The king of Babel.
11 Hebr. at the mouth of the sword.
8¶And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
9He that abidetha in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and 12falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his 13life shall be unto him for a prey.
a Jer. 38:2.
12 That is, he who willingly surrenders himself to them.
13 Or, soul, that is, life or person, that is, he shall have his preservation for a prey, which is fetched with hazard and danger from the enemies, or, which falls unawares into a man’s hand and for which he rejoices. Also Jer. 38:2; 45:5.
10For I have 14set my face against this city for 15evil, and not for 16good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
14 See Lev. 17 on verse 10.
15 For their punishment and destruction.
16 To do good unto them, or to bless them.
11¶And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
12O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Executeb judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the 17oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
b Jer. 22:3.
17 Who oppresses him by craft and violence.
13Behold, I 18am against thee, 19O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of 20the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
18 Or, I will be upon thee, or, I will be against thee, that is, be thine Adversary; I, Myself, shall oppose against thee. Also Jer. 23:30, 31, 32; Ezek. 13:8; 21:3; 29:3, etc. This manner of speech is elsewhere also taken in a good sense, or for good. See Ezek. 36:9.
19 Understand the city of Jerusalem, of which the lowermost part was situated in the low ground, and the uppermost on Mount Zion, where was David’s city and tower.
20 Where the temple stood on the plain of Mount Moriah; or, before which rock lies outwardly a plain field, as some understand this.
14But I will 21punish you 22according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a 23firec in the forest 24thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
21 That is, I will visit you. See Gen. 21 on verse 1.
22 As Jer. 17:10.
23 See 2 Chron. 36:19; Jer. 52:13.
c Jer. 17:27.
24 Of Jerusalem, whereof in the previous verse. By the forest may be understood the fair buildings of the city, which were built with wood, that was hewn out of the forest of Lebanon. Compare Jer. 22:7, 23, or, the entire city, with the land, being full of people, as a forest is full of trees. Compare Ezek. 20:46, with the annotation there.