Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 27:3-11
Jeremiah Was Later Commanded To Send Parallel Yokes To The Plotters Of Rebellion Whose Ambassadors Were Congregated In Jerusalem (Jeremiah 27:3).
The sending of the yokes to related nations, which would be copies of the one worn by Jeremiah, was to be accompanied by a stern warning from ‘YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel' that they remain in submission to Babylon.
“And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah,”
The sending of the bonds and yokes to the various kings of the nations clearly follows after an interval, during which time Jeremiah has been wearing his. This indicates either that he had made a number of sets which he would wear in turn or that he had duplicates made for the purpose. They were to be sent to the Transjordanian nations of Edom, Moab and Ammon, and to Tyre and Sidon, because it was from them that messengers had come to King Zedekiah, seemingly to discuss rebellion from the yoke of Babylon. It was YHWH's warning that they should not proceed with their aim because it was YHWH's will that they be so subjected.
“And give them a charge to their masters, saying, Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall you say to your masters,”
Along with the bonds and yokes Jeremiah sent a charge to the various kings from YHWH. It was headed with the full title of ‘YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel', which always indicated an important saying and was a reminder that He was Lord of all hosts, whether the angelic hosts in Heaven or the human hosts on earth, the ‘hosts of Heaven' which represented the stars in their courses, and indeed of all creation (Genesis 2:1).
“I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me.”
YHWH first indicates His credentials as the Creator of all things, and indicates the authority that it gives Him to order things as He will. He makes clear that all living things are under His control, whether they be men or beast, because He created them all by His great power and ‘His outstretched arm'. The latter is simply a metaphor demonstrating His capability in doing things which require strength. He does not literally do things by means of a huge arm. Compare Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuteronomy 7:19; Deuteronomy 26:8. Thus the situation in which they find themselves is because it ‘seems right to Him'. Rebellion would therefore be to act against God's purpose. Notice how creation is summed up in terms of ‘men and beasts' as the two primary life forms.
“And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. And all the nations will serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come, and then many nations and great kings will make him their bondman.”
He then particularises what He is saying to the particular case in hand. With regard to the lands which are ruled over by these kings He has chosen by His sovereign power to give them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (no longer Nebuchadrezzar) who is His servant, and He has given him all animals both wild and domestic in order that they might serve him. Furthermore it was His purpose that all nations should serve both ‘Nebuchadnezzar, and his son, and his son's son', that is his regular heirs, into the future until the appointed time. And this will go on until arrival of the time limit that YHWH has set, when Nebuchadnezzar's own land will arrive at ‘its time' and will in turn serve others. For then many nations and great kings will eventually arise who will in turn bring Babylonia into bondage.
The reference to animals wild and domestic, included along with the lands, indicating all created things within the area, but may well also have in mind the requirements laid on subject peoples that they provide him regularly with horses and cattle and submit to the Babylonians using their lands for hunting, a favourite sport of great kings which was not necessarily good for the land. The reference to ‘his son and his son's son' is not putting a limit on how many kings there will be, nor is it in fact saying that they will be directly related. A king's heir would always be seen as his ‘son' (we can compare how the Assyrians called all Israelite kings ‘sons of Omri' long after there was no such relationship. Thus Jehu was described as ‘the son of Omri' on Assyrian inscriptions). Basically therefore it indicated all his heirs, whether literal sons or otherwise, until the time appointed (compare Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 4:25). Nebuchadnezzar was in fact succeeded by his son Evil-merodach (Amel-marduk) (Jeremiah 52:31), and he by Nebuchadnezzar's son-in-law Neriglissar (Nergal-shar-usur who married Nebuchanezzars's daughter), followed briefly by his son Labashi-marduk. Labashi-marduk did not last long and was assassinated in childhood and replaced by Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar (although Belshazzar died before Nabonidus) who would be subjugated by Cyrus the Persian, with his allies.
‘Nebuchadnezzar.' The change from Nebuchadrezzar (Nabu-kudurri-usur) to Nebuchadnezzar probably has no special significance. Baruch had input into both sections so that it is not necessarily an indication of change of authorship. The change from ‘r' to ‘n' is quite common when transliterating from Akkadian into Hebrew. It may simply indicate Jeremiah's own development to a more sophisticated style.
27. 8 “And it will come about, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says YHWH, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.”
Moreover any nation who refused to submit to Babylon and serve Nebuchadnezzar would be punished by YHWH Himself for disobeying His will. Note the reference to the yoke based on the illustration that he had sent through the ambassadors. Their punishment would come about through sword, famine and pestilence (the regular Jeremaic means, compare Jeremiah 14:12; etc), until Nebuchadnezzar had totally consumed them. The three judgments were the constant price of war. War not only slaughtered people, but it burned and desolated fields, and caused conditions which encourage pestilence, especially when people had to ‘flee to the mountains'. But the three judgments could also arise separately. See Jeremiah 14:1; 2 Samuel 21; 2 Samuel 24:15; 2 Samuel 1 Kings 17-18; etc.
“But as for you, do not you listen to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,' for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and you should perish.”
Nor were they to listen to anyone who said otherwise (which they all did and had cause to rue it). The descriptions covered all means by which nations sought to obtain guidance from their gods, including prophets with their drug-induced prophecies, diviners with their differing divining methods (including casting lots, reading the dregs left in vessels, looking at the entrails of sacrificial animals, etc.), dreamers with their drug-induced dreams, soothsayers and sorcerers with all their different approaches including calling on familiar spirits, enchantments, secret arts, and the muttering of spells. Compare Isaiah 8:19; Isaiah 47:12; 2 Kings 9:22. There would be a natural tendency to ‘divine' against subjection to Babylon as that was undoubtedly the favoured option once the time seemed ripe, but the people were not to listen to such ideas because they were all lies.
“But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own land, the word of YHWH, and they will till it, and dwell in it.”
Indeed the only way in which they could hope to remain in their lands was by bringing their necks under the yoke of the King of Babylon and serving him as Jeremiah had illustrated. Those who did so would be allowed to remain in their own lands, and till them and dwell in them, because they would thereby be being obedient YHWH. And this was the assured prophetic word of YHWH. (Thus being in submission to men can often go hand in hand with obedience to the will of God).