Speedy deliverance from Babylon is not to be hoped for These three Chapter s belong to the time of Zedekiah. The power of Babylon had already been demonstrated as to Judah. Some of the people had been carried captive, and the present king existed as such only upon sufferance. Under these circumstan... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim_ It is clear from Jeremiah 27:3_; Jeremiah 27:12; Jeremiah 27:20_that for _Jehoiakim_we must read (with mg.) _Zedekiah_(so Syr.). The LXX omit the verse. It is a later insertion in the text either in its present form, or more probably with Zedekiah's name,... [ Continue Reading ]
_bands and bars_ The former were to fasten the bars together, thus forming a yoke. For the symbolic action cp. 1 Kings 22:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
Certain kings having sent to invite Zedekiah to join them in an attempt to overthrow the power of Babylon, Jeremiah warns them to desist as the attempt would be futile. Du. points out that Zedekiah's visit to Babylon (Jeremiah 51:59) about this time, whether voluntary or at the requisition of Nebuch... [ Continue Reading ]
_and send them_ We should probably omit the pronoun, which (being in the Hebrew only one letter attached to the end of the verb) seems to have crept in under the influence of the preceding clause. It was the _warning_only that Jeremiah was to send. Du. points out that it was nothing unusual that an... [ Continue Reading ]
The terms of the message are these: God, as Creator of the world and of all that is in it, has the right to give it to whomsoever He will. He has therefore placed Nebuchadnezzar in power for such time as it shall please Him, and none may resist His will. _the man … of the earth_ LXX omit. _my outs... [ Continue Reading ]
_all these lands_ Gi. omits "these," as inserted with a view to the countries just mentioned. The LXX has simply "the earth," which is probably (Co. says "undoubtedly") right (Du. hesitates). Subsequent scruples as to attributing a _world-wide_dominion to the king of Babylon induced MT. and various... [ Continue Reading ]
_him, and his son, and his son's son_ If this prophecy be meant to be taken literally, it will signify that the power of Babylon would last for two generations of rulers after Nebuchadnezzar. According to profane history however it was more prolonged. Evil-Merodach (_Amil-Marduk, man_or _servant_of... [ Continue Reading ]
_which … N. king of Babylon_ not found in LXX, which also omits "and with the pestilence." _until I have consumed them by_ It is best (so Gi.) by the change of one letter in MT. (a change deriving some support from the Targ.) to render, _until I have given them into._... [ Continue Reading ]
_dreams_ those which the diviners, etc. professed to have had. Cp. Jeremiah 23:25; Jeremiah 29:8. We should have expected rather _dreamers_(so LXX Syr. Targ.), and MT. may have been introduced here from the analogy of the latter passage.... [ Continue Reading ]
_to remove you_ not of course that this was the false prophets" aim, but that it would be the result of their advice, if adopted.... [ Continue Reading ]
The warning to Zedekiah. The LXX, apparently through an accident in copying, omit much of these _vv_. They correspond in the main to the previous passage, the warning against the false prophets in Jeremiah 27:14 answering to that of Jeremiah 27:9. The plural is used throughout on account of many sym... [ Continue Reading ]
_the priests_ who took the side of the false prophets against Jeremiah. See Jeremiah 26:8 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
The same message is addressed to the priests and the people concerning the false prophets. More than half the contents of this part of the ch. are lacking in LXX, the main difference between them and MT. being that the latter includes the promise of the restoration of the sacred vessels to Jerusalem... [ Continue Reading ]
_that the vessels … Babylon_ omitted in LXX, and thus omitting any actual mention of a subject for their prayer. This harshness would naturally lead to such an addition as that in MT. For the idea of prophets as intercessors cp. Genesis 20:7. 19 22 are much briefer in LXX, viz.: "For thus saith the... [ Continue Reading ]
The pillars, the sea (1 Kings 7:23 ff.), and the bases (1 Kings 7:27 ff.; 2 Chronicles 4:6) were broken up by the Chaldaeans at Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52:17), and thus could not in any case be restored. Various other treasures were restored by Cyrus (Ezra 1:7 ff.). Bar 6:8, however, speaks of "silver v... [ Continue Reading ]
_nobles_ The word is not pure Hebrew but Aramaic, and thus _may_indicate that the clause is a later insertion. It occurs again in Jeremiah 39:6, and in 1 Kings 21:8, etc., but is found chiefly in Neh.... [ Continue Reading ]