Jeremiah 37:1-2

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

EVENTS DURING THE LAST DAYS OF JERUSALEM

Jeremiah 37:1 to Jeremiah 39:18

A period of some eighteen years separates the events of Chapter s 36 and 37. The focus in Chapter s 37 through 39 is upon the events during the last days of Jerusalem. The total destruction of the city foretold by Jeremiah throughout his ministry was hastening toward fulfillment. During this period of time Jeremiah suffered many indignities. His life was constantly in danger at the hands of his personal enemies. More than once he nearly died because of the deplorable prison conditions in which he found himself. But the physical agonies suffered by Jeremiah during those last few months before the fall of Jerusalem were as nothing compared to the mental and spiritual anguish of seeing his beloved land going down to destruction.

INTRODUCTION Jeremiah 37:1-2

TRANSLATION

(1) And Zedekiah son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made to rule over the land of Judah reigned as king instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. (2) But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land obeyed the words of the LORD which he spoke through the instrumentality of Jeremiah the prophet.

COMMENTS

The first two verses of chapter 37 relate the background of this section of the book. Here Zedekiah is introduced as though he had not appeared before. This is somewhat strange since he has appeared many times prior to this point. Perhaps these verses are a transitional device wed by the editor of the book (Baruch) to notify the reader that he is jumping from the reign of Jehoiakim to the reign of Zedekiah.

Zedekiah had been installed as the vassal of king Nebuchadnezzar in March of 597 B.C. when Jehoiachin (Coniah) his nephew was carried away to Babylon (Jeremiah 37:1). While Zedekiah was not the ruthless tyrant that his brother Jehoiakim had been he still did not submit to the word of God as spoken through Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 37:2). Zedekiah was a weak-kneed monarch who suffered the pressures of a troubled conscience on the one hand and a group of radical and misguided young princes on the other. In the view of Jeremiah the security of the nation depended upon Zedekiah's faithfulness to his vassal oath (Jeremiah 27:11-15). One senses that Zedekiah really would like to have followed the advice of Jeremiah. But tremendous political pressure was brought to bear against the king. He was not his own man. He was a puppet in the hands of the princes.

Following the brief introduction (Jeremiah 37:1-2) this section records how Jeremiah was consulted (Jeremiah 37:3-10), confined (Jeremiah 37:11 to Jeremiah 38:28), and confirmed (Jeremiah 39:1-14). The section closes with an appendix consisting of a brief message directed to Ebed-melech (Jeremiah 39:15-18). The biographical accounts and prose discourses of this section are arranged in strict chronological sequence.