_Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadrezzar made king_ See 2 Kings 24:17; 2 Chronicles 36:10, where is related the history of Zedekiah's succession. He was but a tributary king, having taken an oath of homage to the king of Babylon. He was a feeble and irresolute prince, and although not so bad as many of his pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah_ This man came in the place of Pashur, who, together with Zephaniah, brought the former message from Zedekiah; _saying, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us_ Wicked men of all ranks are desirous, in their distresses, of the prayers of those whose counsels... [ Continue Reading ]
_Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return_ They shall be discomfited by the Chaldeans, and forced to retreat without affording you any assistance: see 2 Kings 24:7. _And the Chaldeans shall come again_ They shall return, renew the siege, and prosecute it with more vigour than ev... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Jeremiah went forth, &c., to go into the land of Benjamin_ Jeremiah, having no further revelation from God to communicate, and knowing the city would soon be taken, resolves to go to his own country to Anathoth. _To separate himself thence_, &c. The Hebrew, בתוךְ העם לחלק משׁם, is rendered by... [ Continue Reading ]
_When he was in the gate of Benjamin_ The gate leading toward the country of Benjamin; _Irijah, the son of Hananiah_ Probably of that Hananiah whose death Jeremiah had foretold, Jeremiah 28:17; _took Jeremiah the prophet_ Apprehended him as one who was about to desert the city, and fall off to the C... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore the princes were wroth_ These princes seem to have been much more hostile to the prophet than those that were in the time of Jehoiakim, (see Jeremiah 36:19,) for they proceed here merely upon the captain's information, and, treating him as guilty, without any proof, cruelly cause him to b... [ Continue Reading ]
_When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon_ Hebrew אל בית הבור, _into the house of the pit, ditch_, or _lake; and into the cabins_ Or, _cells_, as החניות signifies. “From comparing this place with chap. Jeremiah 38:6, it seems likely that this dungeon was a deep pit, sunk perpendicularly like a wel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out_ When the vain hopes with which they had fed themselves, and on the ground of which they had re-enslaved their servants, were all vanished away, then they were in a greater consternation than ever: and then the king sent, in all haste, for the prophet, t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moreover Jeremiah said, What have I offended against thee_ What law have I broken? What injury have I done to thee, or thy people, or government, _that ye have put me in prison_ Have put me into the pit or dungeon, as a malefactor of the worst kind? _Where are now your prophets_ That is, your false... [ Continue Reading ]