XXXVIII. (1) THEN SHEPHATIAH THE SON OF MATTAN... — Of the four princes of Judah who are named here, Jucal or Jehucal has been mentioned in Jeremiah 37:3, and would appear, from the frequent occurrence of the name Shelomiah in 1 Chronicles 26:1; 1 Chronicles 26:9; 1 Chronicles 26:14, to have been a... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH THE LORD. — The words carry us back to Jeremiah 21:9, and in any chronological arrangement of the book the one chapter would follow the other. It is obvious that to all who did not recognise the divine mission of the prophet, words like those which he had then spoken would seem to come fr... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THIS MAN BE PUT TO DEATH. — The hatred of the princes of Judah becomes more bitter than ever, and they seek to overcome the king’s lingering reverence for the prophet. In the reign of Jehoiakim they had said that he was worthy of death (Jeremiah 26:11). Within the last few weeks he had been thro... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DUNGEON OF MALCHIAH THE SON OF HAMMELECH. — Literally, _the pit,_ or _cistern._ The LXX. agrees with the marginal reading in describing him as “a son of the king.” The same phrase is so translated in 1 Kings 22:26; 2 Chronicles 28:7, and would seem to have been an official or court title, applie... [ Continue Reading ]
BBED-MELECH THE ETHIOPIAN. — The name signifies “servant of the king,” but the absence of the article in the Hebrew makes it probable that it had come to be used as a proper name, and so both the LXX. and Vulgate take it. The use of Ethiopian or Cushite slaves in the king’s household, probably as ke... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE MEN HAVE DONE EVIL.... — It is noticeable that some MSS. of the LXX., following apparently a different text, represent the Eunuch as assuming that the king himself had given the order, “Thou hast done evil in all that thou hast done.” HE IS LIKE TO DIE FOR HUNGER. — Literally, _and he dies...... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE FROM HENCE THIRTY MEN. — The number seems a large one for the purpose, especially when we consider that the men were sent from a post from which they could ill be spared, but the king may have wished to guard against resistance on the part of the princes. Hitzig, however, conjectures that “thre... [ Continue Reading ]
UNDER THE TREASURY... — This was obviously what we should call the “lumber-room” of the palace. Nothing could show the acuteness of the prophet’s sufferings more vividly than the precautions which the thoughtful kindness of the Eunuch thus suggested. The pit was so deep that ropes were needed to dra... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THIRD ENTRY THAT IS IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. — In 2 Kings 16:18 we read of” the king’s entry without,” an outside entrance, and of “a covert,” or covered gallery, both leading from the palace to the Temple. The passage now mentioned (the name does not occur elsewhere) was probably distinct from... [ Continue Reading ]
WILT THOU NOT SURELY PUT ME TO DEATH? — The prophet obviously speaks as if he believed the king to have sanctioned the severe measures that had been taken against him, and having no other “word of the Lord” to speak than that which he had spoken before, fears to provoke his wrath. The latter part of... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE LORD LIVETH, THAT MADE US THIS SOUL. — The formula of the oath was obviously intended to be one of unusual solemnity; more so even than the simpler form of “The Lord liveth” (Jeremiah 16:14). The king swears by Jehovah as the living God, author and giver of his own life. The two-fold promise... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU WILT ASSUREDLY GO FORTH. — Literally, _If going thou wilt go,_ the Hebrew idiom of emphasis. The prophet places before the king the alternative of surrender and safety, resistance and destruction, and leaves him to make his choice. The princes of the king of Babylon were those in command of... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM AFRAID OF THE JEWS... — The special form of fear was characteristic of the weak and vacillating king. It was not enough to know that his life would be safe. Would he also be saved from the insults of his own subjects, who had already deserted to the enemy? These were, in the nature of the case,... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEY SHALL BRING OUT... — The picture of defeat and destruction is once more repeated from Jeremiah 38:18. Probably, the last clause should be read with a different punctuation of the Hebrew, “This city shall be burnt with fire.” As the text now stands, the marginal rendering, _Thou shalt burn,_... [ Continue Reading ]