Jeremiah 43:2

XLIII.

(2) Azariah the son of Hoshaiah. — The LXX., it will be remembered, gives this name in Jeremiah 42:1, where the Hebrew has Jezaniah. Possibly, however, as suggested above, the two names represent brothers who were both prominent as leaders of the people. Here, we may note, he takes precedence of Johanan, probably as the chief spokesman of the prevailing discontent. The special mention of “all the proud men” suggests the thought that there were some who, left to themselves, would have been willing to follow the prophet’s counsel. Those who join in the protest content themselves with a flat denial of his inspiration, and charge him, as he had been charged before (Jeremiah 37:13), with sinister intentions. It is suggestive, in connexion with the view taken in the Note on Jeremiah 42:17, that the LXX., following apparently a different reading of the Hebrew, gives “all the aliens” instead of “all the proud.”