The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 27
Chapter XXVII · Vol. III, p. 1265
1 Under the type of bonds and yokes he prophesieth the subduing of the neighbour kings unto Nebuchadnezzar. 8 He exhorteth them to yield, and not to believe the false prophets. 12 The like he doeth to Zedekiah. 19 He foretelleth the remnant of the vessels shall be carried to Babylon, and there continue until the day of visitation.
1 In the beginning of the reign of 1Jehoiakim2 the son of Josiah king of Judah, acame this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
1 Or Zedekiah, ver.3,12,20, or, the order was given under Jehoiakim, but not executed till under Zedekiah.
2 In several MSS., and in the Syriac and Arabic, it is 'Zedekiah,' which change ver. 3 seems to require; and this reading is supported by commentators of the highest rank. Still there seems an insuperable difficulty in the way, viz. Jehoiakim is specially described as 'the son of Josiah,' whereas Zedekiah was his brother, 2 Ki.24.17. Is it not, therefore, necessary to conclude that the authorized reading is correct? And may it not be explained thus? The word came to the prophet 'in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim;' and it not only foretold the captivity, but the extinction or degradation of the line of Jehoiakim, and the elevation of Zedekiah, and the sending of the yokes and bonds, either actually or prophetically, by the ambassadors of the neighbouring states, who should come to congratulate him upon his accession to the throne of Judah? C.——There must be an error here in the text. Jehoiakim reigned eleven years. This prophecy and the command embodied in it were given to Jeremiah in the commencement of his reign, and consequently eleven years before his brother Zedekiah was placed upon the throne by Nebuchadnezzar. Yet in ver. 3 and again in ver. 12 of this chapter it appears that Zedekiah was the reigning monarch at the time of the prophecy. So also in ch. 28. 1, the same fact is expressly affirmed. We must conclude, therefore, that the name Jehoiakim has, by the error of some early copyist, been inserted instead of Zedekiah. A few ancient MSS. with the Syriac and Arabic versions have the reading Zedekiah, which is adopted by some of the best critics.—P.
a ch.2.1;7.1;11.1;25.1;26.1,12,15.
2 Thus saith the LORD to me, bMake thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, said
b ver.3-12; ch.28.13,14. 1 Ki.11.30,31. Is.xx. ch.13.1-11; 19.1-11; 18.2-10. Eze.iv.v.xii.; 24.17-19.
3 And send them cto the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;3
c ch.25.21,22; xlvii.-xlix.
3 Probably to form a league against the Chaldeans, 2 Ki.24.20. 2 Ch.36.13. Eze.17.15.
4 And command them to say unto their masters,4 Thus saith dthe LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
5 Ie have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and ghave given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
6 And now hhave I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, imy servant; and jthe beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
h ch.28.14; 25.9-26; 4.7;51.20-23.
i ch.25.9;43.10. Eze.29.18-21. Is.24.28;45.1,13;46.11.
7 Andk all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come;5 and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
5 The time for the subjugation of his own land, by the sentence of retributive justice.—C.
k 2 Ch.36.20. ch.25.11,12,14; 28.14;50.27,31;52.31. Da.5.1,19,26,30,31. Ps.37.13. Zec.2.9. Re.13.5,10;17.6. Is.xiii.xiv. ch.l.li.
8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation lwill I punish,6 saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
6 Heb. visit upon.
l ch.24.9,10;38.2. Eze.12.13,14;17.20,21.
9 Therefore nhearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers,7 noro to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
10 Forp they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
p ver.14. Eze.14.9-11. ch.14.14;23.21. La.2.14. ch.7.18;15.1-3.
11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve8 him, qthose will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
8 There are few objects about which men are more anxious than national independence and political liberty—few things more hateful to a nation than a foreign yoke. Of these desires and aversions God avails himself that he may illustrate and enforce the doctrine of divine foreknowledge and providential retribution—two doctrines that idolatrous nations totally disbelieve, and to which Christian nations too little attend. The one should lead to a careful study of prophecy, and observation of 'the signs of the times;' the other, to the conformity of all political principles and practices with the immutable laws of divine truth, justice, and mercy.—C.
q ch.21.9;38.3,17.
12 I spake also rto Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, sand live.
13 Whyt will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14 Thereforeu hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for vthey prophesy a lie unto you.
u Job 33.14. Is.28.10,13. ver.9,10,13. Mi.2.11.
v ch.14.14; 23.21,25; 29.8,9; ver.10. La.2.14. Eze.xiii. Zep.3.4. Mat.7.15. 2 Th.2.11,12. 1 Jn.4.1.
15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie9 in my name, that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, xand the prophets1 that prophesy unto you.
9 Heb. in a lie or lyingly.
x Mat.15.14.
1 The address to the nations was founded upon the permanence or loss of their possessions, ver. 11; that to Zedekiah upon false prophets. These were uniformly the rocks upon which Israel suffered shipwreck, their kings especially. See 1 Ki. 22. 6-40. Admitting Jehovah's fore-knowledge, they did not 'try the spirits' that pretended to speak in his name. Loving idols and sins, they listened to the prophets that flattered their propensities, and counted those their enemies who were bold enough to tell them the truth.—C.
16 Also I spake to the priests, and to all this people, saying; Thus saith the LORD, Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, yBehold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
y ch.28.1-3, with 2 Ch.36.7-10. Da.1.2. 2 Ki.24.13.
17 Hearkenz not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: awherefore should this city be laid waste?
z ver.9,10,13-16. Job 33.14. Is.28.10,13. Phi.3.1.
a ver.13. Eze.18.31; 33.11, with ver.8. ch.24.9,10;25.9,10,38;21.9,10.
18 Butb if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them cnow make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels2 which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
b 1 Ki.18.24,26. Mal.1.9. Ja.5.16-18.
c Ge.20.7. Job 42.8. Is.37.4. Eze.22.30.
2 The priests are exhorted by reference to the vessels of the sanctuary, the lavers, the seething-pots, the basins, the censers, &c. These being the constant objects of their care, and probably of their pride, for they were both costly and splendid, are employed partly as the tests of the truth of Jeremiah, and the falsehood of his opponents; but chiefly to lead to the subject of intercessory prayer, which ever implies faith in God, as the answerer of prayer, together with brotherly sympathy and love.—C.
19 For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning dthe pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
d 1 Ki.7.15-45. ch.52.17-23. 2 Ki.25.13-17.
20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when ehe carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles3 of Judah and Jerusalem;
e 2 Ki.24.14,15. ch.24.1. 2 Ch.36.9,10. ch.22.28.
21 Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that gremain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
22 They shall be hcarried to Babylon, and there shall they be iuntil the day that I visit them, saith the LORD: then jwill I bring them up, and restore them to this place.
h ch.32.5. 2 Ki.25.13. 2 Ch.36.18. ch.52.17-21. Da.5.2,4.
i 2 Ch.36.21,22. ch.29.10; 25.11,12. Pr.21.30.
j Ezr.1.1-11; 7.19; 5.15,16.
Notes
Ver. 7. They served Nebuchadnezzar, and Evil-merodach his son, and Belshazzar his grandson: and then came the time fixed by God for the overthrow of the Chaldean monarchy, when the Medes, Persians, and their allies reduced it, and rendered the Chaldeans tributaries and slaves.
Reflections.—The whole earth is the Lord's, and he may dispose of it as he pleases. And since he puts little value upon it, he often gives most of it to the wicked; and soon he will call them to account for their use of his gifts. Civil dominion is far from being founded on either the reality or the appearance of saving grace. And they who have no shadow of a right to eternal life, may have a justifiable right to temporal enjoyments. They who in any respect serve God never lose by his service; and if we will not serve our Maker and Preserver, it is but just that we be forced to serve our enemies. It is very unsafe to struggle against his providence; for when he judges, he will overcome. When his judgments are abroad in the earth, we ought not to seek great things for ourselves, but to be thankful for little. And if his judgments are begun, it is better to alleviate the burden by submission, than to make it heavier by perverseness. Yea, though we should never see the deliverance of God's church, we ought never to despair of it: he will at last, in wrath, remember mercy. Meanwhile, let us detest flattering clergy. Incapable of interceding for their welfare, these hurry nations and churches into utter destruction, and perish in misery, along with those whom they have deceived.