This Material Has Not Been Edited For s6

THIS MATERIAL HAS NOT BEEN EDITED FOR

SCRIPTURAL ACCURACY, SPELLING, OR GRAMMAR

J E R E M I A H

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Jer 22:1-9 Bible Text

22:1 THUS SAYS the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word: 2 Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit upon the throne of David--you and your servants and your people who enter by these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver out of the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong; do no violence to the stranger or temporary resident, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then will there enter in through the gates of this [the king's] house kings sitting [for David] upon David's throne, riding in chariots and on horses--they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself, says the Lord that this house will become a desolation.

6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: [If you will not listen to Me, though] you are [as valuable] to Me as [the fat pastures of] Gilead [east of the Jordan] or as the [plentiful] summit of Lebanon [west of the Jordan], yet surely I will make you a wilderness and uninhabited cities.7 And I will prepare, solemnly set apart, and appoint [to execute My judgments against you] destroyers, each with his weapons, and they will cut down your [palaces built of] choicest cedars and cast them into the fire. 8 And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, why has the Lord done this to this great city? 9 Then they will answer, because [the people] forsook the covenant or solemn pledge with the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them. AMP

[General Information - 22:1-23:8: further oracles concerning the kings of Judah.] 22:1-9 the first oracle addresses the royal House of David in general without mentioning a specific king. It is thematically related to the previous oracle, focusing on the responsibility of the king to be just. [Jewish Study Bible]

22:1-4: The first part of the oracle takes up the themes of (21:11-14) by focusing on the king’s responsibility to treat the disadvantaged people of the land justly. Jeremiah follows the view of (1 Kings 8:22-26; 9:4-5; Psalms 132) that the Davidic king will rule if he is righteous. Much like the covenant blessings and curses of (Deuteronomy Chapters 28-30; verses 5-9) outline the consequences if the king is not righteous. [Jewish Study Bible]

[General Information -Jer 22:1-9 Rebuke of the Ungodly Kings Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, and Promise of a Righteous Branch of David.] – This discourse begins with an exhortation to the king, his servants, and the people to do right and justice, and to eschew all unrighteousness, and with the warning, that in case of the contrary the royal palace will be reduced to ruins and Jerusalem destroyed by fire. After touching briefly on the fate of Jehoahaz, who has been deported to Egypt (vv. 10-12), the discourse turns against Jehoiakim, rebukes his tyranny, in that he builds his house with unrighteousness and schemes only bloodshed and violence, and threatens him with ignominious ruin (vv. 13-19).

Then, after a threatening against Jerusalem (vv. 20-23), it deals with Jechoniah, who is told he shall be carried to Babylon never to return, and without any descendant to sit on his throne (vv. 24-30).

Next, after an outcry of grief at the wicked shepherds, follows the promise that the Lord will gather the remnant of His flock out of all the lands whither they have been driven, that He will restore them to their fields and multiply them, and that He will raise up to them a good shepherd in the righteous branch of David (Jer 23:1-8). - According to (21:1), Jeremiah spoke these words in the house of the king of Judah; whence we see that in this passage we have not merely ideas and scraps of addresses gathered together, such as had been on various occasions orally delivered by the prophet.

It further appears from (v. 10 and vv. 13-17), that the portion of the discourse addressed to Jehoiakim was uttered in the first year of his reign; and from (v. 24), where Jechoniah is addressed as king, that the utterance concerning him belongs to the short period (only three months long) of his reign. But the utterance concerning Jechoniah is joined with that concerning Jehoiakim on account of the close relationship in matter between them. The exhortation and warning against injustice, forming the introduction, as regards it contents, fits very well into the time of Jehoiakim (cf. v. 17 with v. 3). The promise with which the discourse concludes was apparently not spoken till the time of Jechoniah, shortly before his being taken to Babylon. So that we have here the discourses of Jeremiah belonging to the times of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin respectively, joined into one continuous whole.

Go down into the house of the king. The prophet could go down only from the temple; (cf. Jer 36:12 and 26:10). Not only the king is to hear the word of the Lord, but his servants too, and the people, who go in by these gates, the gates of the royal castle. The exhortation: to do right and justice, etc., is only an expansion of the brief counsel at (21:12), and that brought home to the heart of the whole people in (7:6, cf. Ezek 22:6 f).

Note: I am making the Scripture references bold for a purpose. Jeremiah is like a picture puzzle with pieces scattered throughout, so to get a more clear picture of what is happening you need to take time to look up these references. Paul the Learner

The threatening is illustrated in (v. 6) by further description of the destruction of the palace. The royal castle is addressed, and, in respect of its lofty situation and magnificence, is called a Gilead and a head of Lebanon. It lay on the north-eastern eminence of Mount Zion (see on 1 Kings 7:12, note 1), and contained the so-called forest-house of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2-5) and various other buildings built of cedar, or, at least, faced with cedar planks (cf. vv. 14, 23); so that the entire building might be compared to a forest of cedars on the summit of Lebanon.

In the comparison to Gilead, Gilead can hardly be adduced in respect of its great fertility as a pasturing land (Num 32:1; Mic 7:14), but in virtue of the thickly wooded covering of the hill-country of Gilead on both sides of the Jabbok. These are still in great measure clothed with oak thickets and, according to Buckingham, the most beautiful forest tracts that can be imagined; (cf. C. v. Raumer, Pal. S. 82). (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)

[General Information - 1 Kings 7:1-12 Erection of the royal palace. - V. 1 is closely connected in form with (1 Kings 6:38), and contains a summary account of the building, which is more minutely described in (vv. 2-12). "And Solomon built his house (his palace) in thirteen years, and finished (in that time) his entire house." The thirteen years are to be reckoned after the completion of the temple in seven years, so that the two buildings were executed in twenty years (1 Kings 9:10). (Barnes Notes)

Jeremiah 22:5-6; Jeremiah 22:6

The Fate of Kings

22:5-6. making the palace a ruin. In the Myth of Erra and Ishum the destruction of towns and the royal palace is treated in similar terms. Erra expresses his intention to allow wild beasts from the mountains and the countryside to enter the city and devastate the public areas. He specifically states that he will make the palace a ruin.

22:6. Gilead and the summit of Lebanon. Gilead was on the east side of the Jordan River. The northern limits of Gilead were vague, and the east was bounded by desert. The summit of Lebanon refers to its forests (also see Zec 10:10). Both Gilead and Lebanon were known for the lush productivity of their forests.

22:6 Gilead is the territory of Israel east of the Jordan River from the Wadi (river) Arnon in the south to the Wadi Yarmuk in the north. Although it is now part of modern Jordan, it was the territory of the tribes of Gad and half of Manasseh in biblical times (Joshua 13:24-31). Gilead and Lebanon were both heavily forested areas in antiquity. The Assyrian and Babylonian kings frequently boasted of the trees from Lebanon for use in their own palaces and other projects.

[Jewish Study Bible]

Jer 22:6

Omit and. "Thou art a Gilead unto me, a summit of Lebanon."

[Yet surely] literally, if not, the form of an oath with the imprecation omitted. For the full form (see Num 14:23).

[A wilderness, and cities] Omit and. The meaning is: If the house of David does not hear God's words, though it be now grand as Lebanon, God will make it a wilderness, even uninhabited cities; the house of David being regarded as equivalent to the kingdom of Judah.

‘For thus said the Lord concerning the royal palace of Judah: You are as Gilead to Me, as the summit of Lebanon; but I will make you a desert, uninhabited towns.’ 22:6 Tanakh Text

Jer 22:10-12 Bible Text

10 Weep not for him who is dead nor bemoan him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away [into captivity], for he shall return no more nor see his native country [again]. 11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum son of Josiah king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father and who went forth out of this place: [Shallum] shall not return here any more; 12 But he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and he shall see this land no more. AMP

Jeremiah 22:10

22:10. exiled king. The exiled king mentioned here was probably Shallum, the fourth son of Josiah, who succeeded his father in 609/8 B.C. He took the throne name of Jehoahaz. After he had been king of Judah for three months, he was then exiled to Egypt by Necho II, where he later died. He was condemned by the writer(s) of Kings as a wicked ruler.

(IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament)

22:10-12 King Jehoahaz son of Josiah was deposed and exiled to Egypt by Pharaoh Neco three months after Neco killed his father Josiah at Megiddo (see 2 Kings 23:28-35; 2 Chronicles 35:20-36:4). His mother was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah [not our Jeremiah] of the city of Libnah, located along the border of Judah and Philistia in the Shephelah. Apparently, Jehoahaz supported Judah’s alliance with Babylonia like his father Josiah. This would have been the reason for Neco’s removal of Jehoahaz and his replacement with Jehoiakim, who favored alliance with Egypt against Babylonia. Do not weep for the dead refers to Josiah. Weep for him who is leaving refers to Jehoahaz, who died in exile in Egypt.

1. Jehoahaz’s personal name was Shallum (cf. 1 Chronicles 3:5). The kings of Judah took throne names at their coronations.

2. Thus Solomon’s personal name was Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:25);

3. Jehoiakim’s name was Eliakim (2 Kings 23:34);

4. Jehoiachin’s name was Coniah (Jeremiah 22:24) or Jeconiah (Jeremiah 24:1);

5. Zedekiah’s name was Mattaniah (2 Kings 24:17).

[Jewish Study Bible]

Jer 22:10-12

In the two foregoing prophecies Jeremiah stated the general principle on which depend the rise and downfall of kings and nations. He now adds for Zedekiah's warning the history of three thrones which were not established. The first is that of Shallum the successor of Josiah, who probably took the name of Jehoahaz on his accession (see the marginal references notes).

Verse 10 [The dead] i.e., Josiah (2 Chron 35:25).

[That goeth away] Rather, that is gone away.

(Barnes' Notes)

Jer 22:10-12

The clause: weep not for the dead, with which the prophecy on Shallum is begun, shows that the mourning for King Josiah was kept up and was still heartily felt amongst the people (2 Chron 35:24 ff.), and that the circumstances of his death were still fresh in their memory. lªmeet (OT: 4191) [to die] without the article, although Josiah, slain in battle at Megiddo, is meant, because there was no design particularly to define the person.

Him that goes or is gone away. He, again, is defined and called Shallum. This Shallum, who became king in his father Josiah's place, can be none other than Josiah's successor, who is called Joahaz in (2 Kings 23:30 ff., 2 Chron 36:1); as was seen by (Chrysostom. and Aben-Ezra), and, since (Grotius), by most commentators. The only question is why he should here be called Shallum. According to (Frc. Junius, Hitz. and Graf), Jeremiah compares Joahaz on account of his short reign with Shallum in Israel, who reigned but one month (2 Kings 15:13), and ironically calls him Shallum.

The brief saying in regard to Joahaz forms the transition from the general censure of the wicked rulers of Judah who brought on the ruin of the kingdom, to the special predictions concerning the ungodly kings Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, in whose time the judgment burst forth. In counseling not to weep for the dead king (Josiah), but for the departed one (Joahaz), Jeremiah does not mean merely to bewail the lot of the king carried prisoner to Egypt, but to foreshadow the misery that awaits the whole people. (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary)