Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, A.C. 599. according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

JEREMIAH XXIV.

1 Under the type of good and bad figs, 4 he foresheweth the restoration of them that were in captivity, 8 and the desolation of Zedekiah and the rest. 1 The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive c2 Kings Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the 2 Chron. princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

с

2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, * they were so bad.

3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

xxiv. 12, &c.

xxxvi. 10.

* Heb. for badness.

4¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge + them that are carried + Heb. the away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.

6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

e

7 And I will give them dan heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

The date and place of this chapter are assigned in ver. 1. The prophecy it contains must have been delivered at the very beginning of Zedekiah's reign, as Jehoiachin's captivity is mentioned as having lately taken place. Under the type of good and bad figs, God represents to Jeremiah the different manner in which he would deal with his people. To those Jews that were taken into Babylon he promises restoration and peace; while Zedekiah and his subjects are threatened with an utter dispersion, and the total desolation of their land. The captivity of the former would be "for their good," and the means of their preservation, the liberty and security of the latter, "by filling up the measure of their iniquities," would tend to their final destruction.-Blayney; Prideaux ; Lightfoot.

captivity.

d Deut. xxx. 39. Ezek. xi. 26, 27.

6. ch. xxxii.

19. & xxxvi.

e ch. xxx. 22. & xxxi. 33. & xxxii. 38.

A. C. 599.

8 ¶ And as the evil ffigs, which cannot be eaten, they fch. xxix. 17. are evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:

* Heb. for removing, or, vexation.

9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a 25. ch. xv. 4. proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.

gDeut. xxviii.

597.

10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

SECTION V.

Prediction of the Duration of the Captivity.

JEREMIAH XXIX. VER. 1–157.

1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the

7 Dr. Blayney observes, (notes on Jeremiah in loc. p. 179.) " There is no person that can read this chapter with attention without being sensible of an embarrassment and incoherence in particular parts of it, which leaves a suspicion of some capital defect either in the text, or its arrangement. Happily the LXX are found to step in here to our relief, by evidencing a transposition of ver. 15, which they have placed, where undoubtedly it ought to stand, immediately before ver. 21. This emendation I have adopted, as by it a due order and connection is restored, both in the place from whence the verse is removed, and in that to which it is transferred. A sufficient proof of its authenticity." In addition to which it may be observed, that the false prophets alluded to in ver. 15, are mentioned by name in ver. 21.

The letter of Jeremiah, sent to Babylon by the messengers of king Zedekiah, was written to exhort the captive Jews to accommodate themselves to their present circumstances-to provide for themselves in the country whither they were carried, as settled inhabitants of the same, and to conduct themselves in every respect as such; praying for the peace of the city. He assures them their captivity would last seventy years, and it was in vain to expect any deliverance till the time that God had appointed. He informs them of what would happen to their brethren left behind at Jerusalem, who, so far from being able to effect their deliverance, would be visited by "the sword, the famine, and pestilence." He denounces God's curse on those false prophets who had deceived the people with hopes and promises of a speedy restoration. Nebuchadnezzar, on finding that the Jews were prevented from settling in the places assigned to them, by the vain predictions of their false teachers, ordered Zedekiah and Ahab (who are supposed to have been the two elders that conspired against Susannah,) to be seized, and roasted to death. This letter being read to the Jewish captives, many of those who believed in the promises of their pretended prophets, and

elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, A. C. 597. and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

xxiv. 12, &c.

2 (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the h 2 Kings * eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem ;)

3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying:

4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;

5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

Or, cham

berlains.

ich. xiv. 14.

& xxiii. 21. & xxvii. 14, 15.

I + Heb. in a lie.

k 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21, 22.

9 For they prophesy + falsely unto you in my name: have not sent them, saith the LORD. 10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this xxvii. 22. place.

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12 Then shall 1 I call upon me, and ye unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find

search for me with all your heart.

ye

shall go and

pray

me, when ye shall

who were unwilling to submit to their appointed chastisement, requested Shemaiah the Nehelamite, to write by the same messengers to Zephaniah, the second priest of the temple, complaining of the conduct of Jeremiah, and requesting that he might be reproved for the same. A severe judgment is, in consequence, pronounced upon Shemaiah.

Ezra i. 1. ch.

xxv. 12. &

Dan. ix. 2.

+ Heb, end
and expecta
tion.
1 Dan. ix. 3
&c.

[blocks in formation]

A. C. 597.

14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

JEREMIAH XXIX. VER. 16-21.

16 Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

[ocr errors]

17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send mch. xxiv. 10. upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and n ch. xxiv. 8. will make them like vile "figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be * Heb. for a removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, * to be a curse and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:

curse.

& xxxii, 33.

[ocr errors]

19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith och. xxv. 4. the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.

[ocr errors]

20 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

JEREMIAH XXIX. VER. 15.

15 ¶ Because ye have said, the LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;

JEREMIAH XXIX. VER. 21, TO THE END.

21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;

22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.

24 ¶ Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the * Ne- A.C. 597. helamite, saying,

25 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

*Or,dreamer.

26 The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is Pmad, and maketh himself p2 Kings ix. a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the 24. stocks.

27 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?

28 For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie :

32 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among his people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; 4 because he hath taught + rebellion against the LORD.

SECTION VI.

Prophecy of the Restoration of the Jews.

JEREMIAH XXX 8.

1 God sheweth Jeremiah the return of the Jews. 4 After their trouble they shall have deliverance. 10 He comforteth Jacob. 18 Their return shall be gracious. 20 Wrath shall fall on the wicked.

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

These two chapters of Jeremiah are made to follow the 29th, on the united authority of Blayney, Lightfoot, and other commentators. As there is no particular date annexed to this prophecy, it is not unreasonable to suppose it was delivered immediately after the preceding one; in which the restoration of the people from their captivity was clearly foretold. The temporal deliverance of the Jews from Babylon is always regarded as a type of their spiritual and glorious redemption; and both these events are frequently connected together in the

11. Acts xxvi.

q ch xxviii.

16.

+ Heb. revolt.

« ZurückWeiter »