XXXVI.
Not that there was any uncertainty in God as to the knowledge of future events, any more than a change in his purpofes: he had purpofed to bring evil upon them,which purpofe would not be difannulled; and he knew that the ews would not hearken to the prediction of it, or be concerned about it, and repent of their fins, and reform; but this method he was pleafed to take, as being, humanly fpeaking, a probable one to awaken their attention, and which would leave them inexcufable: shat they may return every man from bis evil way; repent of it, and reform: that I may forgive their imiquity and their fin, by not inflicting on them the punifhment and ruin threatened: where repentance is, remiflion of fin is likewife, and both are the gifts of divine grace, when fpiritual and evangelical.
x. 4. Then Feremiab called Baruch the fon of Neriab, &c.} One of his difciples, and whom he had before made ufe of in the purchafe of a field of his uncle’s fon, and to whom he gave the evidence of the purchafe, ch. xxxii. 12. he was probably a better penman than the prophet, or a quicker writer; however, he thought. proper, for quicker difpatch, to make ufe of him as his amanuenfis: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Feremich all the word of the Lord, which he had /poken unto bim, upon a roll of a book, it feems that Feremiah had not commiitted any of his prophecies to writing; and yet it cannot be thought, that by the mere ftrength of memory he could repeat every difcourfe and prophecy he had delivered in the fpace of two and twenty years; wherefore it muft be concluded, that that fame fpirit, which firft diétated the prophecies to him, brought them frefh to his memory; fo that he could readily repeat them to Baruch, who took them down in writing on a roll of parchment.
y. 5. And ‘feremiah commanded Baruch, faying, Iam but up, &c.] In prifon, according to Farchi; but this is not likely, for then there would have been no occafion for an order to take him, y. 26. Grotius thinks he was obliged by the king’s order to ftay at home; poffibly he might be reftrained by the Spirit of God,,or had not freedom in his own mind to go abroad; there might be a reftraint, an impulfe upon his fpirit by the Spirit of God. Some think he was under fome legal pollution, which made him unfit to go into the temple; for it follows: I cannot go into the boufe of the Lord; labouring either under fome bodily infirmity, or ceremonial defilement, or was forbidden by the king. What was the true caufe, is not certain; but fo it was, that either he was difcharged, or difabled, or difqualified, from going into the houfe of God. ow.
¥. 6. Therefore go thou and read in the roll which thou baft written from my mouth, &c.] The roll being finifhed, Baruch is ordered to read it, which was the end of writing it: and fince the prophet could not go himfelf, he fends another in his room, to read the words of the Lord in the ears of the the day of atonement; the great faft, which was on the tenth day of the feventh month, in the fourth year of Yeboiakim, and fo a different time of reading from that iny¥,g. This was a yery proper time to read it in, when the people were fafting and humbling themfelves before the Lord; tho’ jome think this was a faft proclaimed by Feboiakim, to avert the vengeance threatened by the Chaldean army: and alfo thou fhalt read them in the ears of all Fudah, that come out of their cities; to keep the feaft of tabernacles; as they did five days after the faft, or day of atonement; and this feems to be the fecond reading of the roll enjoined.
¥. 7. It may be they will prefent their fupplication before the Lord, &c.] Or, perhaps their fupplication will falle; they will prefent it in an humble manner before him; alluding to the proftration of their bodies, and dejection of their countenances, in prayer: and will return every man from bis evil way; not only pray for mercy, but repent of fin, and reform; without which mercy is not to be expected: for great is the anger and fury that the Lord bath pronounced againft this people, a very fore judgment, no lefs than the utter deftruction of their city, temple, and nation.
¥. 8. And Baruch the fon of Neriah did according to all that feremiah the prophet commanded him, &c.
Here follows Baruch’s obedience to the prophet’s commands; which he confidered no doubt as the will of the Lord, who directed the prophet to give the orders he did; and which he punctually obferved, in all refpects, as to things, time, and place: reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s houfe, the prophecies of ‘feremiab, which came from the Lord, and which he had tranfcribed into a book from the mouth of the prophet; thefe he read before the people in the temple, a firft, if not a fecond time, before the reading of it recorded in the following verfes.
¥. 9. And it came to pafs in the fifth year of Fehoiakim the fon of Fofiab king of Fudabh, in the ninth month, &c.| This was a different time of reading the book from the former, enjoined by the prophet, and performed by Baruch, y. 6, 8. that was on the tenth day of the feventh month, in the fourth year of Fehoiakim; this was in the fifth year of his reign, and in the ninth month of the year, a year and two months after the former, as it fhould feem; but Fehoiakim’s fifth year beginning in the feventh month after the day of atonement, this ninth month is to be reckoned not from the beginning of his fifth year, but from the beginning of the ecclefiaftical year in the fpring; fo that this was but two months after the former reading: that they proclaimed a faft before the Lord; this was not an ordinary faft, or a common annual one of divine appointment, which came in courfe, but an extraordinary one, upon fome particular occafion. Some think it was on account of the dearth, drought, and famine in the land, ch. xiv. 1.° and others, which feems moft likely, take it to be on account of the calamity threatened the nation by the Céa/- dean army. ‘This faft was not in courfe, but was proclaimed by the order of the king and his council; and it may be at the requeft of the people, at leaft they agreed and confented to it, and indeed are reprefented in the text as the proclaimers,; for fo the word sey is explained in the following claufe, which fhould be rendered, not to all the people, but even all the people in Ferufalem *, and all the people that came from the cities of Fudah unto erufalem,; thefe proclaimed the faft; they applied a faft; not only the inhabitants of ¥eru/alem, but thofe who came from other cities on bufinefs, or for fafety, or for worthip.
¥. 10. Then read Baruch in the book the words
of Feremiah in the bouje of the Lord, &c.| The prophecies of Feremiab he had. taken from him in writing on a roll of parchment; thefe he read in the temple, in a part of it, after defcribed: in the chamber of Gemariah the fon of Shaphan the feribe;
not a fcribe of the law, or an officer of the temple, but the king’s chancellor or fecretary of tate;
tor this is the title, not of Gemariah, who had a chamber in the temple here mentioned, in which _| Baruch read his roll, and was an officer there, but of Shaphan, as the accents fhew, and as his title runs elfewhere, 2 Kings xxii. g, 10. which chamber was in the higher court, it looked into it, which fome fay was the court of the priefts,; but into that,
Baruch not being a prieft, could not enter: rather, according to Dr. Lightfoot, it was the court of J rael, on the fame ground with it, tho’ parted from it, and. divided from the court of the women by a wall, to which they went by an afcent of fifteen fteps; fo that it might with great propriety be called the higher court: at the entry of the new Sate of the Lord’s boufe; the eaftern gate, as the Targum, Farchi, and Kimchi interpret it: here Baruch read his roll, in the ears-of all the people; that were in the court; fo that being in a chamber, he muft read out of the chamber-window, or in a balcony before it.
¥. 11. When Micaiah the fon of Gemariab the
Jon of Shaphan, &c.| Who was prefent, when Baruch read in the roll to the people in his father’s chamber; but his father was abfent, and was with the princes in the fecretary’s office at the fame time, as the following verfe fhows: the fon feems to be a more religious man than the father, unlefs he was placed as a f{py, to hear and fee what he could: however, when he had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord; which were fpoken by the Lord to Yeremiah, and which Baruch read out of the book he had written in his hearing; for it is a vain conceit of Abarbinel, that Micaiah did not hear thefe words from the mouth of Baruch reading, but out of the book which he looked into; for then it would have been faid, which he had
Jeen or read out of the book, and not beard,
¥. 12. Then be went down into the king’s boufe, &c.] The royal palace, which was not upon the mountain on which the temple ftood, but lay lower, and therefore Micaiab is faid to go down to it; with what defign he went thither is not certain, whether out of ill-will to feremiah and Baruch, or out of good-will, being affected with what he had heard, and defirous that fome fteps might be taken by the government, to prevent the calamities coming upon them, according to thefe prophecies; which latter feems moft probable, fince no charge or accufation is brought by him; and fince his father, with others, to whom he gave the account afterwards, interceded with the king that the roll might not be burnt, ¥. 25. however, immediately after he had heard the roll read, he went to the king’s houfe: into the fcribe’s chamber, the fecretary’s office; formerly his grandfather Shaphan’s, now Elifhama’s: and lo all the princes fat there,
_fome of them are mentioned by name: Eli/bama to the government for one, or however obeyed the feribe; or {ecretary; the prime-minifter, the the king’s orders, and publifhed and proclaimed | principal fecretary of ftate, and therefore named firft,
- monn bon s*yns forte wel fortafle cadet deprecatio eorum, Pifcator, Schmidt. So Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
evra Dyn bs) omnis populus Hierofolyms, Cocceius; omnis populus in Hierofolyma, Schmidt.
firtt, in whofe chamber or office they were: and Delaiah the fon of Shemaiah,, who this perfon was, or his office, is not known; he is no where elfe made mention of; and who his father was, is not certain: and Elnathan the fon of Achbar, the fame that Feboiakim fent to Egypt to fetch Uriah from thence, ch. xxvi. 22: and Gemariah the fon of Shaphan; who was Micaiah’s father, and in whofe chamber Baruch read the roll: and Zedekiah the fon of Hananiab, of this prince alfo no account is given elfewhere: and all the princes, the reft of them, who were either members of the great Sanhedrim, or courtiers; it appears from hence, that this court was very prophane and irreligious; for tho’ they had proclaimed a faft, to make a fhew of religion, or at the importunity of the people, yet they did not attend temple-worfhip and fervice themfelves, but were all together in the fecretary’s office, very probably about political affairs.
y¥. 13. Then Micaiah declared all the words that he bad heard, &c.] The fum and fubftance of them; for it can’t be thought, that he fhould retain in his memory every word that he had heard, though, as it is very probable, he was much ftruck and afteéted with what he had heard, he might remember and declare a great deal of it: when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people, and this he alfo declared, no doubt, that what he had heard, and then related, were read by Baruch out of a book; as is clear from the princes fending for Baruch, and ordering him to bring the roll along with him, as in the following verfe.
y. 14. Therefore all the princes fent Febudi, &c.] Who, according to Fumius, was the king’s apparitor: he is defcribed by his defcent, the fon of Nethaniah, the fon of Shelemiah, the fon of Cufhi; him the princes.fent, being not one of their body, but a fervant at court: #o Baruch; who was very probably ftill in the temple, where Micaiah left him: faying, take in thine hand the roll wherein thou haft vead in the ears of the people, and come that is, to the king’s palace, to the fecretary’s office, where they were, and bring the roll along with him he had been reading to the people, and of which A@- caiab had given them fome account; and which had fuch an effe€&t upon them, as to make them defirous of hearing it themfelves. So Baruch the fon of Neriah took the rell in his hand, and came unto them, which fhowed great boldnefs and intrepidity in him, to go at once, without any hefitation, to court, and appear before the princes with his roll, which contained things fo very difagreeable to the king and his miniftry; but as he had not been afraid to read it publickly before the people in the temple, fo neither was he afraid to read it before the princes at court.
¥. 15. And they faid unto him, fit down now, &ec.} Or, pray fit down’; they received him very courteoufly, and treated him with great humanity, and fhowed much refpeé& to him, in befeeching him to fit down by them: and read it in our ears; as he had done: in the ears of the people, with an audible voice, clearly and diftinétly, that they might be able to hear it, fo as to underftand it: fo Baruch read it in their ears, without any fear or dread, tho’ in the king’s palace, and before an affembly of princes; nor did he excufe himflf on account of wearinefs, having juft read it to the people; or upbraid the princes with not being in the temple, where they might have heard it.
y¥. 16. Now it came to pafs, when they bad beard all the words, 8&c.] In the roll or book read by Baruch; they heard them read’ patiently, whic was what the king afterwards would not do: 7%, were afraid both one and another,' both good and bad; for there were fome of both. forts among, them:.or, a man to his friend"; they looked at one another, and knew not what to fay to each other, as men amazed and aftonifhed; they trembled.at what they heard, the threatnings were fo terrible, and the calamity threatened fo great; and they confulted together what they fhould do with this roll, or what courfe they fhould take to avert the threatened vengeance, and particularly whether they fhould acquaint the king with it or no; and which they thought the fafeft and moft prudent part to:do: and faid unto Baruch, we will Surely tell the king of all thefe words, this they faid, not to terrify Baruch, or out of any ill-will to him; but partly for their own fecurity, ‘left they thould incur the king’s difpleafure, fhould he’come to the knowledge of it any other way; and chiefly hoping it might have fome effeét upon him, to caufe a reformation; tho’ of this they were dubious, and rather feared it would-exafperate him; and therefore defired that Baruch and Feremiah would hide themfelves, ¥. 19. this'was the fenfé of fome of them, of thofe that were good men among them, and wifhed things were otherwife than they were, y. 17. And they afked Baruch, &c.] The following queftion, which may feem)at firft fight ah
| odd, needlefs, and trifling one, as fome have called it:
faying, how didft thou write all thefe words at bis mouth? this queftion does not regard the mannér of writing them, whether with ink or not, for that they could fee with their eyes, and yet Baruch’s anfwer feems to have refpeG to this, as if he fo underftood them; nor barely the matter of them, as whether it was the fubflance of what was contained in the roll that Feremiah dictated, and that only, leaving it to Baruch to ufe what words he would, or whether the exprefs words were dictated by him; but rather it feems to have regard to the poffibility of doing it: by the queftion it appears, that Baruch had told the princes that the prophet had dictated all thefe things to him, and he had taken them down in writing from his mouth; now they wanted more fatisfaétion about the truth of this matter. It was a difficulty with them, how it was poffible for Yeremiah to recollect fo many different difcourfes and prophecies, delivered at different times, and fome many years ago, and fo readily dictate them to Baruch, as faft as he could write them; wherefore they defire he would tell thenr plainly and faithfully the truth of the matter, how it was, that fo they might, if they could, affirm it with certainty to the king; fince, if this was really faét which he had related, thefe prophecies originally, and the freth dictating of them, muft be from the Spirit of God, and would certainly have their accomplifhment.
y. 18. Then Baruch anfwered them, a ag once, without any hefitation, plainly and fully: he pronounced all thefe words unto me with bis mouth, that is, the prophet Yeremiab prey of mouth, not the fubftance only of this roll, but the exprefs words of it, and every one of them,-and that clearly and diftin@tly, without any hefitation, or pre-meditation; by which it is plain, it was by the Spirit of the Lord he did it; neither matter ry Se wr vir ad focium faum, Montanus; ad proximum eee? hs nor words were Baruch’s, but were exactly as they were delivered: and I wrote them with ink in the book; as they faw with their eyes, and which was the manner of writing with the Yews fo early; Baruch had no further concern in this matter than to provide pen, ink and parchment, and to make ufe of them as he did, juft as the prophet dictate and directed him. ¥.19. Then faid the princes unto Baruch, &c.]) Being {fatisfied with his anfwer: go hide thee, thou and ‘feremiah, and let no man: know where ye be. Some of thefe princes at leaft feem to be good men, and believed what was read to them, and had a value for the prophet and his fcribe, and were concerned for their welfare; and knowing the furious temper of the king, and his little regard to the prophets; and fearing he would refent what had been fo publickly read to the people, provided againft the worft; and in point of prudence advifed Baruch and his mafter to abfcond, and not let any one know, no not their neareft friends, where they were, left they fhould be betrayed; nor did they, the princes, defire to know themfelves. ‘feremiab might be in prifon, as fome have thought, at the firft reading of the roll, which was in the fourth of Yehoiakim, and be at liberty now, which was in the fifth; fee ¥.1, 9. y¥. 20. And they went in to the king into the court, &c.] The inner court, the king’s court, where he ufually refided; tho’ very probably, they did not ruth in at once; but firft fent to know whether the king could be fpoke with, or would admit them, they having fomething to communicate to him; which they might do by the perfon in waiting, by whom they were introduced: but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elifhama the fcribe; they did not take it with them, but left it in the fecretary’s office; and, no doubt, put it up fafe in fome cheft or fcrutore, as fomething valuable, and:
not to be expofed to every one; or to be thrown about, torn or trampled on, as a book of no ufe and value: very probably it was with the confent of Baruch that it was left with them; and this was a point of prudence in them not to take it with them when they went to the king: and told all the words in the ears of the king, that is, the fum and fubftance of them; for it can’t be thought they fhould remember every word in the roll; but the main of it they did, and rehearfed it in a very audible manner.
v.21. So the king fent Febudi to fetch the roll, &c.] The fame perfon the princes fent to Baruch to come to them, and bring the roll with him, y.14. This the king did, out of curiofity, and to fatisfy himfelf of the truth of what the princes faid; and by this it appears they had told him of the roll, which contained what they had given him a fummary of, and where it was: and he took it out of Elifhama the feribe’s chamber, or, out of the chamber of Elifoama the fcribe; who knew where it was, being prefent at the reading of it in the fecretary’s office, and faw where it was laid; or however, was directed by the fecretary where it was, and might have the key of the cheft or fcrutore given him, in which it was laid: and Febudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of ail the princes that ftood by the king, as he doubtlefs was ordered; and which he did fo loudly, clearly and diftinétly, that the king and all the princes could hear; which princes were thofe who had heard it before, and were come to the king to acquaint him with the fubftance of it; and who {tood by the fide of the king, or about him, in honour to him; tho’ there might be alfo others befides them, who were before with the king, and waiting on him; and Abarbinel thinks, that other princes diftinét from thofe that went to the king are meant. When it is faid that Fehudi read the roll in the hearing of the king and princes, it muit be underftood of a part of it only, and not the whole; as a following verfe fhews.
¥. 22. Now the king fat in the winter-houfe, in the ninth month, &c.] The month Ciflew, which anfwers to part of November, and part of Deceiber; and fo was the midft of winter, and a proper time for the king to be in his winter-houfe; tho’, as this was a faft-day, it would have been more proper for him to have been at the worfhip of God in the temple, ¥.9. This winter-houfe provably was a winter-parlour, as diftinguifhed from a fummer-parlour, Fudg. iii. 20. and both might be under the fame roof, or parts of the fame houte; only the one might be more airy and cool, and the other more clofe and warm. Kings had their fummer and winter-houfes; fee Amos iii. 15. this circumftance is mentioned for the fake of what follows, the burning of the roll; and accounts for there being a fire at hand to do it: aid there was a fire on the hearth burning before him; there was a ftove, or fome’ fuch vefiel or inftrument in which a large fire of wood was made, at which the king fat to keep himfelf warm, while the roll was reading, and about which the princes ftood.
¥.23. And it came to pafs, that when Febudi had read three or four leaves, &c.| Either three or four of the breadths of parchment, which were glued together, and rolled up; or three or four of the columns in thofe breadths. The meaning is, he had read a few of them. The Raddins + would have it, that three or four verfes in the book of the Lamentations are meant: he cut it with the penknife; that is, he cut the roll to pieces with a penknife he had in his hand, or lay near him. It is difficult to fay who it was that did this; whether Febudi that read the roll, or Fehoiakim the king that heard it; moft interpreters underftand it of the latter; but the connexion of the words carries it to the former; for the neareft antecedent to the relative he is Febudi; tho’ it is highly probable he did it at the king’s command; or however, faw by his countenance and behaviour, that. fuch an action would be grateful to him; and that he was highly difpleafed with what had been read, and could not hear any longer with patience: and caft it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was confumed in the fire that was on the hearth; that is, he caft it into the fire, and there let it lie, until it was wholly confumed; a very impious action to burn the word of God; a full evidence of an ungodly mind; a clear proof of the enmity of the heart againft God, and of its indignation againft his word and fervants; and yet a vain attempt to fruftrate the divine predictions in it, or avert the judgments threatened; but the ready way to bring them on.
¥.24. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, &c.] They were not {truck with horror at fuch an impious action, as the burning of the roll; nor afraid of the judgments and wrath of God threatened in it; nor did they rend their garments in token of forrow and mourning on account of either, as ufed to be when any thing blafphemous was faid or done, or any bad news were brought. The Yews from hence conclude, that whenever a man fees the book ef the law torn or cut to pieces, he fhould rend his garments '. The perfons here meant are not the princes that firft heard the roll read in the fecretary’s office, for they were afraid, y. 16. unlefs they now diffembled in the king’s prefence, or had fhook off their fears; however, if they are included, three mutt be excepted, whofe names are mentioned. in the following verfe; and thofe who are more elpecially defigned, are expreffed in the next claufe: neither he king, nor any of bis fervants that heard all thefe words; not all that were in the roll, for they only heard a part; but all that were in that part, which was enough to make them fear and tremble; but they were hardened in their fins; and by the hardnefs and impenitence of their hearts, treafured up wrath againft the day of wrath. Thefe fervants of the king feem to be thofe in waiting, and not the princes that came to him; however, they were not all of this complexion and character, fince it follows,
¥.25. Neverthelefs, Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariab, &¢c.] Three of the five princes mentioned in ¥. 12: had made interceffion to the king, that he would not burn the roll, or fuffer it to be burnt; this they did either at firft, as foon as the roll was brought, that if the king fhould not like it, yet they befought him that he would not de- {troy it; or rather when they faw what Febudi was going to do with it, either by the exprefs order, or at the connivance of the king; then they humbly intreated that fuch an action might not be done, which gave them a fecret horror, tho’ they might endeavour to hide it as much as poflible: but he would not hear them; or he would not receive it of them, as the Targum; that is, their fupplication and interceffion; but either caft the roll into the fire himfelf, or permitted Fehudi to do it; nor would he fuffer it to be taken out till it was all confumed.
¥.26. But the king commanded Ferabmeel the fon of Hammelech, &c.| Or, the. king’s fon, as the Targum; tho’ it rather feems to be the proper name of a perfon, one of the king’s fervants; fince it is not probable ‘he would fend his own fon on fuch an errand; and had he, he would rather have been called his own fon, than the king’s fon; befides, Feconiab who fucceeded him, feems to be his eldeft fon, and yet he now could not be more than twelve years of age; whereas this Ferahmeel mutt be a man grown; and had he been an elder fon, as he mutt, he would. have fucceeded him,. unlefs it ean be thought that he died before his father: and Seraiah the fon of Azriel, and Shelemiah the fon of Abdiel, to take Baruch the. {cribe, and Feremiah the propbet; in order to bring them before the king, or to imprifon them, or put them to death, for which they might have the king’s warrant; the one for prophefying, and the other for writing out and reading his prophecies; tho’ Baruch may be called a fcribe, not for being the amanuenfis of Jeremiah, but becaufe he was one of the fcribes of the law, or doctors of the people: dat she Lord hid them; the princes advifed them to hide themfelves, and they did, very probably in a houfe of fome of their friends; but this would not have been fufficient, had not the Lord took them under ‘ his protection; there was no doubt a fpecial providence concerned for them; but by what means this prefervation was, is not known. Kimchi fuggefts, that thefe meffengers fought fer them in the very place where they were, and could not find them; and conjectures, that the Lord fet darkneis about them, or weakened the vifive faculty of thoie that. fearched for them, that they could not fee
¥.27. Then the word of the Lord came to Feremiah, 8cc.| In the place where he was hid; the Lord knew where he was, for he hid him, and therefore could fend his word to him: after ihe king bad burnt the roll; either with his own hands, or had ordered it to be burnt, or connived at the burning of it: and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Feremiah, hence the Fews * gather, that when a man fees the book of the law burnt, that he is bound to rend his garments twice; once for the burning of the paper or parchment, and again for the burning of the writing; but no other is meant than the roll in which the prophecies were written, Baruch took from the mouth of Feremiab: faying, as follows: v.28. Take thee again another roll, &c.| Or a piece of parchment; or rather feveral pieces. of parchment glued or rolled up together: and write in it all the former words that were in the firft roll, which Fehoiakim the king of Judab hath burnt, juit as when the two tables of the law were broken, two others were made, and the fame laws written on them; and fo here the fame Spirit of God, which brought to the mind of the prophet all his former difcourfes and prophecies, fo that he could readily dictate them to Baruch; could and did renew them again; wherefore Fehoiakim’s burning of the roll fignified nothing: all attempts to deitroy the word of God are in vain; they always have been, and will be; for the word of the Lord endures for ever. ¥.29. And thou fhalt fay to Feboiakim king of Fudab, &c.) Or, concerning him, finee the prophet was hid, and he was in queft of him; nor was it fafe for him to appear in perfen before him; tho’ this may be underftood as what fhould be put into the fecond roll, and in that he addrefled to him: thus faith the Lord, thou haft burnt this rail; or that reli; or had. fuffered or ordered it to be burnt, giving this as a reafon for it: why haf thou therein written; what the king would have. tobe a great falfhood, and which he thought never came from the Lord; but was a device of Jeremiah, to whom he afcribed the writing of them, tho’ it was Baruch’s, becaufe dictated by him: saying, the king of Babylon fhall certainly come and defirey this land, and fhall caufe to cease from thence man and beaft? by killing fome, and carrying off others, fo that the deftruction fhould be complete.. He takes no notice of himfelf and his family, as if his concern was only for the nation; and that he took it ill that any thing fhould be faid which exprefied the ruin. of that, and might difhearten the inhabitants of. it. 1d git Dame mew y..40. Therefore thus faith the Lord, of Feboiakin hing of Judah, &c.} Or, concerning * him; for Jehovah is not here faid to be she Lord of Feb akim, tho’ he was, being King of kings, and of lords; but as fpeaking concerning) An threatning him, as follows: be hall bave none t ‘0 Up OF SEGitioiap fit ~ by de, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator, Coci wit
Sit upon the throne cf David; that is, none of his; iffue that fhould reign after him, or fucceed him in the throne of David, and kingdom of Yudab; for his fon ‘econiah reigned but three months, which is reckoned as nothing, and could not be not alled fitting upon the throne; and befides, was never confirmed by the king of Baédylon, in whofe public notary or feribe of the law, as well as the amanuenfis of the prophet: who wrote therein from the mouth of Feremjah all the words of the book which Fehkoiakim king of Judah had burnt in the fire; one was loft; all were recovered again, thro’ the frefh infpiration of the Holy Spirit, under which Feremiah dictated the felf-fame things in the fame power he was, and by whom he was carried captive; and Zedekrab who followed, was not his lawful fucceffor, was brother to ‘Feboiakim, and uncle to ‘Feconiab, and was fet up by the king of Baby- Jon in contempt of the latter; and as for Zorobabel, he was no king, nor was there any of this family till the Meffiah came: and his dead body foall be caft out tn the day to the beat, and in the night to the frof. The-fenfe is, he fhould have no burial, but that of an afs, ch. xxii: 18,19. fhould be caft into a ditch, and be expofed to the heat of the fun in the day-time, and to nipping frofts at night, and fo putrify and become naufeous; and tho’ the body would be infenfible of it, yet would it be very reproachful to the character of a prince, and fhocking to any to behold; and very difagreeable and dreadful for himfelf to hear and think };
¥.31. And I will punifh him and bis feed, and bis fervants for their iniquity, &c.| In cutting the roll in pieces, and burning it, as Abarbinel interprets it; which either was done by himfelf, or by his order, and with his connivance; and at which perhaps his fons were prefent, and exprefled a plea- {ure in it; and his fervants that ftood by affented to it, excepting three; nor were they afraid of the judgments of God for it, nor in the leaft fhocked at it, ¥. 24,25. tho’ this may be underftood of all their iniquities they had been guilty of, the fingular being put for the plural: and I will bring upon them, and upon the inbabitants of Ferufalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I bave pronounced againft them; the {word, famine and peftilence; the deftruction of their land, city and temple; and their captivity in Babylon: but they hearkened not; to what was faid to them, neither in the firft, nor in the fecond roll.
¥. 32. Lhen took Feremiah another roll, &c,)] Of parchment; feveral fheets joined together, which made up a roll or volume: and gave it to Baruch the fcribe, the fon of Neriah, who was by office a
HIS chapter makes mention of the reign of Zedekiah, and what happened in it; of his meffage to Feremiah, to pray for the kingdom; of the king. of Badylon’s railing the fiege of Ferufalem, on hearing the king of Egypt was coming to its relief; of the affurance the prophet gave that. the Chaldean army would return again, and deftroy the city; of, the prophet’s attempt to depart the city, his imprifonment, converlation with Ledekiab, and his clemeney\to'him, A dhort account is given of Zedekiah, and of the difobedience of him and his people to. theword of the Lord, y.1, 2. of the meflage fent by him to, the prophet to pray for them, y’. 3. the time, when Zeregiak was at liberty, and the fiege of Jeru/alem was taifed,. ¥..4, 5. the.prophet’s anfwer to them from the Lord,.afluring them, the Chaldeans would 4eturp. and burn the city, ¥. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. the prophet attempting to go out of the city is ftopped, and Charged as a delerter to the Chaldeans, is had ~ "'Y Vid. Yalkut & Kimchi in loc.
words to Baruch again; fo that the king got nothing by burning it, but an addition of guilt, and a heavier denunciation of wrath and vengeance, as follows: and there were added befides unto them many like words; of the fame nature and argument, of the threatning kind more efpecially. ‘Ihe Rabbins ¥, who take the roll to be the book of Lamentations, very triflingly obferve, that the firft roll had only the three alphabets, in ch. i. ii, and iv. and that the addition is the treble alphabet, in ch. iii. and the whole of ch.v. Here it may not be amifs to infert the teftimony of Eupolemus *, an Heathen hiftorian, concerning ‘Feremiah and his prophecies in the times of Feboiakim. ‘“* Foachim,
‘* (for fo he calls him) in his times Feremiah the ‘¢ prophet prophefied, being fent of God, to take ‘* the Fews facrificing to a golden idol, called by them Baa/, and to declare unto them the calamity that was coming upon them; but 7oachim would have laid hold on him, and burnt him alive; then he (the prophet) faid that with thofe fticks they fhould prepare food for the Babylonians, and that they fhould dig canals from the Tigris and Euphrates when carried captive 5 wherefore, When Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians heard what was prophefied by Yeremiah, he befought Afibares king of the Medes, to join his forces with him; and having gathered and joined together the Babylonians and Medes, an hundred and eighty thoufand foot, and a hundred. and twenty thoufand horfe, with ten “* thoufand chariots, firft deftroyed Samaria, Ga- “* Jilee, Scythopolis, and the Fews that inhabited ‘© Gilead; and then marched to Ferufalem, and ** took alive Joachim king of the Fews; and having taken out the gold, filver and brafs in the ‘* temple, fent it to Babylon, excepting the ark and ‘** the tables in it, for this remained with Jere- ‘* miah? compare with this ch. xxii. 18. and
before the princes, and beat and imprifoned, y. t1. 12,13, 14, 15. but the king fending for him out of prifon, and having fome private difcourfe with him, upon the prophet’s expoftulation and interceflion, his confinement was mitigated, and bread allowed him, yi 16—21.
_ ¥. w. And king Zedekiab the fon of Fofiah reigned, &e.]. The brother of Feboiakim, whofe untimely death, and want of burial, are prophefied of in the precedirig chapter. The name of Zedekiab was Mattaniab before he was king; his name was changed. by the king of Badylon, who made him king, 2 Kings xxiv. 173 inftead of Coniah the fon of Febviakims the fame with Febsiachim, or Feconiab, called Coniah by way of contempt; he reigned but three months, and fo was not reckoned as a king,, not, being confirmed by the king of Badylon, but was carried captive by him, and his uncle placed in his ftead: whom Nebuchadrezzar Kn of
Babylon made king in the land of Fudah, to whom he became tributary, and fwore homage and fealty, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13.
¥. 2. But neither be, nor his fervants, nor the people of the land, &c.| The king, his courtiers and fubjects; the royal family, nobility and common people; they were all degenerate and corrupt. archi obferves, that Feboiakim was wicked, and his people righteous; and that Zedekiab was righteous, and his people wicked; but he feems to found his chara¢ter on that fingle action of taking Feremiah out of prifon; whereas, according to this account, king and people were all- wicked: for neither one or other did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which be [pake by Feremiah the proplet, neither thofe which were fpoken in the former, nor in the latter part of his reign, concerning the deftruction of the city by the Chaldeans. This fhort account is given to fhew how juft it was to give up fuch a prince and people to ruin.
¥. 3. And Ledekiah the king fent Febucal the fon of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the fon of Maafeiab the prieft, &c.| That is, Zephaniah the prieft, as the accents fhew; tho” his father Maa/feiah was doubtlefs a prieft too; according to the Syriac verfion, both Febucal called Fucal, ch. xxxviii. 1. and Zephaniah were priefts; fince it reads in the plural number, prie/fs: thefe the king fent as meflengers to the prophet Jeremiah, faying, pray for us. ‘This meflage was fent either upon the rumour of the Chaldeans coming againft Ferufalem, as fome think, or rather when it had departed from the city, and was gone to meet the army of the king of Egypt, fo that this petition to the prophet was to pray that the king of Egypt might get the victory over the Chaldean army, and that that might not return unto them. ‘Thus wicked men will defire the prayers of good men in times of diftrefs, when their words, their cautions, admonitions, exhortations, and prayers too, are defpifed by them at another time.
¥. 4. Now Feremiah came in, and went out among the people, &c.} Was at full liberty, and could go out of the city, and come in, when he pleafed, or go into any part of it, and converfe with the people, and prophefy to them; which he could not do in the latter part of ‘feboiakim’s reign, who fent perfons after him and Baruch to take them, and they were obliged to hide themfelves, yea the Lord hid them, ch. xxxvi. 19, 26. but now he was under no reftraint, at leaft as yet: for they bad not put him into prifon, not yet; they afterwards did, ¥. 15.
¥.5. Ihen Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt, &c.] At the time the above meflage was fent to Feremiah. Zedekiab, tho’ he had took an oath of homage to the king of Babylon, rebelled againit him, and entered into a league with the king of Egypt, to whom he fent for fuccours in his diftrefs; and who, according to agreement, fent his army out of Egypt to break up the fiege of Ferufalem 5 for tho’ the king of Egypt came no more in perfon out of his land, after his defeat at Carchemifh by Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Jeboiakim, ch. xlvi. 2. 2 Kings xxiv. 7. yet he fent his army to the relief of Yerufalem: and when the Chaldeans that befieged Ferufalem; which was in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign that they firft befieged it, and is the time here referred to, ch. Xxxix. 1: beard tidings of them, the Egyptian army, of which might be fpread by the Yews themfelves to intimidate them; or which might come to them by {pies they had in all parts to give them intelli+ gence of what was doing; and what they had was good and certain, and on which they acted: they departed from ‘ferufalem; not thro’ fear, but to meet the Egyptian army, and give them battel, - before they could be joined by any confiderable force of the Fews. It was at this time the covenant was broken about the manumiffion of fervants, ch. xxxiv. which conduct ill agrees with their defire of the prophet’s prayer.
¥. 6. Then came the word of the Lord unto the prophet Feremiah, &c.] At the time when the meffengers came to him from the king to pray for them; for the two preceding verfes are to be in cluded in a parenthefis: /aying, as follows: whic is an anfwer to the meflengers.
¥. 7. Thus faith the Lord the God of Ifrael, &c.} Which are the ufual titles and charaéters the Lord takes to himfelf, when he fpake by the prophet; fee ch. xxxiv. 2,13: thus fhall ye fay to the king of Judah, that fent you unto me, to enquire of me in an oracular way; for by. this it feems that they were not only fent to defire the prophet to pray for them, but to obtain an oracle from the Lord, confirming it to them, that the Chaldean army which was gone would not return any more; this they were willing to believe, but wanted to have a confirmation of it from the Lord; and fo the Targum, ‘* to feek an oracle from me;” or to afk inftruction or doctrine from me: now thefe’ meffengers are bid to go back and tell the king, his nobles, and all the people of the land, what follows: behold, Pharaohs army, which is come forth to help you, foall return to Egypt, into their own land, being afraid to face the Chaldean army; or being defeated and driven back by it. Fofepbus * fays, there was a battel fought between the Egyptians and Chaldeans, in which the latter were conquerors, and put the former to flight, and drove them out of all Syria. ‘farchi relates a fable, how that the Egyptian army came by fhips, and that at fea they faw ftrange appearances, upon which they faid one to another, what means this? they replied, thefe are our fathers, whom the fathers of thofe we are going to help, drowned in the fea; and immediately returned to their own land. |
¥. 8. And the Chaldeans fhall come again, &c.] To Ferufalem, after they have defeated or drove back the Egyptian army: and fight againft this city; with frefh vigour and refolution; being exafperated by the methods taken to oblige them to raife the. fiege: and take it, and burn it with fire, as they did, ch. xxxix. 8.
¥. 9. Thus faith the Lord, deceive not yourfelves, &c.] Or, your fouls, with a falfe opinion, a vain perfuafion and belief of the departure of the Chaldeans never to return; which they would have con-. firmed by the Lord: or, ift not up your fouls”; with vain hopes of the above things: felf or fouldeception is a dreadful thing; and fad is the difappointment, when men are elated with a falfe and vain hope: /aying, the Chaldeans foall furely depart from us; they had departed from Ferujalem; but they were perfuaded they would depart out of the land of Fudea, and go into theirown land, the land of Babylon, from whence they came, and — never return more: for they fhall not ¢; out of the land of Fudea, into their own land; at leaft and of its coming out againft them; the rumour [n ot till they had done the work they were fent about. _
Do wds wen by ne efferatis animas veftras, Tigurine verfion, Calvin 5 a;
y¥.10. For tho’ ye had fmiiten the whole army of yr 3. And when be was in the gate of Benjamin, the Chaldeans that fight againft you, &c.] Suppofing the whole army of the Chg/deans had been vanquifhed and flain by the Egyptians, the confe- _derates of the ews; or fhould they be flain by ‘them in a fecond fiege of them, excepting a few next mentioned: and there remained but wounded men among them, and fuppofing that thofe of them that were left, that were not flain, were every one of them wounded men, ‘and fo difabled for fighting, as might be thought: yet /hould they rife up every man in bis tent; where he was fmitten, and lay wounded; or where he was carried to be cured of his wounds; fuch fhould rife up like perfons from the dead almoft, and fight with fuch ftrength and fpirit, that they fhould foon take the city, tho’ in fuch a condition: and burn this city with fire, this being a thing determined by the Lord, and nothing fhould hinder it; for it matters not what the inftruments are, tho’ ever fo impotent and difabled, they fhall do the work allotted to them. Wherefore all the hopes of the ews, founded upon the departure of the Chaldean army, were vain ones.
¥. 11. And it came to pafs, that when the army of the Chaldeans were broken up from Ferufalem, &c.
When the fiege of the city was broken up and raifed: or, when they went up from Ferufalem*; were gone from it: for fear of Pharaoh’s army; or rather, becaufe of Pharaob’s army *. The word fear is not in the text; nor did they leave Feru/a- Jem for fear of his army, but to meet it, and give it battel, as they did; however, by this means there was a freer egrefs and regrefs from and to the city.
y. 12. Then Jeremiah went forth out of Ferufalem, &c.] At leaft he attempted to do fo, taking the opportunity of the fiege of the city being broke up: what were his reafons for it, are not certain; whether that he might not be put into prifon, which he might fear for what he had juft prophefied of concerning the return of the Chaldean army, that fhould take the city, and burn it; or to fave himfelf from the deftruétion which he was fure would come upon it; or becaufe he found he could do no good by his preaching and prophefying in it: however his view was fo go into the land of Benjamin; his native country, the tribe he belonged to; and very likely to Anathoth in that tribe, where he was born, and had lived. Fofephbus * is exprefs for it, which he fays was twenty furlongs from Ferufalem: to feparate himfelf thence in the midft of the people; or, to flip away thence in the midft of the people‘; the fiege being raifed, the people that had fled to Feru/falem for fafety, crouded out again to go into their own countries, which the prophet thought to take the advantage of, and flip away in a crowd unobferved; tho’ the words may be rendered, to take part from thence in the midft of the people*, either to take part of the fpoil left there by the Chaldean army; or with the priefts there, of what belonged to them, of whofe number he was, ch.i.1. The Targum is, ‘ to «¢ divide an inheritance which he had there in the «< midft of the people;” and to the fame fenfe are the Vulgate Latin and Syriac verfions *,
&c.] One of the gates of the city {0 called, either becaufe it ftood in the tribe of Benjamin, as part of Ferufalem did, or because it led to the land of Benjamin, whither the prophet was going: and juft as he had got to that gate, and was going thro’ it, he was ftopped by a captain of the ward there; who was placed at this gate, that none fhould go out to the Chaldeans, according to Kimchi; but rather he was the keeper of the gate, not at. this time only, but always; Fo/epbus ‘ calls him one of the rulers: whofe mame was Irijab, the fon of Shelemiah, the fon of Hananiah, the grandfon, as fomesthink, of that Hananiab the falfe prophet, of whofe death Yeremiab the prophet prophefied, ch. XXviii. and the ews have a tradition, that Hananiab ordered his fon Shelemiah, that if he ever had an opportunity to bring Feremich_to ruin, to do it; and the fame charge Shelemiah gave to his fon Irijah, who having this opportunity, laid hold on him; Farchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, make mention of it: and he took Feremiah the prophet, fay: ing, thou falleft away to the Chaldeans, it looks as if, tho’ he might not have a family-grudge againft him, as the Fews fuggeft, yet had an hatred of him for his prophecies, and therefore fixes this calumny on him; for otherwife, why did he fuffer the people to pafs in great numbers without any fuch charge? ¥. 14. Then faid Feremiab, it is falfe, &c.] Or a falfbood *; as undoubtedly it was; for the Chaidean army was gone from the city; nor did Feremiab like {fo well to be with an idolatrous people; for after the city was taken, when Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard gave him his choice, either to go with him to Babylon, where he promifed to take care of him; or to go to Gedaliah, who was made governor of Yudah; he chofe rather to be with him, and his poor company: dut he hearkened not to him; would not hear his defence, or however would not give any credit to it, being unwilling to let flip this opportunity of doing him ill-will: fo Irijab took Feremiah, and brought him to the princes; the princes of Zedekiab’s court, or the princes of the people, the civil magiftrates; or it may be the great Sanbedrim, who he knew had no good difpofition towards the prophet, ¥.15. Wherefore the princes were wroth with Feremiah, &c.] For attempting to depart the city, and go off to the Chaldeans, as Irijab had fuggefted to them, and to whom they hearkened; and perhaps would not hear what the prophet had to fay for himfelf, and if they did, it had no weight with ‘ them: and fmote him; either with their fifts, or with rods, or a fcourge; perhaps he underwent the punifhment of forty ftripes fave one, according to the law; and they may be faid to fmite or beat him, becaufe they ordered it to be done: and put him in prifon, in the houfe of ‘Fonathan the fcribe; or fecretary of ftate; fuch an one as Lli/hama was in ‘feboiakim’s time, who had an houfe or apartment at court as he had, who was now dead or removed, ch. xxxvi. 12: for they had made that the prifon, which had not ufed to be; but by the courtiers, and with the confent of this fcribe, fecretary, or chancellor, it was made a prifon; not for common male- malefactors, but for ftate-prifoners; and a bad prifon it feems it was. Very probably this fcribe was a very cruel wicked man, who ufed thofe very ill that were his prifoners; and indeed, if he had not been of fuch a character, he would fcarcely - have fuffered his houfe to have been made a prifon.. yt, 16. When Feremiah was entered into the dungeon, &c.] Or, into the houfe of the pit'; a dungeon, like a pit or ditch, dark, dirty, or difmal: and intoithe cabins; or cells ™; into.a place more inward than the cells, as the Targum; into the innermoft and worft part in all the prifon, where a man could not well lic, fit, nor ftand: and Feremiab had remained there many days; in this very uncomfortable condition;..very probably. till the Chaldean army returned to Yeru/alem, as he foretold it fhould.: 5 te ¥. 17. Then Zedekiab the king fent and took bim out, &c.] After Feremiah had been in prifon for fome time; and the Chaldean army being returned, and having renewed their fiege, the king is frightned; and knowing the prophet was in prifon, fends a meffenger to take him out from thence, and bring him to him; which was accordingly done: and the king afked him fecretly in his houfe; he took him into fome private apartment, and there alone conferred with him, for fear of his princes and courtiers; who he knew bore no goodwill to the prophet, and would be ready to charge him with timidity; and faid unto him, is there any word from the Lord? he means any particular word of prophecy, any late one, and what concerned their prefent circumftances, fhewing what would be the iffue of the return of the Chaldean army; for prophecy did not come at all times, nor even according to the will of man, but always according to the will of God, and when he thought fit; this the king knew very well, and he wanted a comfortable word, fome good news of the unfuccefsfulnefs of the prefent attempt: aud Feremiah faid, there is; but not fuch an one as he wanted; it was of the fame ftrain with the former, and confirmed all that the prophet had from time to time told him and his predeceffor, what would certainly be the cafe: for, faid he, thou fhalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon; which was boldly and faithfully faid, to be faid to the face of the king himfelf, rifquing his life in fo doing; or, at leaft, expofing himfelf to feverer treatment, if feverer could be ufed. ¥. 18. Moreover, Feremiah faid unto king Zedekiah, &c.] Having this opportunity with him alone, and perhaps obferving the king was melted and foftened with what he had faid; however, finding liberty in his own mind, he enlarges his difcourfe, and freely expoftulates with him in the following manner: what have I offended againft thee, or againft thy fervants, or againft this people, that ye have put me in prifon? or, what have I finned? what fin have I been guilty of? have I been guilty of treafon againft thee, O king? or of fcandal and defamation of any of thy nobles and courtiers? have I done any injury to any of the king’s fubjects? has there been any falfhood in my prophecies? has not every thing appeared to be true that I have fpoken, concerning the coming of the Chaldeans to invade the land, and befiege the city? and concerning the return of the Chaldean army when broken up? why then fhould I be caft into
AMA MS bs in, vel ad domum Jaci, in cellulas illius, Junius & Tremellius, prifon, and detained there? is it not a clear oe that what I have faid comes from the Lord?. and therefore ought not to be, ufed in this man- NER, 5). «. vidas ¥..19, Where are now your prophets that prophe- Jied unio you, &c.} Your falfe prophets, as the Targum, what’s become of their prophecies? where’s the truth of thém, to which general eredit has been given? where are they? let them pear and defend themfelves if they can, fromthe charge of lying, and of, being falfe prophets? Or where are they? tacitly fuggefting the, different circumftances of him and. them; he, who was a. true prophet, was laid in.a prifon; they, who were falfe prophets, were carefled in the palaces of the king and his nobles, and in favour with the; people in general; /aying, the king of Babylon foall not come againft you, nor againft this land? gaye out that the. king of Bady/on would never invade the land of Judea, or befiege the city of Jerusalem, which proved falfe; and. ftill they had the front to fay, that when the fiege was. raifed, he would never come again; whereas he was then. returned to it, and was now befieging it; fo that here were notorious falfhoods delivered out by them...
¥.20. Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O. my lord the king, &c.]. When the prophet. fpoke. in the name of the Lord, and the fant of the Lord, it was with great boldnefs and majefty; but when he fpoke for himfelf, and on his own behalf, it was with great fubmiffion, as it became a fuubject to his king; and whom he owns as his fovereign lord, tho’ a wicked prince, and whofe deftruction he knew was at hand: let my fupplication be accepted before thee; or, fall before thee, fee ch. xxxvi. 7. which was as follows: that thou caufe me not to return to the boufe of Fonathan the feribe; but that he might be difcharged from his confinement; or however be removed into another prifon, not fo uncomfortable and difagreeable as this man’s houfe or prifon was; and which perhaps was ftill the worfe thro’ his cruel and ill-natured carriage to him; and which all together endangered his life: wherefore he adds, /e/ J die there; tor tho’ he had continued there many days, yet the place was io exceedingly noifome, that he thought he could not long continue there, was he remanded back to it.
¥.21. Then Zedekiab the king commanded that they foould commit Feremiah. into the court of the prifon, &c.| He did not think fit. to difcharge him entirely, left it fhould give offence to the princes, who had committed him; but he ordered — him to be put in a court belonging to the prifon, where he might breathe in a freer air, and have liberty of walking to and fro, where his friends might be admitted to come and fee him; and that they foould give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers fireet., it feems there was a ftreet in Ferufalem fo called, where the bakers lived, and perhaps the king’s bakers; who had orders t en liver to the prophet every day a piece or loaf of bread, as much as was fufficient for 1.5... however, as much as the fcarcity of provilion a fiege would allow. Kimchi makes mentic Midrafb, which. interprets. this of bread: mac bran, which was fold without the palac i was coarfer bread than what was ea rt til all the bread in the city was fd r: ro hele were