Jeremiah 22:15 Komentář

Upon occasion of the message sent in the foregoing chapter to the house of the king, we have here recorded some sermons which Jeremiah preached at court, in some preceding reigns, that it might appear they had had fair warning long before that fatal sentence was pronounced upon them, and were put in a way to prevent it. Here is, I. A message sent to the royal family, as it should seem in the reign of Jehoiakim, relating partly to Jehoahaz, who was carried away captive into Egypt, and partly to Jehoiakim, who succeeded him and was now upon the throne. The king and princes are exhorted to execute judgment, and are assured that, if they did so, the royal family should flourish, but otherwise it should be ruined (Jer 22:1-9). Jehoahaz, called here Shallum, is lamented (Jer 22:10-12). Jehoiakim is reproved and threatened (Jer 22:13-19). II. Another message sent them in the reign of Jehoiachin (alias, Jeconiah) the son of Jehoiakim. He is charged with an obstinate refusal to hear, and is threatened with destruction, and it is foretold that in him Solomon's house should fail (Jer 22:20-30).

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 22 This chapter is a prophecy of what should befall the sons of Josiah, Jehoahaz or Shallum; Jehoiakim and Jeconiah. It begins with an exhortation to the then reigning prince, Jehoiakim, his family and court, to do justice, relieve the oppressed, and refrain from doing injury to any; with a promise of prosperity upon so doing, Jer 22:1; but, on the contrary behaviour, the king's family, however precious they had been in the sight of the Lord, should be destroyed, by persons described as fit for such work, which would occasion others to inquire the cause of such destruction; when it would be told them, it was for their apostasy from the Lord, their breaking covenant with him, and their idolatry, Jer 22:5; then of Shallum, who was then carried captive, it is predicted that he should never return more, which was matter of greater lamentation than the death of his father Josiah, Jer 22:10; next Jehoiakim, the present king on the throne, is reproved, and a woe denounced upon him for his injustice, luxury, covetousness, rapine, and murders, Jer 22:13; and it is particularly threatened that he should die unlamented, and have no burial, Jer 22:18; and then the people of the land are called upon to mourning and lamentation, their kings one after another being carried captive, Jer 22:20; also Jeconiah the king's son, and who succeeded him, is threatened with rejection from the Lord, and a delivery of him up into the hand of the king of Babylon, with exile in a strange country, and death there, and that without children; so that Solomon's line should cease in him, Jer 22:24.

Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar?.... Dost thou think that thou shalt reign long, and thy throne be established firm and secure, because of thy cedar wainscot? as if that was a protection to thee, and were like the fortifications of a city or tower; when it may easily be broke to pieces, or burnt with fire; and must be a poor defence against a powerful enemy. The Targum is, "dost thou think to be as the first king?'' as David; to be as great a prince, to keep as grand a court, and live in as splendid a manner, as he? The Septuagint version, instead of "ares", a cedar, reads "Ahaz", and takes it for the proper name of a king of Judah; and the Arabic version reads "Ahab"; and so the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint; and both confound it with the next clause; the former rendering the words thus, "shalt thou reign, that thou provokest in", or "after the manner of Ahaz thy father?" and the latter thus, "thou shalt not reign, because thou imitatest the original of Ahab thy father;'' but both wrong; though Grotius seems to approve of this reading: did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? that is, Josiah his father, who ate and drank in moderation, and lived cheerfully and comfortably; and kept a good table like a prince, without such a magnificent palace as he, his son, had built; and without oppressing his subjects, and detaining the hire of the labourer: living in a grand manner, becoming a king, may be done consistent with doing justice and judgment; let but that be done, and a prince will not be blamed for living like himself, and for supporting the dignity of his character and office, as Josiah did: and then it was well with him; or, "therefore it was well with him" (u) he was blessed of God, and was prosperous and successful; he was happy himself as a prince, and his people under him, both enjoying peace and prosperity; there are never better times than when justice is done; by it the throne is established. (u) "ideo bene fuit ei"; so Noldius renders the particle, Concord. Par. Ebr. p. 7.

(Verse 12 and following) Woe to him who builds his house with injustice, and his upper rooms without justice. He oppresses his neighbor in vain, and does not pay him his wages. He says, 'I will build for myself a spacious house with large upper rooms.' He opens windows for himself, and makes it with cedar and paints it with vermilion. Are you going to reign because you have luxury? Didn't your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice when he was prospering? He judged the cause of the poor and needy for their own good: did he not do so because he knew me? says the Lord. But your eyes and heart are set on greed, on shedding innocent blood, on deceit, and on pursuing evil. LXX: O you who build your house without justice, and your upper rooms without judgment! Your neighbor works for him for nothing, and does not receive wages. You built for yourself a small house, upper rooms with open windows, and paneled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Will you reign because you contend against your father Achaz? They shall not eat, and they shall not drink. It would have been better for you to do judgment and good justice; they have not known, they have not judged the judgment of the humble, nor the judgment of the poor. Is it not to ignore me? says the Lord. Behold, your eyes are not straight, nor is your heart good, but for your greed, and to shed innocent blood, and to wickedness and murder, to do these things. I have presented both editions in their entirety, so that both the Hebrew truth and the difficulty of the Vulgate edition can be more easily understood. This is a discourse against Jehoiakim, the son of King Josiah of Judah, about whom we spoke earlier, whom Neco Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, made ruler in place of his brother Jehoahaz, whom he took captive to Egypt. However, we read in the histories of both Kings and Chronicles (2 Kings 23-24, 2 Chronicles 36) that Jehoiakim reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years, and he reigned cruelly and became impious, and afterwards he died. Yet, the Scripture does not mention his burial, even though it is customary for the holy Scriptures to mention all the kings who died and were buried. But he specifically narrates about this dead and unburied man, about whom we will speak in the later parts. Therefore, the aforementioned king laments because he trusts in injustice and thinks it is his perpetual royal dignity. He makes for himself chambers and oppresses his friends, and he does not give them their due wages for their work, and he believes it is the eternal construction of his palace. Can you, the divine word says, reign forever because you desire to be compared to the lofty cedar, namely your father Josiah, the righteous king? Father, he says, both ate and drank, and enjoyed royal wealth, yet he did not offend God because he had riches, but he pleased Him because he administered justice and righteousness. And therefore, both in the present age and in the future, it went well with him, and will continue to do so. He judged the case of the poor and needy, and for their relief he heard them, and for his own good. But all these things happened to him prosperously because he knew me, says the Lord. But truly, O Joacim, your eyes turn towards greed, and you shed innocent blood, towards slander, and towards the path of evil deeds. However, according to the Septuagint, I cannot understand what meaning they have. For although the other parts somewhat agree with each other, that which is inferred: Will you reign because you strive against your father Achaz? for which in Hebrew it is written 'Araz', and here the word signifies a cedar, it is clear that it has no meaning. Also what follows: They shall not eat and they shall not drink, and the other things that are so scattered and confused among themselves, that they have no understanding without the truth of Hebrew reading. However, we can understand this place against the heretics in a mystical sense, who build for themselves a not great house, and not a very abundant Church, but a small one. However, they build not with righteousness and judgment, desiring to plunder what belongs to others. Where it is said: You have built for yourself a small house, with low-roofed chambers, which are surrounded by every wind of doctrine, and distinguished by windows: for they do not have a permanent structure, nor solid stability. And it is adorned, he says, with cedar. Indeed, they seem to have a most beautiful adornment; but they quickly rot and collapse in rains and storms of persecution. And they are painted with red lead. And they indeed participate in the suffering of the Lord, and they are stained with his blood; but they do not reign forever, because they strive and provoke to anger Araz, that is, their father cedar. For every heretic is born in the Church, but is expelled from the Church, and contends and fights against the parent. And what he brings in is understood to be the Body and Blood of the Savior, and other things similar to these. And he says that every error descends from this, namely, that they have ignored God, and do not have upright eyes, but their heart is inclined to greed so that they may plunder what belongs to others, and shed the blood of the deceived. This is indeed committing murder. The obscure things need to be discussed more extensively.

EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE; JUDGMENT ON SHALLUM, JEHOIAKIM, AND CONIAH. (Jer. 22:1-30) Go down--The temple (where Jeremiah had been prophesying) was higher than the king's palace on Mount Zion (Jer 36:10, Jer 36:12; Ch2 23:20). Hence the phrase, "Go down." the king of Judah--perhaps including each of the four successive kings, to whom it was consecutively addressed, here brought together in one picture: Shallum, Jer 22:11; Jehoiakim, Jer 22:13-18; Jeconiah, Jer 22:24; Zedekiah, the address to whom (Jer 21:1, Jer 21:11-12) suggests notice of the rest.

closest thyself--rather, "thou viest," that is, art emulous to surpass thy forefathers in the magnificence of thy palaces. eat and drink--Did not Josiah, thy father, enjoy all that man really needs for his bodily wants? Did he need to build costly palaces to secure his throne? Nay, he did secure it by "judgment and justice"; whereas thou, with all thy luxurious building, sittest on a tottering throne. then--on that account, therefore.

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 (Jer 22:10-12), 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 (Jer 22:13-19). Then, after a threatening against Jerusalem (Jer 22:20-23), 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 (Jer 22:24-30). 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 Jer 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 Jer 22:10 and Jer 22:13-17, that the portion of the discourse addressed to Jehoiakim was uttered in the first year of his reign; and from Jer 22:24, 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. Jer 22:17 with Jer 22:3). 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.

In Jer 22:15 Jeremiah pursues the subject: kingship and kingcraft do not consist in the erection of splendid palaces, but in the administration of right and justice. The reproachful question התמלך has not the meaning: wilt thou reign long? or wilt thou consolidate thy dominion? but: dost thou suppose thyself to be a king, to show thyself a king, if thy aim and endeavour is solely fixed on the building of a stately palace? "Viest," as in Jer 12:5. בּארז, not: with the cedar, for תחרה is construed with the accus. of that with which one vies, but: in cedar, i.e., in the building of cedar palaces. It was not necessary to say with whom he vied, since the thought of Solomon's edifices would suggest itself. The lxx have changed בארז by a pointless quid pro quo into באחז, ἐν ̓́Αχαζ, for which Cod. Alex. and Arabs have ἐν ̓Αχαάβ. The fact that Ahab had built a palace veneered with ivory (Kg1 22:39) is not sufficient to approve this reading, which Ew. prefers. Still less cause is there to delete בארז as a gloss (Hitz.) in order to obtain the rendering, justified neither by grammar nor in fact, "if thou contendest with thy father." To confirm what he has said, the prophet sets before the worthless king the example of his godly father Josiah. "Thy father, did not he eat and drink," i.e., enjoy life (cf. Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:13)? yet at the same time he administered right and justice, like his forefather David; Sa2 8:15. Then went it well with him and the kingdom. אז, Jer 22:16, is wider than אז טו: in respect that he did justice to the poor and wretched, things went well, were well managed in the kingdom at large. In so doing consists "the knowing of me." The knowledge of Jahveh is the practical recognition of God which is displayed in the fear of God and a pious life. The infinitive nomin. דּעת has the article because a special emphasis lies on the word (cf. Ew. 277, c), the true knowledge of God required to have stress laid on it. - But Jehoiakim is the reverse of his father. This thought, lying in Jer 22:16, is illustrated in Jer 22:17. For thine eyes are set upon nothing but gain. בּצע, gain with the suggestion of unrighteousness about it, cf. Jer 6:13; Jer 8:10. His whole endeavour was after wealth and splendour. The means of attaining this aim was injustice, since he not only withheld their wages from his workers (Jer 22:13), but caused the innocent to be condemned in the judgment that he might grasp their goods to himself, as e.g., Ahab had done with Naboth. He also put to death the prophets who rebuked his unrighteousness, Jer 26:23, and used every kind of lawless violence. "Oppression" is amplified by המרוּצה (from רצץ, cf. Deu 28:33; Sa1 12:3), crushing, "what we call flaying people" (Hitz.); cf. on this subject, Mic 3:3.