Jeremiah 22:16 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.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy,.... Who could not defend themselves against the rich and the mighty; he took their cause in hand, and, having heard it, determined it in their favour, and did them justice, as princes and civil magistrates ought to do: then it was well with him; this is repeated, not only to show the certainty of it, but that it might be observed, and his example followed: was not this to know me? saith the Lord; it is not by words only, but by deeds, that men show that they know the Lord; for some in words profess to know him, who in works deny him; when princes do the duty of their office, they thereby declare that they know and own the Lord, by, and under whom, they reign; that they have the fear of him before their eyes; this is a practical knowledge of him, and is well pleasing to him. The Targum is, "is not this the knowledge with which I am well pleased? saith the Lord.''

(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.

was not this to know me--namely, to show by deeds that one knows God's will, as was the case with Josiah (compare Joh 13:17; contrast Tit 1:16).

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.