Jeremiah 28:11 Komentář

In the foregoing chapter Jeremiah had charged those prophets with lies who foretold the speedy breaking of the yoke of the king of Babylon and the speedy return of the vessels of the sanctuary; how here we have his contest with a particular prophet upon those heads. I. Hananiah, a pretender to prophecy, in contradiction to Jeremiah, foretold the sinking of Nebuchadnezzar's power and the return both of the persons and of the vessels that were carried away (Jer 28:1-4), and, as a sing of this, he broke the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah (Jer 28:10, Jer 28:11). II. Jeremiah wished his words might prove true, but appealed to the event whether they were so or no, not doubting but that would disprove them (Jer 28:5-9). III. The doom both of the deceived and the deceiver is here read. The people that were deceived should have their yoke of wood turned into a yoke of iron (Jer 28:12-14), and the prophet that was the deceiver should be shortly cut off by death, and he was so, accordingly, within two months (Jer 28:15-17).

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 28 Thus chapter relates a false prophecy of Hananiah, who broke off the yoke from Jeremiah; but in return the people are threatened with an iron yoke, and he with death; which came to pass. The time, place, and substance of his prophecy, are in Jer 28:1; Jeremiah's answer to it, Jer 28:5; Hananiah breaks Jeremiah's yoke, and explains the meaning of it to the people, Jer 28:10; Jeremiah prophesies that iron yokes should be given instead of wooden ones, Jer 28:12; and foretells the death of the false prophet, Jer 28:15.

And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people,.... Explaining to them his meaning, in taking the yoke, and breaking it: saying, thus saith the Lord; wickedly making use of the Lord's name, to give countenance to his words and actions: even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations, within the space of two full years; the time he had fixed for the bringing back of the vessels of the sanctuary, Jer 28:3; and the prophet Jeremiah went his way; showing thereby his dissent from him, and his dislike and detestation of his lies and blasphemies; patiently bearing his affronts and insolence; and prudently withdrawing to prevent riots and tumults; returning no answer till he had received one from the Lord himself, which he quickly had.

About four hundred years have passed since the preaching of Christ burst on the world, and during that time in which his robe has been torn by countless heresies, almost the whole body of error has been derived from the Chaldaean, Syriac and Greek languages. Basilides, the master of licentiousness and the grossest sensuality, after the lapse of so many years and like a second Euphorbus, was changed by transmigration into Jovinian, so that the Latin tongue might have a heresy of its own. Was there no other province in the whole world to receive the gospel of pleasure and into which the serpent might insinuate itself, except that which was founded by the teaching of Peter, on the rock Christ? Idol temples had fallen before the standard of the cross and the severity of the gospel. Now, on the contrary, lust and gluttony endeavor to overthrow the solid structure of the cross. And so God says by Isaiah, “O my people, they which bless you cause you to err, and trouble the paths of your feet.” Also by Jeremiah, “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every one his life,” and do not believe the false prophets who say, “Peace, peace, and there is no peace,” who are always repeating, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.” “Your prophets have foreseen false and foolish things for you. They have not exposed your iniquity in order to call you to repentance. They devour God’s people like bread. They have not called on God. Jeremiah announced the captivity and was stoned by the people. Hananiah, the son of Azzur, broke the bars of wood for the present but was preparing bars of iron for the future. False prophets always promise pleasant things and please for a time. Truth is bitter, and those preaching it are filled with bitterness. For with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth the Lord’s Passover is kept, and it is eaten with bitter herbs.

(Verse 10, 11) And Ananias the prophet took a chain (or a yoke, which in Hebrew is called Mutoth) from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, and broke it. And Ananias said in the presence of all the people, saying: Thus says the Lord: I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, within two years from the necks of all nations. And Jeremiah went his way (The Vulgate adds prophet). The Seventy did not transfer two years. Moreover, they did not call Ananias a prophet, lest they seem to be calling someone a prophet who was not a prophet. It is as if not many things are said in the holy Scriptures, according to the opinion of that time in which the events are recounted, and not according to what the truth of the matter contained. Finally, even Joseph is called the father of the Lord in the Gospel, and Mary herself, who knew that she had conceived by the Holy Spirit, and she had responded to the angel: 'How will this be, since I do not know a man?' (Luke 1:34). He speaks to the Son: Son, what have you done to us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow. At the same time, the prudence of Jeremiah, and humility, and patience must be considered. The false prophet does wrong things, and crushes the snatched club from his neck, which he certainly could not do with an iron one. He is silent, and disguises his pain: for the Lord had not yet revealed to him what he should speak. As the holy Scripture shows, prophets do not speak by their own will alone, but by the will of the Lord, especially about the future, of which only God has knowledge. He left, he said, and went on his way, as if defeated, and fulfilling that prophecy: I have become like a deaf man, and like a man who does not have reproofs in his mouth.

The Septuagint does not translate “two years,” nor does it call Hananiah a “prophet,” lest it appear to name someone a prophet who was in fact no prophet, as if not many persons in sacred Scripture were named in accordance with the opinion of the time in which they lived or according to the truth of the matter. But Joseph is called the father of the Lord. And Mary, who knew that she had conceived by the Holy Spirit (responding to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”), asked her son, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Your father and I have been looking for you desperately.” The prudence, humility and patience of Jeremiah must also be considered. When the pseudo-prophet damaged and broke the yoke around Jeremiah’s neck, which he was not able to do with iron, Jeremiah remained silent and concealed his pain. For what he should say was not yet revealed to him by the Lord, so that sacred Scripture would demonstrate tacitly that a prophet never speaks only on his own decision but also by the will of the Lord, most especially regarding future events, which are known to God alone. Jeremiah departed, it says, and went on his way as though he were well, thus fulfilling the prophecy: “I have become like a person who hears nothing and has no rebukes in his mouth.”

(Ver. 2 and following) And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Ananias the prophet broke the chain (or yoke) from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying: Go and tell Ananias, this is what the Lord says: You have broken the wooden chains (or yokes), and I will make iron yokes in their place. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations, so they will serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. And what follows: 'And they shall serve him, and the beasts of the earth I have given to him. But in the present place, according to the Septuagint, Ananias the prophet is not written, and in the following, lest they should seem to call a false prophet a prophet. But what about the Hebrew truth? After Jeremiah the prophet went on his way and swallowed up the injury in silence, the word of the Lord came to him, so that he would not speak in his own words to the false prophet boasting in lies; but he should say: thus says the Lord: even though Ananias, breaking the wooden yoke, spoke with the same authority in the presence of the Lord: thus says the Lord.' For falsehood always imitates the truth. And that which it has brought in: You have shattered wooden forks, and instead of them have made iron chains, shows this, that, rejecting the lesser punishment, it was for the sake of a greater penalty among the people. The allegorical interpreter also raves in this passage, calling the wooden forks and chains, ethereal and airy bodies, namely, of demons and adverse powers. But the wooden forks or iron chains, are our grosser bodies, which are woven together with nerves and bones and flesh and veins, so that those who do not wish to undergo lesser tortures for the quality of their sin may be condemned to the chains of our bodies; and they may endure the wailing of infancy, the bonds of swaddling clothes, and filth; and may serve the devil, the king of Babylon, that is, of this world, as the Scripture says: The world is set in the wicked one (1 John 5:19), with the beasts of the earth, which are linked to the bodies of brute animals. An uneducated handler compelled me, and a follower of Grunnius' slander openly presents the faults of others, which I previously spoke of with pretense, abandoning the discretion of the reader.

PROPHECIES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THOSE IN THE TWENTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER. HANANIAH BREAKS THE YOKES TO SIGNIFY THAT NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S YOKE SHALL BE BROKEN. JEREMIAH FORETELLS THAT YOKES OF IRON ARE TO SUCCEED THOSE OF WOOD, AND THAT HANANIAH SHALL DIE. (Jer. 28:1-17) in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah--The Jews often divided any period into two halves, the beginning and the end. As Zedekiah reigned eleven years, the fourth year would be called the beginning of his reign, especially as during the first three years affairs were in such a disturbed state that he had little power or dignity, being a tributary; but in the fourth year he became strong in power. Hananiah--Another of this name was one of the three godly youths who braved Nebuchadnezzar's wrath in the fear of God (Dan 1:6-7; Dan 3:12). Probably a near relation, for Azariah is associated with him; as Azur with the Hananiah here. The godly and ungodly are often in the same family (Eze 18:14-20). Gibeon--one of the cities of the priests, to which order he must have belonged.

neck of all nations--opposed to Jer 27:7.

Against the False Prophet Hananiah. - Jer 28:1-4. This man's prophecy. At the same time, namely in the fourth year of Zedekiah (cf. rem. on Jer 27:1. The Chet. בּשׁנת is supported by Jer 46:2 and Jer 51:59; the Keri בּשּׁנה is an unnecessary alteration), in the fifth month, spake Hananiah the son of Azur, - a prophet not otherwise known, belonging to Gibeon, a city of the priests (Jos 21:17; now Jib, a large village two hours north-west of Jerusalem; see on Jos 9:3), possibly therefore himself a priest - in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and people assembled there, saying: Jer 28:2. "Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: I break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Jer 28:3. Within two years I bring again into this place the vessels of the house of Jahveh, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. Jer 28:4. And Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, bring I again to this place, saith Jahveh; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." - The false prophet endeavours to stamp on his prediction the impress of a true, God-inspired prophecy, by copying the title of God, so often used by Jeremiah, "Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel," and by giving the utmost definiteness to his promise: "within two years" (in contrast to Jeremiah's seventy years). "Two years" is made as definite as possible by the addition of ימים: two years in days, i.e., in two full years.See on Gen 41:1; Sa2 13:23.