Jeremiah 52:16 Komentář

History is the best expositor of prophecy; and therefore, for the better understanding of the prophecies of this book which relate to the destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah, we are here furnished with an account of that sad event. It is much he same with the history we had 2 Kings 24 and 25, and many of the particulars we had before in that book, but the matter is here repeated and put together, to give light to the book of the Lamentations, which follows next, and to serve as a key to it. That article in the close concerning the advancement of Jehoiachin in his captivity, which happened after Jeremiah's time, gives colour to the conjecture of those who suppose that this chapter was not written by Jeremiah himself, but by some man divinely inspired among those in captivity, for a constant memorandum to those who in Babylon preferred Jerusalem above their chief joy. In this chapter we have, I. The bad reign of Zedekiah, very bad in regard both of sin and of punishment (Jer 52:1-3). II. The besieging and taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Jer 52:4-7). III. The severe usage which Zedekiah and the princes met with (Jer 52:8-11). IV. The destruction of the temple and the city (Jer 52:12-14). V. The captivity of the people (Jer 52:15, Jer 52:16) and the numbers of those that were carried away into captivity (Jer 52:28-30). VI. The carrying off of the plunder of the temple (Jer 52:17-23). VII. The slaughter of the priests, and some other great men, in cold blood (Jer 52:24-27). VIII. The better days which king Jehoiachin lived to see in the latter end of his time, after the death of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:31-34).

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 52 This chapter contains the history of the besieging, taking, and destroying of Jerusalem; the moving cause of it, the wicked reign of Zedekiah, Jer 52:1; the instruments of it, the king of Babylon and his army, which besieged and took it, Jer 52:4; into whose hands the king of Judah, his sons, and the princes of Judah, fell; and were very barbarously and cruelly used by them, Jer 52:8. Then follows an account of the burning of the temple, the king's palace, and the houses in Jerusalem, and the breaking down of the walls of it, Jer 52:12; and of those that were carried captive, and of those that were left in the land by Nebuzaradan, Jer 52:15; and of the several vessels and valuable things in the temple, of gold, silver, and brass, it was plundered of, and carried to Babylon, Jer 52:17; and of the murder of several persons of dignity and character, Jer 52:24; and of the number of those that were carried captive at three different times, Jer 52:28; and the chapter is concluded with the exaltation of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and of the good treatment he met with from the king of Babylon to the day of his death, Jer 52:31.

Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord,.... The two pillars in the temple, called Jachin and Boaz, which were made of cast brass, Kg1 7:15; and the bases; which were in number ten, and which were also made of cast brass, and were all of one measure and size; and on which the ten lavers of brass were set, five on the right side and five on the left side of the house, Kg1 7:37; and the brasen sea that was in the house of the Lord; called the molten sea; a sea, because of the large quantity of water it held; and brasen and molten, because made of molten brass, Kg1 7:23; the Chaldeans broke, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon: they broke them to pieces, that they might carry them the more easily. This account is given, and which is continued in some following verses, partly to show the accomplishment of the prophecy of Jeremiah, Jer 27:19; and partly to show that what was left in the temple, at the former captivities of Jehoiakim and Jeconiah, were now carried clear off.

And as Isaiah said before, “Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have been as Sodom and would have been made like to Gomorrah.” Here again he shows another thing, that not even those few were saved by their own resources. They too would have perished and met with Sodom’s fate, that is, they would have had to undergo utter destruction. They (of Sodom) were destroyed root and branch and left not even the slightest remnant of themselves. They too, he means, would have been like these, unless God had used much kindness to them and had saved them by faith. This happened also in the case of the visible captivity, the majority having been taken away captive and perished and some few only being saved.

WRITTEN BY SOME OTHER THAN JEREMIAH (PROBABLY EZRA) AS AN HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE PREVIOUS PROPHECIES (Jer. 52:1-34) through . . . anger of . . . Lord . . . Zedekiah rebelled--His "anger" against Jerusalem, determining Him to "cast out" His people "from His presence" heretofore manifested there, led Him to permit Zedekiah to rebel (Kg2 23:26-27; compare Exo 9:12; Exo 10:1; Rom 9:18). That rebellion, being in violation of his oath "by God," was sure to bring down God's vengeance (Ch2 36:13; Eze 17:15-16, Eze 17:18).