Jeremiah 22:15
New International Version
“Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.

New Living Translation
But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink. But he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him.

English Standard Version
Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

Berean Standard Bible
Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him.

King James Bible
Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

New King James Version
“Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

New American Standard Bible
“Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did your father not eat and drink And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well for him.

NASB 1995
“Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

NASB 1977
“Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

Amplified Bible
“Do you think that you become a king because you have much more cedar [in your palace than Solomon]? Did not your father [Josiah], as he ate and drank, Do just and righteous acts [being upright and in right standing with God]? Then all was well with him.

Christian Standard Bible
Are you a king because you excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink and administer justice and righteousness? Then it went well with him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Are you a king because you excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink and administer justice and righteousness? Then it went well with him.

American Standard Version
Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? then it was well with him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Do you reign that you may rejoice in cedar? Your father ate and drank, and did justice and righteousness; because of this, I did good to him

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Shalt thou reign, because thou art provoked with thy father Achaz? they shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for thee to execute judgment and justice.

Contemporary English Version
More cedar in your palace doesn't make you a better king than your father Josiah. He always did right--he gave justice to the poor and was honest.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Shalt thou reign, because thou comparest thyself to the cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and it was then well with him?

English Revised Version
Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? then it was well with him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Do you think you're a better king than others because you use more cedar? Your father ate and drank and did what is fair and right. Everything went well for him.

Good News Translation
Does it make you a better king if you build houses of cedar, finer than those of others? Your father enjoyed a full life. He was always just and fair, and he prospered in everything he did.

International Standard Version
Are you a king because you try to outdo everyone with cedar? Your father ate and drank and upheld justice and righteousness, did he not? And then it went well for him.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

Literal Standard Version
Do you reign, because you are fretting yourself in cedar? Your father—did he not eat and drink? Indeed, he did judgment and righteousness, | Then [it is] well with him.

Majority Standard Bible
Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him.

New American Bible
Must you prove your rank among kings by competing with them in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, And act justly and righteously? Then he prospered.

NET Bible
Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. He did what was just and right. So things went well with him.

New Revised Standard Version
Are you a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

New Heart English Bible
Shall you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

World English Bible
“Should you reign because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

Young's Literal Translation
Dost thou reign, because thou art fretting thyself in cedar? Thy father -- did he not eat and drink? Yea, he did judgment and righteousness, Then it is well with him.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Warning about Jehoiakim
14who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion. 15Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him. 16He took up the cause of the poor and needy, and so it went well with him. Is this not what it means to know Me?” declares the LORD.…

Cross References
2 Kings 23:25
Neither before nor after Josiah was there any king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, according to all the Law of Moses.

Psalm 128:2
For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.

Isaiah 3:10
Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.

Jeremiah 7:5
For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another,

Jeremiah 21:12
O house of David, this is what the LORD says: 'Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of their evil deeds.

Jeremiah 42:6
Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us, for we will obey the voice of the LORD our God!"


Treasury of Scripture

Shall you reign, because you close yourself in cedar? did not your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

thy.

Jeremiah 22:18
Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

2 Kings 23:25
And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

1 Chronicles 3:15
And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.

eat.

1 Kings 4:20-23
Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry…

2 Chronicles 35:7,8,12-18
And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance…

Ecclesiastes 2:24
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

and do.

Jeremiah 22:3
Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

Jeremiah 21:12
O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Jeremiah 23:5
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

then.

Jeremiah 42:6
Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

Deuteronomy 4:40
Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.

Psalm 128:1,2
A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways…

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Cedar Closest Compete Drink Eat Excel Food Judging Judgment Justice Reign Right Righteousness Strive Strivest Think Thyself Use
Jeremiah 22
1. He exhorts to repentance, with promises and threats.
10. The judgment of Shallum;
13. of Jehoiakim;
20. and of Coniah.














(15) Thou closest thyself in cedar.--Better, thine ambition is in cedar. The verb means strictly, as in Jeremiah 12:5, "to vie with" or "to contend," and Jehoiakim is reproached for endeavouring to outdo the magnificence even of his greatest predecessors. A various reading, followed by the LXX., gives, "thou viest with Ahaz," or "Ahab," probably, in this latter case, with reference to the ivory palace built by that king (1Kings 22:39).

Did not thy father eat and drink . . .?--The words are obviously those of praise, and paint a healthy, blameless enjoyment like that of Ecclesiastes 2:24; like those, we may add, which the Son of Man used to describe the outward portion of His own life (Matthew 11:19). Josiah was not an ascetic, devotee king, but lived his life happily, and did his work--the true kingly work of judgment and justice--well. There was a truer greatness in that than in the stateliness of Jehoiakim's palaces. "Then it was well with him" s repeated with the emphasis of iteration.

Verse 15. - Shalt thou reign - rather, dost thou reign; i.e. dost thou prove thy royal qualities) - because thou closest thyself in cedar? The second part of the clause must at any rate be. altered. Some render, "because thou viest (with thy forefathers) in cedar" (i.e. in building cedar palaces). Hitzig would strike out "in cedar," as having intruded from the preceding line (such a phenomenon meets us occasionally in the received Hebrew text), but this does not help us to a 'connected translation of the passage. Graf's rendering is grammatical, and not against usage; it is, "Dost thou reign because thou art eager about cedar-wood?" and yet the impression left on the mind is that there is some error in the text. The Septuagint finds a reference to one of Jehoiakim's predecessors, "because thou viest with Ahaz" (so the Vatican Codex), or, "... with Ahab" (so the Alexandrine and the Sinaitic or Friderico-Augustan). The latter king is celebrated in the Old Testament on account of his buildings, especially his ivory palace (2 Kings 22:39). The former was at any rate addicted to the imitation of foreign ways (2 Kings 16:11; 2 Kings 20:11). Did not thy father eat and drink? There was no call upon Jehoiakim to live the life of a Nazarite. "Eating and drinking," i.e. enjoying the good things within his reach, was perfectly admissible (Ecclesiastes 2:24); indeed, the Old Testament view of life is remarkable for its healthy naturalness. There was, however, one peremptory condition, itself as much in accordance with nature as with the Law of God, that the rights of other men should be studiously regarded. Josiah "ate and drank," but he also "did judgment and justice," and so "it was well with him."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Are you a king
הֲתִֽמְלֹ֔ךְ (hă·ṯim·lōḵ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 4427: To reign, inceptively, to ascend the throne, to induct into royalty, to take counsel

because
כִּ֥י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you
אַתָּ֖ה (’at·tāh)
Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

excel
מְתַחֲרֶ֣ה (mə·ṯa·ḥă·reh)
Verb - Hitpael - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 8474: To vie with a, rival

in cedar?
בָאָ֑רֶז (ḇā·’ā·rez)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 730: A cedar tree

Did not
הֲל֧וֹא (hă·lō·w)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

your father
אָבִ֜יךָ (’ā·ḇî·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1: Father

eat
אָכַ֣ל (’ā·ḵal)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

and drink
וְשָׁתָ֗ה (wə·šā·ṯāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8354: To imbibe

and administer
וְעָשָׂ֤ה (wə·‘ā·śāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

justice
מִשְׁפָּט֙ (miš·pāṭ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4941: A verdict, a sentence, formal decree, divine law, penalty, justice, privilege, style

and righteousness?
וּצְדָקָ֔ה (ū·ṣə·ḏā·qāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6666: Rightness, subjectively, objectively

Then
אָ֖ז (’āz)
Adverb
Strong's 227: At that time, place, therefore

it went well with him.
ט֥וֹב (ṭō·wḇ)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 22:15 Shall you reign because you strive (Jer.)
Jeremiah 22:14
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