DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On 26:3. [“See how God waits to be gracious, waits till we are duly qualified, till we are fit for Him to be gracious to, and in the meantime tries a variety of methods to bring us to be so.” HENRY—S. R. A.]

2. On 26:6. “Deus nulli loco præcise alligatus est ita, ut ecclesiam suam et doctrinam cœlestem inde dimovere nequeat propter hominum ingratitudinem. Vehementer igitur errant Romanenses, dum ex auctoritate urbis Romæ suæ ecclesiæ ac religionis auctoritatem evincere satagunt. Multo rectius Hieronymus in hoc memorabili dicto, quod etiam allegatur in Jure Canon. Dist. 19: Non facile est stare loco Pauli et tenere gradum Petri cum Christo regnantium. Non enim Sanctorum filii sunt, qui tenent loca Sanctorum, sed qui exercent opera eorum.” FÖRSTER.

3. On 26:8 sqq. “Scarcely has Jeremiah done speaking than they take him to task, and threaten his life. What does Jeremiah do? Instead of vindicating himself he says: ‘Reform your life, and hearken to the voice of the Lord, and it will be better for you,’ Jer 26:13. You do not wish me to thunder away at you; reform then and I can let it alone. This preaching was seasonable, and produced an admirable effect. The priests and elders contradicted the priests, the parrhesia [free-spokenness, Acts 4:13] of the man filled them with astonishment. ‘He is not worthy of death,’ Jer 26:16. A brief illustration of the saying ‘We need not our senses lose, when our enemies accuse.’ Jeremiah has to thank his honesty for this presence of mind, his profound meditation, his constrained calling, the necessity, the ardor, which urged him to preach, for no personal inclination had any share in it. I know in more recent times a man, who has unaffectedly practised Jeremiah’s behavior, a pastor, a teacher, I might say a prophet of many thousand people. Whenever he had to vindicate himself (which happened now and then) he preached, he repeated to the commissioners the very things of which he was accused, confessed and denied not, but pressed them on their hearts, and showed aliud agendo his innocence, his mind, his steadfastness, and all at the same time so plainly that they always returned with full conviction and knew not whether they had gone forth to see a prophet or were sent to examine a culprit? ‘Never man,’ they said, ‘spake like this man.’ That cannot be counterfeited. One must be just as full of the matter, as absorbed in the subject, as pressed at heart, kindled with the same ardor in order to explain himself with the same indifference, repose and plainness, when there is a knife at his throat.” ZINZENDORF.

4. On 26:12 sqq. “Si injuriam deposueris penes Deum, ultor est; si damnum, restitutor est; si dolorem, medicus est; si mortem, resuscitator est.” TERTULLIAN. [“Those that persecute God’s ministers hurt not them so much as themselves.” HENRY.—S. R. A.]

5. On 26:7, 8, 11, 16. “Auctores persecutionis plerumque esse solent ii, qui in ordine ecclesiastico eminent.” FÖRSTER. “Especially are the priests and men-pleasing prophets mad with Jeremiah, for if he is right they have lied.” DIEDRICH.

6. On 26:18 [“By this it appears that a man may be a true prophet of the Lord and yet may prophesy the destruction of Zion and Jerusalem. When we threaten secure sinners with the taking away of the Spirit of God, and declining churches with the removal of the candle-stick, we say no more than what has been said many a time, and what we have warrant from the word of God to say.” HENRY.—S. R. A.]

7. On 26:20 sqq. “Urias, a true prophet, preached like Jeremiah, therefore the king wished to kill him, so he fled to Egypt but could not escape. Jeremiah did not flee and was spared … Our running and anxiety are of no use. The wickedness of the world must for its judgment be displayed on God’s servants, and these must yield to it; but on whom it is to come first God has in His own hand; and we may spare ourselves all our care and flight.” DIEDRICH. [“Nothing more is known of Urijah than is here related; but this incident suggests that God mercifully strove with His people by the ministry of many prophets whom He sent, rising up early and sending them (Jer 26:5) whose names are written in the Book of Life and are canonized in God’s Martyrology, but do not appear in the pages of any earthly history.” WORDSWORTH.—S. R. A.]

8. On 26:24. “Monemur hic, Deum servis suis fidelibus subinde largiri quosdam patronos, ut Jeremiæ hic Achikamum et infra cap. 38 Ebedmelechum, Eliæ et prophetis συγχρόνοις Obadiam 1 Reg. 18, Luthero Electores Saxoniæ Fridericum sapientem, Johannem pium, Johannem-Fridericum constantem.” FÖRSTER.

9. On 27:2–11. Historical times are preceded by a long series of centuries which present themselves to us as altogether obscure or only in the dubious twilight of tradition. Accredited history also comprises only a relatively small portion of the human race, for the nations which are added as ciphers to the factors of history form the majority. A universal ruler in the biblical sense is not one whose dominion actually extends over the entire globe—for there is none such—but he who represents the leader in the concert of history. This part is here given to Nebuchadnezzar. Among all the universal monarchies that represented by him appears richest in noble capacity. It is therefore compared to the golden head of the image in Dan. 2. Comp. AUBERLEN, der Prophet Daniel, S. 41 sqq.

10. On 27:5 sqq. [“The things of the world are not the best things, for God often gives the largest share of them to bad men, that are rivals with him and rebels against him. Dominion is not founded in grace. Those that have not any colorable title to eternal happiness may yet have a justifiable title to their temporal good things.” HENRY.—S. R. A.] “Great lords sit indeed on high thrones, but not firmly, for they are only God’s vassals. And when they do not please Him and act accordingly, he can easily transfer the fief to another; Dan. 2:21; 4:14, 22.” CRAMER.

11. On 27:12. [“The conduct of Jeremiah, counselling Zedekiah and Jerusalem to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, has been represented as an act of political prudence to be imitated by Statesmen and Ecclesiastics, who are thereby justified in making large concessions of national rights and national independence in times of public emergency (STANLEY, Lect. 534).

But was it not rather one of religious duty?

God had revealed to the prophet that He had given the Nation into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, ‘His servant,’ on account of their sins, and they must submit to Him as the Minister and Vicegerent of God.” WORDSWORTH. “Many might have prevented destroying providences by humbling themselves under humbling providences. It is better to take up a lighter cross in our way, than pull a heavier on our own head.” HENRY.—S. R. A.]

12. On 27:14. “It is one sign of our depraved nature that we are more ready to believe lies than the truth. For when Jeremiah and his colleagues preached, no one believed. But no sooner did the false prophet come and open their mouths, than all their discourses must be spoken directly from heaven, and what they said, must pass current on earth (Ps. 73:9). But not what Jeremiah said. Take for example our mother Eve; what God said was of no account, but what the serpent said was something purely excellent.” CRAMER.

13. On 27:18. “True prayer is a certain sign of Godliness and a fruit of faith and the Holy Ghost, which cries in our hearts: Abba, dear Father. Therefore he who cannot or will not pray is not a good Christian.” CRAMER.

14. On 27:18. “If they be prophets let them supplicate the Lord. This was the great demonstration of Elias, to which Jeremiah adheres. It is infallibly the case that a false teacher has no heart for the Saviour, and goes out of His way. A heretic, who has a heart to pray (and that too in secret) is certainly not far from the truth.” ZINZENDORF.

15. On 27:22. [“We are apt to set our clock before God’s dial, and then to quarrel because they do not agree, but the Lord is a God of judgment, and it is fit that we should wait for Him.” HENRY.—S. R. A.]

16. On 28:1 sqq. “Wherever the dear lord builds His church, the devil has a chapel near by.” CRAMER. This Hananiah (comp. 28:2, 11) shows us plainly what it is to lie or deceive in the name of God.

“O Lord, and must Thy glorious name

Thus be a cover to their shame?” FÖRSTER.

17. On 28:6. “Amen! the Lord do so. Quite a different attitude of the prophet from the preceding. A false prophet, a miserable comforter disputes with him, brings good news and appeals to an oracle, a voice which he had perhaps heard more lately than Jeremiah. Jeremiah without getting warm about it, says I shall be heartily glad if it be so: but take care that you have understood it correctly. His opponent is encouraged and goes further, he breaks off the prophetic yoke from Jeremiah’s neck. Jeremiah, with the same indifference, which he has shown from the beginning, goes his way … I dare not speak of anything, says Paul, which Christ hath not wrought by me (Rom. 15:18).” ZINZENDORF.

18. On 28:10, 11. “Chananias hic præbet exemplum impudentiæ Jesuwilicæ, cujus magistrum non abs re appellaveris Eumundum Campianum (1580) qui epistola quadum Theologos Angliæ provocare non erubuit, ponens inter alia verba hæc fere thrasonica: Si præstitero cœlos esse, divos esse, Christum esse, fidem esse, causam obtinui: hic non animosus ero? Occidi quidem possum, superari non possum. Pari impudentia Jesuwitas ante Colloquium Ratisbonense scriplitasse legimus: The Prædicantes should come, if they had a heart in their body, they would catch them alive: if they would bring a syllogism, which is in Bocardo, they would throw it at one’s head and say it was in Bocallo.” FÖRSTER.

19. On 29:7. “Monemur hic, orandum esse pro magistratibus et non tantum iis, qui nostræ religioni addicti et veræ ecclesiæ membra, sed etiam pro iis, qui extra ecclesiam adeoque gentiles ut Nebuchadnezzar et Nero tyrannus (2 Tim. 2:2). Nam ex salute reipublicæ etiam salus et incolumitas ecclesiæ constat. Et Lutherus pereleganter: Politia, inquit, servit ecclesiæ, ecclesia servat politiam.” FÖRSTER. “Quod pastori hoc et ovibus.” The symbol of the Emperor Charles the Bald.

20. On 29:11. “God always has compassion, and His heart breaks for us (Jer. 31:20), for he exercises guardianship over His elect (Wisd. 4:15). And he knows how, in all that he does, to mitigate His justice with His mercy, so that we may see how richly His mercy is diffused over all His works; that even when He punishes, He straightway has mercy again according to His great goodness, and causes His mercy to be the more richly dispensed, because He knows our frame (Ps. 103:14), viz., that we are flesh, a wind which passeth away and returneth not again (Ps. 78:40). CRAMER.

21. On 29:10, 11. “The waiting of the righteous has always something to depend upon, namely, the promise, and it is a duty to God to believe the promises, but an insult and dishonor to the name of the Lord when no faith is put in them. Is it not enough that ye injure men, will ye also insult the Lord my God? (Isa. 7:13).” ZINZENDORF.

22. On 29:11. “God gives a happy ending; He also tells us beforehand, that we may honor Him by hoping; but He deals with us according to His wisdom and His righteousness, so that He chastens us as long as we need it. We cannot, therefore, do otherwise than place ourselves in His hands.” DIEDRICH.

23. On 29:12. “Let this be firmly established among the brethren, that there is no sham about the hearing of prayer. I remember that once a great minister said across the table: My pastor wrote me that he had settled it with the dear Lord that my wife should live; I should be comforted. My wife died. Now my pastor congratulates me and says, I could now indeed see that she lived. No wonder. The Bible has a nose or wax; and gentlemen also can explain their own words. … Is it then to be in vain that the Lord Jesus has said; whatever ye ask believing that ye shall receive, shall be given unto you (Mark 11:24; John 16:23; Matt. 7:7; Jas. 4:4)? … Test it as often as it is necessary; ask however in faith, and doubt not. I know most assuredly that you will be heard. But I regard it as a matter for consideration, whether one is to ask.” ZINZENDORF.

24. On 29:15, 16. “A heavy cross often frees us from a heavier, which would otherwise have come upon us. The best way, therefore, is to be satisfied with God’s ways, who can bring good out of evil (1 Pet. 4:19; Gen. 50:20). ” STARKE.

25. On 29:24–32. “Those who seek their own consolation without God must be eternally deprived of the true consolation, which God grants to those who at this time humble themselves under Him. Those who preach false consolation confirm the resistance of men to the divine guidance and thus preach revolt, though intending to act conservatively. But in their blindness they do not see what sort of a time it is.” DIEDRICH.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

1. On 26:1–24. A sermon in rebuke of the corruptions of Zion. 1. Its purport (Jer 26:4–6); 2. How it is received (Jer 26:7–11); 3. How the preacher must defend himself (Jer 26:12–15); 4. What the fate of the preacher will be (a), in the most favorable case (Jer 26:16–19, 24) (b), in the most unfavorable case (Jer 26:20–23).

2. On 27:1–22. How the Lord’s servants are to treat Politics.—1. They are to point out to the people that it is the Lord who raises and overthrows the kingdoms of this world (Jer 27:2–8). 2. They are to admonish the people to do what the Lord commands (Jer 27:12, 13). 3. They are to warn against those who speak their own thoughts to the people (Jer 27:9–11, 14–17). 4. They are to admonish to prayer and intercession (Jer 27:18 sqq).

3. On 28:1–17. Of false and true prophets. 1. False prophets, (a) publish on their own responsibility what the people like to hear (Jer 28:2–4); (b) boldly contradict the true word of God (Jer 28:10 and 11); (c) come to shame, by the non-fulfilment of their predictions (Jer 28:8 and 9) and by their personal destruction (Jer 28:15–17). 2. True prophets (a) proclaim faithfully the true word of God, (b) fearlessly oppose the lusts of men and the lies of the false prophets; (c) They are honored (α) by the fulfilment of their prophecies, (β) by martyrdom, i.e., honor with God and posterity.

4. On 28. [This year thou shalt die. DWIGHT:—A Sermon on the New Year.—S. R. A.]

5. On 29:7. The best Christians the best citizens: 1. They know that the prosperity of the whole is their own prosperity (they do not, therefore, seek selfishly their own personal advantage); 2. They actually labor with all diligence for the furtherance of the common good; 3. They employ for this end the power of Christian prayer. [A. FULLER:—Christian patriotism, or the duty of religious people towards their country. Christianity a religion of peace.—S. R. A.]

6. On 29:11. The thoughts of the Lord concerning us. 1. They are thoughts of peace and not of evil; 2, we must wait for their realization, for the Lord delays this, but he does not forget it.

7. On 29:11. Sermon at the funeral service of the Grand Hereditary Prince of Russia, delivered by Prof. Christiani, in Dorpat, 14 April, 1865: 1. Of the thoughts of peace which the Lord has had in this death; 2. Of the fruits and effects of these thoughts of peace.

8. On 29:11–14. Whereupon is our hope of peace based? 1. Objectively upon this, that the Lord Himself has thoughts of peace concerning us. 2. Subjectively on this, that we (a) call upon and seek the Lord with all our hearts, (b) patiently wait for the time of hearing. 

B. The Three Historical Appendices

THE PROPHET OF THE LORD AND THE FALSE PROPHETS

CHAPTERS 26 TO 29

It has been already shown in the introduction to the ninth discourse that these chapters stand here together, because their common topic is the conflict of the true prophet with the false prophets. Their position just here, however, is occasioned by the close historical connection of chh. 27, 28, with Jer 25. There is thus a double connection, (1) that of chh. 27, 28, with Jer 25 (Cup of wrath and yoke); (2) that of chh. 26–29 with each other (false prophets). Before Jer 27, however, stands Jer 26, and thus separates the connected passages, Jer 25, and chh. 27, 28, because it is the oldest in time. It comes before the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Perhaps also the four chapters were found in this order, and transposed here as a whole. Chh. 27, 28 belong to the fourth year of Zedekiah (Comp. Comm. on 27:1). Ch. 29 is somewhat earlier in date (Comp. the Introd. to this chapter). The arrangement of these four chapters is thus not consistently chronological. Perhaps first, the struggle of the prophet with the false prophets in their home (Jer 26–28), then his struggle with those also who had emigrated to Babylon is represented. [“Jeremiah goes back here from the mention of the fourth year of Jehoiakim to the beginning of that king’s reign, in order to suggest to his readers an evidence, a fortiori, of God’s mercy and forbearance to Jerusalem. God gave solemn denunciations to Jehoiakim and Jerusalem in Jehoiakim’s fourth year. But He did more than this: He had sent a prophetic message of warning to him even at the beginning of his reign. Such considerations as these will suggest the reasons for which Jeremiah’s prophecies are not placed in chronological order.” WORDSWORTH.—S. R. A.]

1. THE CONFLICT OF JEREMIAH WITH, THE FALSE PROPHETS BEFORE THE FOURTH YEAR OF JEHOIAKIM

26:1–24

1In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, 2came this word from the LORD [Jehovah] saying, Thus saith the LORD [Jehovah]: Stand in the court of the LORD’S [Jehovah’s] house and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command 3thee to speak unto them; diminish [omit] not a word. If so be [perhaps] they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, 4which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. And thou shalt say unto them: Thus saith the LORD [Jehovah]: If ye will not hearken to 5me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both1 rising up early, and sending 6them, but ye have not hearkened: then will I make this house like Shiloh, and 7will make this2 city a curse to all the nations of the earth. So the priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the 8LORD [Jehovah]. Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets, and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die. 9Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD [Jehovah] saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord [Jehovah]. 10When the princes of Judah heard those things, then they came up from the king’s house into the house of the Lord [Jehovah] and sat down in the entry of the 11new gate3 of the Lord’s [Jehovah’s] house. Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, this man is worthy to die; for 12he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears. Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord [Jehovah] sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye 13have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord [Jehovah] your God, and the Lord will repent him of the evil that 14he hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with 15me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

16Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and unto the prophets: This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord 17[Jehovah] our God Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to 18all the assembly of the people, saying, Micah4 the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying,

Thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth:

Zion shall be plowed as a field,

Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones,

And the mountain of the house woody heights.

19Did Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the Lord [Jehovah] and besought [propitiated]5 the Lord [Jehovah] and the Lord [Jehovah] repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them. Thus might we procure great evil [We however are about to commit great wickedness] 20against our [own] souls. And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord [Jehovah], Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against the city and against the land, according to all the words of 21Jeremiah. And [when] Jehoiakim, the king, with all his mighty men [warriors] and all the princes, heard his words [and] the king sought to put him to death: but [when] Urijah heard of it [and] he was afraid and fled, and went into Egypt. 22And Jehoiakim, the king, sent men into Egypt, Elnathan, the son of Achhor, and 23certain men with him into Egypt. And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and 24cast his dead body into the graves of the common [sons of the] people. Nevertheless [But] the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should [did] not give him into the hands of the people to put him to death.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

It has been shown above that this chapter is not immediately connected with chap. 25, but mediately through chh. 27, 28. The assertion of GRAF that “the narrative of this occurrence has no connection either with the preceding or with the following context” is incomprehensible. For if we do not agree with EWALD that each of the three supplements concludes with a glance at those prophets, who either prophesied what was directly false or did not defend the truth with becoming steadfastness (Proph. d. A. B., II., S. 137), it is yet indisputable that all these four chapters treat of the conflict of the prophet with false prophets, that they follow each other in chronological order, and that chh. 26–29 presuppose Jer 25 as their basis. This explains the position of Jer 26 here. I cannot accept the statement of GRAF that as a record of personal experiences it ought to have stood before Jer 34: for here the narrative would stand quite isolated topically, and chh. 34–44, are not the only place for the prophet’s personal experiences, for they are inserted elsewhere, according to the connection of facts. Comp. chh. 20 and 30. And this is the case with chh. 26–29. We might rather expect that, on account of the relation of the facts, it would come after Jer 23. But on the one hand it would disturb the plan of that group (against kings and prophets) by partial details, and on the other the principal matter of chh. 27 and 28 has too close an historical connection with Jer 25 to be separated from it, or even only to be placed before it. The reason why this chapter does not stand after chh. 7 sqq., where it properly belongs in historical connection, is that the series of great discourses was not to be interrupted by a long historical section. As far as Jer 18 are discourses only. From this point onwards the historical element is successively brought forward. Although thus separated in position, this Jer 26 refers back to the great discourse in chh. 7–10, and describes the almost fatal consequences, which it had with respect to the person of the prophet (Jer 26:1–19). At the same time, however, the opportunity is afforded for the narrative concerning another prophet, Urijah, the son of Shemaiah, who had no such courageous patron as Ahikam, and really fell a sacrifice to his fidelity to his calling at the command of the ungodly king Jehoiakim.

Jer 26:1-6. In the beginning … all the nations of the earth. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, at any rate before the battle of Carchemish, since there is no mention made of the Chaldeans, Jeremiah receives the command to stand in the fore-court of the temple (comp. 19:4, and EXEG. on 7:2), and proclaim a revelation he has received to all the Jews who have come up to the feast. What feast this was we know not (comp. Comm. on 7:2). The introductory formula in 7:1 is: Go into the gate and proclaim as follows. Here it is said: Stand in the fore-court and proclaim all that I have commanded thee, without omitting anything. There the command to go into the gate precedes the revelation. Here the order is reversed. For here the words which I command thee, and omit not a word, point back to the revelation as one previously received. The latter especially would have no sense, if what is to be delivered by the prophet had not been already communicated. Still, however, in Jer 26:4 sqq., the chief contents of the discourse follow in a brief and pregnant recapitulation. There is no contradiction in this. It may have been that the prophet received the revelation of the great discourse in chh. 7–10, at the same time with the command to deliver it in the temple, and that afterwards, when the moment of performance came, the command was repeated with a reference on the one hand to the revelation received (26:2), and on the other with a brief recapitulation of its main import (26:4–6).—Omit not a word reminds us of Deut. 4:2; 13:1 coll. Rev. 22:19.—If so be they will hearken, Jer 26:3. It is apparent that the assembly to the feast must have appeared a specially favorable opportunity for a decisive attempt.—Repent me of the evil. Comp. 18:8; אל as in Jer 26:13 and 19; 42:10; Jud. 21:6; 2 Sam. 24:16.—rising early. Comp. 7:13, 25; 25:3, 4.—But ye have not hearkened, retained as a reminiscence of the passage 7:13, is to be regarded as a parenthesis; since the apodosis begins with Jer 26:6.—Like Shiloh. In these words the prophet reproduces most distinctly the main threatening of the great discourse in chap. 7 (comp. Jer 26:12 and 14, and the rems. thereon).—A curse. Comp. 24:9; 25:18.

Jer 26:7-11. So the priests … have heard with your ears. The priests and prophets here appear as the real opponents of Jeremiah. Very probably most of the false prophets were themselves priests. Comp. Comm. on 20:6.—The people allow themselves to be carried away, though on the speech of the princes they are disposed to espouse the cause of Jeremiah against the priests and prophets (Jer 26:16), and in other circumstances would be ready to execute the sentence of death on him (Jer 26:24). The princes are not yet filled with that blood-thirsty hatred towards Jeremiah, which they afterwards manifest (Jer 37 sqq.).—In the words like Shiloh they allude to 7:12, 14, as in the following without an inheritance to 9:10.—On gate of the Lord’s house, comp. rems. on 20:2.—Worthy to die. This expression (משׁפט מות) occurs also in Deut. 19:6; 21:22. As the first word in itself signifies judgment or condemnation, the phrase may from the connection denote judgment or condemnation to death. The expression in Jer 26:11 and Deut. 19:6, may be taken in the first, in Jer 26:16 and Deut. 21:22 in the second sense.

Jer 26:12-19. Then spake Jeremiah … our souls. In the words amend your ways the prophet repeats the chief requisition of his discourse in 7:3, 5. It is thus to be seen that he is neither terrified nor evilly disposed towards his people. On this condition, but on this condition only, does he promise salvation. If they do not like this they may do with him as they will. They are, however, at the same time to know that in killing him they would bring upon themselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood. This answer of Jeremiah’s, short and simple but firm and decided, appears to have made a deep impression on the judges and the people. For Jeremiah is acquitted. Some of the elders of the people (זקני הארץ, elders of the land, Jer 26:17, are distinguished from the שָׂרִים, princes, Jer 26:10, who are in the king’s house, at court and members of the government, while the former represent the local magistrates throughout the country, comp. 37:15; 38:5, 25 sqq.) support this sentence by reference to a former occurrence. The prophet Micah, [of Moresheth near Eleutheropolis, in Philistia. EUSEB., JEROME], had not been punished by Hezekiah on account of a similar utterance.—On the point, that the passage 3:12 forms the climax of the minatory prophecies of Micah, and that Jeremiah quotes the book of Micah especially in the discourse in chh. 7:9. comp. CASPARI, passim. From the last mentioned circumstance it follows that Jeremiah himself reminds his hearers of Micah, and institutes a comparison between himself and this prophet. CASPARI however errs in attributing the discourse in chh. 7:9. to the reign of Josiah. [On the fulfilment of the prophecy of Micah and Jeremiah, comp. THOMSON, The Land and the Book, II., 475.—S. R. A.]

Jer 26:20-24. And there was also a man … to put him to death. That this narrative about Urijah does not continue the words of Jeremiah’s friends, is clear from the circumstance that in this case a precedent would be referred to unfavorable to Jeremiah. It is evident that they are not the words of his opponents from the absence of any introductory formula. Others affirm that this story must have related to a later period than the commencement of Jehoiakim’s reign. This however depends on how far we extend the commencement. Apart then from the question, whether this occurred earlier or later, which it will be difficult to decide. I think, with GROTIUS, SCHNURRER, ROSENMUELLER and others, that Jeremiah himself adds this story in order to show in how great danger he then was of his life. At all events the events narrated had happened when Jeremiah wrote his book, which he did the first time in the 4th and 5th years of Jehoiakim (36:1 sqq.; 9 sqq.), and the second time immediately after the destruction of the first book in the 9th month of the 5th year of Jehoiakim (36:28 sqq.) The events might have occurred up to this time; and even if they belong to a later period, the possibility is not excluded that they were inserted here by Jeremiah himself. Yet it is easier to explain the phrases this city and this land, in Jer 26:20, if we suppose that the prophet had these expressions, which strictly taken presuppose an oral address, still la remembrance from the preceding conversation. Nothing further is known either of Urijah, or his father Shemaiah.—Elnathan the son of Achhor is also mentioned in 36:12, 25 among the princes favorable to Jeremiah. Jehoiakim appears to have been his son-in-law, for Nehushta, the mother of Jehoiachin was, according to 2 Ki. 24:8, a daughter of Elnathan. Achhor is mentioned in 2 Ki. 22:12 as one of the princes, who were in personal attendance on Josiah.—The graves of the common people (Jer 26:23) appear elsewhere as an unhallowed place (2 Ki. 23:6). On the expression “sons of the people” comp. Comm. on 17:19.

Jer 26:24. But the hand of Ahikam. The particle אך, only, but, presupposes a thought, which easily flows from the previous context, so would it have been with Jeremiah. From the mention of Ahikam alone it is plain that it was he who caused the decision to be favorable to Jeremiah, (Jer 26:16 sqq.) He is also mentioned in 2 Ki. 22:12–14, together with Achhor, and according to 39:14; 40:5, and other passages, he was the father of the governor Gedaliah.

Footnotes:

[1]Jer 26:5.—The ו before השׁכם=and, moreover, comp. NAEGELSB. Gr., § 111, 1.

[2]Jer 26:6.—הזאתה. This form is found here only in the Chethibh. It is not a scriptural error, the ה being the so-called paragogic. Comp. OLSH. § 101, c, and § 133, S. 254.

[3]Jer 26:10.—[Targum: The east gate.]

[4]Jer 26:18.—The Masoretes alter מִיבָיָה into מִיכָה, not because they regard the former as correct, but to bring out clearly the identity of this Micah with him whose book is included in the canon (comp. CASPARI, Micha der Moraschtite, S.12).—The passage quoted is found verbatim in Mic. 3:12, except that there we read עִיִּין instead of עִיִּים. (Comp. OLSH., S. 207, 288.)

[5]Jer 26:19.—[Literally: Soothed by prayer the face of the Lord.—S. R. A.]