May 2015 – 929 Chapters

I. Summary

Jeremiah sends yokes to the kings of Judah, Ammon, Moab, Edom, Sidon, and Tyre as an augury for their servitude to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Jeremiah belittles the false prophets and warns that the Temple’s vessels will be brought to Babylon.

II. Photo

Jeremiah speaks in metaphors: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!” (v. 12)

III. Select Verses

2-7: Thus said the LORD to me: Make for yourself thongs and bars of a yoke, and put them on your neck. And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by envoys who have come to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem; and give them this charge to their masters: Thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Say this to your masters: “It is I who made the earth, and the men and beasts who are on the earth, by My great might and My outstretched arm; and I give it to whomever I deem proper. I herewith deliver all these lands to My servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon; I even give him the wild beasts to serve him. All nations shall serve him, his son and his grandson — until the turn of his own land comes, when many nations and great kings shall subjugate him.

9-10: As for you, give no heed to your prophets, augurs, dreamers, diviners, and sorcerers, who say to you, ‘Do not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they prophesy falsely to you — with the result that you shall be banished from your land; I will drive you out and you shall perish.

19-22: “For thus said the LORD of Hosts concerning the columns, the tank, the stands, and the rest of the vessels remaining in this city, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not take when he exiled King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; for thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels remaining in the House of the LORD, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem: They shall be brought to Babylon, and there they shall remain, until I take note of them — declares the LORD of Hosts — and bring them up and restore them to this place.”

IV. Outline

1. Introduction: Prophecy in Jehoiakim’s first year

2-3. Performance prophecy: yokes for Israel’s neighbors

4-8. Meaning: the kings will serve Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and his grandson

9-10. Those who disagree are false prophets

11. Serving Nebuchadnezzar leads to life

12-15. The same prophecy for Zedekiah; warning against false prophets

16-17. Jeremiah warns the people of the false prophets

18. The false prophets should pray for the Temple’s vessels

19-22. The Temple’s vessels will be brought to Babylon until Yahweh returns them

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah is seized after prophesying doom for the Temple. The people debate whether a prophet must be killed for this action. Jeremiah is ultimately protected by Ahikam.

II. Photo

Jeremiah is seized: “ And when Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You shall die!” (v. 9)

III. Select Verses

7-9: The priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the House of the LORD. And when Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You shall die! How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this House shall become like Shiloh and this city be made desolate, without inhabitants?” And all the people crowded about Jeremiah in the House of the LORD.

12-14: Jeremiah said to the officials and to all the people, “It was the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this House and this city all the words you heard. Therefore mend your ways and your acts, and heed the LORD your God, that the LORD may renounce the punishment He has decreed for you. As for me, I am in your hands: do to me what seems good and right to you.

16-19: Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and prophets, “This man does not deserve the death penalty, for he spoke to us in the name of the LORD our God.” And some of the elders of the land arose and said to the entire assemblage of the people, “Micah the Morashtite, who prophesied in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins And the Temple Mount a shrine in the woods.’ “Did King Hezekiah of Judah, and all Judah, put him to death? Did he not rather fear the LORD and implore the LORD, so that the LORD renounced the punishment He had decreed against them? We are about to do great injury to ourselves!”

20-23: There was also a man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and this land the same things as Jeremiah. King Jehoiakim and all his warriors and all the officials heard about his address, and the king wanted to put him to death. Uriah heard of this and fled in fear, and came to Egypt. But King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt, Elnathan son of Achbor and men with him to Egypt. They took Uriah out of Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who had him put to the sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.

IV. Outline

1-3. Introduction

    1. Date of prophecy

    2-3. Call to prophecy 

4-6. Jeremiah’s prophecy: disobedience will lead to destruction

7-9. Jeremiah is seized

10-11. The death penalty is proposed

12-15. Jeremiah’s response

    12-13. Jeremiah’s assertion of innocence; call to repent

    14. Acceptance of fate

    15. Condemnation

16-23. The people debate Jeremiah’s fate

    16. The people’s change of heart

    17-19. Micah was not killed and he was a catalyst for repentance

    20-23. Uriah was killed for his prophecies

24. Ahikam son of Shapham protects Jeremiah

V. Comment

Our chapter contains one of the rare biblical occurences when another biblical passage is quoted explicitly. In verses 17-19 the elders quote a prophecy of Micah:

And some of the elders of the land arose and said to the entire assemblage of the people, “Micah the Morashtite, who prophesied in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins And the Temple Mount a shrine in the woods.’ “Did King Hezekiah of Judah, and all Judah, put him to death? Did he not rather fear the LORD and implore the LORD, so that the LORD renounced the punishment He had decreed against them? We are about to do great injury to ourselves!” (vv. 17-19)

As it turns out, this prophecy does appear word for word in Micah 3:12:

“Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.”

Our chapter also refers to the prophecy of a certain Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-Jearim, but this figure is not known from any other source.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Month: May 2015

Jeremiah 27 – “The Yoke of Babylon; The Temple’s Vessels”

Jeremiah 26 – “Jeremiah is Nearly Killed for his Prophecy”