Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 22
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Jeremiah 22
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Jeremiah 22
"Thus said Jehovah: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word," — Jeremiah 22:1 (ASV)
Thus saith the Lord ... — The message, delivered in continuation of Jeremiah 21:0, and therefore probably as a follow-up to the answer to the messengers of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 21:1), reviews the history of the three preceding reigns, and apparently reproduces the very words of the warnings which he had uttered in each reign to the king who then ruled, and which had been only too terribly fulfilled. It was delivered, we are told, in the very palace of the king.
"And say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates." — Jeremiah 22:2 (ASV)
That sittest upon the throne of David. —The words obviously imply that the message was delivered to the king as he sat in the gate in the presence of his people.
"Thus saith Jehovah: Execute ye justice and righteousness, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place." — Jeremiah 22:3 (ASV)
Execute you judgment. —As the Hebrew verb is not identical with that in Jeremiah 21:12, and implies a less formal act, it might be better to render it, do you judgment ...
Do no wrong ... —The Hebrew order connects both verbs with the substantives— to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, do no wrong, no violence— and gives the latter the emphasis of position. The whole verse paints all too vividly a reign which presented the very reverse of all that the prophet describes as belonging to a righteous king.
"For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people." — Jeremiah 22:4 (ASV)
Then shall there enter in ... —The picture of renewed and continued prosperity gains a fresh force, as reproducing the very terms of Jeremiah 17:25. In both the chariots and horses are conspicuous as the symbol of kingly pomp (1 Kings 4:26), just as their absence furnished a topic for the sarcastic taunts of Rabshakeh (Isaiah 36:8), and entered into the picture of the true, peaceful king in Zechariah 9:9-10.
"But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation." — Jeremiah 22:5 (ASV)
I swear by myself. —The formula is an exceptionally rare one, but appears in Genesis 22:16. In Deuteronomy 32:40 the same thought is embodied in the language of the loftiest poetry. The principle in both cases is that which the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews dwells on in Jeremiah 6:13. Men swear by the greater, but God can swear by nothing greater than Himself.
This house. —The context determines the application of the word as meaning the king’s palace, not the Temple.
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