Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 26:17

"Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying," — Jeremiah 26:17 (ASV)

Certain of the elders of the land. —The word is probably to be taken in a literal sense rather than an official sense—or, if officially, then as also including the literal meaning. The elders speaking in the time of Jehoiakim (around B.C. 608) remembered the tradition of what had happened about a century before, during the reign of Hezekiah (B.C. 726-698), and could appeal to it as a precedent in favor of the prophet. The word for “assembly” (elsewhere translated “congregation”) corresponds to the Ecclesia of a Greek city.