John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 22:15

"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." — Jeremiah 22:15 (ASV)

The Prophet here derides the foolish confidence of King Jehoiakim, because he set up empty things against his enemies instead of strong defenses. Kings are accustomed to indulge themselves when there is peace and security; that is, when they fear nothing and when no danger appears, they then give way to their own gratifications. This is commonly the case with all, for we see that kings especially indulge in excesses when there is no war, when no one gives them trouble, and no one threatens them. But Jehoiakim, if he had possessed the least particle of wisdom, might have known that he had many dangers to dread. Now, when he applied all his thoughts to the painting of his walls, and to the splendor of his palace, to its wainscoting and other trifles, must he not have been insane, and not of a sound mind?

It is this madness that Jeremiah now condemns when he says, Will you reign, because you surround yourself with cedar board? That is, “Can this confirm your kingdom to you? Or, will you be happier on this account, because you are surrounded by cedars?” The meaning of the Prophet may be more fully learned from the remaining part of the verse, for it immediately follows, Your father, did he not eat and drink when he did judgment and justice?

Some so understand the passage, as if the Prophet meant to address an objection. For Jehoiakim might have referred to the example of his father Josiah, who had not been a sordid man but had displayed some royal dignity and grandeur throughout the whole course of his life. Some interpreters, then, think that the Prophet answers here what Jehoiakim might have objected: “What! Did not my father also make a royal display?”

Thus they explain the words, as if the Prophet at first made a concession, but then by adding a correction, showed that Jehoiakim’s excuse was frivolous: “I allow that your father was royally adorned, but he executed judgment and justice; why do you not imitate your father in his virtues?

God forgave what was superfluous or excessive, for through His great indulgence He bears with many things in kings; but you are far different from your father, for you extort labor from your poor subjects and build your palaces by means of extortion and plunder. There is, therefore, no reason for you to seek for yourself a covering from your father, for you have wholly fallen away from his integrity.”

Others elicit an entirely different meaning—that Josiah had prolonged his life and gained the favor of God by ruling with justice. So, then, they connect the words thus: “Did not your father eat and drink?” That is, “did he not live happily, because God had blessed him? Inquire the cause, and you will find it to be this—he faithfully discharged his duties, for he executed judgment and justice. As, then, you see that the equity and moderation which your father had practiced was the cause of his happy life, why do you not also imitate him?”

But the Prophet seems to me to mean simply this: “Your father doubtless lived happily, and he lacked nothing while he executed judgment and justice.” For thus the contrast appears better between the tyranny of Jehoiakim and the uprightness of his father Josiah; as if he had said, “You now consider your state better than that of your father, because you surpass him in luxury and splendor.

As then you exult in vain things, you seem to yourself to be happier than your father: but your father was contented with his lot; indeed, if his condition is duly regarded, God honored him with every abundance and variety of blessings; he did eat and drink.”

By eating and drinking I understand nothing else but that he lived cheerfully, enjoyed prosperity, and spent a peaceful life. Your father; he says, did eat and drink; that is, he had nothing to desire, and his condition was an evidence of God’s favor when he expected judgment and justice. And not unsuitable to this view is what follows: Then it was well with him.

We therefore see that the foolish ambition of Jehoiakim is here laughed to scorn, for he seemed not to think himself a king unless he conducted himself like a madman. Such is the case with kings today; they are ashamed to appear humane and devise means only to exercise tyranny. They also contrive how they may depart as far as possible from the common usage and practice of men.

Since kings are so ingenious in their own follies, which seem to be like veils lest anything humane be perceived in them, the Prophet justly inveighs here against Jehoiakim; “It was well,” he says, “with your father; and yet he acted kindly and courteously towards his people, nor did he have such haughtiness as to despise the common habits of men. Since he was happy, if you regard what belongs to real happiness, why do you please yourself so much? What do you have that is better or more excellent than what he had!”

We now perceive that the Prophet's object was to show that the only true glory and the chief honor of kings is realized when they discharge their duties; that the image of God shines forth in them when they execute judgment and justice; and that when they ambitiously seek through a blind zeal to be the slaves of pride, this is a vain attempt and contributes nothing towards that happy life which they foolishly imagine. To the same purpose he adds: