John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 28:4

"and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went to Babylon, saith Jehovah; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." — Jeremiah 28:4 (ASV)

Hananiah promised concerning the king himself what he had just predicted concerning the vessels of the Temple and of the palace. But it may be asked, how did he dare to give hope concerning the restoration of Jeconiah, since that could not have been acceptable to Zedekiah? For Jeconiah could not have regained what he had lost without the abdication of Zedekiah; but Zedekiah would have never willingly submitted to lose his own dignity, become a private citizen, and allow Jeconiah, who had been deprived of this high honor, to return again.

But there is no doubt that he relied on the favor of the people, and that he was fully persuaded that if Zedekiah found it difficult to bear being degraded in this way, he would nevertheless be compelled to show a different attitude. For Zedekiah himself regarded his own reign as not honorable, as he did not sit on David’s throne by the right of succession.

He had been placed on the throne by a tyrant, and he dared not make any other pretense to the people than that he wished Jeconiah to return and to possess the kingdom of which he had been deprived. Since this impostor knew that the king dared not show any displeasure, but that his prophecy would be gratifying and acceptable to the people, he boldly promised what we read here concerning the return of Jeconiah.

Therefore he says in God’s name, Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and all the captive people, who have been led away to Babylon, will I restore to this place. We see that he was always inflated with the same arrogance, and that he completely disregarded God, whose name he thus profaned in jest. But all this flowed from this source, because he had been blinded by the righteous judgment of God.

He then confirms his own prophecy, repeating its beginning, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. He had opened an entrance for himself by saying that the destruction of the Babylonian monarchy was near; and now, after having voiced what seemed right to him on the whole matter, he refers again to that event.

Since he then promised that the monarchy would not last longer than two years, the Jews might have supposed that they would become free, and thus might have hoped for a happy state of affairs; and this was the impostor's design.

But what was the answer of Jeremiah? His opposition to him was frank and firm. However, since he saw that he had incurred the people's ill-will, he was anxious to dispel it. Before he repeated what he had said about their seventy years in exile, he showed that he had not eagerly received his commission, as though he had been alienated from his people, or had disregarded their welfare, or had been carried away by some morbid feeling to bring a sad and mournful message. He therefore said,—