Jeremiah 22 commentary

JEREMIAH 22 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Judgment Against Wicked Kings
1 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the
palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this
message there:
BARNES, "Go down - i. e., from the temple to the king’s house. Compare 2Ch_
23:20.
CLARKE, "Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there
this word - This is supposed by Dahler to have been published in the first year of the
reign of Zedekiah.
GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, go down to the house of the king of Judah,.... To
the palace of Jehoiakim, who was now the reigning king; the prophet is bid to go down
to it, because, as Kimchi thinks, he was now upon the mountain of the house, or in the
temple, from whence to the king's house there was a descent:
and speak there this word; of prophecy, relating to the several kings hereafter
mentioned. This prophecy was delivered some years before that in the preceding
chapter, though it stands here. It is indeed by some thought to be repeated here on
occasion of what is before said, and for the confirmation of it, putting in mind of what he
had prophesied in former times: and they render the words, with which it begins, "thus
hath the Lord said" (x); so he said to me years ago; which agrees with what is now
delivered.
JAMISON, "Jer_22:1-30. Exhortation to repentance; Judgment on Shallum,
Jehoiakim, and Coniah.
Belonging to an earlier period than the twenty-first chapter, namely, the reigns of
Shallum or Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah (Jer_22:10, Jer_22:13, Jer_22:20).
1

Jeremiah often groups his prophecies, not by chronological order, but by similarity of
subjects; thus Jer_22:3 corresponds to Jer_21:12. Grotius thinks that Jeremiah here
repeats to Zedekiah what he had announced to that king’s predecessors formerly
(namely, his brother and brother’s son), of a similar bearing, and which had since come
to pass; a warning to Zedekiah. Probably, in arranging his prophecies they were
grouped for the first time in the present order, designed by the Holy Spirit to set forth
the series of kings of Judah, all four alike, failing in “righteousness,” followed at last by
the “King,” a righteous Branch raised unto David, in the house of Judah, “the Lord our
righteousness” (Jer_23:6). The unrighteousness of Zedekiah suggested the review of his
predecessors’ failure in the same respects, and consequent punishment, which ought to
have warned him, but did not.
Go down — The temple (where Jeremiah had been prophesying) was higher than the
king’s palace on Mount Zion (Jer_36:10, Jer_36:12; 2Ch_23:20). Hence the phrase, “Go
down.”
the king of Judah — perhaps including each of the four successive kings, to whom it
was consecutively addressed, here brought together in one picture: Shallum, Jer_22:11;
Jehoiakim, Jer_22:13-18; Jeconiah, Jer_22:24; Zedekiah, the address to whom (Jer_
21:1, Jer_21:11, Jer_21:12) suggests notice of the rest.
K&D 1-9, "The king is warned against injustice, and the violent oppression of the
poor and defenceless. - Jer_22:1. "Thus said Jahveh: Go down to the house of the king
of Judah and speak there this word, Jer_22:2. And say: Hear the word of Jahveh, thou
king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy
people, that go in by these gates. Jer_22:3. Thus hath Jahveh said: Do ye right and
justice, and save the despoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; to stranger, orphan,
and widow do no wrong, no violence; and innocent blood shed not in this place. Jer_
22:4. For if ye will do this word indeed, then by the gates of this place there shall come
in kings that sit upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his
servants, and his people. Jer_22:5. But if ye hearken not to these words, by myself have
I sworn, saith Jahve, that this house shall become a desolation. Jer_22:6. For thus hath
Jahveh said concerning the house of the king of Judah: A Gilead art thou to me, a head
of Lebanon; surely I will make thee a wilderness, cities uninhabited; Jer_22:7. And will
consecrate against thee destroyers, each with his tools, who shall hew down the choice
of thy cedars and cast them into the fire. Jer_22:8. And there shall pass may peoples by
this city, and one shall say to the other: Wherefore hath Jahveh done thus unto this
great city? Jer_22:9. And they will say: Because they have forsaken the covenant of
Jahveh their God, and worshipped other gods and served them."
Go down into the house of the king. The prophet could go down only from the temple;
cf. Jer_36:12 and Jer_26:10. Not only the king is to hear the word of the Lord, but his
servants too, and the people, who go in by these gates, the gates of the royal castle. The
exhortation: to do right and justice, etc., is only an expansion of the brief counsel at Jer_
21:12, and that brought home to the heart of the whole people in Jer_7:6, cf. Eze_22:6.
The form ‫ק‬ ‫שׁ‬ָ‫ע‬ for ‫ק‬ֵ‫שׁ‬ ‫,ע‬ Jer_21:12, occurs only here, but is formed analogously to ‫ל‬ ‫ָד‬‫גּ‬,
and cannot be objected to. ‫נוּ‬ֹ‫תּ‬‫ל־‬ ַ‫א‬ is strengthened by "do no violence." On "kings riding,"
etc., cf. Jer_17:25. - With Jer_22:5 cf. Jer_17:27, where, however, the threatening is
otherwise worded. ‫י‬ ִ‫בּ‬ , cf. Gen_22:16. ‫י‬ ִ‫כּ‬ introduces the contents of the oath. "This
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house" is the royal palace. ‫ה‬ ָ‫בּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫ל‬ as in Jer_7:34, cf. Jer_27:17. The threatening is
illustrated in Jer_22:6 by further description of the destruction of the palace. The royal
castle is addressed, and, in respect of its lofty situation and magnificence, is called a
Gilead and a head of Lebanon. It lay on the north-eastern eminence of Mount Zion (see
on 1Ki_7:12, note 1), and contained the so-called forest-house of Lebanon (1Ki_7:2-5)
and various other buildings built of cedar, or, at least, faced with cedar planks (cf. Jer_
22:14, Jer_22:23); so that the entire building might be compared to a forest of cedars on
the summit of Lebanon. In the comparison to Gilead, Gilead can hardly be adduced in
respect of its great fertility as a pasturing land (Num_32:1; Mic_7:14), but in virtue of
the thickly wooded covering of the hill-country of Gilead on both sides of the Jabbok.
This is still in great measure clothed with oak thickets and, according to Buckingham,
the most beautiful forest tracts that can be imagined; cf. C. v. Raumer, Pal. S. 82.
(Note: In 1834 Eli Smith travelled through it, and thus writes: "Jebel 'Ajlun
presents the most charming rural scenery that I have seen in Syria. A continued
forest of noble trees, chiefly the evergreen oak, covers a large part of it, while the
ground beneath is clothed with luxuriant grass and decked with a rich variety of wild
flowers. As we went from el-Husn to 'Ajlun our path lay along the summit of the
mountain; and we often overlooked a large part of Palestine on one side and the
whole of Haurân." - Rob. Phys. Geog. p. 54.)
‫ם‬ ִ‫א‬ ‫ֹא‬ ‫ל‬ is a particle of asseveration. This glorious forest of cedar buildings is to become a
‫ר‬ ָ‫בּ‬ ְ‫ד‬ ִ‫,מ‬ a treeless steppe, cities uninhabited. "Cities" refers to the thing compared, not to
the emblem; and the plural, as being the form for indefinite generality, presents no
difficulty. And the attachment thereto of a singular predicate has many analogies in its
support, cf. Ew. §317, a. The Keri ‫בוּ‬ָ‫שׁ‬ ‫נ‬ is an uncalled for emendation of the Chet. ‫ה‬ ָ‫ב‬ָ‫שׁ‬ ‫,נ‬
cf. Jer_6:5. - "I consecrate," in respect that the destroyers are warriors whom God sends
as the executors of His will, see on Jer_6:4. With "a man and his weapons," cf. Eze_9:2.
In keeping with the figure of a forest, the destruction is represented as the hewing down
of the choicest cedars; cf. Isa_10:34. - Thus is to be accomplished in Jerusalem what
Moses threatened, Deu_29:23; the destroyed city will become a monument of God's
wrath against the transgressors of His covenant. Jer_22:8 is modelled upon Deu_
29:23., cf. 1Ki_9:8., and made to bear upon Jerusalem, since, along with the palace, the
city too is destroyed by the enemy.
CALVIN, "The Prophet is again bidden to reprove the king and his counsellors; but
the exhortation is at the same time extended to the whole people. It was necessary to
begin with the head, that the common people might know that it was not a matter to
be trifled with, as God would not spare, no, not even the king himself, and his
courtiers; for a greater terror seized the lower orders, when they saw the highest
laid prostrate. That what is here taught might then penetrate more effectually into
the hearts of all, the Prophet is bid to address the king himself and his courtiers: he
is afterwards bidden to include also the whole body of the people. And hence it
appears, that there was some hope of favor yet remaining, provided the king and the
whole people received the admonitions of the Prophet; provided their repentance
and conversion were sincere, God was still ready to forgive them.
We must at the same time observe, as I have already said, that they could not escape
3

the calamity that was at hand; but exile would have been much milder, and also
their return would have been more certain, and they would have found in various
ways that they had not been rejected by God, though for a time chastised. As then
we now say, that a hope of pardon was set before them, this is not to be so
understood as that they could avert the destruction of the city; for it had once for all
been determined by God to drive the people into a temporary exile, and also to put
all end for a time to their sacrifices; for this dreadful desolation was to be a proof
that the people had been extremely ungrateful to God, and especially that their
obstinacy could not be endured in having so long despised the Prophets and the
commands of God. However the hope of mitigation as to their punishment was given
them, provided they were touched by a right feeling, so as to endeavor to return into
favor with God. But as Jeremiah effected nothing by so many admonitions, they
were rendered more inexcusable.
We now see the design of what is here said, even that the Jews, having been so often
proved guilty, might cease to complain that they suffered anything undeservedly;
for they had been often admonished, yea, almost in numberless instances, and God
had offered mercy, provided they were reclaimable. I come now to the words —
Thus saith Jehovah, Go down (32) to the house of the king We see that the Prophet
was endued with so great a courage that the dignity of the king’s name did not
daunt him, so as to prevent him to perform what was commanded him. We have
seen elsewhere similar instances; but whenever such cases occur, they deserve to be
noticed. First, the servants of God ought boldly to discharge their office, and not to
flatter the great and the rich, nor remit anything of their own authority when they
meet with dignity and greatness. Secondly, let those who seem to be more eminent
than others learn, that whatever eminence they may possess cannot avail them, but
that they ought to submit to prophetic instruction. We have before seen that the
Prophet was sent to reprove and rebuke even the highest, and to shew no respect of
persons. (Jeremiah 1:10.) So now, here he shews that he had, as it were, the whole
world under his feet, for in executing his office, he reproved the king himself and all
his princes.
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
JEREMIAH 22
THE EARTHLY HOUSE OF DAVID TERMINATED
This is a landmark chapter in God's Word. The beginning of the Jewish state had
been contrary to God's will (1 Samuel 8:7). It was based entirely upon the people's
rejection of God's will and their desire to be like the nations around them. Not
surprisingly, that "sinful kingdom" became the scandal of antiquity, fully deserving
the word of the Lord to Amos when he declared, "Behold, the eyes of the Lord are
upon the sinful kingdom; and I will destroy it off the face of the earth" (Amos 9:8).
Hosea also was commanded to name his firstborn son Jezreel, which means, "I will
4

cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease" (Hosea 1:3). The details of that
destruction are all evident in this chapter. (For those interested in a further study of
this, see Vol. 1 of my commentaries on the minor prophets, pp. 231-235.) As Halley
said, "In Jeconiah and Zedekiah, we have the end of the earthly kingdom of
Judah."[1]
The chapter naturally falls into four paragraphs: (1) Jeremiah 22:1-9, applicable to
the early part of the reign of Jehoiachim; (2) Jeremiah 22:10-12 which speak of the
days immediately after the deposition of Jehoahaz and his captivity in Egypt; (3)
Jeremiah 22:13-19 applicable to the events near the close of Jehoiachim's wicked
reign; and (4) Jeremiah 22:20-30 relating to the reign of Jeconiah (Coniah, or
Jehoiachin).[2]
Scholars are not unanimous in their opinions regarding the dates of specific verses
in the chapter; but there seems to be no doubt that all of the prophecies in this
section may be applied to terminal conditions in "the sinful kingdom." The terminal
kings of Judah featured in this section are Josiah, Jehoahaz (Shallum), Jehoiachim
(Eliakim), Jehoiachin (Coniah), and Zedekiah. Jehoiachim was actually the
firstborn of Josiah; but his evil character was evidently well known in Judah, which
probably accounts for the people's elevation of Jehoahaz to the throne instead of his
older brother. This violated the principle of primogeniture. However, the strategy
did not work. With the removal of Jehoahaz by the Egyptians, the last hope of
Judah's having a decent king perished.
"Jehoahaz (Shallum) lasted only three months. Eliakim (Jehoiachim) resented
what was done, threw himself into the arms of the Egyptians; and Pharaoh-Necho
deposed Jehoahaz (Shallum) and enthroned Eliakim (Jehoiachim) as his vassal king
in Jerusalem. He deported Jehoahaz (Shallum) to Egypt; and from that time he was
heard of no more."[3]
The double names here should not be confusing. One name is the family name and
the other one is the name assumed when the wearer came to the throne. It makes
little difference which was which; but Shallum and Eliakim are usually identified as
the family names.
Jeremiah 22:1-5,8 are alleged to be "in the style of Deuteronomy";[4] but it would
be far better to state that they are in the style of Moses; for it is the whole covenant
of God with Israel that is referred to in these verses. There are actually more
references in this writer's Cross-Reference Bible to Exodus, Leviticus, Genesis, and
Numbers than there are to Deuteronomy. We should heed the wise words of J. A.
Thompson in his analysis of the passage.
"The protection of the orphan, the widow, and the stranger is a part of the
covenant stipulation (Exodus 22:21-26; 23:9; Leviticus 19:33-34, and Deuteronomy
10:18-19; and 24:17). The king was as much under obligation to fulfill the words of
the Sinai Covenant as were the people. The Davidic covenant of 2 Samuel 7 was no
5

different in this respect from the Mosaic Covenant."[5]
Jeremiah 22:1-9
"Thus said Jehovah; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there
this word. 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.
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.
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. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith
Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation. For thus saith Jehovah
concerning the house of the king of Judah: Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head
of Lebanon; yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not
inhabited. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, everyone with his weapons;
and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. And many
nations shall pass by this city, and they shall cry every man to his neighbor,
Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer,
Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God and worshipped other
gods, and served them."
"If ye will do this thing indeed ..." (Jeremiah 22:4) Thompson translated this clause,
"If you scrupulously carry out this commission."[6]
"They shall cut down thy choice cedars ..." (Jeremiah 22:7). "In keeping with the
figure of a forest, the destruction of Jerusalem is represented as the hewing down of
the choice cedars. The destroyed city will become a monument to God's wrath
against the transgressors of his covenant."[7]
Jeremiah 22:8 reflects the promise recorded by Moses in Deuteronomy 29:33ff.
Along with the king's palace, the whole city will be destroyed.
"Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah ..." (Jeremiah 22:9). The covenant in
view here is the one commonly called the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, or
the Sinaitic Covenant (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7).
"The covenant violated here was not the Davidic covenant of 2 Samuel 7, but the
initial covenant at Sinai, referred to recurringly in earlier portions of Jeremiah. The
extensive devastation was a lesson to all nations on the perils of idolatry."[8]
Although Jellie thought that these first nine verses were addressed to the early days
of the reign of Jehoiachim, Harrison assigned them to the times of Zedekiah.[9] As
we have frequently noted, if such distinctions were very important, God would have
revealed the exact situation. Here it makes little or no difference, because the words
6

perfectly fit either one of the monarchs mentioned.
COKE, "Introduction
CHAP. XXII.
He exhorteth to repentance with promises and threats. The judgment of Shallum, of
Jehoiakim, and of Coniah.
Before Christ 598.
THE prophesy which follows to ch. Jeremiah 23:9 was evidently delivered in the
reign of Jehoiakim; for it speaks of his immediate predecessor as already gone into
captivity, and foretels the death of Jehoiakim himself. It is likewise probable, that it
followed immediately after what is said in the 19th and 20th chapters to have passed
in the temple precincts; whence, as from higher ground, the prophet is ordered to go
down to the house of the king of Judah. Compare ch. Jeremiah 36:12.
The beginning of this prophesy is an address to the king of Judah, his servants, and
people, recommending an inviolable adherence to right and justice as the only
means of establishing the throne, and preventing the ruin of both prince and people;
Jeremiah 21:1-9. The captivity of Shallum is declared to be irreversible; Jeremiah
21:10-12. Jehoiakim is severely reproved for his tyrannical oppressions, and his
miserable end foretold; Jeremiah 21:13-14. His family is threatened with a
continuance of the like calamities; the fall and captivity of his son Jeconiah are
explicitly set forth, and the perpetual exclusion of his seed from the throne;
Jeremiah 21-22. The name of Zedekiah is not mentioned, for obvious reasons; but
he is, no doubt, principally intended in the two first verses of ch. 23. under the
general character of those evil shepherds, who should be punished for dispersing,
instead of feeding the flock. In the six following verses, with which the prophesy
concludes, the people are consoled with gracious promises of future blessings; of
their return from captivity, and of happier times under better governors; of the
glorious establishment of the Messiah's kingdom; and of the subsequent restoration
of all the dispersed Israelites to dwell once more in their own land.
Verse 1
Jeremiah 22:1. Thus saith the Lord— This happened long before what is mentioned
in the preceding chapter.
EXPOSITORS BIBLE COMMENTARY, "INTRODUCTORY
"I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people."-
Jeremiah 31:1
IN this third book an attempt is made to present a general view of Jeremiah’s
teaching on the subject with which he was most preoccupied-the political and
7

religious fortunes of Judah. Certain (30, 31, and, in part, 33) chapters detach
themselves from the rest, and stand in no obvious connection with any special
incident of the prophet’s life. These are the main theme of this book, and have been
dealt with in the ordinary method of detailed exposition. They have been treated
separately, and not woven into the continuous narrative, partly because we thus
obtain a more adequate emphasis upon important aspects of their teaching, but
chiefly because their date and occasion cannot be certainly determined. With them
other sections have been associated, on account of the connection of subject. Further
material for a synopsis of Jeremiah’s teaching has been collected from chapters
21-49, generally, supplemented by brief references to the previous chapters.
Inasmuch as the prophecies of our book do not form an ordered treatise on
dogmatic theology, but were uttered with regard to individual conduct and critical
events, topics are not exclusively dealt with in a single section, but are referred to at
intervals throughout. Moreover, as both the individuals and the crises were very
much alike, ideas and phrases are constantly reappearing, so that there is an
exceptionally large amount of repetition in the Book of Jeremiah. The method we
have adopted avoids some of the difficulties which would arise if we attempted to
deal with these doctrines in our continuous exposition.
Our general sketch of the prophet’s teaching is naturally arranged under categories
suggested by the book itself, and not according to the sections of a modern treatise
on Systematic Theology. No doubt much may legitimately be extracted or deduced
concerning Anthropology, Soteriology, and the like; but true proportion is as
important in exposition as accurate interpretation. If we wish to understand
Jeremiah, we must be content to dwell longest upon what he emphasised most, and
to adopt the standpoint of time and race which was his own. Accordingly in our
treatment we have followed the cycle of sin, punishment, and restoration, so familiar
to students of Hebrew prophecy.
NOTE SOME CHARACTERISTIC EXPRESSIONS OF JEREMIAH
This note is added partly for convenience of reference, and partly to illustrate the
repetition just mentioned as characteristic of Jeremiah. The instances are chosen
from expressions occurring in chapters 21-52. The reader will find fuller lists
dealing with the whole book in the "Speaker’s Commentary" and the "Cambridge
Bible for Schools and Colleges." The Hebrew student is referred to the list in
Driver’s "Introduction," upon which the following is partly based.
1. "Rising up early": Jeremiah 7:13; Jeremiah 7:25;, Jeremiah 11:7;, Jeremiah
25:3-4; Jeremiah 26:5;, Jeremiah 29:19;, Jeremiah 32:33;, Jeremiah 35:14-15;
Jeremiah 44:4. This phrase, familiar to us in the narratives of Genesis and in the
historical books, is used here, as in 2 Chronicles 36:15, of God addressing His people
on sending the prophets.
2. "Stubbornness of heart" (A.V. imagination of heart): Jeremiah 3:17;, Jeremiah
7:24;, Jeremiah 9:14;, Jeremiah 11:8;, Jeremiah 13:10;, Jeremiah 16:12;, Jeremiah
8

18:12;, Jeremiah 23:17; also found Deuteronomy 29:19 and Psalms 81:15.
3. "The evil of your doings": Jeremiah 4:4;, Jeremiah 21:12;, Jeremiah 23:2;
Jeremiah 23:22;, Jeremiah 25:5;, Jeremiah 26:3;, Jeremiah 44:22; also
Deuteronomy 28:20;, 1 Samuel 25:3;, Isaiah 1:16;, Hosea 9:15;, Psalms 28:4; and in
slightly different form in Jeremiah 11:18 and Zechariah 1:4.
"The fruit of your doings": Jeremiah 17:10;, Jeremiah 21:14;, Jeremiah 32:19; also
found in Micah 7:13.
"Doings, your doings," etc., are also found in Jeremiah and elsewhere.
4. "The sword, the pestilence, and the famine," in various orders, and either as a
phrase or each word ocurring in one of three successive clauses: Jeremiah 14:12;,
Jeremiah 15:2;, Jeremiah 21:7; Jeremiah 21:9;, Jeremiah 24:10;, Jeremiah 27:8;
Jeremiah 27:13;, Jeremiah 29:17-18; Jeremiah 32:24; Jeremiah 32:36;, Jeremiah
34:17;, Jeremiah 38:2;, Jeremiah 42:17; Jeremiah 42:22;, Jeremiah 44:13.
"The sword and the famime," with similar variations: Jeremiah 5:12;, Jeremiah
11:22;, Jeremiah 14:13; Jeremiah 14:15-16; Jeremiah 14:18;, Jeremiah 16:4;,
Jeremiah 18:21;, Jeremiah 42:16;, Jeremiah 44:12; Jeremiah 44:18;, Jeremiah
44:27. Cf. similar lists, etc., "death . . . sword . . . captivity," in Jeremiah 43:11 :
"war . . . evil . . . pestilence," Jeremiah 28:8.
5. "Kings . . . princes . . . priests . . . prophets," in various orders and combinations:
Jeremiah 2:26;, Jeremiah 4:9;, Jeremiah 8:1;, Jeremiah 13:13;, Jeremiah 24:8;,
Jeremiah 32:32.
Cf. "Prophet . . . priest . . . people," Jeremiah 23:33-34. "Prophets . . . diviners . . .
dreamers . . . enchanters . . . sorcerers," Jeremiah 27:9.
Verses 1-9
CHAPTER XXIX
RUIN
Jeremiah 22:1-9;, Jeremiah 26:14
"The sword, the pestilence, and the famine,"- Jeremiah 21:9 and passim.
"Terror on every side."- Jeremiah 6:25; Jeremiah 20:10;, Jeremiah 46:5; Jeremiah
49:29; also as proper name, MAGOR-MISSABIB, Jeremiah 20:3.
WE have seen, in the two previous chapters, that the moral and religious state of
Judah not only excluded any hope of further progress towards the realisation of the
Kingdom of God, but also threatened to involve Revelation itself in the corruption of
9

His people. The Spirit that opened Jeremiah’s eyes to the fatal degradation of his
country showed him that ruin must follow as its swift result. He was elect from the
first to be a herald of doom, to be set "over the nations and over the kingdoms, to
pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to overthrow." [Jeremiah 1:10] In
his earliest vision he saw the thrones of the northern conquerors set over against the
walls of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. [Jeremiah 1:15]
But Jeremiah was called in the full vigor of early manhood; he combined with the
uncompromising severity of youth its ardent affection and irrepressible hope. The
most unqualified threats of Divine wrath always carried the implied condition that
repentance might avert the coming judgment; and Jeremiah recurred again and
again to the possibility that, even in these last days, amendment might win pardon.
Like Moses at Sinai and Samuel at Ebenezer, he poured out his whole soul in
intercession for Judah, only to receive the answer, "Though Moses and Samuel
stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of My
sight and let them go forth." [Jeremiah 15:1] The record of these early hopes and
prayers is chiefly found in chapters 1-20, and is dealt with in "The Prophecies of
Jeremiah," preceding. The prophecies in Jeremiah 14:1 - Jeremiah 17:18 seem to
recognise the destiny of Judah as finally decided, and to belong to the latter part of
the reign of Jehoiakim, and there is little in the later chapters of an earlier date. In
Jeremiah 22:1-5 the king of Judah is promised that if he and his ministers and
officers will refrain from oppression, faithfully administer justice, and protect the
helpless, kings of the elect dynasty shall still pass with magnificent retinues in
chariots and on horses through the palace gates to sit upon the throne of David.
Possibly this section belongs to the earlier part of Jeremiah’s career. But there were
pauses and recoils in the advancing tide of ruin, alternations of hope and despair;
and these varying experiences were reflected in the changing moods of the court, the
people, and the prophet himself. We may well believe that Jeremiah hastened to
greet any apparent zeal for reformation with a renewed declaration that sincere and
radical amendment would be accepted by Jehovah. The proffer of mercy did not
avert the ruin of the state, but it compelled the people to recognise that Jehovah was
neither harsh nor vindictive. His sentence was only irrevocable because the
obduracy of Israel left no other way open for the progress of Revelation, except that
which led through fire and blood. The Holy Spirit has taught mankind in many
ways that when any government or church, any school of thought or doctrine,
ossifies so as to limit the expansion of the soul, that society or system must be
shattered by the forces it seeks to restrain. The decadence of Spain and the
distractions of France sufficiently illustrate the fruits of persistent refusal to abide
in the liberty of the Spirit.
But until the catastrophe is clearly inevitable, the Christian, both as patriot and as
churchman, will be quick to cherish all those symptoms of higher life which indicate
that society is still a living organism. He will zealously believe and teach that even a
small leaven may leaven the whole mass. He will remember that ten righteous men
might have saved Sodom; that, so long as it is possible, God will work by
encouraging and rewarding willing obedience rather than by chastising and
10

coercing sin.
Thus Jeremiah, even when he teaches that the day of grace is over, recurs wistfully
to the possibilities of salvation once offered to repentance. [Jeremiah 27:18] Was not
this the message of all the prophets: "Return ye now every one from his evil way,
and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto
your fathers"? [Jeremiah 25:5; Jeremiah 25:15] Even at the beginning of
Jehoiakim’s reign Jehovah entrusted Jeremiah with a message of mercy, saying: "It
may be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may repent
Me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings."
[Jeremiah 26:3; Jeremiah 36:2] When the prophet multiplied the dark and lurid
features of his picture, he was not gloating with morbid enjoyment over the national
misery, but rather hoped that the awful vision of judgment might lead them to
pause, and reflect, and repent. In his age history had not accumulated her now
abundant proofs that the guilty conscience is panoplied in triple brass against most
visions of judgment. The sequel of Jeremiah’s own mission was added evidence for
this truth.
Yet it dawned but slowly on the prophet’s mind. The covenant of emancipation
(Chapter 11) in the last days of Zedekiah was doubtless proposed by Jeremiah as a
possible beginning of better things, an omen of salvation, even at the eleventh hour.
To the very last the prophet offered the king his life and promised that Jerusalem
should not be burnt, if only he would submit to the Chaldeans, and thus accept the
Divine judgment and acknowledge its justice.
Faithful friends have sometimes stood by the drunkard or the gambler, and striven
for his deliverance through all the vicissitudes of his downward career; to the very
last they have hoped against hope, have welcomed and encouraged every feeble
stand against evil habit, every transient flash of high resolve. But, long before the
end, they have owned, with sinking heart, that the only way to salvation lay. through
the ruin of health, fortune, and reputation. So, when the edge of youthful
hopefulness had quickly worn itself away, Jeremiah knew in his inmost heart that,
in spite of prayers and promises and exhortations, the fate of Judah was sealed. Let
us therefore try to reproduce the picture of coming ruin which Jeremiah kept
persistently before the eyes of his fellow country men. The pith and power of his
prophecies lay in the prospect of their speedy fulfilment. With him, as with
Savonarola, a cardinal doctrine was that "before the regeneration must come the
scourge," and that "these things wilt come quickly." Here, again, Jeremiah took up
the burden of Hosea’s utterances. The elder prophet said of Israel, "The days of
visitation are come"; [Hosea 9:7] and his successor announced to Judah the coming
of "the year of visitation." [Jeremiah 23:12] The long deferred assize was at hand,
when the Judge would reckon with Judah for her manifold infidelities, would
pronounce sentence and execute judgment.
If the hour of doom had struck, it was not difficult to surmise whence destruction
would come or the man who would prove its instrument. The North (named in
11

Hebrew the hidden quarter) was to the Jews the mother of things unforeseen and
terrible. Isaiah menaced the Philistines with "a smoke out of the north," [Isaiah
14:30] i.e., the Assyrians. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both speak very frequently of the
destroyers of Judah as coming from the north. Probably the early references in our
book to northern enemies denote the Scythians, who invaded Syria towards the
beginning of Josiah’s reign; but later on the danger from the north is the restored
Chaldean Empire under its king Nebuchadnezzar. "North" is even less accurate
geographically for Chaldea than for Assyria. Probably it was accepted in a
somewhat symbolic sense for Assyria, and then transferred to Chaldea as her
successor in the hegemony of Western Asia.
Nebuchadnezzar is first introduced in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; after the
decisive defeat of Pharaoh Necho by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, Jeremiah
prophesied the devastation of Judah by the victor; it is also prophesied that he is to
carry Jehoiachin away captive, and similar prophecies were repeated during the
reign of Zedekiah. [Jeremiah 16:7; Jeremiah 28:14] Nebuchadnezzar and his
Chaldeans very closely resembled the Assyrians, with whose invasions the Jews had
long been only too familiar; indeed, as Chaldea had long been tributary to Assyria,
it is morally certain that Chaldean princes must have been present with auxiliary
forces at more than one of the many Assyrian invasions of Palestine. Under
Hezekiah, on the other hand, Judah had been allied with Merodach-baladan of
Babylon against his Assyrian suzerain. So that the circumstances of Chaldean
invasions and conquests were familiar to the Jews before the forces of the restored
empire first attacked them; their imagination could readily picture the horrors of
such experiences.
But Jeremiah does not leave them to their unaided imagination, which they might
preferably have employed upon more agreeable subjects. He makes them see the
future reign of terror, as Jehovah had revealed it to his shuddering and reluctant
vision. With his usual frequency of iteration, he keeps the phrase "the sword, the
famine, and the pestilence" ringing in their ears. The sword was the symbol of the
invading hosts, "the splendid and awful military parade" of the "bitter and hasty
nation" that was "dreadful and terrible." [Habakkuk 1:6-7] "The famine"
inevitably followed from the ravages of the invaders, and the impossibility of
ploughing, sowing, and reaping. It became most gruesome in the last desperate
agonies of besieged garrisons, when, as in Elisha’s time and the last siege of
Jerusalem, "men ate the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and ate
every one the flesh of his friend." [Jeremiah 19:9] Among such miseries and
horrors, the stench of unburied corpses naturally bred a pestilence, which raged
amongst the multitudes of refugees huddled together in Jerusalem and the fortified
towns. We are reminded how the great plague of Athens struck down its victims
from among the crowds driven within its walls during the long siege of the
Peloponnesian war.
An ordinary Englishman can scarcely do justice to such prophecies; his
comprehension is limited by a happy inexperience. The constant repetition of
12

general phrases seems meagre and cold, because they carry few associations and
awaken no memories. Those who have studied French and Russian realistic art, and
have read Erckmann-Chatrain, Zola, and Tolstoi, may be stirred somewhat more by
Jeremiah’s grim rhetoric. It will not be wanting in suggestiveness to those who have
known battles and sieges. For students of missionary literature we may roughly
compare the Jews, when exposed to the full fury of a Chaldean attack, to the
inhabitants of African villages raided by slave hunters.
The Jews, therefore, with their extensive, firsthand knowledge of the miseries
denounced against them, could not help filling in for themselves the rough outline
drawn by Jeremiah. Very probably, too, his speeches were more detailed and
realistic than the written reports. As time went on, the inroads of the Chaldeans and
their allies provided graphic and ghastly illustrations of the prophecies that
Jeremiah still reiterated. In a prophecy, possibly originally referring to the Scythian
inroads and afterwards adapted to the Chaldean invasions, Jeremiah speaks of
himself: "I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold
my peace; for my soul heareth the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. How long
shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?" [Jeremiah 4:21] Here,
for once, Jeremiah expressed emotions that throbbed in every heart. There was
"terror on every hand"; men seemed to be walking "through slippery places in
darkness," [Jeremiah 23:12] or to stumble along rough paths in a dreary twilight.
Wormwood was their daily food, and their drink maddening draughts of poison.
[Jeremiah 23:15]
Jeremiah and his prophecies were no mean part of the terror. To the devotees of
Baal and Moloch Jeremiah must have appeared in much the same light as the
fanatic whose ravings added to the horrors of the Plague of London, while the very
sanity and sobriety of his utterances carried a conviction of their fatal truth. When
the people and their leaders succeeded in collecting any force of soldiers or store of
military equipment, and ventured on a sally, Jeremiah was at once at hand to
quench any reviving hope of effective resistance. How could soldiers and weapons
preserve the city which Jehovah had abandoned to its fate? "Thus saith Jehovah,
the God of Israel: Behold I will turn back the weapons in your hands, with which ye
fight without the walls against your besiegers, the king of Babylon and the
Chaldeans, and will gather them into the midst of this city. I Myself will fight
against you in furious anger and in great wrath, with outstretched hand and strong
arm. I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a
great pestilence." (Jeremiah 21:3-6.) When Jerusalem was relieved for a time by the
advance of an Egyptian army, and the people allowed themselves to dream of
another deliverance like that from Sennacherib, the relentless prophet only turned
upon them with renewed scorn: "Though ye had smitten the whole hostile army of
the Chaldeans, and all that were left of them were desperately wounded, yet should
they rise up every man in his tent and burn this city." [Jeremiah 37:10] Not even the
most complete victory could avail to save the city.
The final result of invasions and sieges was to be the overthrow of the Jewish state,
13

the capture and destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the people. This
unhappy generation were to reap the harvest of centuries of sin and failure. As in
the last siege of Jerusalem there came upon the Jews "all the righteous blood shed
on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zachariah son of
Baraehiah," [Matthew 23:35] so now Jehovah was about to bring upon His Chosen
people all the evil that He had spoken against them (Jeremiah 35:17; Jeremiah
19:15; Jeremiah 36:31)-all that had been threatened by Isaiah and his brother
prophets, all the curses written in Deuteronomy. But these threats were to be fully
carried out, not because predictions must be fulfilled, nor even merely because
Jehovah had spoken and His word must not return to Him void, but because the
people had not hearkened and obeyed. His threats were never meant to exclude the
penitent from the possibility of pardon. As Jeremiah had insisted upon the guilt of
every class of the community, so he is also careful to enumerate all the classes as
about to suffer from the coming judgment: "Zedekiah king of Judah and his
princes"; [Jeremiah 34:21] "the people, the prophet, and the priest." [Jeremiah
23:33-34] This last judgment of Judah, as it took the form of the complete overthrow
of the State, necessarily included all under its sentence of doom. One of the
mysteries of Providence is that those who are most responsible for national sins
seem to suffer least by public misfortunes. Ambitious statesmen and bellicose
journalists do not generally fall in battle and leave destitute widows and children.
When the captains of commerce and manufacture err in their industrial policy, one
great result is the pauperism of hundreds of families who had no voice in the matter.
A spendthrift landlord may cripple the agriculture of half a county. And yet, when
factories are closed and farmers ruined, the manufacturer and the landlord are the
last to see want. In former invasions of Judah, the princes and priests had some
share of suffering; but wealthy nobles might incur losses and yet weather the storm
by which poorer men were overwhelmed. Fines and tribute levied by the invaders
would, after the manner of the East, be wrung from the weak and helpless. But now
ruin was to fall on all alike. The nobles had been flagrant in sin, they were now to be
marked out for most condign punishment-"To whomsoever much is given, of him
shall much be required."
Part of the burden of Jeremiah’s prophecy, one of the sayings constantly on his lips,
was that the city would be taken and destroyed by fire. [Jeremiah 34:2; Jeremiah
34:22; Jeremiah 37:8] The Temple would be laid in ruins like the ancient sanctuary
of Israel at Shiloh. (chapters 7 and 26.) The palaces [Jeremiah 6:5] of the king and
princes would be special marks for the destructive fury of the enemy, and their
treasures and all the wealth of the city would be for a spoil; those who survived the
sack of the city would be carried captive to Babylon. [Jeremiah 20:5]
In this general ruin the miseries of the people would not end with death. All nations
have attached much importance to the burial of the dead and the due performance
of funeral rites. In the touching Greek story Antigone sacrificed her life in order to
bury the remains of her brother. Later Judaism attached exceptional importance to
the burial of the dead, and the Book of Tobit lays great stress on this sacred duty.
The angel Raphael declares that one special reason why the Lord had been merciful
14

to Tobias was that he had buried dead bodies, and had not delayed to rise up and
leave his meal to go and bury the corpse of a murdered Jew, at the risk of his own
life.
Jeremiah prophesied of the slain in this last overthrow: "They shall not be
lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the
ground; their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts
of the earth."
When these last had done their ghastly work, the site of the Temple, the city, the
whole land would be left silent and desolate. The stranger, wandering amidst the
ruins, would hear no cheerful domestic sounds; when night fell, no light gleaming
through chink or lattice would give the sense of human neighbourhood. Jehovah
"would take away the sound of the millstones and the light of the candle."
[Jeremiah 25:10] The only sign of life amidst the desolate ruins of Jerusalem and the
cities of Judah would be the melancholy cry of the jackals round the traveller’s tent.
[Jeremiah 9:11; Jeremiah 10:22]
The Hebrew prophets and our Lord Himself often borrowed their symbols from the
scenes of common life, as they passed before their eyes. As in the days of Noah, as in
the days of Lot, as in the days of the Son of Man, so in the last agony of Judah there
was marrying and giving in marriage. Some such festive occasion suggested to
Jeremiah one of his favourite formulae; it occurs four times in the Book of
Jeremiah, and was probably uttered much oftener. Again and again it may have
happened that, as a marriage procession passed through the streets, the gay
company were startled by the grim presence of the prophet, and shrank back in
dismay as they found themselves made the text for a stern homily of ruin: "Thus
saith Jehovah Sabaoth, I will take away from them the voice of mirth and the voice
of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride." At any rate,
however, and whenever used, the figure could not fail to arrest attention, and to
serve as an emphatic declaration that the ordinary social routine would be broken
up and lost in the coming calamity.
Henceforth the land would be as some guilty habitation of sinners, devoted to
eternal destruction, an astonishment and a hissing and a perpetual desolation.
[Jeremiah 25:9-10] When the heathen sought some curse to express the extreme of
malignant hatred, they would use the formula, "God make thee like Jerusalem."
[Jeremiah 26:6] Jehovah’s Chosen People would become an everlasting reproach, a
perpetual shame, which should not be forgotten. [Jeremiah 23:40] The wrath of
Jehovah pursued even captives and fugitives. In chapter 29 Jeremiah predicts the
punishment of the Jewish prophets at Babylon. When we last hear of him, in Egypt,
he is denouncing ruin against "the remnant of Judah that have set their faces to go
into the land of Egypt to sojourn there." He still reiterates the same familiar
phrases: "Ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence"; they
shall be "an execration, an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach."
15

We have now traced the details of the prophet’s message of doom. Fulfilment
followed fast upon the heels of prediction, till Jeremiah rather interpreted than
foretold the thick coming disasters. When his book was compiled, the prophecies
were already, as they are now, part of the history of the last days of Judah. The
book became the record of this great tragedy, in which these prophecies take the
place of the choric odes in a Greek drama.
PARKER, " The Coming One
Jeremiah 22 , Jeremiah 23
The particular reference is to Josiah, on the occasion of whose death Jeremiah had
composed a grand and pathetic dirge. It is supposed from 2 Chronicles 35:25 that
this dirge was repeated annually in memory of Josiah"s death. The injunction of the
text puts an end to this annual commemoration. The weeping is forbidden in the
case of Josiah, but it is ordered to continue in the case of Jehoahaz (Jehovah
sustains.) Jehoahaz was probably a name assumed by Shallum on his accession to
the throne. It would seem that the word Shallum had a peculiar significance
attached to it from the fact that the name had been borne by one of the later kings of
Israel, whose reign lasted only one month. The point which is immediately before us
is that men may often be weeping for the wrong object, and neglecting to shed tears
over men and memories that deserve nothing but lamentation. The prophet says:
Weep not for Josiah, but lor Jehoahaz. So we may often say: Weep not for the dead,
but for the living; weep not for the afflicted, but for the evil-hearted; weep not for
those who pass away out of sight into the immortal state, but weep for those who
linger here, and whose day is turned into night by hopelessness. Men will always
persist in weeping for the wrong thing, or weeping at the wrong point. Who does not
cry over death? whereas, the probability Isaiah , if we understood the economy of
nature better, it would be wiser to weep over birth. It is certain that birth introduces
us into a sphere of trial, difficulty, where we have to absorb much that is bitter, and
undergo much that is distressing; whereas it is possible that death may introduce us
into immortal and ineffable blessedness. Jesus Christ said to the woman who
followed him to the cross, "Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your
children." Misspent tears exhaust or pervert the very emotion which they express.
We are not to weep for the consequences of sin so much as for sin itself. If we were
great enough in the realisation of our ideals and our aspirations, we should not so
much weep that men are sent to perdition as that God"s holiness is dishonoured,
and God"s law disobeyed, and the music of his creation thrown into discord by
iniquity.
"Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they
shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! He shall be buried with
the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem"
( Jeremiah 22:18-19).
16

The description of Jehoiakim really begins in the thirteenth verse. Jehoiakim had
revived forced labour, such as was known in the days of Solomon—a labour which
pressed not only on strangers, but on the Israelites themselves. Jehoiakim went on
building palaces when his kingdom was threatened with ruin, and when his subjects
were overborne by burdens which it was impossible to sustain. In the thirteenth
verse the prophet begins a description of a man without naming him; a man who
builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by ruin; a man who useth his
neighbour"s services without wages, and giveth him not for his work; a man who
yields to the impulses of a foolish ambition, saying, I will build me a wide house and
large chambers, and who gratifies himself by cutting out windows, and deling his
chambers with cedars, and painting his retreats with vermilion. It is not until we
come to the eighteenth verse that the prophet specially indicates the man against
whom this accusation is levelled. Jehoiakim was king, and yet not one word of
thanks do we find, nor one word of love, nor one word of regret, expressed
concerning his fate. We should learn from this how possible it is to pass through the
world without leaving behind us one sacred or loving memory. He that seeketh his
life shall lose it. A man that sacrifices daily to his own ambition, and never sets
before himself a higher ideal than his own gratification, may appear to have much
whilst he actually has nothing, may even appear to be winning great victories when
he is really undergoing disastrous defeats. What is a grand house if there be not in it
a loving heart? What are walls but for the pictures that adorn them? What is life
but for the trust which knits it into sympathetic unity? What is the night but for the
stars that glitter in its darkness? Jehoiakim had only a magnificent mausoleum; his
palaces were mortuaries; his pretensions were nightmares. Jehoiakim was dragged
in chains with the other captives who were carried off to Babylon. The disappointed
and mortified king died on the journey. See to what we may come after all the whirl
of our excitement, all the mad dance and tumult of our ambition. It is better to begin
at the other end of life, so that we may realise the proverb which speaks of men
being born mud and dying marble. We all know men who are born marble but who
die mud. There is an awful process of retrogression continually operating in life.
Experienced men will tell us that the issue of life is one of two things: either
advancement, or deterioration; continual improvement, or continual depreciation:
we cannot remain just where we are, adding nothing, subtracting nothing, but
realising a permanence of estate and faculty. The powers we do not use will fall into
desuetude, and the abilities which might have made life easy may be so neglected as
to become burdens too heavy to be carried. It lies within a man"s power so to live
that he may be buried with the burial of an ass: no mourners may surround his
grave; no beneficiaries may recall his charities; no hidden hearts may conceal the
tender story of his sympathy and helpfulness. A bitter sarcasm this, that a man
should be buried like an ass! What may be honourable to the ass is an infinite
dishonour to the man. We often do the animal creation injustice by comparison of
wicked or foolish men with its creatures. We sometimes speak of a man as being "as
drunk as a beast," a phrase in which we dishonour the beasts that perish. How
mighty men may become, how noble, how helpful to his brother-men! How much of
beauty and tenderness, purity and gentleness, may be brought within the limited
scope of threescore years and ten; every year may be a gathering of jewels, every
17

moment may glitter like a diamond. Happy he who sits down to calculate how much
good he can do, and how much of honest labour and genuine helpfulness he can
crowd into the little space which he calls his life.
PETT, "Verses 1-9
The One Who Sits On The Throne Of David Is Called On To Ensure Justice And
Freedom From Oppression For His People, Something Which If Accomplished Will
Result In His Triumph, But Accompanied By The Warning Of The Consequences If
He Does Not (Jeremiah 22:1-9).
Once again we have a general vague reference to the son of David, this time as ‘the
one who sits on the throne of David’. We are thus presumably to see that it applies
to all the sons of David to whom Jeremiah will refer, and this is especially so as at
the end of this chapter he refers to Shallum/Jehoahaz, the one who succeeded
directly after Josiah, as being in recent memory. We do not therefore have to ask
which son of David of the house of Josiah he is intending to refer to. The answer is
‘all of them’.
Jeremiah 22:1
“Thus says YHWH, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this
word,”
Jeremiah probably took this trip to each of the sons of David in their palaces as they
ascended the throne, first Jehoahaz, then Jehoiakim, then Jehoiachin and then
Zedekiah, although he probably did not receive an effusive welcome from any of
them. But he was ‘going down’ to the king’s house, presumably from the Temple, to
speak the word of YHWH so that his own feelings had to be ignored. It was
necessary that each should receive their warning. It will in fact be noted that some
of the ideas are paralleled in Jeremiah 1:12 (see Jeremiah 22:3), and some of them in
Jeremiah 17:25 (see Jeremiah 22:4). They were thus repeated more than once.
2 ‘Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of
Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you, your
officials and your people who come through these
gates.
18

CLARKE, "O king of Judah - thou, and thy servants - His ministers are here
addressed, as chiefly governing the nation; and who had counselled Zedekiah to rebel.
GILL, "And say, hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah,.... O Jehoiakim
king of Judah, hear the word of the King of kings; listen to it, and obey it, as kings ought
to do; and it is for their good, as well as it is their duty, so to do:
that sittest upon the throne of David; whom he mentions, to put him in mind of his
illustrious ancestor, whose successor he was, that he might be prompted to follow his
example:
thou, and thy servants, and that people that enter in by these gates; the king
and his courtiers, his nobles and privy counsellors, that were continually waiting upon
him, and were frequently passing and repassing the gates of the palace; for not the gates
of the court in the temple are meant, as Kimchi suggests; and all other people, that either
waited on or came to the king, upon business, with their suits, and to have their causes
heard and tried.
HENRY, "Here we have,
I. Orders given to Jeremiah to go and preach before the king. In the foregoing chapter
we are told that Zedekiah sent messengers to the prophet, but here the prophet is bidden
to go, in his own proper person, to the house of the king, and demand his attention to
the word of the King of kings (Jer_22:2): Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah!
Subjects must own that where the word of the king is there is power over them, but kings
must own that where the word of the Lord is there is power over them. The king of
Judah is here spoken to as sitting upon the throne of David, who was a man after God's
own heart, as holding his dignity and power by the covenant made with David; let him
therefore conform to his example, that he may have the benefit of the promises made to
him. With the king his servants are spoken to, because a good government depends
upon a good ministry as well as a good king.
JAMISON, "these gates — of the king’s palace.
CALVIN, "But he speaks of the king as sitting on the throne of David; but not, as I
have already said, for the sake of honor, but for the purpose of enhancing his guilt;
for he occupied a sacred throne, of which he was wholly unworthy. For though God
is said to sit in the midst of the gods, because by him kings rule, we yet know that
the throne of David was more eminent than any other; for it was a priestly kingdom
and a type of that celestial kingdom which was afterwards fully revealed in Christ.
19

As, then, the kings of Judah, the descendants of David, were types of Christ, less
tolerable was their impiety, when, unmindful of their vocation, they had departed
from the piety of their father David and became wholly degenerated. So the
Prophet, by mentioning the house of Israel and the house of Jacob, no doubt
condemned the Jews, because they had become unlike the holy patriarch. We now,
then, understand the object of the Prophet when he says, “Hear the word of
Jehovah, thou king of Judah, who sittest on the throne of David.”
But that his reproof might have its just weight, the Prophet carefully shews that he
brought nothing but what had been committed to him from above; this is the reason
why he repeats, thou shalt say, “Thus saith Jehovah, Go down, speak, and say.”
From the king he comes to the courtiers, and from them to the whole people. Thou,
he says, and thy servants; by the king’s servants the Scripture means, all those
ministers who were his counsellors, who were appointed to administer justice and
who exercised authority. But we must notice, that at last he addresses the whole
people. We hence see that what he taught belonged in common to all, though he
began with the king and his counsellors, that the common people might not think
that they would be unpunished if they despised the doctrine to which even kings
were to submit.
PETT, "Jeremiah 22:2
“And say, Hear the word of YHWH, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of
David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.”
These words are typical of what we might expect from a prophet of YHWH giving a
coronation speech or as an official exhortation soon afterwards. They call on the one
who, as king of Judah, has now taken the throne of David and will be sitting on it,
that is, will continue ruling from it from then on, along with his courtiers and his
people, to listen to the word of YHWH. Their failure to respond adequately to his
words was probably the first step in their designation as ‘those who had done evil in
the eyes of YHWH’, that is, as having no intention of commencing reforms. ‘These
gates’ probably refers to the gates of the palace complex.
3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and
right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the
one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or
violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the
20

widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this
place.
GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, execute ye judgment and righteousness,.... Judge
righteous Judgment; give the cause to whom it belongs, without respect of persons, and
without a bribe or corruption; do no unrighteousness to any, by withholding from them
what is due unto them, which was what this prince was chargeable with, Jer_22:13;
and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; that was robbed or
wronged of his property by one superior to him in power or cunning; See Gill on Jer_
21:12;
and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the
widow: who are not in a situation, and in such a condition and circumstances, as to
defend themselves; and whom God has a peculiar regard unto; and therefore they who
are his deputies and vicegerents, as kings and civil magistrates are, ought to protect such
persons, and neither grieve and injure them themselves, nor suffer others to do it:
neither shed innocent blood in this place; to grieve and wrong the above persons
is a very great evil, but to shed the blood of innocent per tons is a greater still; and this is
aggravated by being committed by such who are set over men to secure and preserve
their properties and their lives; and such heinous sins as these the present reigning king
of Judah was guilty of; which is the reason of their being mentioned; see Jer_22:17.
HENRY, "Instructions given him what to preach.
1. He must tell them what was their duty, what was the good which the Lord their God
required of them, Jer_22:3. They must take care, (1.) That they do all the good they can
with the power they have. They must do justice in defence of those that were injured,
and must deliver the spoiled out of the hand of their oppressors. This was the duty of
their place, Psa_82:3. Herein they must be ministers of God for good. (2.) That they do
no hurt with it, no wrong, no violence. That is the greatest wrong and violence which is
done under colour of law and justice, and by those whose business it is to punish and
protect from wrong and violence. They must do no wrong to the stranger, fatherless,
and widow; for these God does in a particular matter patronise and take under his
tuition, Exo_22:21, Exo_22:22.
JAMISON, "Jehoiakim is meant here especially: he, by oppression, levied the tribute
imposed on him by Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt (2Ch_36:3), and taxed his people, and
took their labor without pay, to build gorgeous palaces for himself (Jer_22:13-17), and
shed innocent blood, for example, that of Urijah the prophet (Jer_26:20-24; 2Ki_23:35;
2Ki_24:4).
21

CALVIN, "He says, first, Do judgment and justice This belonged especially to the
king and his judges and governors; for private individuals, we know, had no power
to protect their property; for though every one ought to resist wrongs and evil
doings, yet this was the special duty of the judges whom God had armed with the
sword for this purpose. To do judgment, means to render to every one according to
his right; but when the two words, judgment and justice, are connected together, by
justice we are to understand equity, so that every one has his own right; and by
judgment is to be understood the execution of due punishment; for it is not enough
for the judge to decide what is right, except he restrains the wicked when they
audaciously resist. To do judgment, then, is to defend the weak and the innocent, as
it were, with an armed hand. (33)
He then adds, Rescue the spoiled from the hand of the oppressor He repeats what
we observed in the last chapter; and here under one thing he includes the duty of
judges, even that they are ever to oppose what is wrong and to check the audacity of
the wicked, for they can never be induced willingly to conduct themselves with
moderation and quietness. As, then, they are to be restrained by force, he says,
“Rescue the spoiled from the hand of the oppressor.” Of the word ‫,גזול‬ gesul, we
have spoken before; but by this form of speaking God intimates that it is not enough
for the judge to abstain from tyranny and cruelty, and not to stimulate the wicked
nor favor them, except he also acknowledges that he has been appointed by God for
this end — to rescue the spoiled from the hand of the oppressor, and not to hesitate
to face hatred and danger in the discharge of his office.
The Prophet now adds other things which he had not mentioned in the preceding
chapter; defraud not, (34) he says, the stranger and the orphan and the widow It is
what is often said in Scripture, that it is not right to defraud any one; for God would
exempt all from wrong, and not only strangers, orphans, and widows; but as
orphans have no knowledge or wisdom, they are exposed, as it were, to plunder; and
also widows, because they are in themselves helpless; and strangers, because they
have no friends to undertake their cause; hence God, in an especial mannel, requires
a regard to be had to strangers, orphans, and widows. There is also another reason;
for when their right is rendered to strangers, orphans, and widows, equity no doubt
shines forth more conspicuously. When any one brings friends with him, and
employs them in the defense of his cause, the judge is thereby influenced; and he
who is a native will have his relations and neighbors to support his cause; and he
who is rich and possessing power will also influence the judge, so that he dares not
do anything notoriously wrong; but when the stranger, or the orphan, or the widow
comes before the judge, he can with impunity oppress them all. Hence if he judges
rightly, it is no doubt a conspicuous proof of his integrity and uprightness. This,
then, is the reason why God everywhere enumerates these cases when he speaks of
right and equitable judgments. He further adds, Exercise no violence, nor shed
innocent blood in this place These things also were matters belonging to the judges.
But it was a horribly monstrous thing for the throne of David to have been so
defiled as to have become, as it were, a den of robbers. Wherever there is any
22

pretense to justice, there ought to be there some fear or shame; but as we have said,
that tribunal was in a peculiar manner sacred to God. As, then, the king and his
counsellors were become like robbers, and as they so occupied the throne of David
that all impiety prevailed, and they hesitated not to plunder on every side, as though
they lived in a house of plunder; this was, as I have said, a sad and shameful
spectacle. (35)
But we ought the more carefully to notice this passage, that we may learn to
strengthen ourselves against bad examples, lest the impiety of men should overturn
our faith; when we see in God’s Church things in such a disorder, that those who
glory in the name of God are become like robbers, we must beware lest we become,
on this account, alienated from true religion. We must, indeed, detest such monsters,
but we must take care lest God’s word, through men’s wickedness, should lose its
value in our esteem. We ought, then, to remember the admonition of Christ, to hear
the Scribes and Pharisees who sat in Moses’ seat. (Matthew 23:2.) Thus it behoved
the Jews to venerate that royal throne, on which God had inscribed certain marks of
his glory. Though they saw that it was polluted by the crimes and evil deeds of men,
yet they ought to have retained some regard for it on account of that expression,
“This is my rest for ever.”
But we yet see that the king was sharply and severely reproved, as he deserved.
Hence most foolishly does the Pope at the present day seek to exempt himself from
all reproof, because he occupies the apostolic throne. (36) Were we to grant what is
claimed, (though that is frivolous and childish,) that the Roman throne is apostolic,
(which I think has never been occupied by Peter,) surely the throne of David was
much more venerable than the chair of Peter? and yet the descendants of David who
succeeded him, being types and representatives of Christ, were not on that account,
as we here see, exempt from reproof.
It might, however, be asked, why the Prophet said that he was sent to the whole
people, when his doctrine was addressed only to the king and the public judges? for
it belonged not to the people or to private individuals. But I have said already that it
was easy for the common people to gather how God’s judgment ought to have been
dreaded, for they had heard that punishment was denounced even on the house of
David, which was yet considered sacred. When, therefore, they saw that those were
summoned before God’s tribunal who were, in a manner, not subject to laws, what
were they to think but that every one of them ought to have thought of himself, and
to examine his own life? for they must at length be called to give an account, since
the king himself and his counsellors had been summoned to do so. It now follows, —
Blayney’s version can by no means be approved, “Do right and justice,” as the
distinctive character of the two acts is not expressed. “Do judgment and justice,” are
all the Versions and the Targum. — Ed.
We may render the passage as Gataker does, “And the stranger, the orphan, and the
widow oppress not, wrong not,” or plunder not. A similar passage is in Jeremiah
23

7:6. The word rendered there “oppress” is different, ‫,עשק‬ and more general in its
meaning, including the two ideas here — oppression by denying them their rights,
and by plundering them. — Ed
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 22:3 Thus saith the LORD Execute ye judgment and
righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no
wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed
innocent blood in this place.
Ver. 3. Execute ye judgment and righteousness.] Make good laws, and see that they
be well executed. This the prophet presseth quasi ad fastidium, ever and anon, over
and over, as the likeliest means to prevent future judgments; so Phineas found it.
See Jeremiah 21:12.
“Thus says YHWH, deliver you justice and righteousness, and save him who is
robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, and do no wrong, do no violence, to the
sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”
His initial words are very similar to the opening exhortation in Jeremiah 21:13. The
representative of the house of David is called on by YHWH to ‘deliver (ensure the
carrying out of) justice and righteousness to his people during his reign, and to
save/deliver the one who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor’. The word used
here for delivering justice is a different one from that in Jeremiah 21:13. In
Jeremiah 21:13 it was a technical legal word requiring justice in the king’s court,
here it is a more general word seeking justice and righteousness at all times.
Furthermore he is to avoid all wrong, and is especially to prevent violent treatment
of resident aliens, and those without parents or husbands, who because they had no
one else to defend them were always of great concern to YHWH. It was always the
sign of a great king that he was concerned for and took an interest in the weak and
helpless, and one example of this is the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon a thousand
years before, a king who was powerful enough to be able to show concern for the
defenceless with no influence. Finally the son of David was to prevent the spilling of
innocent blood. This would include both the innocent victims offered to Molech, and
the faithful worshippers of YHWH who would be a target of the rich and powerful.
When a king’s rule was not firm and just, people began to take the law into their on
hands.
bi, "Do no wrong.
Wrong
The meaning of the word “wrong” is, something that is twisted from the straight line. Do
you say you have not done wrong? When you set yourself up as a pattern of goodness,
and at the same time turn up your nose at your erring acquaintance, it leads one to think
that your angelic profession may cover the filthy rags of human sin. Some people profess
24

too much. If they would acknowledge to some fault and confess that occasionally they
are common metal like everybody else, we should respect them. People who will not
permit you to think that they have ever done wrong, are often very unfeeling in their
dealings with a person that has “made a fool of himself.” The man who feels himself to
be a wrong-doer, is the most compassionately helpful to those that have fallen. When I
hear anybody speaking harshly or ridiculing somebody who has done wrong and been
found out, I fear that the only way to save them is for God to let them also fall into the
mire of iniquity. Bear patiently with wrong-doers, and give them time to repent. Had
they possessed your light, your education, your good parents and your virtuous
surroundings, they might have lived a nobler life. When a man or a woman has done
wrong, do not cast a stone at them; let us, if we can, lead them on to the path of right.
1. Let me urge that you do no wrong in your intentions. Let us weigh well our
motives. Before doing any act, we should consider its intent, and ask ourselves,
“What is my intention? Is it the glory of God, the good of man, or only my own
advantage—my own indulgence?” When the intention is wholly selfish it is pretty
sure to cause disappointment and misery; but when the intention is unselfish, it is
likely to result in happiness both to ourselves and others.
2. It is also a matter of course that every true Christian should do no wrong in his
practice. We profess much; let us seek to practise what we profess. I do not suppose
that we are at present on such a high level as that shown in the spirit of the life of
Christ; but let us aim at it, and though we fall, let us rise and try again. A farmer one
day went to his landlord, Earl Fitzwilliam, saying, “Please, your lordship, the horses
and hounds last week quite destroyed my field of wheat. The earl said “I am very
sorry; how much damage do you think they did?” The farmer replied, “Well, your
lordship, I don’t think £50 would make it right.” The earl immediately wrote out his
order for £50 and handed it to the farmer, saying, “I hope it will not be so bad as you
think.” So they parted. Months afterwards, the same old farmer came to the hall
again, and when admitted into the library, said, “Please, your lordship, I have
brought back that £50.” The earl exclaimed, “Why, what for?” The farmer said,
“Well, because I find that the trodden field of wheat has turned out to be a better
crop than any of the others. So I have brought the money back.” The earl exclaimed,
“This is as it should be; it is doing right between man and man.” He tore up the order
and wrote another, saying, “Here, my good friend, is an order for a hundred pounds;
keep it by you till your eldest son is twenty-one and then give it him as a present
from me, and tell him how it arose.” Now I think the honest farmer sets a good
example to us all No doubt the tempter whispered in the ear of his soul, “The earl
will never miss that £50. Why, farmer, you don’t mean to say you are going to give
the morley back!” But the honest old John Bull of a farmer replied, “It would be
wrong, you know, for me to keep that £50.” Do no wrong to your neighbour, either in
competition of business, or in your social and political relationship. Every man has a
weak side to his character, and a tendency to do wrong in some direction. In other
words, every man is a spiritual invalid who wants a heavenly prescription to restore
him to health. Now, when your body is ill, you send for a doctor who counts your
pulse and asks where your pain is, and how you feel. If you do not tell him all the
truth, he does not know how to treat you. In the same way, when we are spiritually
sick, we should confess all the symptoms of our sin-disease to the Great Physician of
heaven. Let us be humble and honest enough to tell Him our sins. (W. Birch.)
25

4 For if you are careful to carry out these
commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne
will come through the gates of this palace, riding
in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their
officials and their people.
GILL, "For if ye do this thing indeed,.... Or, "in doing do this word" (y); diligently
and carefully attend to this word of exhortation, and constantly perform the duties
required:
then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the
throne of David; or, upon the throne for David: in his room and stead, as successors of
his; or of his lineage and descent, as the Vulgate Latin version. The meaning is, that
should the kings of Judah do the duty of their office, before pointed at, there should
never be any want of successors of the seed of David; but there should be a race of kings
descending from him, and sitting on his throne in all after ages, who should dwell in the
royal palace, and go in and out at the gates of it; and they should also live in great pomp
and splendour, in royal dignity, answerable to their characters:
riding in chariots, and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people; the
king, his nobles, and other his attendants; some on one, and some on another, when they
went out or came in; see Jer_17:25.
HENRY, "He must assure them that the faithful discharge of their duty would
advance and secure their prosperity, Jer_22:4. There shall then be a succession of kings,
an uninterrupted succession, upon the throne of David and of his line, these enjoying a
perfect tranquillity, and living in great state and dignity, riding in chariots and on
horses, as before, Jer_17:25. Note, the most effectual way to preserve the dignity of the
government is to do the duty of it.
JAMISON, "upon the throne of David — literally, “or David on his throne” (see
on Jer_13:13). This verse is repeated substantially from Jer_17:25.
his servants — so the Keri. But Chetib, singular, “his servant;” that is, distributively,
“each with his servants;” Jer_17:25, “their princes.”
26

CALVIN, "The Prophet expresses more clearly what I have already stated, that if
the Jews from the heart repented, there was yet a place for mercy; for he promises
them that God would be reconcilable, if they sought to be reconciled to him; he
allures them to repentance by words of kindness. We may, indeed, read ‫,כיאם‬ kiam,
as one word, and render it, “But rather;” but I follow others who give this version,
For if by doing ye will do this word, then ye shall enter in, etc.; and thus they turn
the copulative into an adverb of time, which is often the case. (37) Still the other
meaning is not unsuitable, when the future verb, ‫,תעשו‬ toshu, is taken in a hortative
sense; for we know that the future tense in Hebrew is often to be understood as an
imperative. As to the general meaning, there is not much difference; for what the
Prophet designed to shew was this, that God would be reconciled to the Jews, if they
were not wholly disobedient. “Only,” he says, “obey my word, and your safety shall
be secured.” Not that impunity was to be expected, as I have said before, but, as they
would have found, their reconciliation to God would not have been in vain, for their
punishment would have been mitigated; in that case their exile would have been
rendered more endurable, for God would have doubtless made their adversaries
kind to them; in short, mercy would have been shewn to them in many ways.
Moreover, the Prophet shews that he called them not in vain to repent; for he sets
before them God’s favor in mitigating their punishment.
And he adds, Ye shall enter through the gates of this house, both your kings and
their counsellors; but the number is afterwards changed, he, that is, every king. (38)
The Prophet, seems, at the first view, to have retracted what he had said respecting
exile; but the two things are to be connected together, that there was some hope
remaining, if the Jews accepted the favor of God, and then that the punishment,
once decreed, was to be borne by them. These two things do not disagree. For God
had resolved to drive the Jews into exile; but all Judea would not doubtless have
been reduced to solitude, as that happened through their irreclaimable obstinacy,
according to what we read at the end of this Book; for they might have otherwise
dwelt still in their own country. This is one thing; and then their condition after
their exile would have been better and far more happy. But even at that time, the
crown was trodden under foot, and all the dignity and power of the family of David
were nearly abolished.
When, therefore, the Prophet says, “Enter shall kings in chariots and on horses,”
and also “the people and he and his counsellors, through the gates of this city;” he
does not mean that they would so escape as that God would not chastise them for
their sins, as he had declared, but that there would still be some form of a kingdom,
and that exile would be short, and also that there would be at length a restoration,
so that the descendants of David would return to their former state, and that the city
itself would be restored so as to abound in wealth as in all other blessings. Such is
the promise. The Prophet further adds what would otherwise take place, If they will
not hear, this place shall become a desolation. But this threatening shall be
considered tomorrow.
27

4.For if doing ye shall do this word, Then come through the gates of this house Shall
kings, sitting for David on his throne, Who shall ride in a chariot and on horses, He,
and his servant, and his people.
The “sitting” belongs to the kings, but “riding” to the king, his servant, and his
people. As “he” is in the singular number, so “the servant” is, though both are
pluralized by the Sept., the Vulg., and the Arab., and indeed, the “servant” by the
Syr. And the Targ. But the Hebrew is as rendered above, as to the word “chariot,”
and “servant;” it is the idiom of the language. — Ed.
“For if you do this thing indeed, then will there enter in by the gates of this house
kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his
servants, and his people.”
And if they did walk in accordance with YHWH’s instructions then the dynasty of
David would continue, and it would continue in splendour. The idea is not that they
will enter the palace or the Temple literally sitting on a portable throne, riding in a
chariot, and astride a horse, but that the king will enter the palace or the Temple as
one who, along with his courtiers and people, can do all three whenever he chooses
because they are so plentiful, because of the affluence and strength of the country.
On the other hand there may have been partly in mind a great cavalcade of chariots
and horsemen sweeping in splendid procession in through the gates of the palace
into the large palace complex. The ‘gates of this house’ may in this case refer either
to the king’s palace or to the Temple.
5 But if you do not obey these commands, declares
the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will
become a ruin.’”
GILL, "But if ye will not hear these words,.... Will give no attention, and yield no
obedience to them:
28

I swear by myself, saith the Lord; and by a greater he cannot swear; and that is the
reason why he swears by himself, Heb_6:13; and as, when he swears to a promise, it
shows the immutability of it, the certainty of its performance, and that it is irreversible,
and never repented of, nor revoked; so it is when he swears to a threatening. The
Targum is,
"by my word I swear:''
that this house shall become a desolation; meaning not the temple, nor the city,
but the king's palace.
HENRY, " He must likewise assure them that the iniquity of their family, if they
persisted in it, would be the ruin of their family, though it was a royal family (Jer_22:5):
If you will not hear, will not obey, this house shall become a desolation, the palace of the
kings of Judah shall fare no better than other habitations in Jerusalem. Sin has often
been the ruin of royal palaces, though ever so stately, ever so strong. This sentence is
ratified by an oath: I swear by myself (and God can swear by no greater, Heb_6:13) that
this house shall be laid in ruins. Note, Sin will be the ruin of the houses of princes as well
as of mean men.
JAMISON, "I swear by myself — (Heb_6:13, Heb_6:17). God swears because it
seemed to them incredible that the family of David should be cast off.
this house — the king’s, where Jeremiah spake (Jer_22:4).
CALVIN, "We explained yesterday the declaration of the Prophet, — that the
kingdom would again be restored by the Lord, if the king and his servants and the
whole people repented. He now introduces a commination, — that if they heard not,
it was all over with the palace and the city. But the word house, or palace is often
repeated; for though the defenses of the city gave courage to the people, yet what
made them especially proud was the confidence they felt that the kingdom had been
promised to be for ever. Hence, they thought, that the royal dignity could not
possibly fall as long as the sun and moon continued in the heavens. (Psalms 89:38.)
This false confidence is what the Prophet now meets, and he says, If ye will not hear
these words, etc. He changes the number: he had said before this word, ‫הזה‬ ‫הדבר‬ ‫את‬ ,
at edeber eze; but he now says these words, ‫הדברים‬ ‫,את‬at edeberim. But the singular
number includes the whole of his doctrine; yet he now uses the plural number,
because he had exhorted them to change their life. (39)
And that they might not think that they were for no good reason terrified, he
declares that God had sworn by himself We indeed know that when God makes an
oath, either when he promises anything, or when he denounces punishment on
sinners, it is done on account of men’s sloth and dullness. For our hearts through
unbelief will hardly receive a simple truth, unless God removes the impediments;
and this is the design of making an oath, when God does not only speak, but in
order to render us more certain of our salvation, he confirms his promise by
introducing his own name as a pledge. The reason is similar as to threatenings; for
29

so great is the false security of sinners, that they are deaf until God, as it were, with
force penetrates into their hearts. Hence he says, that God made an oath by himself;
for it seemed incredible to the Jews, that the family which had been set apart by
God from the world, would ever perish. It now follows:
“But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, the word of YHWH, that
this house will become a desolation.”
A warning is then given in a most solemn way (YHWH swears by Himself, because
He has no greater to swear by) of what the consequence will be of not hearing and
responding to YHWH’s words. The consequence will be that ‘this house (either the
palace or the Temple) will become a desolation’. The fact that the destruction of the
Temple was an important factor to Jeremiah may suggest that that is what is in
mind here. For the idea of YHWH ‘swearing by Himself’ compare Jeremiah 49:13;
Jeremiah 51:14; Genesis 22:16; Isaiah 45:23; Amos 6:8.
6 For this is what the Lord says about the palace
of the king of Judah:
“Though you are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
I will surely make you like a wasteland,
like towns not inhabited.
BARNES, "Omit and. “Thou art a Gilead unto me, a summit of Lebanon.”
Yet surely - literally, if not, the form of an oath with the imprecation omitted. For the
full form see Num_14:23.
A wilderness, and cities - Omit and. The meaning is: If the house of David does not
hear God’s words, though it be now grand as Lebanon, God will make it a wilderness,
even uninhabited cities; the house of David being regarded as equivalent to the kingdom
of Judah.
30

CLARKE, "Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon - Perhaps in
allusion, says Dahler, to the oaks of Gilead, and the cedars of Mount Lebanon, of which
the palace was constructed. Lebanon was the highest mountain in Israel, and Gilead the
richest and most fertile part of the country; and were, therefore, proper emblems of the
reigning family. Though thou art the richest and most powerful, I, who raised thee up,
can bring thee down and make thee a wilderness.
GILL, "For thus saith the Lord unto the king's house of Judah,.... That is, to
the family of the king of Judah; though it may be rendered, "concerning the house of the
king of Judah" (z); and so refer to his palace as before:
thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon; or, though like to Gilead
(which was a very fruitful country) for wealth, riches, and all kind of valuable things; and
like to the top of Mount Lebanon (a), being set with tall cedars, for stateliness. So the
Targum is,
"although thou art beloved before me more than the sanctuary, which is high upon the
top of the mountains:''
or thou shall be as Gilead, and Mount Lebanon, which belonged to the ten tribes of
Israel, and are put for the whole kingdom of Israel, which was wasted by the king of
Assyria; and in like condition should the royal palace at Jerusalem be, notwithstanding
all its riches and grandeur, and so the city and temple likewise; as follows:
yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited;
though as fruitful as Gilead, yet shall become like a barren desert; and though full of
children, courtiers, princes, and nobles, yet shall be like cities quite depopulated: or, "if I
do not make thee" (b), &c. it is in the form of an oath, as Kimchi and Ben Melech
observe; and to be supplied thus, if I do not do as I have said, let me never be believed;
let me be reckoned a liar, or not thought to be God, and the like. It shows the certain
accomplishment of these things.
HENRY, "He must show how fatal their wickedness would be to their kingdom as
well as to themselves, to Jerusalem especially, the royal city, Jer_22:6-9. (1.) It is
confessed that Judah and Jerusalem had been valuable in God's eyes and considerable in
their own: thou art Gilead unto me and the head of Lebanon. Their lot was cast in a
place that was rich and pleasant as Gilead; Zion was a stronghold, as stately as Lebanon:
this they trusted to as their security. But, (2.) This shall not protect them; the country
that is now fruitful as Gilead shall be made a wilderness. The cities that are now strong
as Lebanon shall be cities not inhabited; and, when the country is laid waste, the cities
must be dispeopled. See how easily God's judgments can ruin a nation, and how
certainly sin will do it. When this desolating work is to be done, [1.] There shall be those
that shall do it effectually (Jer_22:7): “I will prepare destroyers against thee; I will
sanctify them” (so the word is); “I will appoint them to this service and use them in it.”
Note, When destruction is designed destroyers are prepared, and perhaps are in the
31

preparing, and things are working towards the designed destruction, and are getting
ready for it, long before. And who can contend with destroyers of God's preparing? They
shall destroy cities as easily as men fell trees in a forest: They shall cut down thy choice
cedars; and yet, when they are down, shall value them no more than thorns and briers;
they shall cast them into the fire, for their choicest cedars have become rotten ones and
good for nothing else. [2.] There shall be those who shall be ready to justify God in the
doing of it (Jer_22:8, Jer_22:9); persons of many nations, when they pass by the ruins
of this city in their travels, will ask, “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this city?
How came so strong a city to be overpowered? so rich a city to be impoverished? so
populous a city to be depopulated? so holy a city to be profaned? and a city that had been
so dear to God to be abandoned by him?” The reason is so obvious that it shall be ready
in every man's mouth. Ask those that go by the way, Job_21:29. Ask the next man you
meet, and he will tell you it was because they changed their gods, which other nations
never used to do. They forsook the covenant of Jehovah their own God, revolted from
their allegiance to him and from the duty which their covenant with him bound them to,
and they worshipped other gods and served them, in contempt of him; and therefore he
gave them up to this destruction. Note, God never casts any off until they first cast him
off. “Go,” says God to the prophet, “and preach this to the royal family.”
JAMISON, "Though thou art as beautiful as Gilead, and as majestic in Mine eyes
(before Me) as the summit of Lebanon, yet surely (the Hebrew is a formula of swearing
to express certainly: “If I do not make thee ... believe Me not ever hereafter”: so “as truly
as I live,” Num_14:28; “surely,” Num_14:35). The mention of Gilead may allude not only
to its past beauty, but covertly also to its desolation by the judgment on Israel; a warning
now to Judah and the house of David. “Lebanon” is appropriately mentioned, as the
king’s house was built of its noble cedars.
cities — not other cities, but the different parts of the city of Jerusalem (2Sa_12:27;
2Ki_10:25) [Maurer].
CALVIN, "He confirms the preceding declaration, and explains more at large what
had been stated sufficiently clear; for the false boasting of the Jews could hardly be
restrained, as they still thought that the kingdom in the family of David would be
permanent and exempt from any danger of a change.
But interpreters differ as to the meaning of the words. I will not repeat their views,
nor is it necessary: I will only state what seems to me to be the real meaning. All
others indeed give a different explanation; but the Prophet, I doubt not, means the
same thing as we have observed in Jeremiah 7:12; where he says,
“Go to Shiloh, and see what is the state of that place, for the ark of the covenant had
a long time dwelt there.”
Though, then, they thought that place sacred, yet it was reduced to desolation; and
thus it must have become a dreadful spectacle to the whole people. For the same
reason now, as it seems to me, the Prophet compares Lebanon to Mount Gilead; for
32

what some say, that Gilead was the chief city of the ten tribes, has nothing in it. But
we must remember the state of things at that time; the kingdom of Israel was wholly
demolished when our Prophet spoke these words. Judea had indeed been much
reduced by many calamities; but still some kind of a kingdom remained. Then by
Mount Gilead the Prophet doubtless meant, by stating a part for the whole, the
kingdom of Israel, but for a purpose different from that assigned by interpreters,
even because the whole land of Israel was then laid waste; for all the inhabitants
had been led into exile, and all the spoils had been removed, and nothing had
escaped the rapacity and cruelty of their enemies.
Since, then, the land of Israel had been reduced unto desolation, God says now, that
Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah would not be of greater value in his sight than
the whole country of the ten tribes had been, which was doubtless larger in extent
and in wealth. And this meaning may be easily gathered from the words of the
passage; he does not say, “Thou art like Gilead the head of Lebanon;” but, Gilead to
me art thou the head of Lebanon And he calls Jerusalem Lebanon, because it was,
as it were, the queen of that land; for by Mount Lebanon he designated whatever
was precious in that country, for the reason we mentioned yesterday. As to Gilead, I
do not consider that the Prophet refers especially to the city, but by stating a part
for the whole, he includes the whole country, and for this reason, because Mount
Gilead was full of many fruitful trees, and particularly of the balsam and the rosin
tree, and of many odoriferous herbs and aromatics, which at this day are from
thence brought to different parts of the world. And hence we found it asked in
Jeremiah 8:22,
“Is there no rosin in Gilead?
is there no medicine found there to heal the Church?”
Why was mention made then of Mount Gilead? even because there grew the best
aromatics, and especially the balsam tree, and also many odoriferous trees and most
precious fruits.
The meaning then is, “What dost thou think thyself to be? or, for what reason dost
thou trust so much in thyself? I did not spare Mount Gilead and that extensive
country which was much superior to thee; what means then this foolish
presumption, that thou persuadest thyself that all danger is far off? Thou shalt be to
me as Gilead. Think of my judgment on Mount Gilead, and of the dreadful
desolation of the land of Israel; the same which you may now see there shall happen
to thee.” We now perceive in what sense the Prophet says, that before God the head
of Lebanon, that is, Jerusalem itself, which ruled over Lebanon, would become like
Gilead (40)
He then adds, If I make thee not a desert God again makes an oath; for it is, we
know, an elliptical mode of expression, when the particle ‫,אם‬ am, is only used, for an
imprecation is to be understood, — “Let me not be thought a God;” or, “Let my
power be deemed nothing;” or, “Let me not be hereafter counted true and faithful.”
33

However this may be, God makes an oath, that the city would become a desert, as
those cities which are not inhabited Thus the whole context appears consistent, —
that Jerusalem would be at length like the land of Israel, for he would no more
spare Lebanon than Mount Gilead. It afterwards follows:
Gilead shalt thou be to me, O top of Lebanon! Surely I will make thee a wilderness,
Like cities not inhabited.
It was to be dealt with by him as Gilead had been, which was now wholly
depopulated. — Ed
COKE, "Jeremiah 22:6. Thou art Gilead, &c.— Thou art to me as Gilead; thou art
as the head of Lebanon; yet surely, &c. That is, "though thou art most precious in
my sight, though as valuable for riches and plenty as the fat pastures of Gilead, and
thy buildings as stately as the tall cedars of Lebanon; yet, unless thy princes and
people reform, they shall become nothing but ruin and desolation." See the two next
verses, and Houbigant.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 22:6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king’s house of Judah;
Thou [art] Gilead unto me, [and] the head of Lebanon: [yet] surely I will make thee
a wilderness, [and] cities [which] are not inhabited.
Ver. 6. For thus saith the Lord concerning the king’s house,] i.e., Concerning the
whole kingdom of Judah, saith Junius.
Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon,] i.e., High and happy, as these
fruitful mountains, famous for spicery and other things desirable. [Genesis 37:25]
Yet surely I will make thee a wilderness.] Like as I have made them when the ten
tribes were carried away captive.
WHEDON, "6. Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon — Beautiful as
Gilead, majestic as Lebanon. This language is used in respect of the commanding
position and magnificence of the royal palace. Gilead was doubtless then, as now,
the most beautiful forest tract in the vicinity of the Holy Land; and Lebanon
everywhere stands as the symbol of stateliness and magnificence. Its perpetual
snows, its firs and cedars, its wealth of springs, and its noble forests, are all
prominent in the scenery of the Old Testament. To these localities this splendid
palace, with its cluster of associated buildings, is beautifully and expressively
compared. But God’s displeasure will change all this splendour and magnificence
into a treeless steppe: wilderness… cities… not inhabited.
“For thus says YHWH concerning the house of the king of Judah,
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Jeremiah 22 commentary

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Jeremiah 22 commentary