A.C. 608. Heb. sons of the people. 600. Fulfilled pre 20 And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah : 21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; 22 And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. 23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. 24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. SECTION VI. Jeremiah's Prophecy against the Army of Pharaoh-necho. JEREMIAH XLVI. VER. 1-13 6. 1 The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; sently. 2 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. + Heb. broken 3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. 4 Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. 5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are + beaten down, and are Heb. fed a fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD. in pieces. flight. 66 That this prophecy was spoken early in the reign of Jehoiakim, is evident, as Nebuchadnezzar marched his army against the Egyptians, at the beginning of the year of the captivity; and smote (them, and took Carchemish in the fourth year of that king, (ver. 2.) After the fulfilment of this prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar immediately advanced towards Syria and Judea. 6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; A. C. 606. they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. 7 Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? 8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. 9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the * Heb. Cush. +Libyans, that handle the shield: and the Lydians, that + Heb. Put. handle and bend the bow. 10 For this is the day of the Lord GoD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. 11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. Heb. no cure shall be 12 The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry unto thee. hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together. SECTION VII. The Rechabites take refuge in Jerusalem from the army of the JEREMIAH XXXV 67. 1 By the obedience of the Rechabites, 12 Jeremiah condemneth the disobedience of the Jews. 18 God blesseth the Rechabites for their obedience. 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD 67 The Rechabites who were always accustomed to live in tents in the open country, apprehensive of their safety, retired into Jerusalem on Nebuchadnezzar's approach to Palestine, after his defeat of the Egyptians at Carchemish. On their coming to Jerusalem, Jeremiah is sent to them; and, for a trial of their obedience, offers them wine to drink, (ver. 1-11.) In the following verses the Jews, by comparison, are upbraided with their disobedience, and menaced with vengeance. The 18th and 19th verses promise a blessing on the Rechabites. This chapter is inserted here from the evidence of ver. 11, as Nebuchadnezzar does not appear to have come in person to Jerusalem again till after the death of Jehoiakim, and in all probability he was joined by the Syrians at this time, whom he subdued after his conquest of Carchemish. The Rechabites, as may be collected from ver. 7, were not of the children of Israel. From 1 Chron. ii. 55. they appear to have been, Kenites, a people originally settled in the land of Midian, and most probably the descendants of Jethro, the father A.C. 606. in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, 2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. 3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; 4 And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the hold, or,vessel. keeper of the * door: *Heb. thrcs 5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine. 6 But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye: shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever: 7 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers. 8 Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; 9 Nor to build houses for us to dwell in : neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: 10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Je rusalem. 12 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying. 13 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in-law of Moses, 1 Jud. xvi. Jonadab, the son of Rechab, is supposed to have been the same as mentioned in 2 Kings x. 45. a man of eminence, and a righteous man, otherwise Jehu would not have shewn him so much attention, and taken him with him to witness his zeal for the honour of the true GodDr. Blayney. Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? A.C. 600. saith the LORD. 14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me. & xxv. 5, 6. 15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ' Return ye now y ch. xviii. II. every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. 16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me: 17 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. 18 And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: 19 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; *Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man Heb. There to stand before me for ever. SECTION VIII. shall not a man be cut off from Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand, &c. Prediction of the Seventy Years Captivity. JEREMIAH XXV 68. 1 Jeremiah, reproving the Jews' disobedience to the prophets, 8 foretelleth the seventy years' captivity, 12 and after that, the destruction of Babylon. 15 Under the type of a cup of wine he foresheweth the destruction of all nations. 34 The howling of the shepherds. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the 68 This prophecy was delivered (ver. 1.) in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, about the time that Nebuchadnezzar, having conquered the army of Necho king of Egypt, at the Euphrates, and having retaken Carchemish, was marching A.C.606. people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; From 629 till 606. 2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. 4 And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the 2 ch. xxix. 19. prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. a 2 Kings xvii. 13. ch. 5 They said, "Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land Jonah iii. 8. that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for xviii. 11. & Xxxv. 15. *Heb. I will cause to perish from them. b ch. vii. 34. & xvi. 9. Ezek. xxvi. 13. Hos. ii. 11. ever and ever: 6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. 7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. 8 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and towards Syria and Palestine, to recover those provinces, and to reunite them to the Babylonish empire. It was delivered in the same year in which the captivity it predicts actually took place. Jeremiah, in this chapter, reproves the Jews for their disregard of the divine calls to repentance, (ver. 1-8.) He most distinctly foretells their subjugation, together with that of the neighbouring nations, to the king of Babylon, for seventy years, and the fall of the Babylonish empire at that period, (ver. 8-14.) The same is foreshewn under the symbol of the cup of God's wrath, with which the prophet is represented in vision as being sent to all the nations to make them drink of it, to their utter subversion, (ver. 15-29.) The like prophecy is the third time repeated from ver. 30 to the end.-Dr. Blayney in loc. |