Jeremiah 21:10

"But he who goeth out and joins the Chaldeans, who besiege you, shall live," etc. — Ed Jeremiah 21:10 10. For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 10. Quia faciem meam contra urb

21:1-10 When the siege had begun, Zedekiah sent to ask of Jeremiah respecting the event. In times of distress and danger, men often seek those to counsel and pray for them, whom, at other times, they despise and oppose; but they only seek deliverance from punishment. When professors continue in disobedience, presuming upon outward privileges, let them be told that the Lord will prosper his open enemies against them. As the king and his princes would not surrender, the people are exhorted to do so. No sinner on earth is left without a Refuge, who really desires one; but the way of life is humbling, it requires self-denial, and exposes to difficulties.

For I have set my face against this city,.... Or "my fury", as the Targum; their sins had provoked the eyes of his glory; he was wroth with them, and determined to cut them off; his mind was set against them, and upon their ruin; and there was no turning him from it: for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord; to bring the evil of punishment upon them for the evil of their sins, and not do any good unto them, they were so ill deserving of: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon; come under his power and dominion, by the will of the Lord; for it was he that gave it into his hands, because of the sins of the inhabitants of it: and he shall burn it with fire; as he did, both the house of the Lord in it, the temple, the king's house or palace, the stately houses of the princes and nobles, and even the houses of all the people; see Jeremiah 52:13.

(10) He shall burn it with fire. —Another detail of prediction fulfilled literally in Jeremiah 52:13 . Such a destruction was, of course, common enough as an incident of the capture of besieged cities, but it was not universal. Often, indeed, the conquerors sought to preserve the city and to occupy its palaces. The actual answer to Zedekiah’s messengers possibly ended with this verse.

He that ... falleth to the Chaldeans - This was to counsel desertion, and would have been treason in an ordinary man: but the prophets Spoke with an authority above that even of the king, and constantly interfered in political matters with summary decisiveness. Compare Matthew 24:16-18 . A prey - Something not a man's own, upon which he seizes in the midst of danger, and hurries away with it. So must the Jews hurry away with their lives as something more than they had a right to, and place them in the Chaldaean camp as in a place of safety.

I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good; that is, I will set myself against it, I will be an enemy to it. See the like phrase Leviticus 17:10 20:5 . It is a phrase signifying not only God’s aversion from them, and the taking his affection off them, but his determination to bring ruin upon them, and choosing methods of providence tending and conducive thereunto; and so it is opened in the following words, which are rather to be understood of the structure of the city than of the inhabitants, for that not the people were burnt with fire, though probably many of the people perished in so great burnings.

The counsel given to the people and royal family how to escape death. - Jeremiah 21:8 . "And unto the people thou shalt say: Thus hath Jahveh said: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. Jeremiah 21:9 . He that abideth in this city shall die by sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he that goeth out and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and have his soul for a prey. Jeremiah 21:10 . For I have set my face on this city for evil and not for good, saith Jahveh; into the hand of the king of Babylon shall it be given, who shall burn it with fire. Jeremiah 21:11 . And to the house of the king of Judah: Hear the word of Jahveh: Jeremiah 21:12 . House of David! thus hath Jahveh said: Hold judgment every morning, and save the despoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury break forth as fire, and burn unquenchably, because of the evil of your doings." What the prophet is here to say to the people and the royal house is not directly addressed to the king's envoy, but is closely connected with the answer he was to give to the latter, and serves to strengthen the same. We need not be hampered by the assumption that Jeremiah, immediately after that answer, communicated this advice, so that it might be made known to the people and to the royal house. The counsel given in Jeremiah 21:8-12 to the people was during the siege repeatedly given by Jeremiah both to the king and to the people, cf.

Jeremiah 38:1 ., Jeremiah 38:17 ., and Jeremiah 27:11 ., and many of the people acted by his advice, cf. Jeremiah 38:19 ; Jeremiah 39:9 ; Jeremiah 52:15 . But the defenders of the city, the authorities, saw therein treason, or at least a highly dangerous discouragement to those who were fighting, and accused the prophet as a traitor, Jeremiah 38:4 ., cf. Jeremiah 37:13 . Still Jeremiah, holding his duty higher than his life, remained in the city, and gave as his opinion, under conviction attained to only by divine revelation, that all resistance is useless, since God has irrevocably decreed the destruction of Jerusalem as a punishment for their sins. The idea of Jeremiah 21:7 is clothed in words taken from Deuteronomy 30:15 , cf. Deuteronomy 11:26 . ישׁב , Jeremiah 21:9 , as opposed to יצא, does not mean: to dwell, but: to sit still, abide. To fall to the Chaldeans, i.e., to go over to them, cf. Jeremiah 37:14 ; Jeremiah 39:9 ; 2 Kings 25:11 ; על is interchanged with אל, Jeremiah 37:13 ; Jeremiah 38:19 ; Jeremiah 52:15 . The Chet. יחיה is right, corresponding to ימוּת; the Keri וחיה is wrong. His life shall be to him for a prey, i.e., he shall carry it thence as a prey, i.e., preserve it. Jeremiah 21:10 gives the reason for the advice given. For I have set my face, cf. Jeremiah 44:11 , recalls Amos 9:4 , only there we have עיני for פּני, as in Jeremiah 24:6 . To set the face or eye on one means: to pay special heed to him, in good (cf.