Jeremiah 22:16

8 And pass shall many nations through this city, And say shall each to his friend, "Why hath Jehovah done thus to this great city?" 9 And they shall say, "Because they have forsaken The covenant of Jehovah their God, And bowed down before alien gods, and served them." 10 Weep ye not for the dead, nor bewail him; Weeping, weep for him who migrates, For return shall he no more, That he may see the land of his nativity: 11 For thus saith Jehovah concerning Shallum The son of Josiah the king of Judah, Who reigns instead of Josiah his father, — When he shall have gone forth from this place He shall not return here any more: 12 For in the land where they shall lead him away There shall he die, And this land shall he see no more. 13 Woe to him who builds not with justice his house, And not with judgment his chambers; Who makes his neighbor to serve him for nothing, And pays him not for his work; 14 Who says, "I will build for myself A large house and wide chambers;" And he perforates for himself windows, And covered it is with cedar, And painted with vermilion. 15 Shalt thou reign because thou inclosest thyself in cedar? Thy father, did he not eat and drink? When he did judgment and justice, It was then well with him: 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy, It was then well with him; Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah: 17 For thy eye and thy heart are not Except on thy covetousness, And on shedding innocent blood, And on rapacity and oppression, to do them.

16 And the princes, and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man is not worthy of death; for in the name of Jehovah our God hath he spoken to us." 17 Then rose up men from the elders of the land, and said to the whole assembly of the people, saying, -- 18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah the king of Judah, saying, — "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Sion as a field shall be plowed, And Jerusalem shall become heaps, And the mount of the house like the heights of the forest." 19 Killing, did Hezekiah the king of Judah, and all Judah, kill him? did he not fear Jehovah? and did he not supplicate the face of Jehovah? and Jehovah repented of the evil which he had spoken against them: but we are doing a great evil against our own souls. 20 But there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Jehovah, Uriah the son of Shemaiah, from Kirjath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city, and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: 21 When the King Jehoiakim and all the chief men and the princes heard his words, then the king sought to slay him; but Uriah heard and feared, and he fled and went into Egypt. 22 And the King Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt, even Elnathan the son of Achbor, and men with him into Egypt: 23 And they brought Uriah up from Egypt, and brought him to the King Jehoiakim, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

22:10-19 Here is a sentence of death upon two kings, the wicked sons of a very pious father. Josiah was prevented from seeing the evil to come in this world, and removed to see the good to come in the other world; therefore, weep not for him, but for his son Shallum, who is likely to live and die a wretched captive. Dying saints may be justly envied, while living sinners are justly pitied. Here also is the doom of Jehoiakim. No doubt it is lawful for princes and great men to build, beautify, and furnish houses; but those who enlarge their houses, and make them sumptuous, need carefully to watch against the workings of vain-glory. He built his houses by unrighteousness, with money gotten unjustly. And he defrauded his workmen of their wages. God notices the wrong done by the greatest to poor servants and labourers, and will repay those in justice, who will not, in justice, pay those whom they employ. The greatest of men must look upon the meanest as their neighbours, and be just to them accordingly. Jehoiakim was unjust, and made no conscience of shedding innocent blood. Covetousness, which is the root of all evil, was at the bottom of all. The children who despise their parents' old fashions, commonly come short of their real excellences. Jehoiakim knew that his father found the way of duty to be the way of comfort, yet he would not tread in his steps. He shall die unlamented, hateful for oppression and cruelty.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy,.... Who could not defend themselves against the rich and the mighty; he took their cause in hand, and, having heard it, determined it in their favour, and did them justice, as princes and civil magistrates ought to do: then it was well with him; this is repeated, not only to show the certainty of it, but that it might be observed, and his example followed: was not this to know me? saith the Lord; it is not by words only, but by deeds, that men show that they know the Lord; for some in words profess to know him, who in works deny him; when princes do the duty of their office, they thereby declare that they know and own the Lord, by, and under whom, they reign; that they have the fear of him before their eyes; this is a practical knowledge of him, and is well pleasing to him. The Targum is, "is not this the knowledge with which I am well pleased? saith the Lord.''

(16) Was not this to know me? —The prophet, as a true witness of the law of righteousness, proclaims that the religious fame of Josiah rested not on his restoration of the Temple worship, nor on his suppression of idolatry, but much more on his faithfulness in his kingly work to the cause of righteousness and mercy. They only could know Him who, in this respect, strove to be like Him ( 1John 3:2 ).

i. e., Will thy buildings make thy reign continue? These words imply that Jehoiakim was looking forward to, and taking measures to secure, a long continuance of power (compare Habakkuk 2:9-13 . If so, Jeremiah probably wrote this prophecy before Jehoiakim revolted 2 Kings 24:1 ; and it, therefore, probably belongs to the same date as Jeremiah 36:30 , written in the interval between Nebuchadnezzars first conquest of Jerusalem, and Jehoiakim's rebellion, and when Jeremiah was out of the reach of the tyrant's power. Closest thyself in cedar - Rather, viest "in cedar;" i. e., viest with Solomon. Did not thy father eat and drink ... - i. e., he was prosperous and enjoyed life. There is a contrast between the life of Josiah spent in the discharge of his kingly duties, and that of Jehoiakim, busy with ambitious plans of splendor and aggrandisement.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; by himself in person, for the kings of Israel and Judah often sat personally to judge causes; or by setting such judges as did it, administering justice impartially, particularly to such as in respect of their low condition were most exposed to the power of others: and doing thus he prospered. Was not this to know me? saith the Lord; this was for him truly to own and acknowledge me. They only truly know God who obey him; and men vainly pretend to piety who are notoriously defective in duties of justice and charity.

In Jeremiah 22:15 Jeremiah pursues the subject: kingship and kingcraft do not consist in the erection of splendid palaces, but in the administration of right and justice. The reproachful question התמלך has not the meaning: wilt thou reign long? or wilt thou consolidate thy dominion? but: dost thou suppose thyself to be a king, to show thyself a king, if thy aim and endeavour is solely fixed on the building of a stately palace? "Viest," as in Jeremiah 12:5 . בּארז, not: with the cedar, for תחרה is construed with the accus. of that with which one vies, but: in cedar, i.e., in the building of cedar palaces. It was not necessary to say with whom he vied, since the thought of Solomon's edifices would suggest itself. The lxx have changed בארז by a pointless quid pro quo into באחז, ἐν ̓́Αχαζ, for which Cod. Alex. and Arabs have ἐν ̓Αχαάβ. The fact that Ahab had built a palace veneered with ivory ( 1 Kings 22:39 ) is not sufficient to approve this reading, which Ew. prefers. Still less cause is there to delete בארז as a gloss (Hitz.) in order to obtain the rendering, justified neither by grammar nor in fact, "if thou contendest with thy father." To confirm what he has said, the prophet sets before the worthless king the example of his godly father Josiah. "Thy father, did not he eat and drink," i.e., enjoy life (cf. Ecclesiastes 2:24 ; Ecclesiastes 3:13 )? yet at the same time he administered right and justice, like his forefather David; 2 Samuel 8:15 .

Then went it well with him and the kingdom. אז, Jeremiah 22:16 , is wider than אז טו: in respect that he did justice to the poor and wretched, things went well, were well managed in the kingdom at large. In so doing consists "the knowing of me." The knowledge of Jahveh is the practical recognition of God which is displayed in the fear of God and a pious life. The infinitive nomin. דּעת has the article because a special emphasis lies on the word (cf. Ew. 277, c), the true knowledge of God required to have stress laid on it. - But Jehoiakim is the reverse of his father. This thought, lying in Jeremiah 22:16 , is illustrated in Jeremiah 22:17 . For thine eyes are set upon nothing but gain. בּצע, gain with the suggestion of unrighteousness about it, cf. Jeremiah 6:13 ; Jeremiah 8:10 . His whole endeavour was after wealth and splendour. The means of attaining this aim was injustice, since he not only withheld their wages from his workers ( Jeremiah 22:13 ), but caused the innocent to be condemned in the judgment that he might grasp their goods to himself, as e.g., Ahab had done with Naboth. He also put to death the prophets who rebuked his unrighteousness, Jeremiah 26:23 , and used every kind of lawless violence. "Oppression" is amplified by המרוּצה (from רצץ, cf. Deuteronomy 28:33 ; 1 Samuel 12:3 ), crushing, "what we call flaying people" (Hitz.); cf. on this subject, Micah 3:3 .

In showing mercy, he acts from prerogative; in punishments, he doth but fill men with their own ways, and give them according to the fruit of their doings; so Jer_21:12. ## I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof; by the forest he either meaneth the forest of Lebanon, or their houses made up of wood cut out of that forest, or their idolatrous groves. ## And it shall devour all things round about it; and this fire he saith should not determine in the destruction only of this city, but in the total destruction of all the country adjacent to Jerusalem. ## Jeremiah 22:1 JEREMIAH CHAPTER 22 God sendeth the prophet to court with promises, Jer_22:1-4, and threats against the king’s house and Jerusalem, Jer_22:5-9. The judgment of Shallum, Jer_22:10-12; of Jehoiakim, Jer_22:13-19; and of Coniah, Jer_22:20-30. Some by ## the king of Judah, here mentioned, understand Jehoahaz. made king upon the death of Josiah by the people, (being the second son of Josiah,) 2Ki_23:30. Others understand Jehoiakim, whom Pharaoh-necho made king, carrying his elder brother Jehoahaz, after a short reign of three months, with him into Egypt, 2Ch_36:4. Jeremiah 22:2 None is so great but he is obliged to hear the word of the Lord. The prophet’s mentioning him