Jeremiah 28:11

28:10-17 Hananiah is sentenced to die, and Jeremiah, when he has received direction from God, boldly tells him so; but not before he received that commission. Those have much to answer for, who tell sinners that they shall have peace, though they harden their hearts in contempt of God's word. The servant of God must be gentle to all men. He must give up even his right, and leave the Lord to plead his cause. Every attempt of ungodly men to make vain the purposes of God, will add to their miseries.

And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people,.... Explaining to them his meaning, in taking the yoke, and breaking it: saying, thus saith the Lord; wickedly making use of the Lord's name, to give countenance to his words and actions: even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations, within the space of two full years; the time he had fixed for the bringing back of the vessels of the sanctuary, Jeremiah 28:3; and the prophet Jeremiah went his way; showing thereby his dissent from him, and his dislike and detestation of his lies and blasphemies; patiently bearing his affronts and insolence; and prudently withdrawing to prevent riots and tumults; returning no answer till he had received one from the Lord himself, which he quickly had.

11 . And the prophet … went his way ] Co., maintaining that Jeremiah could not under the circumstances have been silent, rejects these words but Du. rightly pleads for their retention as entirely consonant with the dignity and nobility of Jeremiah’s character. Co. considers them as inserted by a later hand and suggested by “go and tell” of Jeremiah 28:13 . Jeremiah 28:11

As God hath his sacraments to confirm the truth of his word, of which his ministers are the stewards and administrators; so the devil hath his sacraments, of which his prophets are the administrators. God by his prophet Jeremiah had revealed his will as to the king of Babylon’s success against many nations, and bringing them into his servitude; as a sacrament or sign of this, he had commanded Jeremiah to put on a yoke with bonds. Hananiah, the false prophet, cometh in the name of God, and declares the contrary, that within two years God would break the yoke of the king of Babylon, and free the nations in subjection to him; and as a sacrament or sign to gain credit to this falsehood, he plucks off Jeremiah’s yoke, and breaks it, and expounds himself that God should so break the king of Babylon’s yoke from the neck of all nations, and pretends he had a commission from God to say this. Jeremiah, not able to endure to hear such lies, goeth away in testimony of his dissent from him, and adherence to what he had said.

Had Hananiah been sent by the Lord, he might have been satisfied with Jeremiah's opinion, and have contentedly awaited the issue. But instead of this, he seeks by means of violence to secure credence for his prophesying. He takes the yoke from off the neck of the prophet, and breaks it in pieces, as he repeats before the people his former prediction: "Thus hath Jahveh said: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within two years." - Thereupon Jeremiah went his way without answering a word, calmly entrusting to the Lord the vindication of the truth of His own word.

28 . Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite ] Cp. 1 Chronicles 27:9 . For Tekoa see 2 Chronicles 20:20 , note. Abi-ezer the Antothite ] R.V. Abi-ezer the Anathothite ; 1 Chronicles 27:12 and 2 Samuel 23:27 . Anathoth was in Benjamin; it was Jeremiah’s village ( Jeremiah 1:1 ; Jeremiah 11:21 ff.), now Anâta , 2½ miles N.N.E. of Jerusalem. 1 Chronicles 11:28

21 . separate ] See on Deuteronomy 4:41 . Unto evil , Jeremiah 21:10 ; Jeremiah 29:11 ; Jeremiah 38:4 ; Jeremiah 39:16 ; Jeremiah 44:11 ; Jeremiah 44:27 ; Jeremiah 44:29 ; but also in Amos 9:4 , Jdg 2:15 (deuteronomic). this book of the law ] See Deuteronomy 28:61 . 22–28 illustrate the last clause of 19 and predict how the whole land and people shall suffer for the sins of the idolaters. Deuteronomy 29:21

Ezekiel 11:20 : Jeremiah 7:23 ; Jeremiah 11:4 ; Jeremiah 30:22 ), descriptive of the covenant relationship in which Jehovah stood towards Israel ( Exodus 19:5 ; Leviticus 26:12 ; Deuteronomy 26:17, 18 ), have been chosen by New Testament writers to set forth the relationship of God towards the Christian Church, first here on earth ( 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 ), and afterwards in the heavenly Jerusalem ( Revelation 21:3 ). Ezekiel 36:28

afterward … inhabited —Under Cyrus forty years after the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, it threw off the Babylonian yoke but has never regained its former prowess (Jeremiah 46:11; Ezekiel 29:11-15). 27, 28. Repeated from Jeremiah 30:10, 11. When the Church (and literal Israel) might seem utterly consumed, there still remains hidden hope, because God, as it were, raises His people from the dead (Romans 11:15). Whereas the godless "nations" are consumed even though they survive, as are the Egyptians after their overthrow; because they are radically accursed and doomed [C ALVIN ]. ## CHAPTER 47 Jeremiah 47:1-7. P ROPHECY AGAINST THE P HILISTINES. 1. Pharaoh-necho probably smote Gaza on his return after defeating Josiah at Megiddo (2 Chronicles 35:20) [G ROTIUS ]. Or, Pharaoh-hophra (Jeremiah 37:5, 7) is intended: probably on his return from his ## fruitless attempt to save Jerusalem from the Chaldeans, he smote Gaza in order that his expedition might not be thought altogether in vain [C ALVIN ] (Amos 1:6, 7). 2. waters —(Isaiah 8:7). The Chaldeans from the north are compared to the overwhelming waters of their own Euphrates. The smiting of Gaza was to be only the prelude of a greater disaster to the Philistines. Nebuzara-dan was left by Nebuchadnezzar, after he had taken Jerusalem, to subdue the rest of the adjoining cities and country. 3. (Compare Jeremiah 4:29).