Jeremiah 40:25

See Gill on "2 Kings 25:18" 2 Kings 25:21 Ver. 21. See Gill on "2 Kings 25:18" 2 Kings 25:22 Ver. 22-24. And as for the people that remained,.... That were left in the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen; over these the king of Babylon made Gedaliah governor, to whom the captains, with their scattered troops, came, and submitted for a time; of whom, See Gill on "Jeremiah 40:7", See Gill on "Jeremiah 40:8", See Gill on "Jeremiah 40:9". 2 Kings 25:23

And as for the people that remained,.... That were left in the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen; over these the king of Babylon made Gedaliah governor, to whom the captains, with their scattered troops, came, and submitted for a time; of whom; see Gill on Jeremiah 40:7 ; see Gill on Jeremiah 40:8 ; see Gill on Jeremiah 40:9 .

And as for the people that remained,.... That were left in the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen; over these the king of Babylon made Gedaliah governor, to whom the captains, with their scattered troops, came, and submitted for a time; of whom; see Gill on Jeremiah 40:7 ; see Gill on Jeremiah 40:8 ; see Gill on Jeremiah 40:9 .

25:22-30 The king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah to be the governor and protector of the Jews left their land. But the things of their peace were so hidden from their eyes, that they knew not when they were well off. Ishmael basely slew him and all his friends, and, against the counsel of Jeremiah, the rest went to Egypt. Thus was a full end made of them by their own folly and disobedience; see Jeremiah chap. 40 to 45. Jehoiachin was released out of prison, where he had been kept 37 years. Let none say that they shall never see good again, because they have long seen little but evil: the most miserable know not what turn Providence may yet give to their affairs, nor what comforts they are reserved for, according to the days wherein they have been afflicted. Even in this world the Saviour brings a release from bondage to the distressed sinner who seeks him, bestowing foretastes of the pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore. Sin alone can hurt us; Jesus alone can do good to sinners.

(23) The captains of the armies. —Rather, the army captains; or, the captains of the forces. They and their men had fled with the king, and dispersed themselves over the country ( Jeremiah 40:7 ). Now they came out of hiding. Their men.—The Hebrew text has the men, but all the versions, and Jeremiah 40:7, read rightly, their men. Mizpah.—See 1Kings 15:22. It was well suited to be the governor’s residence, as it lay high, and was a naturally strong position. Moreover, it was the seat of an ancient sanctuary (Judges 20:1), which might serve in some sort as a substitute for the destroyed Temple of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 41:5). Ishmael.—Grandson of Elishama the royal secretary (2Kings 25:25; Jeremiah 36:12; Jeremiah 36:20), and of royal blood (Jeremiah 41:1). Johanan the son of Careah.—Jeremiah 40:8, “and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Careah.” The Netophathite.—The words, “and the sons of Ophai,” have fallen out before this epithet (Jeremiah 40:8), and probably the names of these sons of Ophai in both passages. Netophah is mentioned in Ezra 2:22; Nehemiah 7:26. It may be Beit Nettif south-west of Jerusalem. The son of a (the) Maachathite.—His father was an alien, and belonged to the Syrian state of Maachah (2Samuel 10:6; 2Samuel 10:8).

Verses 3, 4. - Thou shalt also take, etc. The words may point (1) either to those in Jerusalem who had escaped the famine and the sword, and were left in the land ( 2 Kings 25:22 ; Jeremiah 40:6 ; Jeremiah 40:6 ); or (2) to those who should go into exile, and yet even there suffer from the "fire" of God's chastening judgments. They were, if saved at all, to be saved "so as by fire" ( 1 Corinthians 3:15 ), to be as "brands plucked from the burning" ( Amos 4:11 ; Zechariah 3:2 ). Isaiah's thought of the "remnant" ( Isaiah 10:20-22 ; Isaiah 11:11-16 ) seems hardly to come in here. The whole utterance is one of denunciation. The act of "binding in the skirts" implies only a limited protection. Omit "for," and for "thereof" read "therefrom," s.c. from the fire (Revised Version). Ezekiel 5:3

Shaphan was an officer of the court of King Josiah, and active in the reformation instituted by him (2Kings 22:3; 2Kings 22:14); while his son (Elasah) was one of the messengers by whom Jeremiah sent his prophecies to the Captivity (Jeremiah 29:3); and another son, Gemariah, was a scribe, having a chamber “in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s house,” in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 36:10). At the same time his grandson, Michaiah, was sufficiently prominent at court to join in the intercession of the princes against the destruction of Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jeremiah 36:11; Jeremiah 36:25); and a little later, in the general captivity of the ninth year of Zedekiah, another grandson, Gedaliah, had the person of Jeremiah given into his charge (Jeremiah 39:14; Jeremiah 40:5), and was made governor over the remnant of the people (Jeremiah 40:11). Such being the family connections of Jaazaniah, the corruption which could make him a leader of idolatry is strongly shown. With every man his censer in his hand.—The burning of incense was the exclusive function of the priesthood (Numbers 16; 2Chronicles 26:16-18); and it was alike the necessity and the choice of the idolaters of Israel to devolve this office upon those who were not of the Aaronic family. (Comp. 1Kings 12:31.) When the seventy elders offered incense to their idols they claimed thereby to be the priests of those idols.

12 . the Jews ] We have here practically the first application of this name to the new community at Jerusalem. It had been used of the Southern Kingdom ( 2 Kings 16:6 ; 2 Kings 25:25 ; 2 Chronicles 32:18 ) and of its exiles ( Jeremiah 32:12 ; Jeremiah 34:9 ; Jeremiah 38:19 ; Jeremiah 40:11-12 ; Jeremiah 40:15 ; Jeremiah 41:3 ; Jeremiah 44:1 ; Jeremiah 52:28 ; Jeremiah 52:30 ; Daniel 3:8 ; Daniel 3:12 ). As the return from the Captivity almost exclusively affected the exiles of the Southern Kingdom, the name was naturally applied to the new dwellers in Jerusalem and the neighbourhood, and was quickly adopted as the designation of all members of the race; cf. Zechariah 8:23 ; Ezra 4:23 ; Ezra 5:1 ; Ezra 5:5 ; Ezra 6:7-8 ; Ezra 6:14 ; ten times in Nehemiah, fifty-one times in Esther. The History of Israel had become the History of the Jews. which came up from thee to us are come ] R.V. which came up from thee are come to us, generally expressed; i.e. from exile on the banks of the Euphrates to dwell in Judæa and Jerusalem. The introductory statement of the subject. building ] R.V. they are building. A separate clause, containing an epitome of the charge against the Jews. ‘The rebellious and the bad city’, cf. Ezra 4:15 .