Jeremiah 40:3

40:1-6 The captain of the guard seems to glory that he had been God's instrument to fulfil, what Jeremiah had been God's messenger to foretell. Many can see God's justice and truth with regard to others, who are heedless and blind as to themselves and their own sins. But, sooner or later, all men shall be made sensible that their sin is the cause of all their miseries. Jeremiah has leave to dispose of himself; but is advised to go to Gedaliah, governor of the land under the king of Babylon. It is doubtful whether Jeremiah acted right in this decision. But those who desire the salvation of sinners, and the good of the church, are apt to expect better times from slight appearances, and they will prefer the hope of being useful, to the most secure situations without it.

Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said,.... As he purposed, so it came to pass; as he foretold by his prophet, so it was brought about by his providence. This Heathen captain acknowledges the hand of the Lord in all this; and suggests, that his master, the king of Babylon, himself, and the rest of the generals, were only instruments the Lord made use of; which is very piously as well as wisely said; and more is here acknowledged by him than by the Jews themselves; who were not willing to believe that God had determined evil against them, or would bring it on them; at least, this they did not care to believe and own before, whatever they did now; he goes on to observe the cause of all this: because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you; meaning not Jeremiah particularly, but his countrymen; and perhaps he might turn himself to, and address, the captives that were before him. Here he vindicates the justice of God; and ascribes the ruin of this people, not to the valour of Nebuchadnezzar and his captains; nor to the strength, and courage, and skilfulness of his army; or to any righteousness and merits of the king of Babylon; or to the justness of his cause; but to the sins of the people.

Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have {b} sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. (b) God moved this infidel to speak this to declare the great blindness and obstinacy of the Jews who could not feel that which this heathen man confessed.

As what follows is mainly a historical narrative, it seems that the title "The word ..." was appropriate not merely to a prediction of the future, but to an account of the past, if written by a prophet. The Jews regarded history as inspired if written by a seer, and thus their historical books are called "the early prophets." Ramah - Probably all the prisoners of note were collected at Ramah indiscriminately, and examined there. Bound in chains - The prisoners were probably fastened together in couples by one hand, and a rope passed down the center to bind them in a long line, and prevent attempts at escape.

This pagan commander could see that which the blind Jews would not understand: they said, Wherefore is this great evil come upon us ? Nebuzar-adan knew wherefore, and gives God the glory of his master’s victory, as also of his own faithfulness, saying God had but done what he said, brought the evil which he had pronounced against that city; he also acknowledgeth God’s justice, that this evil was come upon them because of their sins. Thus the men of Tyre and Sidon, and of Nineveh, (according to our Savour’s words,) shall rise up in judgment against the Jews that lived in our Saviour’s time, and Nebuzar-adan another day shall rise up in judgment against those Jews that lived in Jeremiah’s time, and shall condemn them.

When Jeremiah had been brought, the commander of the guards said to him, "The Lord thy God hath declared this evil against this place, and the Lord hath brought it on (brought it to pass), and hath done as He spake; for ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not hearkened to His voice: thus hath this thing happened to you." The mode of expression is that of Jeremiah; but Nebuzaradan may have expressed the thought, that now there had been fulfilled what Jeremiah had predicted in the name of God, because the people, by their rebellion, had broken the oath they had sworn before their God (cf. Ezekiel 17:13 .), and had thereby sinned against Him. The article before דּבר, required by the Qeri, is unnecessary; cf. Ewald, 293, a; Gesenius, 112, 2, a.

The "life" he thus risked was to be his reward, being spared beyond all hope, when the lives of his enemies should be forfeited ("for a prey"). ## CHAPTER 40 Jeremiah 40:1-16. J EREMIAH I S S ET F REE AT R AMAH , AND G OES TO G EDALIAH , TO W HOM THE R EMNANT OF J EWS R EPAIR. J OHANAN W ARNS G EDALIAH OF I SHMAEL ' S C ONSPIRACY IN V AIN. 1. word that came —the heading of a new part of the book (the forty-first through forty-fourth chapters), namely, the prophecies to the Jews in Judea and Egypt after the taking of the city, blended with history. The prophecy does not begin till Jeremiah 42:7, and the previous history is introductory to it. bound in chains —Though released from the court of the prison (see on Jeremiah 39:14), in the confusion at the burning of the city he seems to have been led away in chains with the other captives, and not till he reached Ramah to have gained full liberty. Nebuzara-dan had his quarters at Ramah, in Benjamin; and there he collected the captives previous to their removal to Babylon (Jeremiah 31:15). He in releasing Jeremiah obeyed the king's commands (Jeremiah 39:11). Jeremiah's "chains" for a time were due to the negligence of those to whom he had been committed; or else to Nebuzara-dan's wish to upbraid the people with their perverse ingratitude in imprisoning Jeremiah [C ALVIN ]; hence he addresses the people ( ye … you ) as much as Jeremiah (Jeremiah 40:2, 3). 2.

The full event is yet to come (Jeremiah 31:9; Hosea 1:11; Zechariah 12:10). weeping —with joy at their restoration beyond all hope; and with sorrow at the remembrance of their sins and sufferings (Ezra 3:12, 13; Psalms 126:5, 6). seek … Lord —(Hosea 3:5). 5. thitherward —rather, "hitherward," Jeremiah's prophetical standpoint being at Zion. "Faces hitherward" implies their steadfastness of purpose not to be turned aside by any difficulties on the way. perpetual covenant —in contrast to the old covenant "which they brake" (Jeremiah 31:31, &c.; Jeremiah 32:40). They shall return to their God first, then to their own land. 6. (Isaiah 53:6). on the mountains —whereon they sacrificed to idols (Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6, 23). resting-place —for the "sheep," continuing the image; Jehovah is the resting-place of His sheep (Matthew 11:28). They rest in His "bosom" (Isaiah 40:11). Also His temple at Zion, their "rest," because it is His (Psalms 132:8, 14). 7. devoured —(Psalms 79:7). "Found them" implies that they were exposed to the attacks of those whoever happened to meet them. adversaries said —for instance, Nebuzara-dan (Jeremiah 40:2, 3; compare Zechariah 11:5). The Gentiles acknowledged some supreme divinity. The Jews' guilt was so palpable that they were condemned even in the judgment of heathens.

The Chronicler however having given us the date at which Josiah first manifested his disposition to destroy the idols out of the land, includes in the same sentences all that was done by the king in the after part of his reign. We cannot but think that the chief impulse toward the utter destruction of the idols was given, as the writer of Kings tells us ( 2 Kings 23:3 ) when the king made a covenant to walk after the Lord, according to the words of the book of the Law, and all the people stood to the covenant. Then began the extermination of all remaining traces of idolatry, which the king himself had begun to remove in some degree in his twelfth year. The LXX. adds to the date given in this verse, ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ ὀγδόῳ , ‘in the eighth month’, but with no warrant from the original. the king sent Shaphan … the scribe ] The event on which all else in Josiah’s reformation seems to hinge is the restoration of the temple. There it was that the book of the Law was discovered which stirred both king and people to attempt a thorough reformation. Therefore the writer of Kings passes to that undertaking without pausing over minor matters which preceded it. Shaphan … the scribe ] Shaphan whose father and grandfather are here mentioned, was the father of Ahikam mentioned below (verse 12) and of Gemariah ( Jeremiah 36:10-12 ), and the grandfather of Gedaliah ( Jeremiah 39:14 ; Jeremiah 40:5 ; Jeremiah 40:9 ; Jeremiah 40:11 , &c.).

60 . The Lord will substitute for the old covenant which was broken an “everlasting” covenant, cf. ch. Ezekiel 37:26 ; Isaiah 54:9-10 ; Isaiah 55:3 ; Jeremiah 31:35-36 ; Jeremiah 32:40 ; Jeremiah 33:20-22 . The covenant will be everlasting because he will forgive their sins ( Jeremiah 31:34 ), and write his law ( Jeremiah 31:33 ), and put his fear ( Jeremiah 32:40 ) in their hearts; giving them a new heart and putting his spirit within them, Ezekiel 36:26 . On “days of thy youth” cf. Jeremiah 2:2 , and Isaiah 54:6 . Ezekiel 16:60