Jeremiah 52:18

The cauldrons also,.... Or "pots", as it is rendered, 2 Kings 25:14 ; which were made of bright brass, 1 Kings 7:45 ; these were used to boil the flesh of the sacrifices in: and the shovels; used to remove the ashes from off the altar of burnt offerings, and were of brass also: the Targum renders them "besoms", whose handles perhaps were of brass: and the snuffers; the Vulgate Latin translates it "psalteries"; and so Jarchi interprets it of musical instruments; some think "tongs" are meant: and the bowls; or "basins"; either to drink out of, or to receive the blood of the sacrifice: and the spoons: ladles, cups, or dishes, vessels used about the sacrifices: and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered; that is, the priests in the temple: took they away; the Chaldeans took them away.

18 . pots ] See 1 Kings 7:45 . They were used ( Exodus 27:3 ) for the altar of burnt offering. snuffers ] for the lamps ( Exodus 25:38 ; Numbers 4:9 ). basons ] lit. tossing-vessels , to toss (not “sprinkle” as in E.VV. in Leviticus 1:5 ; Leviticus 1:11 ; Leviticus 3:2 , etc.), the blood of the sacrifices against the sides of the altar. Jeremiah 52:18

(18-20) The caldrons also, and the shovels . . . —The list in 2Kings 25:14-16 omits the basons, the caldrons, the candlesticks, and the cups; in Jeremiah 52:15 it gives the definite article in the Hebrew “ the one sea,” and omits the “twelve brasen bulls. Strictly speaking, the bases ( 1Kings 7:27 ) were under the ten lavers which were used for washing the meat for the sacrifices, and the twelve bulls ( 1Kings 7:25 ) supported the molten sea, or bigger laver, for the priests’ ablutions; 2Kings 16:17 suggests the thought that the bulk of the bronze had been removed by Ahaz and given to Tiglath Pileser, though possibly not taken away by him.

The caldrons also: these were called pots, 2 Kings 25:14 . And the shovels; which were to remove the ashes from the altar. The snuffers: some think that this word in this place were better translated tongs , because he is speaking of instruments of brass; and that those utensils are not here understood with which they snuffed the lamps, because they were of gold. The bowls , or basons; it is uncertain which is here intended, there being in the temple both bowls to drink in, and also basens to receive the blood of the sacrifices. The spoons; the word is such as may signify ladles, or cups, or dishes.

The carrying away of the vessels of the temple is more fully stated than in 2 Kings 25:13-17 . The large brazen articles, the two pillars at the porch (cf. 1 Kings 7:15 .), the bases ( 1 Kings 7:27 .), and the brazen sea ( 1 Kings 7:23 .), which were too vast in their proportions to be easily carried away to Babylon, were broken to pieces by the Chaldeans, who carried off the brass of which they were made. אשׁר לבּית is more correct than אשׁר (Kings), and "all their brass" is more precise than simply "their brass" (Kings). In the enumeration of the smaller brazen vessels used for the temple service, Jeremiah 52:18 , there is omitted, in 2 Kings, ואת־המּזרקות, "and the bowls" (used in sacrifice); this omission is perhaps due merely to an error in transcription. The enumeration of the gold and silver vessels in Jeremiah 52:19 has been much more abbreviated in 2 Kings 25:15 , where only "the fire-pans and the bowls" are mentioned, while in the text here, besides these there are named "the basons," then "the pots (Eng. vers. caldrons), and the candlesticks, and the pans (Eng. vers. spoons), and the cups." For particulars regarding these different vessels, see on 1 Kings 7:40 , 1 Kings 7:45 , 1 Kings 7:50 . In Jeremiah 52:20 , reference is made to the fact that the mass of metal in the vessels that were carried away was without weight.

The same is stated in 2 Kings 25:16 , where, however, there is no mention of the twelve brazen bulls; while in the text of Jeremiah, אשׁר תּחת המּכנות is faulty, and we must read instead, אשׁר תּחתּיו והמּכנות. The assertion of Graf, in his commentary on this verse, and of Thenius on 2 Kings 25:16 , - that the notice regarding the twelve brazen bulls is incorrect, because these were then no longer in Jerusalem (27:19), but had previously been removed by Ahaz from under the brazen sea for Tiglath-pileser, - we have already, under 2 Kings 16:17 , shown to be erroneous. The apposition of כּל־הכּלים to לנחשׁתּם explains the reference of the suffix. In Jeremiah 52:21-23 , the narrator, in order to call attention to the amount of art exhibited on the vessels destroyed by the Chaldeans, gives a brief description of the brazen pillars with their capitals. This description is much shortened in 2 Kings 25:17 , and contains notices completing that which is given of these works of art in 1 Kings 7 . For details, see the passage referred to.

(Note: To this section the historical appendix to the book of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 52 ) furnishes a parallel, which agrees with it for the most part word for word, omitting only the short account of the murder of Gedaliah and of the flight of the people to Egypt ( 2 Kings 25:22-26 ), and adding instead a computation of the number of the people who were led away to Babel by Nebuchadnezzar ( Jeremiah 52:28-30 ). Apart from the less important variations, which have arisen in part simply from copyists' errors, we have in Jeremiah 52:18 , and especially in Jeremiah 52:21 and Jeremiah 52:22 , by no means unimportant notices concerning the vessels of the temple, especially concerning the ornaments of the brazen pillars, which do not occur anywhere in our books. It is evident from this that our text was not derived from Jer (Hvernick), and that Jer was not borrowed from our books of Kings and appended to the book of Jeremiah's prophecies (Ros., Maur., Ew., Graf).

(Note: To this section the historical appendix to the book of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 52 ) furnishes a parallel, which agrees with it for the most part word for word, omitting only the short account of the murder of Gedaliah and of the flight of the people to Egypt ( 2 Kings 25:22-26 ), and adding instead a computation of the number of the people who were led away to Babel by Nebuchadnezzar ( Jeremiah 52:28-30 ). Apart from the less important variations, which have arisen in part simply from copyists' errors, we have in Jeremiah 52:18 , and especially in Jeremiah 52:21 and Jeremiah 52:22 , by no means unimportant notices concerning the vessels of the temple, especially concerning the ornaments of the brazen pillars, which do not occur anywhere in our books. It is evident from this that our text was not derived from Jer (Hvernick), and that Jer was not borrowed from our books of Kings and appended to the book of Jeremiah's prophecies (Ros., Maur., Ew., Graf).