HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  33.12–13 A prose oracle of salvation that promises pastures and flocks in the restoration period.

  33.14–26 Future leaders. This prose oracle of salvation is an expansion of 23.5–6. Coming from the exile, it promises the restoration of the Davidic monarchy and the levitical priesthood. These verses are not in the Septuagint. God’s promises to David and the Levites will be honored (Deut 18.1–8; 2 Sam 7). See Hag 1.1;2.23; Zech 4.11–14; 6.9–13.

  33.15–16 Jerusalem, not the future king, will be called The LORD is our righteousness (see 23.5–6).

  JEREMIAH 34

  Death in Captivity Predicted for Zedekiah

  1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth and all the peoples under his dominion were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities: 2Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Go and speak to King Zedekiah of Judah and say to him: Thus says the LORD: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3And you yourself shall not escape from his hand, but shall surely be captured and handed over to him; you shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face; and you shall go to Babylon. 4Yet hear the word of the LORD, O King Zedekiah of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you: You shall not die by the sword; 5you shall die in peace. And as spices were burneda for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they shall burn spicesb for you and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” For I have spoken the word, says the LORD.

  6Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah; for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that remained.

  Treacherous Treatment of Slaves

  8The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them—9that all should set free their Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should hold another Judean in slavery. 10And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that all would set free their slaves, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again; they obeyed and set them free. 11But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them again into subjection as slaves. 12The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 13Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14“Every seventh year each of you must set free any Hebrews who have been sold to you and have served you six years; you must set them free from your service.” But your ancestors did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15You yourselves recently repented and did what was right in my sight by proclaiming liberty to one another, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name; 16but then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back your male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them again into subjection to be your slaves. 17Therefore, thus says the LORD: You have not obeyed me by granting a release to your neighbors and friends; I am going to grant a release to you, says the LORD—a release to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18And those who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make likec the calf when they cut it in two and passed between its parts: 19the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf 20shall be handed over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. Their corpses shall become food for the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth. 21And as for King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials, I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. 22I am going to command, says the LORD, and will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire. The towns of Judah I will make a desolation without inhabitant.

  next chapter

  * * *

  a Heb as there was burning

  b Heb shall burn

  c Cn: Heb lacks like

  34.1–7 A prose oracle of judgment against Zedekiah (cf. the oracle against Hananiah in ch. 28). The sermon is set at the onset of the siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was not yet imprisoned.

  34.3–5 Zedekiah was blinded and exiled to Babylon, where he died in prison (39.7; 52.8–11; 2 Kings 25.5–7). In contrast to Jehoiakim (see 22.13–19), Zedekiah will have a funeral and be lamented. To burn spices was part of a royal funeral (2 Chr 16.14; 21.19).

  34.7 Lachish, modern Tell ed-Duweir, located about thirty miles southwest of Jerusalem. It was a major walled fortress city located between Jerusalem and Gaza. Azekah (modern Tell ez-Zahariyeh), lying to the northeast of Lachish, was also a fortified city. In the fourth letter of the Lachish ostraca, recovered from a tower in the outer city gate and dated to the period just before the fall of Jerusalem, Hoshaiah, an official in an outpost to the north of Lachish, writes to Yaosh, its military commander: “We are looking for the signals of Lachish, according to all the indications my Lord has given, because we do not see Azekah.”

  34.8–22 Slaves and the broken covenant. This prose narrative is set during the siege of Jerusalem (588 BCE). King Zedekiah and the population entered into covenant to release their Hebrew slaves in the hopes of gaining God’s help. However, when Nebuchadrezzar temporarily lifted the siege to oppose an advancing Egyptian army (cf. 37.6–11), the people broke their covenantal oath by re-enslaving the slaves they had set free. This act of bad faith leads to an oracle of judgment against Jerusalem.

  34.14 The law quoted is Deut 15.1, 12 (see Ex 21.2).

  34.18–19 These verses describe the ritual of covenant making, “to cut a covenant” (see note on 31.33; Gen 15.7–21).

  JEREMIAH 35

  The Rechabites Commended

  1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah: 2Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink. 3So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4I brought them to the house of the LORD into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. 5Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Have some wine.” 6But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, ‘You shall never drink wine, neither you nor your children; 7nor shall you ever build a house, or sow seed; nor shall you plant a vineyard, or even own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you reside.’ 8We have obeyed the charge of our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard or field or seed; 10but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done all that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11But when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”

  12Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? says the LORD. 14The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they
drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, and you have not obeyed me. 15I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, “Turn now every one of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not incline your ear or obey me. 16The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.

  18But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you, 19therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.

  next chapter

  * * *

  35.1–19 Set in the reign of Jehoiakim (609–598 BCE), this prose narrative describes the faithfulness of the Rechabites, a religious sect named in honor of their founder, Jonadab the son of Rechab, during the reign of Jehu (843/2–815). Presumably the editor who positioned chs. 34 and 35 next to each other wished to contrast the covenant loyalty of the Rechabites with the faithlessness the citizens of Jerusalem exhibited in taking back their slaves. The Rechabites abstained from wine, lived as nomads in tents, and did not practice agriculture, all in accordance with the principles of Jonadab.

  35.19 To stand before God is a priestly prerogative. The Rechabites were not priests, but their devotion was a form of divine service.

  JEREMIAH 36

  The Scroll Read in the Temple

  1In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

  4Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him. 5And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am prevented from entering the house of the LORD; 6so you go yourself, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the LORD’s house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. 7It may be that their plea will come before the LORD, and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.” 8And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the LORD’s house.

  9In the fifth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. 10Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’s house.

  The Scroll Read in the Palace

  11When Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, 12he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber; and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15And they said to him, “Sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. 16When they heard all the words, they turned to one another in alarm, and said to Baruch, “We certainly must report all these words to the king.” 17Then they questioned Baruch, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

  Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll

  20Leaving the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, they went to the court of the king; and they reported all the words to the king. 21Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary; and Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22Now the king was sitting in his winter apartment (it was the ninth month), and there was a fire burning in the brazier before him. 23As Jehudi read three or four columns, the kinga would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24Yet neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words, was alarmed, nor did they tear their garments. 25Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the secretary Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But the LORD hid them.

  Jeremiah Dictates Another

  27Now, after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 28Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned. 29And concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah you shall say: Thus says the LORD, You have dared to burn this scroll, saying, Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it human beings and animals? 30Therefore thus says the LORD concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah: He shall have no one to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah, all the disasters with which I have threatened them—but they would not listen.

  32Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the secretary Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

  next chapter

  * * *

  a Heb he

  36.1–32 The two scrolls of Baruch. Clues to the composition of the book of Jeremiah are contained in this chapter. The story begins with the fourth year of King Jehoiakim (605 BCE, v. 1), the year of the battle of Carchemish (see Introduction), and describes the formation of two scrolls of Baruch. The first scroll contained the prophecies of Jeremiah from 627 to 605 BCE, described primarily as oracles of judgment. The purpose of this scroll was to present the “house of Judah” an opportunity to repent, be forgiven, and avoid destruction (see 25.1–14). Baruch, Jeremiah’s companion and secretary, belonged to an important family in Jerusalem and was a royal scribe (36.32; see chs. 32, 45). His brother, Seraiah, was minister to Zedekiah (51.59). Seals of the two brothers have been excavated. Baruch’s reads: “to/from Baruch /son of Neriah/the scribe.” Numerous efforts to reconstruct the two scrolls have been undertaken (see Introduction). If ch. 36 is historical, we ma
y have indications of the first two editions of the book of Jeremiah.

  36.5 Jeremiah was barred from the temple precinct, possibly because of the temple sermon (see chs. 7, 26).

  36.6 Public fasts were held periodically, especially during times of distress (see 2 Chr 20.3; Ezra 8.21–23; Neh 1.4–11). Since these were periods of penance in which lamenting, wearing sackcloth, offering sacrifices, and fasting made up the ritual, a fast day was appropriate for reading Jeremiah’s oracles of judgment to the people assembled in the temple.

  36.9 The fifth year of King Jehoiakim (604 BCE) would coincide with Nebuchadrezzar’s advance into the Philistine plain, where he conquered Ashkelon. Shortly thereafter Jehoiakim declared his allegiance to Nebuchadrezzar.

  36.11–13 Elnathan, the father of Nehushta (the mother of Jehoiachin, 2 Kings 24.8) and the leader of the party that captured Uriah and brought him to Jehoiakim for execution (26.22–23). Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the royal secretary to whom Hilkiah, the high priest, revealed the discovery of the “book of the law” in the temple (2 Kings 22). Micaiah was his son. Interestingly, Shaphan read the newly discovered law to King Josiah and received a positive response.

  36.30 See note on 22.13–19. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who ruled for three months (see note on 22.24–30).

  JEREMIAH 37

  Zedekiah’s Vain Hope

  1Zedekiah son of Josiah, whom King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, succeeded Coniah son of Jehoiakim. 2But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

  3King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah saying, “Please pray for us to the LORD our God.” 4Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5Meanwhile, the army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.