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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Jeremiah 22:13 - 22:13
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The woe uttered upon Jehoiakim. - Jer 22:13. "Woe unto him that buildeth his house with unrighteousness and his upper chambers with wrong, that maketh his fellow labour for nought, and giveth him not his hire; Jer 22:14. That saith: I will build me a wide house and spacious upper chambers, and cutteth him out many windows, and covereth it with cedars, and painteth it with vermilion. Jer 22:15. Art thou a king of thou viest in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do right and justice? Then it went well with him. Jer 22:16. He did justice to the poor and wretched, then it was well. Is not this to know me? saith Jahveh. Jer 22:17. For on nothing are thine eyes and thy heart set but on gain and on the blood of the innocent, to shed it, and on oppression and violence, to do them. Jer 22:18. Therefore thus saith Jahveh concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah: They shall not mourn for him, saying: Alas, my brother! and alas, sister! they shall not mourn for him: Alas, lord! and alas for his glory! Jer 22:19. An ass's burial shall his burial be, dragged and cast far away from the gates of Jerusalem."
The prediction as to Jehoiakim begins with a woe upon the unjust oppression of the people. The oppression consisted in his building a magnificent palace with the sweat and blood of his subjects, whom he compelled to do forced labour without giving the labourers wages. The people must have felt this burden all the more severely that Jehoiakim, to obtain the throne, had bound himself to pay to Pharaoh a large tribute, the gold and silver for which he raised from the population according to Pharaoh's own valuation, 2Ki 23:33. With "Woe to him that buildeth," etc., cf. Hab 2:12; Mic 3:10. "That maketh his fellow labour," lit., through his neighbour he works, i.e., he causes the work to be done by his neighbour (fellow-man) for nought, without giving him wages, forces him to unpaid statute-labour. עָבַד בּ as in Lev 25:39, Lev 25:46. פֹּעַל, labour, work, gain, then wages, cf. Job 7:2. Jehoiakim sought to increase the splendour of his kingship by palace-building. To this the speech points, put in his mouth at Jer 22:14 : I will build me בֵּית מִדֹּות, a house of extensions, i.e., a palace in the grand style, with spacious halls, vast chambers. מְרֻוָּח from רָוַח, to find vent, cheer up, 1Sa 16:23; not airy, but spacious, for quite a modest house might have airy chambers. וְקָרַע is a continuation of the participle; literally: and he cuts himself out windows, makes huge openings in the walls for windows. This verb is used in Jer 4:30 of opening up the eyes with paint. חַלֹּונָי presents some difficulty, seeing that the suffix of the first person makes no sense. It has therefore been held to be a contracted plural form (Gesen. Lehrgeb. S. 523) or for a dual (Ew. §177, a), but without any proof of the existence of such formations, since גֹּובַי, Amo 7:1; Nah 3:17, is to be otherwise explained (see on Amo 7:1). Following on the back of J. D. Mich., Hitz., Graf, and Böttcher (ausf. Gramm. §414) propose to connect the ו before סָפוּן with this word and to read חַלֹּונָיו: and tears open for himself his windows; in support of which it is alleged that one cod. so reads. But this one cod. can decide nothing, and the suffix his is superfluous, even unsuitable, seeing that there can be no thought of another person's building; whereas the copula cannot well be omitted before סָפוּן. For the rule adduced for this, that the manner of the principal action is frequently explained by appending infinitives absoll. (Ew. §280, a), does not meet the present case; the covering with cedar, etc., does not refer to the windows, and so cannot be an explanation of the cutting out for himself. We therefore hold, with Böttcher (Proben, S. 40), that חַלֹּונַי is an adjective formation, with the force of: abundant in windows, since this formation is completely accredited by כִּילַי and חֹרַי (cf. Ew. §164, c); and the objection alleged against this by Graf, that then no object is specified for "cutteth out," is not of much weight, it being easy to supply the object from the preceding "house:" and he cuts it out for himself abounding in windows. There needs be no change of וְסָפוּן into וְסָפֹון. For although the infin. absol. would be quite in place as continuation of the verb. fin. (cf. Ew. §351, c), yet it is not necessary. The word is attached in zeugma to וְקָרַע or חַלֹּונַי: and he covers with cedar, to: faces or overlays, for this verb does not mean to plank or floor, for which צִפָּה is the usual word, but hide, cover, and is used 1Ki 6:9; 1Ki 7:3, for roofing. The last statement is given in infin. absol.: וּמָשֹׁוחַ :.los, and besmears it, paints it (the building) with שָׁשַׁר, red ochre, a brilliant colour (lxx μίλτος, i.e., acc. to Kimchi, red lead; see Gesen. thess s.v.).