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Jer_52:1-11
Jer_52:4-5. And it came to pass … Zedekiah. These words are found almost exactly the same in 2Ki_25:1-2, and in an abridged extract in Jer_39:1. Compare also Eze_24:1. For the exposition of the parts reproduced in Jeremiah 39., see there the differences between our text and that of the Book of Kings. Comp. the Textual Notes.
Jer_52:6-7. And in the fourth month … the plain. These opening words, found also in Jer_39:2, are wanting in 2 Kings, although the statement of the day without that of the month, makes no sense, and also the words and went out of the city, though thus the sentence loses its predicate. Keil (on 2Ki_25:4) supposes that not only the predicate has fallen out after all the men of war, but also still more before these words, in 2 Ki. and Jeremiah 52., namely, the words found in Jer_39:3, “and it came to pass, when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them,” because the king (according to 2Ki_25:5; Jer_52:8; Jer_39:5) was among the fugitives, and because the words “and all the men of war,” have no proper connection with the previous context and could not form an adverbial sentence. But if Keil were right, the whole verse Jer_39:3 must have dropped out, since them refers to the persons mentioned in it. We have already shown on Jeremiah 39. that Jer_52:1-2; Jer_52:4-10 are only an abridged extract from Jeremiah 52. and that the words quoted above are only a connecting clause between the original and genuine Jer_52:3, and the following verses derived from Jeremiah 52. These words are therefore of later date than Jeremiah 52., and cannot have been omitted before “ and all the men,” etc. The previous mention of the king is not necessary, since he is included; the sentence moreover is not adverbial, but a narrative of a by no means unusual construction (comp. Ewald, §346, b).
Jer_52:8-11. But the army … of his death. The Book of Kings reads “ him ” instead of Zedekiah. It is plain that the former could be more easily derived from the latter than the reverse.—In the land of Hamath is wanting in 2Ki_25:6, while it is found ib. Jer_52:21 (comp. 2Ki_23:33).—He gave judgment.2Ki_25:6, has “they gave,” etc., on which comp. rems. on Jer_32:5.—The first half of Jer_52:10 agrees with Jer_39:6, even to the there added words, “in Riblah.” In 2Ki_25:7 it reads, “and they slew the sons,” etc., the Chaldeans of Jer_52:5 being still the subject. The second half of Jer_52:10 is entirely wanting in 2 Kings. The blinding and binding in chains of king Zedekiah is narrated in both places in the same way, but in 2 Ki. the singulars put out ( òåִּøִ ) and bound him ( åַéֵàַñְøֵäåּ ) are the more surprising, as the sentence is contained in the plural carried him ( åַéַáַéְàֻäåּ ). 2 Kings 25. is entirely silent on the confinement of Zedekiah in Babylon. Hitzig justly calls attention to the fact that áֵּéúÎäַôְּ÷ֻãּú is not simply a prison, this being always otherwise expressed (comp., e.g., Jer_52:31). Jeremiah, who is not blinded, is put into prison; but Zedekiah, the more guilty, is blinded and put into the house of correction. Comp. Simson on Jdg_16:21. The LXX. also has ἐéò ïἰêßáí ìõëῶíïò . Yet it appears that towards the end his confinement was less rigorous, and that an honorable interment was granted him after his death, for this is the purport of the promise made to him through Jeremiah in Jer_34:1-5.
2. On Jer_52:1-3. “From this we see why God sometimes places ungodly rulers over a country, who cast it to destruction. It is done on account of the rulers’ and the people’s sins, that they may draw down the well merited punishment, as Sirach says. On account of violence, injustice and avarice, a kingdom passes from one nation to another (Jer_10:8). So also says king Solomon. Because of the sins of a nation occur many changes of rulers, but for the sake of the people who are intelligent and reasonable, the State is prolonged (Pro_28:2).” Wurtemb. Summarien.
3. On Jer_52:4. “God allows many slight and mild punishments to come as warnings, till at last comes the finishing stroke. This is a witness to the divine long-suffering (Rom_2:4).” Cramer.
4. On Jer_52:6. “The fact that in this siege compassionate women had to kill and eat their own children (Lam_4:10) is a reminder that by bodily hunger God would punish; 1. satiation and disgust towards His holy word and soul-food; 2. the terrible offering up of children to Moloch; 3. the loose discipline of children.” Cramer.
5. On Jer_52:7. “No fortress can protect the ungodly, even though they had their nest in the clouds.” Cramer.
6. On Jer_52:8. “An example of faithless, perjured men of war. But as Zedekiah broke his oath to the king at Babylon, he was paid back in the same coin.” Cramer. “His people forsook the poor king Zedekiah on his flight and he was captured, from which we see that great men cannot depend on their body-guard; these flee in time of need, and leave their masters in the lurch. The surest and best protection is when we have the holy angels for our guard … This angelic protection is, however, to be obtained and preserved by faith and godliness, but is lost by unbelief and ungodly conduct.” Wurtemb. Summ.
7. On Jer_52:9-11. The punishment of perjury. “Ubi monemur, quod fides hosti, etiam barbaro, qualis hodie Turca, a Christianis data, mimine violanda.” Förster.
8. On Jer_52:9. sqq. “God had shown Zedekiah by Jeremiah a way in which he could escape the calamity. But because he forsook the Lord and would not follow it, the others were only leaky cisterns (Jer_2:13). For woe to the rebellious who take counsel without the Lord (Isa_30:1). This is useful for an instance against the holy by works, who reject God’s way of escaping the Devil; when they devise other ways for themselves they are caught by the Chaldeans of hell.” Cramer.
9. On Jer_52:12 sqq. “Holy places, external ceremonies and opus operatum do not avail for hypocrites … If God punished His own institution so severely, how shall human institutions remain unpunished?” Cramer.
10. On Jer_52:12. “Quale fatum, ne et nostris obtingat templis … caveamus, ne profanemus templa ulterius tum externa vel materialia, tum interna vel spiritualia in cordibus nostris, de quibus 1Co_3:16 sqq.; Jer_6:19 sqq.” Förster.
11. On Jer_52:15. “It is another work of mercy that some of Judah were preserved. For God’s grace is always to be found in His punishments.” Cramer.
12. On Jer_52:15. “He who will not serve God and his neighbor at home and in quiet, must learn to do it in a strange land in affliction and distress.” Cramer.
13. On Jer_52:24 sqq. “As teachers are often to blame for their behaviour that sin gets the upper hand in a community, it is exceedingly just when God brings such for an example into great punitive judgment (1Sa_2:27-34).” Starke.
14. On Jer_52:24. “The priests are caught and slain; 1. because they could not believe the truth for themselves; 2. because they led others astray; 3. because they appealed to the temple of the Lord; 4. because they persecuted the true prophets; 5. because they troubled the whole church of God. But he who troubleth shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be (Gal_5:10).” Cramer.
15. On Jer_52:31 sqq. “Sane omnino verisimile videtur judicio Philippi Melanchthonis in Chron. part, I fol. 33 Evilmerodachum amplexum esse doctrinam Danielis de Vero Deo, quam et pater publico edic professus est, eamque ob causam clementiam exercuisse erga regem Jechoniam.” Förster.—“Narrant Hebræi hujusmodi fabulam: Evilmerodach, qui patre suo Nabuchodonosor vivente per septem annos inter bestias, ante regnaverat, postquam ille restitutus in regno est, usque ad mortem patris cum Joakim rege Judæ in vinculis fuit; quo mortuo, quum rursus in regnum succederet, et non susciperetur a principibus, qui metuebant, ne viveret qui dicebatur extinctus, ut fidem patris mortui faceret, aperuit sepulcrum et cadaver ejus unco et funibus traxit.” Jerome on Jer_14:18-19. Josephus speaks of it as follows: “ Ἀâéëáìáñþäá÷ïò åὐèὺò ôὸí ‘ Éå÷ùíßáí ôῶí äåóìῶí ἀöåὶò ἐí ôïῖò ἀíáãêáéïôÜôïéò ößëïéò åἱ÷å … ‘ Ï ãὰñ ðáôὴñ áὐôïῦ ôὴí ðßóôéí ïὐê ἐöýëáîå ôῷ ’ Éå÷ùíßá , ðáñáäüíôé ìåôὰ ãõíáéêáῶí êáὶ ôÝêíùí êáὶ ôῆò óõããåíåßáò ὅëçò ἑêïõóßùò ἑáõôὸí ὑðὲñ ôῆò ðáôñἰäïò , ὡò ἄí ìὴ êáôáóêáöåßç ëçöèåῖóá ôῇ ðïëéïñêßᾳ .” (Antiqq., X. 11, 21.)
16. On Jer_52:31 sqq. “Ceterum potest hoc exemplo, quod Jechonias rex dignitati suæ in exilio Babylonico restitutus, refutari exceptio Judæorum contra vaticinium Jacobi (Gen_49:10) de Messia jamdudum exhibito, postquam per Romanos sceptrum de Juda ablatum, id quod ôåêìÞñéïí Messiæ jamjam nascituri esse debuit.” Förster.
17. On Jer_52:31 sqq. “No one should despair in misfortune, for the right hand of the Highest can change all (Psa_77:10) and Christ rules even in the midst of His enemies (Psa_110:2). For His are the praise, the glory and the power from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.” Cramer.
2. On Jer_52:12-20. The rejection of Judah appears at first sight a contradiction. For Jerusalem is the holy city (Mat_4:5; Neh_11:1; Neh_11:18), the city of God (Psa_46:5; Psa_48:2; Psa_48:9; Psa_78:3); the temple is the house of Jehovah (Jer_7:2. etc.); God’s service rests on divine authority (Ex. chh. 25–27, 30, 31). But God cannot contradict Himself. We have, therefore, to show “the unity of the divine thoughts in the choice and rejection of Jerusalem.” 1. The rejection was a conditional one (Jer_7:3 sqq). Hence notwithstanding the election the rejection involved nothing contradictory, but was a necessary consequence of the unfulfilled condition.—2. The election remains (a) objectively notwithstanding the rejection; it is (b) subjectively brought to its realization by the rejection; the latter as a means of discipline operating to produce the disposition, from which alone thefulfillment of this condition can proceed. Comp. rems. on Jer_32:41, p. 288.
3. On Jer_52:24-27. “That great lords sometimes make an example of gross miscreants, promotes righteousness, only it must not be done on the innocent, or with such severity that there is no proportion between the crime and its punishment (Jos_7:25).” Starke.
4. On Jer_52:31-34. The deliverance of Jehoiachin. 1. It shows us that the Lord can help (a) out of great distress (grievous imprisonment of thirty-seven years), (b) in a glorious manner. 2. It admonishes us (a) to steadfast patience, (b) to believing hope, Psalms 13 [“It was a prelude and pledge of the liberation and exaltation of the Jewish Nation, when it had been humbled and purified by the discipline of suffering; and of its return to its own land; and a joyful pre-announcement of that far more glorious future restoration which the prophets in the Old Testament, and the Apostles in the New foretell—of Israel to God in Christ; to whom, with the Father and Holt Ghost, be ascribed all honor, glory, dominion, adoration and praise, now and forever. Amen.” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.].
Footnotes:
Jer_52:3.— äִùְׁìִéëåֹ , if there be no mistake in the writing, is an abnormal form of the infinitive. Comp. Olsh., § 191, b, f; Ewald, § 238, d. On the neuter meaning of the fem. verb äָֽéְúָä comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 60, 6, b; Isaiah 11:20; 2Ki_24:3.
Jer_52:4.—The differences between the text here and in 2Ki_25:1-2 are as follows: 1. Instead of áַּùָׁðָä å× here áִּùְׁðַú äַúְּùִׁòִéú there. The latter mode of expression (anno noni, i.e., numeri, comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 65, 2, c) is found in Jer. also in Jer_28:1, Chethibh; Jer_32:1. Chethibh; Jer_46:2; Jer_51:59. Besides also in Jer_52:28; Jer_29:30 2. 2 Kings has the Liter form in Heb., Nebuchadnezzar (comp. Jer_21:2-7; Jer_24:1; Jer_32:1; Jer_35:11; Jer_39:11; Jer_43:10; Jer_44:30; Jer_46:2; Jer_50:17 with Jer_27:6; Jer_27:20; Jer_28:3; Jer_39:5; Hitzig on Jer_24:1). 3. åַéִãַåï 2 Kings, instead of åַéַãֽåְַðåּ , which is required by åַéִáְðåּ .
Jer_52:4.—The word ãָּéֵ÷ occurs, besides here and in the parallel passages, only in Eze_4:2; Eze_17:17; Eze_21:27; Eze_26:8. It is thus a later word. The root ãå÷ does not occur in Hebrew, but is very common in the Chaldee, Syriac and Samaritan, where it has the meaning, speculari, inspicere, circumspicere, ãָéֵ÷ is therefore specula; the watch-tower, from which the besieged city may be watched and assailed. With this agrees well Isa_23:13, where the áַּçåּðִéí of the Chaldeans are spoken of. It is surprising that the word never occurs in the plural, as we should expect, if it designated only, the single towers. We may therefore suppose that it signifies the whole line of circumvallation, including the towers and is thus a potiori, a collective designation. As the chaldeans were celebrated for their skill in sieges (comp. Herzog, Real-Enc., IV., S. 394), the word may have passed from their language into the Hebrew. Comp. Keil on 2Ki_25:1; Haevernick on Eze_4:2, S. 49; Gesen., Thes., p. 330.
Jer_52:5.— îָöåֹø is primarily coarctatio in general and then specially coarctatio by means of obsidio, hence it assumes the latter meaning in connections like òִéø îָöåֹø (Psa_31:22; Psa_60:11), áָּðָä î× (Deu_20:20), ðָúַï î× òַì (Eze_4:2), áּåֹà áַּîּ× (2Ki_24:10; 2Ki_25:2), without involving a complete suppression of the radical signification. Comp. Jer_10:17; Jer_19:9.
Jer_52:7.—Instead of åַéֵìְëִåּ we find in 2 Ki. the manifestly less correct form, åַéֵìֶêְ .