Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 21:1 - 21:7
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Zedekiah's Question and its Answer
v. 1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur, the son of Melchiah, not the same Pashur who was mentioned in the last chapter, but the man listed with other prominent men of the kingdom in 38:1, and Zephanlah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,
v. 2. Enquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us, to find out what attitude Jehovah would take, and whether they could count on His assistance on the basis of a special revelation; for Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, maketh war against us, this incident taking place at the time when the invaders were already near the city or about to enter; if so be that the Lord will deal with us according to all His wondrous works, the fact that the true God is almighty coming to their remembrance at the time of this affliction, that he, the invading king, may go up from us, discontinue his advance or raise the siege which he had even then begun. It has ever been thus, that affliction drove people to seek the Lord and His mercy, much as the same people otherwise ignored Him.
v. 3. Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah,
v. 4. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the one true God, of whose existence the people and their king seemed to be aware only as it suited their needs and their fancy. Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans which besiege you without the walls, so that their entire defense would be rendered vain, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city, so that its defenders, who were still attempting to repel the invaders outside the walls, would be compelled to take refuge in the city, their weapons having proved powerless against the enemy.
v. 5. And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, exhibiting His almighty power in punishing them, even in anger and in fury and in great wrath, the climax presented by the synonyms indicating that He was possessed with the highest degree of indignation,
v. 6. and I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast, in a general sentence of punishment; they shall die of a great pestilence, this being the first part of the destruction decided upon by the Lord.
v. 7. And afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, the inhabitants in general, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, the survivors after the coming of these great scourges, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life, the inevitable doom being brought out in these expressions, and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword, in a relentless slaughter; he shall not spare them, neither have pity nor have mercy. Cf Deu_29:29; 2Ki_25:6-7; Eze_12:13. Thus did Zedekiah receive his answer in agreement with his actions and his state of mind, for he did evil in the sight of the Lord.