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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 34:1 - 34:7
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Of The Captivity of Zedekiah
v. 1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, literally, "all the kingdoms of the country of the rule of his hand," and all the people, the heaping of these expressions denoting the overwhelming power of His army, against which all resistance was useless, fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof, the cities of Judah, which were considered tributary to the capital, saying,
v. 2. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Go and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, delivering it according to His supreme will and purpose, and he shall burn it with fire;
v. 3. and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, as he afterwards attempted to do, 2Ki_25:4-6, but shalt surely be taken and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. Jer_32:3-5.
v. 4. Yet hear the word of the Lord, who was ever ready to show mercy even in the midst of His punishments, O Zedekiah, king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword, not be subject to a violent death,
v. 5. but thou shalt die in peace, depart this life by a natural death; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odors for thee, after the custom of burning aromatic spices, which was observed for the kings and the members of the royal family; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah, lord; or, Alas, master; for I have pronounced the word, saith the Lord. So it was not to be his fate to die in battle like Jehoiakim and to remain unlamented and unburied. Jer_22:18-19.
v. 6. Then Jeremiah, the prophet, spake all these words unto Zedekiah, king of Judah, in Jerusalem,
v. 7. when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, which had not been reduced in previous campaigns, against Lachish and against Azekah, two cities in the lowlands toward the southwest, on the border of the Philistine territory; for these defensed cities remained of the cities of Judah. As the Lord here showed mercy to Zedekiah, so He is ever full of compassion toward His children, for He remembers that they are dust.