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Matthew Henry |
J E R E M I A H.
CHAP. XXXIX.
As the prophet Isaiah, after he had largely foretold the deliverance of
Jerusalem out of the hands of the king of Assyria, gave a particular
narrative of the story, that it might appear how exactly the event
answered to the prediction, so the prophet Jeremiah, after he had
largely foretold the delivering of Jerusalem into the hands of the king
of Babylon, gives a particular account of that sad event for the same
reason. That melancholy story we have in this chapter, which serves to
disprove the false flattering prophets and to confirm the word of God’s
messengers. We are here told,
I. That Jerusalem, after eighteen months’ siege, was taken by the
Chaldean army,
II. That king Zedekiah, attempting to make his escape, was seized and
made a miserable captive to the king of Babylon,
III. That Jerusalem was burnt to the ground, and the people were
carried captive, except the poor,
IV. That the Chaldeans were very kind to Jeremiah, and took particular
care of him,
V. That Ebed-melech too, for his kindness, had a protection from God
himself in this day of desolation,
| Jerusalem Taken. | B. C. 588. |
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1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth
month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army
against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
2 And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month,
the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.
3 And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat
in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim,
Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, with all the residue of the
princes of the king of Babylon.
4 And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah
saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth
out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the
gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.
5 But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook
Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him,
they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah
in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
6 Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah
before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of
Judah.
7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with
chains, to carry him to Babylon.
8 And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of
the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
9 Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away
captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in
the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the
rest of the people that remained.
10 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of
the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave
them vineyards and fields at the same time.
We were told, in the close of the foregoing chapter, that Jeremiah
abode patiently in the court of the prison, until the day that
Jerusalem was taken. He gave the princes no further disturbance by
his prophesying, nor they him by their persecutions; for he had no more
to say than what he had said, and, the siege being carried on briskly,
God found them other work to do. See here what it came to.
I. The city is at length taken by storm; for how could it hold out when
God himself fought against it? Nebuchadnezzar’s army sat down before it
in the ninth year of Zedekiah, in the tenth month
(v. 1),
in the depth of winter. Nebuchadnezzar himself soon after retired to
take his pleasure, and left his generals to carry on the siege: they
intermitted it awhile, but soon renewed it with redoubled force and
vigour. At length, in the eleventh year, in the fourth month,
about midsummer, they entered the city, the soldiers being so weakened
by famine, and all their provisions being now spent, that they were not
able to make any resistance,
v. 2.
Jerusalem was so strong a place that nobody would have believed the
enemy could ever enter its gates,
But sin had provoked God to withdraw his protection, and then, like
Samson when his hair was cut, it was weak as other cities.
II. The princes of the king of Babylon take possession of the middle
gate,
v. 3.
Some think that this was the same with that which is called the
second gate
(Zeph. i. 10),
which is supposed to be in the middle wall that divided between one
part of the city and the other. Here they cautiously made a half, and
durst not go forward into so large a city, among men that perhaps would
sell their lives as dearly as they could, until they had given
directions for the searching of all places, that they might not be
surprised by any ambush. They sat in the middle gate, thence to
take a view of the city and give orders. The princes are here named,
rough and uncouth names they are, to intimate what a sad change sin had
made; there, where Eliakim and Hilkiah, who bore the name
of the God of Israel, used to sit, now sit Nergal-sharezer, and
Samgar-nebo, &c., who bore the names of the heathen gods.
Rab-saris and Rab-mag are supposed to be not the names of
distinct persons, but the titles of those whose names go before.
Sarsechim was Rab-saris, that is, captain of the
guard; and Nergal-sharezer, to distinguish him from the
other of the same name that is put first, is called
Ram-mag–camp-master, either muster-master or quarter-master:
these and the other great generals sat in the gate. And now was
fulfilled what Jeremiah prophesied long since
(ch. i. 15),
that the families of the kingdoms of the north should set every one his
throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem. Justly do the princes
of the heathen set up themselves there, where the gods of the heathen
had been so often set up.
III. Zedekiah, having in disguise perhaps seen the princes of the king
of Babylon take possession of one of the gates of the city, thought it
high time to shift for his own safety, and, loaded with guilt and fear,
he went out of the city, under no other protection but that of
the night
(v. 4),
which soon failed him, for he was discovered, pursued, and overtaken.
Though he made the best of his way, he could make nothing of it, could
not get forward, but in the plains of Jericho fell into the
hands of the pursuers,
v. 5.
Thence he was brought prisoner to Riblah, where the king of Babylon
passed sentence upon him as a rebel, not sentence of death, but, one
many almost say, a worse thing. For,
1. He slew his sons before his eyes, and they must all be
little, some of them infants, for Zedekiah himself was now but
thirty-two years of age. The death of these sweet babes must needs be
so many deaths to himself, especially when he considered that his own
obstinacy was the cause of it, for he was particularly told of this
thing: They shall bring forth thy wives and children to the
Chaldeans,
ch. xxxviii. 23.
2. He slew all the nobles of Judah
(v. 6),
probably not those princes of Jerusalem who had advised him to this
desperate course (it would be a satisfaction to him to see them cut
off), but the great men of the country, who were innocent of the
matter.
3. He ordered Zedekiah to have his eyes put out
(v. 7),
so condemning him to darkness for life who had shut his eyes
against the clear light of God’s word, and was of those princes who
will not understand, but walk on in darkness,
Ps. lxxxii. 5.
4. He bound him with two brazen chains or fetters (so the margin
reads it), to carry him away to Babylon, there to spend the rest of his
days in misery. All this sad story we had before,
&c.
IV. Some time afterwards the city was burnt, temple and palace and all,
and the wall of it broken down,
v. 8.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! this comes of killing the
prophets, and stoning those that were sent to thee. O Zedekiah,
Zedekiah! this thou mightest have prevented if thou wouldst but
have taken God’s counsel, and yielded in time.”
V. The people that were left were all carried away captives to
Babylon,
v. 9.
Now they must bid a final farewell to the land of their nativity, that
pleasant land, and to all their possessions and enjoyments in it, must
be driven some hundreds of miles, like beasts, before the conquerors,
that were now their cruel masters, must lie at their mercy in a strange
land, and be servants to those who would be sure to rule them with
rigour. The word tyrant is originally a Chaldee word, and is
often used for lords by the Chaldee paraphrast, as if the
Chaldeans, when they were lords, tyrannized more than any other: we
have reason to think that the poor Jews had reason to say so. Some few
were left behind, but they were the poor of the people, that had
nothing to lose, and therefore never made any resistance. And they not
only had their liberty, and were left to tarry at home, but the
captain of the guard gave them vineyards and fields at the same
time, such as they were never masters of before,
Observe here,
1. The wonderful changes of Providence. Some are abased, others
advanced,
The hungry are filled with good things, and the rich sent empty
away. The ruin of some proves the rise of others. Let us therefore
in our abundance rejoice as though we rejoiced not, and in our
distresses weep as though we wept not.
2. The just retributions or Providence. The rich had been proud
oppressors, and now they were justly punished for their injustice; the
poor had been patient sufferers, and now they were graciously rewarded
for their patience and amends made them for all their losses; for
verily there is a God that judges in the earth, even in this
world, much more in the other.
| Jerusalem Released. | B. C. 588. |
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11 Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning
Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying,
12 Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do
unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
13 So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard sent, and
Nebushasban, Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and all the
king of Babylon’s princes;
14 Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the
prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son
of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the
people.
15 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was
shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
16 Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my
words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall
be accomplished in that day before thee.
17 But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and
thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou
art afraid.
18 For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by
the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because
thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.
Here we must sing of mercy, as in the former part of the chapter we
sang of judgment, and must sing unto God of both. We may observe
here,
I. A gracious providence concerning Jeremiah. When Jerusalem was laid
in ruins, and all men’s hearts failed them for fear, then might
he lift up his head with comfort, knowing that his redemption
drew nigh, as Christ’s followers when the second destruction of
Jerusalem was hastening on,
Nebuchadnezzar had given particular orders that care should be taken of
him, and that he should be in all respects well used,
Hebuzar-adan and the rest of the king of Babylon’s princes observed
these orders, discharged him out of prison, and did every thing to make
him easy,
Now we may look upon this,
1. As a very generous act of Nebuchadnezzar, who, though he was a
haughty potentate, yet took cognizance of this poor prophet. Doubtless
he had received information concerning him from the deserters, that he
had foretold the king of Babylon’s successes against Judah and other
countries, that he had pressed his prince and people to submit to him,
and that he had suffered very hard things for so doing; and in
consideration of all this (though perhaps he might have heard also that
he had foretold the destruction of Babylon at length) he gave him these
extraordinary marks of his favour. Note, It is the character of a great
soul to take notice of the services and sufferings of the meanest. It
was honourably done of the king to give this charge even before the
city was taken, and of the captains to observe it even in the heat of
action, and it is recorded for imitation.
2. As a reproach to Zedekiah and the princes of Israel. They put him
in prison, and the king of Babylon and his princes took him out. God’s
people and ministers have often found fairer and kinder usage among
strangers and infidels than among those that call themselves of the
holy city. Paul found more favour and justice with king Agrippa than
with Ananias the high priest.
3. As the performance of God’s promise to Jeremiah, in recompence for
his services. I will cause the enemy to treat thee well in the day
of evil,
ch. xv. 11.
Jeremiah had been faithful to his trust as a prophet, and now God
approves himself faithful to him and the promise he had made him. Now
he is comforted according to the time wherein he had been afflicted,
and sees thousands fall on each hand and himself safe. The false
prophets fell by those judgments which they said should never come
(ch. xiv. 15),
which made their misery the more terrible to them. The true prophet
escaped those judgments which he said would come, and that made his
escape the more comfortable to him. The same that were the instruments
of punishing the persecutors were the instruments of relieving the
persecuted; and Jeremiah thought never the worse of his deliverance for
its coming by the hand of the king of Babylon, but saw the more of the
hand of God in it. A fuller account of this matter we shall meet with
in the next chapter.
II. A gracious message to Ebed-melech, to assure him of a recompence
for his kindness to Jeremiah. This message was sent to him by Jeremiah
himself, who, when he returned him thanks for his kindness to him, thus
turned him over to God to be his paymaster. He relieved a prophet in
the name of a prophet, and thus he had a prophet’s reward.
This message was delivered to him immediately after he had done that
kindness to Jeremiah, but it is mentioned here after the taking of the
city, to show that, as God was kind to Jeremiah at that time, so he was
to Ebed-melech for his sake; and it was a token of special favour to
both, and they ought so to account it, that they were not involved in
any of the common calamities. Jeremiah is directed to tell him,
1. That God would certainly bring upon Jerusalem the ruin that had been
long and often threatened; and, for his further satisfaction in having
been kind to Jeremiah, he should see him abundantly proved a true
prophet,
2. That God took notice of the fear he had of the judgments coming.
Though he was bravely bold in the service of God, yet he was afraid of
the rod of God. The enemies were men of whom he was afraid,
Note, God knows how to adapt and accommodate his comforts to the fears
and griefs of his people, for he knows their souls in adversity.
3. That he shall be delivered from having a share in the common
calamity: I will deliver thee; I will surely deliver thee. He
had been instrumental to deliver God’s prophet out of the dungeon, and
now God promises to deliver him; for he will be behind-hand with none
for any service they do, directly or indirectly, for his name: “Thou
has saved Jeremiah’s life, that was precious to thee, and therefore
thy life shall be given thee for a prey.”
4. The reason given for this distinguishing favour which God had in
store for him is because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the
Lord. God, in recompensing men’s services, has an eye to the
principle they go upon in those services, and rewards according to
those principles; and there is no principle of obedience that will be
more acceptable to God, nor have a greater influence upon us, than a
believing confidence in God. Ebed-melech trusted in God that he would
own him, and stand by him, and then he was not afraid of the face of
man. And those who trust God, as this good man did, in the way of duty,
will find that their hope shall not make them ashamed in times of the
greatest danger.
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