BIBLES NET. COM
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible
Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page
|
[Previous] |
Matthew Henry |
J E R E M I A H.
CHAP. LII.
History is the best expositor of prophecy; and therefore, for the
better understanding of the prophecies of this book which relate to the
destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah, we are here
furnished with an account of that sad event. It is much he same with
the history we had
and many of the particulars we had before in that book, but the matter
is here repeated and put together, to give light to the book of the
Lamentations, which follows next, and to serve as a key to it. That
article in the close concerning the advancement of Jehoiachin in his
captivity, which happened after Jeremiah’s time, gives colour to the
conjecture of those who suppose that this chapter was not written by
Jeremiah himself, but by some man divinely inspired among those in
captivity, for a constant memorandum to those who in Babylon preferred
Jerusalem above their chief joy. In this chapter we have,
I. The bad reign of Zedekiah, very bad in regard both of sin and of
punishment,
II. The besieging and taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans,
III. The severe usage which Zedekiah and the princes met with,
IV. The destruction of the temple and the city,
V. The captivity of the people
and the numbers of those that were carried away into captivity,
VI. The carrying off of the plunder of the temple,
VII. The slaughter of the priests, and some other great men, in cold
blood,
VIII. The better days which king Jehoiachin lived to see in the latter
end of his time, after the death of Nebuchadnezzar,
| Jerusalem Taken by Nebuchadnezzar. | B. C. 588. |
|
|
|
1 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s
name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD,
according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in
Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence,
that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the
tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against
Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it
round about.
5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king
Zedekiah.
6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the
famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the
people of the land.
7 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and
went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate
between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the
Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the
way of the plain.
8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and
overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was
scattered from him.
9 Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of
Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment
upon him.
10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his
eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of
Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put
him in prison till the day of his death.
This narrative begins no higher than the beginning of the reign of
Zedekiah, though there were two captivities before, one in the fourth
year of Jehoiakim, the other in the first of Jeconiah; but probably it
was drawn up by some of those that were carried away with Zedekiah, as
a reproach to themselves for imagining that they should not go into
captivity after their brethren, with which hopes they had long
flattered themselves. We have here,
1. God’s just displeasure against Judah and Jerusalem for their sin,
v. 3.
His anger was against them to such a degree that he determined to
cast them out from his presence, his favourable gracious
presence, as a father, when he is extremely angry with an undutiful
son, bids him get out of his presence, he expelled them from that good
land that had such tokens of his presence in providential bounty and
that holy city and temple that had such tokens of his presence in
covenant-grace and love. Note, Those that are banished from God’s
ordinances have reason to complain that they are in some degree cast
out of his presence; yet none are cast out from God’s gracious
presence but those that by sin have first thrown themselves out of it.
This fruit of sin we should therefore deprecate above any thing, as
David
(Ps. li. 11),
Cast me not away from thy presence.
2. Zedekiah’s bad conduct and management, to which God left him, in
displeasure against the people, and for which God punished him, in
displeasure against him. Zedekiah had arrived at years of discretion
when he came to the throne; he was twenty-one years old
(v. 1);
he was none of the worst of the kings (we never read of his
idolatries), yet his character is that he did evil in the eyes of
the Lord, for he did not do the good he should have done. But that
evil deed of his which did in a special manner hasten this destruction
was his rebelling against the king of Babylon, which was both
his sin and his folly, and brought ruin upon his people, not only
meritoriously, but efficiently. God was greatly displeased with him for
his perfidious dealing with the king of Babylon (as we find,
&c.); and, because he was angry at Judah and Jerusalem, he put him into
the hand of his own counsels, to do that foolish thing which proved
fatal to him and his kingdom.
3. The possession which the Chaldeans at length gained of Jerusalem,
after eighteen months’ siege. They sat down before it, and blocked it
up, in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, in the tenth month
(v. 4),
and made themselves masters of it in the eleventh year in the fourth
month,
v. 6.
In remembrance of these two steps towards their ruin, while they were
in captivity, they kept a fast in the fourth month, and a fast in
the tenth
that in the fifth month was in remembrance of the burning of the
temple, and that in the seventh of the murder of Gedaliah. We
may easily imagine, or rather cannot imagine, what a sad time it was
with Jerusalem, during this year and half that it was besieged, when
all provisions were cut off from coming to them and they were ever and
anon alarmed by the attacks of the enemy, and, being obstinately
resolved to hold out to the last extremity, nothing remained but a
certain fearful looking for of judgment. That which disabled
them to hold out, and yet could not prevail with them to capitulate,
was the famine in the city
(v. 6);
there was no bread for the people of the land, so that the
soldiers could not make good their posts, but were rendered wholly
unserviceable; and then no wonder that the city was broken up,
v. 7.
Walls, in such a case, will not hold out long without men, any more
than men without walls; nor will both together stand people in any
stead without God and his protection.
4. The inglorious retreat of the king and his mighty men. They got out
of the city by night
(v. 7)
and made the best of their way, I know not whither, nor perhaps they
themselves; but the king was overtaken by the pursuers in the plains
of Jericho, his guards were dispersed, and all his army was
scattered from him,
v. 8.
His fright was not causeless, for there is no escaping the judgments of
God; they will come upon the sinner, and will overtake
him, let him flee where he will
and these judgments particularly that are here executed were there
threatened,
&c.
5. The sad doom passed upon Zedekiah by the king of Babylon, and
immediately put in execution. He treated him as a rebel, gave
judgment upon him,
v. 9.
One cannot think of it without the utmost vexation and regret that a
king, a king of Judah, a king of the house of David, should be
arraigned as a criminal at the bar of this heathen king. But he
humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet; therefore God
thus humbled him. Pursuant to the sentence passed upon him by the
haughty conqueror, his sons were slain before his eyes, and all
the princes of Judah
(v. 10);
then his eyes were put out, and he was bound in chains,
carried in triumph to Babylon; perhaps they made sport with him, as
they did with Samson when his eyes were put out; however, he was
condemned to perpetual imprisonment, wearing out the remainder of his
life (I cannot say his days, for he saw day no more) in darkness and
misery. He was kept in prison till the day of his death, but had
some honour done him at his funeral,
Jeremiah had often told him what it would come to, but he would not
take warning when he might have prevented it.
| The Babylonish Captivity. | B. C. 588. |
|
|
|
12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month,
which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served
the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
13 And burned the house of the LORD, and the king’s house; and
all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great
men, burned he with fire:
14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the
captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round
about.
15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away
captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of
the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away,
that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of
the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
17 Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the
LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house
of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of
them to Babylon.
18 The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and
the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith
they ministered, took they away.
19 And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the
caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups;
that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of
silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.
20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that
were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house
of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
21 And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was
eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it;
and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.
22 And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one
chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon
the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also
and the pomegranates were like unto these.
23 And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and
all the pomegranates upon the network were a hundred round
about.
We have here an account of the woeful havoc that was made by the
Chaldean army, a month after the city was taken, under the command of
Nebuzaradan, who was captain of the guard, or general of the
army, in this action. In the margin he is called the chief of the
slaughter-men, or executioners; for soldiers are but
slaughter-men, and God employs them as executioners of his sentence
against a sinful people. Nebuzaradan was chief of those soldiers, but,
in the execution he did, we have reason to fear he had no eye to God,
but he served the king of Babylon and his own designs, now that he came
into Jerusalem, into the very bowels of it, as captain of the
slaughter-men there. And,
1. He laid the temple in ashes, having first plundered it of every
thing that was valuable: He burnt the house of the Lord, that
holy and beautiful house, where their fathers praised him,
Isa. lxiv. 11.
2. He burnt the royal palace, probably that which Solomon built after
he had built the temple, which was, ever since, the king’s
house.
3. He burnt all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses
of the great men, or those particularly; if any escaped, it was only
some sorry cottages for the poor of the land.
4. He broke down all the walls of Jerusalem, to be revenged upon
them for standing in the way of his army so long. Thus, of a defenced
city, it was made a ruin,
5. He carried away many into captivity
(v. 15);
he took away certain of the poor of the people, that is, of the
people in the city, for the poor of the land (the poor of the
country) he left for vine-dressers and husbandmen. He also
carried off the residue of the people that remained in the city,
that had escaped the sword and famine, and the deserters, such as he
thought fit, or rather such as God thought fit; for he had already
determined some for the pestilence, some for the sword,
some for famine, and some for captivity,
ch. xv. 2.
But,
6. Nothing is more particularly and largely related here than the
carrying away of the appurtenances of the temple. All that were of
great value were carried away before, the vessels of silver and
gold, yet some of that sort remained, which were now carried away,
But most of the temple-prey that was now seized was of brass, which,
being of less value, was carried off last. When the gold was gone, the
brass soon went after it, because the people repented not, according to
Jeremiah’s prediction,
&c. When the walls of the city were demolished, the pillars of the
temple were pulled down too, and both in token that God, who was the
strength and stay both of their civil and their ecclesiastical
government, had departed from them. No walls can protect those, nor
pillars sustain those, from whom God withdraws. These pillars of the
temple were not for support (for there was nothing built upon them),
but for ornament and significancy. They were called Jachin–He will
establish; and Boaz–In him is strength; so that the
breaking of these signified that God would no longer establish his
house nor be the strength of it. These pillars are here very
particularly described
from 1 Kings vii. 15),
that the extraordinary beauty and stateliness of them may affect us the
more with the demolishing of them. All the vessels that belonged to the
brazen altar were carried away; for the iniquity of Jerusalem, like
that of Eli’s house, was not to be purged by sacrifice or offering,
1 Sam. iii. 14.
It is said
(v. 20),
The brass of all these vessels was without weight; so it was in
the making of them
the weight of the brass was not then found out
and so it was in the destroying of them. Those that made great spoil of
them did not stand to weigh them, as purchasers do, for, whatever they
weighted, it was all their own.
| The Babylonish Captivity. | B. C. 588. |
|
|
|
24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest,
and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the
door:
25 He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge
of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the
king’s person, which were found in the city; and the principal
scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and
threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the
midst of the city.
26 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and
brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in
Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive
out of his own land.
28 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away
captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and
twenty:
29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away
captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:
30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the
Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were
four thousand and six hundred.
We have here a very melancholy account,
1. Of the slaughter of some great men, in cold blood, at Riblah,
seventy-two in number (according to the number of the elders of Israel,
so they are computed,
We read there of five out of the temple, two out of the city, five out
of the court, and sixty out of the country. The account here agrees
with that, except in one article; there it is said that there were
five, here there were seven, of those that were near the king,
which Dr. Lightfoot reconciles thus, that he took away seven of those
that were near the king, but two of them were Jeremiah himself and
Ebed-melech, who were both discharged, as we have read before, so that
there were only five of them put to death, and so the number was
reduced to seventy-two, some of all ranks, for they had all corrupted
their way; and it is probable that such were made examples of as had
been most forward to excite and promote the rebellion against the king
of Babylon. Seraiah the chief priest is put first, whose sacred
character could not exempt him from this stroke; how should it, when he
himself had profaned it by sin? Seraiah the prince was a quiet
prince
(ch. li. 59),
but perhaps Seraiah the priest was not so, but unquiet and turbulent,
by which he had made himself obnoxious to the king of Babylon. The
leaders of this people had caused them to err, and now they are in a
particular manner made monuments of divine justice.
2. Of the captivity of the rest. Come and see how Judah was carried
away captive out of his own land
(v. 27),
and how it spued them out as it spued out the Canaanites that went
before them, which God had told them it would certainly do if they trod
in their steps and copied out their abominations,
Now here is an account,
(1.) Of two captivities which we had an account of before, one in the
seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar (the same with that which is said to be
in his eighth year,
another in his eighteenth year, the same with that which is said
(v. 12)
to be in his nineteenth year. But the sums here are very small, in
comparison with what we find expressed concerning the former
when there were 18,000 carried captive, whereas here they are said to
be 3023; they are also small in comparison with what we may reasonably
suppose concerning the latter; for, when all the residue of the people
were carried away
(v. 15),
one would think there should be more than 832 souls; therefore Dr.
Lightfoot conjectures that, these accounts being joined to the story of
the putting to death of the great men at Riblah, all that are here said
to be carried away were put to death as rebels.
(2.) Of a third captivity, not mentioned before, which was in the
twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, four years after the destruction
of Jerusalem
(v. 30):
Then Nebuzaradan came, and carried away 745 Jews; it is
probable that this was done in revenge of the murder of Gedaliah, which
was another rebellion against the king of Babylon, and that those who
were now taken were aiders and abetters of Ishmael in that murder, and
were not only carried away, but put to death for it; yet this is
uncertain. If this be the sum total of the captives (all the persons
were 4600,
v. 30),
we may see how strangely they were reduced from what they had been, and
may wonder as much how they came to be so numerous again as afterwards
we find them; for it should seem that, as at first in Egypt, so again
in Babylon, the Lord made them fruitful in the land of their
affliction, and the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied.
And the truth is, this people were often miracles both of judgment and
mercy.
| Jehoiachin Favoured by Evil-merodach. | B. C. 588. |
|
|
|
31 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the
captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in
the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach
king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the
head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of
prison,
32 And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the
throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
33 And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat
bread before him all the days of his life.
34 And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of
the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his
death, all the days of his life.
This passage of story concerning the reviving which king Jehoiachin had
in his bondage we had likewise before
only there it is said to be done on the twenty-seventh day of the
twelfth month, here on the twenty-fifth; but in a thing of
this nature two days make a very slight difference in the account. It
is probable that the orders were given for his release on the
twenty-fifth day, but that he was not presented to the king till the
twenty-seventh. We may observe in this story,
1. That new lords make new laws. Nebuchadnezzar had long kept this
unhappy prince in prison; and his son, though well-affected to the
prisoner, could not procure him any favour, not one smile, from his
father, any more than Jonathan could for David from his father; but,
when the old peevish man was dead, his son countenanced Jehoiachin and
made him a favourite. It is common for children to undo what their
fathers have done; it were well if it were always as much for the
better as this was.
2. That the world we live in is a changing world. Jehoiachin, in his
beginning, fell from a throne into a prison, but here he is advanced
again to a throne of state
(v. 32),
though not to a throne of power. As, before, the robes were changed
into prison-garments, so now they were converted into robes again. Such
chequer-work is this world; prosperity and adversity are set the one
over-against the other, that we may learn to rejoice as though we
rejoiced not and weep as though we wept not.
3. That, though the night of affliction be very long, yet we must not
despair but that the day may dawn at last. Jehoiachin was thirty-seven
years a prisoner, in confinement, in contempt, ever since he was
eighteen years old, in which time we may suppose him so inured to
captivity that he had forgotten the sweets of liberty; or, rather, that
after so long an imprisonment it would be doubly welcome to him. Let
those whose afflictions have been lengthened out encourage themselves
with this instance; the vision will at the end speak comfortably, and
therefore wait for it. Dum spiro spero–While there is life there is
hope. Non si male nunc, et olim sic erit–Though now we suffer, we
shall not always suffer.
4. That god can make his people to find favour in the eyes of those
that are their oppressors, and unaccountably turn their hearts to pity
them, according to that word
Ps. cvi. 46),
He made them to be pitied of all those that carried them
captives. He can bring those that have spoken roughly to speak
kindly, and those to feed his people that have fed upon them. Those
therefore that are under oppression will find that it is not in vain to
hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Therefore our times are in God’s hand, because the hearts of all we
deal with are so.
5. And now, upon the whole matter, comparing the prophecy and the
history of this book together, we may learn, in general,
(1.) That it is no new thing for churches and persons highly dignified
to degenerate, and become very corrupt.
(2.) That iniquity tends to the ruin of those that harbour it; and, if
it be not repented of and forsaken, will certainly end in their ruin:
(3.) That external professions and privileges will not only not amount
to an excuse for sin and an exemption from ruin, but will be a very
great aggravation of both.
(4.) That no word of God shall fall to the ground, but the event will
fully answer the prediction; and the unbelief of man shall not make
God’s threatenings, any more than his promises, of no effect. The
justice and truth of God are here written in bloody characters, for the
conviction or the confusion of all those that make a jest of his
threatenings. Let them not be deceived, God is not mocked.
|
[Previous] |
Matthew Henry |
|
Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download |
Copyright 2008. Bibles Net. Com. All Rights Reserved.