The roll destroyed

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25 Nevertheless Elnathan and De- A. M. 3398. A. M. 3398. on the hearth burning before him. laiah and Gemariah had made inter23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it cession to the king that he would not burn the with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that roll: but he would not hear them. was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. 24 Yet they were not afraid, nor "rent their || garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.

n 2 Kings xxii. 11; Isa. xxxvi. 22; xxxvii. 1.

26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son 3 of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.

Or, of the king.

bottom of the parchment; but the parchments are sewed one to another on their sides, and are read by unfolding the volume either to the right or left; so that there are as many pages as there are parchments." He cut it with a penknife-Hebrew, wha Don, the knife of the scribe. It seems the imple

plena prunis, There was set before him a little altar, or fire-pan, full of burning coals. The reason of this phraseology we have in the account which Lightfoot gives us from Maimonides, namely, that chimneys were not admitted at Jerusalem by reason of the smoke. And Mr. Harmer tells us, (chap. iii. obs. 24,) that Sir John Chardin, in his MS.ments for writing were lying on the table before the notes, supposes that the fire which was burning be- || king, ready for the scribe's or secretary's use, in case fore Jehoiakim was a pan of coals; and cites a there was any call for writing orders, or despatches. passage from him, which says, in French, "This was Among these was the knife he used, either for cutjust as persons of quality warm themselves in winter ting the pen when necessary, or for making erasures. in Persia, and particularly in Media, and wherever And cast into the fire until all the roll was conthere is no want of wood. The manner in which sumed-Not considering or not regarding its conthey sit will not allow them to be near a chimney: taining a revelation of the will of God, and a divine in these places, therefore, of the East, they have message to him in particular: a piece this of as great brasiers of lighted coals." Harmer likewise daring impiety as a man could easily be guilty of, informs us, that "the fires used at Aleppo, in the and a most impudent affront to the God of heaven! lodging rooms, are of charcoal in pans; and that pans of coals are the fires which are often made use of in winter in Egypt." It may be observed further here, that this description of Jehoiakim sitting in his winter-house, in the ninth month, with a pan of fire before him, answers to Dr. Russel's account, who says, that the most delicate in those countries make no fires till the end of November. How long they continue the use of them he does not say but we learn from other sources, that in Judea they are continued far into the spring: see John xviii. 18.

Verse 23. When Jehudi had read three or four leaves-Hebrew, ninh, rolls, or scrolls, for their books, as we have observed, consisted of several pieces of parchment rolled upon each other. Dr. Waterland renders the word columns, and Blaney, sections, observing that to render it leaves, "seems rather to carry an eye to the books of modern times, than to suit that ancient mode of writing." The word primarily signifies doors, that open and shut, and therefore is properly enough put for distinct and separate rolls, or parts of those prophecies which, being delivered at different times, and having a relation to different subjects, have each a proper beginning and ending of its own. Houbigant reads, pages, which he says, were the same with those now found in the parchments called, 'The Volumes of the Synagogue,' in which the parchments are not sewed one beneath another; for if this were the case, the volume would only have one page, whose beginning would be at the top, and its end at the 482

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Verse 24. Yet they were not afraid-No, not those princes that trembled at the word when they heard it the first time, verse 16. The fear with which they were then seized quickly wore off, or else they durst not discover it in the king's presence, who showed no concern himself. Nor rent their garments-A custom observed among the Jews at the hearing of any dreadful news; neither the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words -How different was the spirit of this king and his courtiers from that of his father Josiah, who, when he heard the words of the law read to him by Shaphan the scribe, both rent his clothes and wept before the Lord in the deepest humiliation and distress, persuaded that great was the wrath about to be poured upon the nation; and yet the parts of the law read to him were certainly neither so particular, nor so immediately adapted to the present state of affairs in the country as the contents of this roll were.

Verses 25, 26. Nevertheless, Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had made intercession, &c.-These three princes appear to have had a greater dreed of God upon their hearts than the rest, for, so far as they durst, they interposed and besought the king not to burn, the roll; but he would not hearken to their advice; so far from it that he gives orders to apprehend both Jeremiah and Baruch. But the Lord hid them-God by his providence kept them both out of their hands, directing them to such a place of recess as the king's messengers could not find out.

( 31 )

3

Then the word of the LORD || akim king of Judah; He shall have A. M. 3399. came to Jeremiah, after that the king none to sit upon the throne of David: had burned the roll, and the words which || and his dead body shall be cast out in the day Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, to the heat, and in the night to the frost. saying,

30 Therefore thus saith the LORD, of Jehoi- words. -P Chap. xxii. 19.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

In this chapter we have, (1,) Certain preliminary facts related, tending to fix the time and occasion of Zedekiah's second message to Jeremiah, 1-5. (2,) God suggests an answer, foretelling the retreat of the Egyptians, and the return of the Chaldean army, who should take and burn Jerusalem, 6-10. (3,) During the absence of the Chaldeans, Jeremiah,

Zedekiah sends to Jeremiah,

JEREMIAH.

and requests his prayers.

attempting to quit the city and retire to his own country possessions, is seized upon for a deserter, and thrown into a dungeon, 11-15. (4,) The king sends for and consults him; and, being entreated by the prophet not to remand him to his former prison, is prevailed upon to change the place, and to abate the rigour, of his confinement, 16–21.

B. C.

e

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A. M. 3405. AND King & Zedekiah the son of || of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans A. M. 3414. Josiah reigned instead of Coniah that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar, of them, they departed from Jerusalem. king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah.

2 ↳ But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the Prophet

Jeremiah.

1

6 Then came the word of the LORD unto the Prophet Jeremiah, saying,

f

7 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, ' that sent you unto me to inquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help 3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehu-you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. cal the son of Shelemiah, and Ze- 8 & And the Chaldeans shall come again, and phaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the fight against this city, and take it, and burn it Prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the with fire. LORD our God for us.

B. C. 590.

4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people for they had not put him into prison.

d

9 Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not 2 yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.

10 For though ye had smitten the whole

5 Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out|| army of the Chaldeans that fight against you,

a 2 Kings xxiv. 17; 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 10; Chap. xxii. 24.

d2 Kings xxiv. 7; Ezekiel xvii. 15.-e Verse 11; Chapter b 2 Chron. xxxvi. 12, 14.- Heb. by the hand of the prophet. || xxxiv. 21. Chapter xxi. 2. Chap. xxxiv. 22.Heb. c Chap. xxi. 1, 2; xxix. 25; lii. 24. souls.- h Chap. xxi. 4, 5.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XXXVII.

king of Egypt sent an army to his relief: see Ezek.

siege of Jerusalem, that they might go and fight this army."-Lowth. During this time, it seems, it was that Zedekiah sent to desire the prophet to pray for them.

Verses 1, 2. Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadrezzar || xvii. 15; which obliged the Chaldeans to raise the made king—See 2 Kings xxiv. 17; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10, where is related the history of Zedekiah's succession. He was but a tributary king, having taken an oath of homage to the king of Babylon. He was a feeble and irresolute prince, and although not so bad as many of his predecessors, yet he had but little true piety or virtue. Neither he nor his servants, fc., did hearken unto the words of the Lord Though they saw in his predecessor the fatal consequences of contemning the word of God, and though|| it had already begun to be fulfilled, yet they did not take warning, nor give any more heed to it than others had done before them.

||

Verses 3-5. Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah―This man came in the place of Pashur, who, together with Zephaniah, brought the former message from Zedekiah; saying, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us-Wicked men of all ranks are desirous, in their distresses, of the prayers of those whose counsels and admonitions they never regard while they are in prosperity, which is a plain evidence of their acting contrary to the convictions of their own consciences. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people-That is, he was not yet put in prison as he afterward was: see verse 15; chap. xxxii. 2. Jerusalem also, for the present, was at liberty, for Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt, &c.-"Zedekiah, contrary to the oath that he had given to Nebuchadnezzar, made an alliance with the king of Egypt, and contracted with him for assistance against the king of Babylon; whereupon the ||

Verses 7-10. Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return―They shall be discomfited by the Chaldeans, and forced to retreat without affording you any assistance: see 2 Kings xxiv. 7. And the Chaldeans shall come again—They shall return, renew the siege, and prosecute it with more vigour than ever. And take it and burn it with fire-The sentence passed upon Jerusalem shall be executed, and they shall be the executioners: see chap. xxxiv. 22. Deceive not yourselves, &c.—In vain did the Jews rejoice in Pharaoh's coming to help them: in vain did they flatter themselves that the army of the Chaldeans would be routed; for, (as God was against them,) had this even been the case, had they smitten, as God here tells them, the whole army of the Chaldeans, so that there remained but wounded men among them, yet would they have been sufficient to have taken and laid low the proud city of Jerusalem. For, when God will take away, who shall rescue ?-In vain, therefore, if God be our enemy, is all our power and policy; in vain do we endeavour to strengthen ourselves by riches and great friends, and to build our nest on high; for we can never be safe, but in the favour, and under the protection of the Almighty. And we may observe further, that whatever instruments God has determined to make use of, in any service for him, whe

Jeremiah is arrested,

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A. M. 3415. and there remained but 3 wounded || name was Irijah, the son of Shele- A. M. 3415. men among them, yet should they miah, the son of Hananiah; and he rise up every man in his tent, and burn this took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest city with fire. away to the Chaldeans.

ther of mercy or judgment, they shall accomplish that for which they are designed, whatever incapacity they may lie under, or be reduced to.

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lon, or to go back to Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had left as deputy governor in Judea, he chose rather to go and live under Gedaliah's government in a poor condition, than to enjoy protection and plenty in an idolatrous country. But he hearkened not unto him—The captain of the ward would not believe him, but carried him before the princes.

both to the king and people how they might, in some measure at least, escape the judgments he had denounced against them; nor had he now any design Verse 12. Then Jeremiah went forth, &c., to go to flee to the Chaldeans; so far from it, that, when into the land of Benjamin―Jeremiah, having no fur- the city was taken, and the captain of the guard gave ther revelation from God to communicate, and know-him his choice, either to go along with him to Babying the city would soon be taken, resolves to go to his own country to Anathoth. To separate himself thence, &c.—The Hebrew, v pn, is rendered by Houbigant, "That he might have there a possession for himself with the people;" by Dr. Waterland, "To take rents from thence," &c.; and by Blaney, "To receive a portion thereof among the people." "This," says the last-mentioned cri- Verse 15. Wherefore the princes were wroth— tic, seems a more natural interpretation of the These princes seem to have been much more hostile words, than to understand them, as our translators to the prophet than those that were in the time of seem to have done, of the prophet's withdrawing || Jehoiakim, (see chap. xxxvi. 19,) for they proceed himself, or slipping away, (as it is expressed in the here merely upon the captain's information, and, margin,) for fear of being shut up again in the city, treating him as guilty, without any proof, cruelly on the renewal of the blockade. For the case ap- cause him to be beaten, though entirely innocent, pears to have been this, Jeremiah had been cut off and put into a most miserable dungeon. In the from his patrimony in the land of Benjamin, by the house of Jonathan the scribe-"There is nothing Chaldeans having been masters there. But, upon extraordinary," says Blaney, "in making the dwelltheir retreat, he meant to return, with a view of ing-house of a great man a prison, according to coming in for a share of the produce of the land either the ancient or modern manners of the East: with the rest of his neighbours. For that he was see Gen. xxxix. 20; even in the royal palace itself likely to want some means for his support is evident we find there was a prison, chap. xxxii. 2.” Mr. from his having been obliged to be subsisted in pri- Harmer (chap. viii. obs. 37) quotes the following passon afterward upon a public allowance." sage from a MS. of Sir John Chardin:-"The eastVerses 13, 14. When he was in the gate of Ben- ern prisons are not public buildings erected for that jamin-The gate leading toward the country of purpose; but a part of the house in which their criBenjamin; Irijah, the son of Hananiah-Probably minal judges dwell. As the governor and provost of that Hananiah whose death Jeremiah had fore- of a town, or the captain of the watch, imprison told, ch. xxviii. 17; took Jeremiah the prophet-Ap- such as are accused in their own houses, they set prehended him as one who was about to desert the apart a canton of them for that purpose, when they city, and fall off to the Chaldeans; the ground of are put into these offices, and choose for the jailer which accusation was the prophet's having foretold the most proper person they can find of their domesthat the Chaldeans should take the city, and exhort- || tics." Thus Mr. Harmer thinks that Jonathan's ed the Jews to submit to them. Then said Jere- house became a prison in consequence of his being miah, It is false-Though, as the Lord's prophet, a royal scribe, or, as we should term him, secretary he had faithfully revealed his will, and foretold the calamity that was about to come upon the nation, by Verse 16. When Jeremiah was entered into the means of the Chaldeans, this did not prove that he dungeon-Hebrew 1n n'a, into the house of took their part, for at the same time he gave advice | the pit, ditch, or lake; and into the cabins—Or,

of state.

The king sends

5

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JEREMIAH.

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for the prophet. A. M. 3415. dungeon, and into the cabins, and || against thy servants, or against this A. M. 3415 Jeremiah had remained there many people, that ye have put me in prison? 19 Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?

days;

17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

18. Moreover, Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or

7 Or, cells.

cells, as in signifies. "From comparing this place with chap. xxxviii. 6, it seems likely that this dungeon was a deep pit, sunk perpendicularly like a well, in the middle court or quadrangle, around which the great houses were built; and that in the sides of it, near the bottom, were scooped niches, like the cabins of a ship, for the separate lodgment of the unfortunate persons who were let down there. Hence also it may be, that the same word here rendered dungeon is frequently put for the grave; the ancient repositories of the dead being often constructed with niches, in the same manner in which the bodies were placed, separately. Accordingly we read, Isa. xiv. 15, Yet thou shall be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit, 1. How long Jeremiah was forced to remain in this miserable place is not said, but it seems from ver. 19, that it was until the Chaldean army was returned to the siege.

8

20 Therefore, hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

Heb. let my supplication fall.

Here we have an instance of that freedom and firmness of mind which belong to them who truly live in the fear of God, and put their trust in him. Jeremiah's life and comfort are in Zedekiah's hands, and he has now an important petition to present to him; and yet, having this opportunity, he tells him plainly that there is a word from the Lord, but no word of comfort to him, or his people; but that destruction awaits them: see the difference between his spirit and that of Zedekiah. Though a king, Zedekiah dares not run the risk of offending his courtiers, who were his subjects and servants, while the nophet dares denounce the king's ruin to himsel: not knowing but such integrity might cost him his life. If he had consulted with flesh and blood, he would have given the king a plausible answer, and not have told him the worst at this time, especially as he had so often told it him before. But Jeremiah was one that had obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful, and would not, to obtain mercy of man, be unfaithful either to God, or to his prince, or to his people; he therefore tells him the truth, and the whole truth, which to know would be a kindness to the king, in order that, being forewarned of the approaching calamity, he might be the better prepared for it.

Verse 17. Then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out-When the vain hopes with which they had fed themselves, and on the ground of which they had re-enslaved their servants, were all vanished away, then they were in a greater consternation than ever: and then the king sent, in all haste, for the prophet, to see if he could give him any hope of Verses 18-21. Moreover Jeremiah said, What their deliverance. When the Chaldeans were with- have I offended against thee-What law have I drawn, he only sent to desire the prophet to pray for broken? What injury have I done to thee, or thy him, but now, the city being again invested, he sent people, or government, that ye have put me in prifor him to consult him: thus gracious will men be son-Have put me into the pit or dungeon, as a malewhen pangs come upon them! He asked him se- factor of the worst kind? Where are now your cretly in his house-Being ashamed to be seen in his prophets-That is, your false prophets? Surely the company: Is there any word from the Lord?-That event has now convinced you, how much they have is, Hath God revealed any thing to thee concerning deceived you: for you see the siege renewed, and the what will be the issue of the return of the Chaldean city in imminent danger of being taken. Here we army to the siege of the city? Canst thou give us see Jeremiah's confinement in the dungeon had not any hopes that they will again retire? What need broken his spirit, or diminished either his zeal or had Zedekiah to make this inquiry, when God, by courage in delivering God's message: he still speaks this prophet, had so often revealed his will to him with the greatest boldness, and as one having au- · in this matter? Observe, reader, those that will thority. No doubt he would have been willing, not hearken to God's admonitions when they are in had God called him to it, to seal his testimony prosperity, would be glad of his consolations when with his blood: nevertheless, having so fair an opthey are in adversity; and expect that his ministers portunity to obtain relief, he thought it his duty to should then speak words of peace to them. But embrace it, and therefore, with great humility and how can they expect it? what have they to do with submissiveness, and in a most respectful manner, peace? Jeremiah said, There is, for thou shalt be presents his supplication, not indeed for an entire delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon-deliverance from restraint, which, however, it would