Verse 1
Jeremiah 29:1. Now these are the
words of the letter — Hebrew,
דברי הספר, the words of the
book, or writing, as both the
LXX. and the Vulgate translate
it. Although this title
announces but one, Blaney gives
it as his opinion that this
chapter undeniably contains the
substance of two writings sent
at different times, which, he
says, “is evident from comparing
Jeremiah 29:28 with Jeremiah
29:4-5, and that the distinction
between them is at the end of
Jeremiah 29:20. For in the first
the prophet exhorts the captives
to accommodate themselves to
their present circumstances,
under an assurance that their
captivity would last to the end
of seventy years; after which
period, and not before, God
would visit and restore them.
And to prevent their listening
to any false suggestions that
might flatter them with hopes of
a speedier return, he informs
them of what would happen to
their brethren that were left
behind at Jerusalem, for whom a
harder fate was reserved than
for those that had been carried
away. After this, finding, as it
should seem, upon the return of
the messengers, the little
credit the first message had met
with, he sends a second to the
same persons, denouncing the
divine judgments against three
of their false prophets, by
whose influence chiefly the
people had been prevented from
hearkening to his good advice.”
The time when one or both of
these written declarations of
the divine will was sent to
Babylon is not known, but it is
thought to have been at the
beginning of Zedekiah’s reign.
By the residue of the elders,
Lowth thinks that the remnant of
the members of the Sanhedrim is
intended, who were carried away
captive in the third year of
Jehoiakim’s reign, (Daniel 1:3,)
or in Jeconiah’s captivity, (see
2 Kings 24:14,) many of whom
might die by the hardships they
suffered in their
transportation. These, being
persons of authority, were more
likely to influence the rest of
the people, and induce them to
hearken to the prophet’s advice.
Houbigant, however, not content
with this interpretation,
renders it, Unto the principal
elders. Instead of prophets,
here the LXX. read ψευδοπροφητας,
false prophets: but the Chaldee
understands by the word the
scribes or doctors of the law;
while others again think that
Ezekiel, (carried away with
Jeconiah,) Daniel, and other
prophets of the captivity, may
be meant.
Verse 2-3
Jeremiah 29:2-3. After that
Jeconiah and the queen, &c. — By
the queen is meant Jeconiah’s
mother: see 2 Kings 24:12-15,
where an account is given of
this captivity. And the eunuchs
— Or court-officers, as Dr.
Waterland renders it; and the
princes of Judah and Jerusalem —
Men of authority and influence
among the people. By the hand of
Elasah, &c. — Zedekiah having
some occasion to send two
messengers to Babylon, Jeremiah,
knowing that as there were false
prophets at Jerusalem who fed
the people with hopes of a
speedy return, so there were
some with them in Babylon,
writes and sends the following
prophecy by these two
messengers, to quiet the
people’s minds, disturbed by
these false prophets, and
excited to vain hopes, for which
there was no ground at all.
Verses 4-7
Jeremiah 29:4-7. Thus saith the
Lord, Build ye houses, and plant
gardens, &c. — It appears by the
advice which the prophet here
gives, that many of the captive
Jews neglected to cultivate and
plant the places allotted to
them about Babylon; because they
were not willing to bestow cost
and pains for the advantage of
others; since they flattered
themselves that they were soon
to return into Judea: and
therefore, Jeremiah here
admonishes them that their
continuance in their captivity
would be long enough for them,
their sons and their grandsons,
to enjoy the fruit of their
labours there; and that,
therefore, if they regarded
their own ease and
accommodation, they should set
about making the places of their
captivity as convenient and
agreeable to them as they could.
And seek the peace of the city,
&c. —
Pray and desire, and do all that
lies in your power, that Babylon
may enjoy peace, and remain in
safety, because you yourselves
must be partakers of its
prosperity or adversity, as it
is appointed by God for you to
remain there seventy years. The
word peace here, as elsewhere,
signifies safety and plenty of
all things. Observe here,
reader, it is the duty of all
private persons to submit to the
government that protects them,
and to pray for the prosperity
of it: see Ezra 6:10; 1 Timothy
2:1-2. And if the governing
powers are persecutors or
enemies to the truth, it must be
left to God to execute upon them
the judgments he has denounced
against tyrants and oppressors;
which judgments the Jews
expected that God would execute
upon Babylon in due time, Psalms
137:8-9.
Verse 8
Jeremiah 29:8. For thus saith
the Lord of hosts — The prophet
continues to speak by the
authority of God; Let not your
prophets, &c., deceive you —
Suffer not yourselves to be
deluded by them. While we have
the word of God, by which to try
the spirits, it is our own fault
if we be deceived; for by it we
may be directed. Neither hearken
to your dreams which ye cause to
be dreamed — The LXX. render
this clause, και μη ακουετε εις
τα ενυπνια υμων, α υμεις
ενυπνιαζεσθε, hearken not, or
attend not, to your dreams which
you dream. Thus also the
Vulgate. Blaney, however,
prefers translating the words,
Neither hearken ye to your
dealers in dreams, whom ye cause
to dream; observing, “These
dreamers might be said to be
made, or encouraged, to dream,
by the easy credit given to
their impostures, and the
reputation and respect they
thereby acquired.” Some have
thought it probable that those
who interpreted dreams (which
sort of people abounded in
Babylon) used to interpret all
the dreams of Jews, on which
they were consulted, to signify
their speedy return to their own
country; as they knew that this
was what the Jews earnestly
wished for, and would be glad to
hear, and consequently be
induced to consult these
interpreters the more
frequently; who therein found
their profit.
Verses 10-14
Jeremiah 29:10-14. After seventy
years be accomplished at Babylon
— Hebrews, לפי מלאת שׁבעים שׁנה,
literally, At the mouth of the
accomplishment of seventy years.
“And as the mouth of a river,
metaphorically, denotes the
extremity of its course, where
it discharges its waters into
the sea; so, by a farther
metaphor drawn from hence,
לפיseems to denote being at the
full end of a certain period or
limited course of time, where it
is just going to lose itself in,
and mix with, the ocean of
eternity. Here therefore we are
to understand that, ‘at the very
instant of, or immediately upon,
the completion of seventy
years,’ the restoration of the
Jews should take place.” —
Blaney. These seventy years of
the captivity, it appears, are
to be computed from the fourth
year of Jehoiakim, which, in the
Scripture account, is the first
year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign:
see note on Jeremiah 25:1. I
will visit you and perform my
good word — My promise, in
causing, rather, of causing you
to return, &c. — There were but
few, comparatively speaking, of
those captives that returned in
person into their own country,
Ezra 3:12. Therefore, this
promise was chiefly fulfilled in
their posterity; and it is
common in Scripture to speak of
blessings bestowed upon the
children, as if they had been
actually fulfilled to their
progenitors. For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you
— And God’s works agree exactly
with his thoughts; for he doeth
all things according to the
counsel of his own will.
Thoughts of peace, or good, and
not of evil — Even that which
seems evil is designed for good,
and will at last appear to have
actually wrought for good: to
give you an expected end —
Hebrew, אחרית ותקוה, literally,
to give you an end and
expectation, or, as Blaney
translates it, to make your
latter end even an object of
hope: see chap. Jeremiah 31:17.
Then shall ye call upon me —
That is, when you place your
hope in me only, and that with
assurance, and not wavering; and
I will hearken unto you — A sure
token of God’s favour Jeremiah
33:3, as his rejecting men, and
casting them off, is expressed
by his hiding his face and
refusing to hear their prayers,
Jeremiah 14:12; Lamentations
3:8; Lamentations 3:44. And ye
shall seek me and find me —
According to my promises made
Leviticus 26:40-45; Deuteronomy
30:2-3; Psalms 32:6. When ye
shall search for me with all
your heart — Observe, reader, in
seeking God, we must search for
him, that we may find him; must
search for directions in seeking
him, &c., for encouragements to
our faith and hope: we must
continue, and take pains in
seeking him, namely, in seeking
his favour, his image, and
communion with him; and this we
must do with our heart — That
is, in sincerity and
uprightness, and with all our
heart, that is with vigour and
fervency, putting forth all that
is within us in prayer: and
those who thus seek God shall
find him, and know, by
experience, that he is their
bountiful rewarder, Hebrews
11:6, for he never said to such,
Seek ye me in vain.
Verse 15
Jeremiah 29:15. Because ye have
said, &c. — The LXX. have
transposed this verse, and
placed it “where,” says Blaney,
“it undoubtedly ought to stand,”
immediately before Jeremiah
29:21; “this emendation,” says
he, “I have adopted, as by it a
due order and connection are
restored, both in the place from
whence the verse is removed, and
in that to which it is
transferred, a sufficient proof
of its authenticity.” The Lord
hath raised us up prophets in
Babylon — This is meant of the
false prophets who foretold
nothing but peace and
prosperity. The reader will
easily observe how properly this
sentence, as Blaney has just
observed, would follow Jeremiah
29:20, and precede Jeremiah
29:21, and how well it would
connect with both.
Verses 16-19
Jeremiah 29:16-19. Thus saith
the Lord of the king and all the
people, &c. — See Jeremiah
24:8-10; that dwell in this city
— Namely, the city of Jerusalem,
which is the city spoken of. I
will make them like vile figs —
Rather like sour figs, that
cannot be eaten — The meaning
is, I will deal with them as men
deal with bad figs. They have
made themselves vile and
hateful, and I will use them
accordingly. This refers to the
vision, chap. 24., and the
prophecy which we had there upon
it. And I will deliver them to
be a curse, &c. — A more severe
punishment is denounced upon
these than upon those of the two
former captivities; because
though warned by the example of
Jehoiakim and Jeconiah, who
suffered heavily for their
perfidy, they yet again, a third
time, broke the faith which they
had pledged to the king of
Babylon in the name of God, and
despised all the admonitions and
counsels of God by Jeremiah, as
is observed in the next verse.
Verses 20-23
Jeremiah 29:20-23. Hear all ye
of the captivity whom I have
sent, &c. — These phrases, I
have sent, I have driven, &c.,
should be well observed by us.
There is no evil or punishment
in cities or nations, but,
whoever be the instruments in
bringing it on, God is the
author of it. Thus saith the
Lord of Ahab and of Zedekiah —
Of these two persons we read no
more in holy writ. That they
pretended to be prophets, and to
reveal God’s will, although he
had not called them to any such
office, nor had made known his
will to them, and that therefore
they had abused God’s name, we
learn in this verse, and that
they came to a miserable end we
find in Jeremiah 29:22. He shall
slay them before your eyes — As
persons that disturbed the minds
of the Jews, his subjects, and
made them unwilling to submit to
his government, by giving them
hopes of a speedy deliverance
from under it: see Jeremiah
29:7-8. And of them shall be
taken up a curse — That is, an
imprecation shall be used,
namely, The Lord make thee like
Zedekiah, &c., or, May thou meet
with punishment similar to that
which these persons met with.
Whom the king of Babylon roasted
in the fire — Casting persons
into the fire was a punishment
used in that country, as appears
from the history of Shadrach and
his companions, Daniel 3. There
was likewise in use a way of
roasting persons by a gentle
fire, to make them die by a more
lingering death, such as
Antiochus practised upon the
seven brethren, 2 Maccabees 7:5.
The word here properly denotes
this sort of punishment. Because
they have committed villany in
Israel, &c. — The Jewish
rabbins, as Grotius here
observes, have a traditionary
notion, that these were the two
elders who attempted the
chastity of Susannah; the story
of which they think to be true
in part, though not altogether
such as it is represented in the
Greek. Some translate the words,
Because they HAD committed
villany, or, evil in Israel, and
HAD committed adultery, &c.,
understanding them as assigning
the cause why Nebuchadnezzar had
roasted these persons alive,
namely, because they had
committed adultery, it being a
custom among some of the eastern
nations, and they suppose also
among the Babylonians, to punish
that crime in the most severe
manner.
Verses 24-28
Jeremiah 29:24-28. Thus shalt
thou speak to Shemaiah the
Nehelamite — Or, the dreamer, as
the word הנחלמי, is rendered in
the margin: see Jeremiah 29:8.
The termination, however, rather
shows it to be a word expressing
Shemaiah’s family or country,
and we find such a place as
Helam mentioned, 2 Samuel
10:16-17. The prophet, it seems,
was commanded to send this
message to Shemaiah after the
messengers who delivered the
forementioned writing to the
captives at Babylon were
returned home, who brought along
with them Shemaiah’s letter,
mentioned in the following
verse. Because thou hast sent
letters to Zephaniah, (see
Jeremiah 21:1,) saying, The Lord
hath made thee priest — Shemaiah
directs his letter to Zephaniah
in the first place, as being
next in order to the
high-priest, and therefore
called the second priest,
Jeremiah 52:24, and tells him
that God has appointed him to
supply the place of the high-
priest, being probably absent at
that time, who was either
Azariah, or Seraiah his son. But
who then, it may be asked, was
Jehoiada? “Perhaps,” says
Blaney, “he was one that had
been superseded in his office of
second priest, for being remiss
in his duty; and therefore
Zephaniah may have been here
reminded of him, by way of
intimation that, as they had
been both appointed for the same
purposes, so Zephaniah might
expect the same fate as his
predecessor, if he copied the
example of his negligence. The
second priest officiated as
substitute of the high-priest,
in case of absence or
indisposition, and perhaps was
always invested with subordinate
authority.” That ye should be
officers, &c., for every man
that is mad, &c. — The prophets
and inspired persons were often
accused of madness, or of being
possessed with an evil spirit,
by their enemies. See the
margin. For therefore, rather,
because, he sent unto us in
Babylon — See Jeremiah 29:5.
Verse 32
Jeremiah 29:32. He shall not
have a man to dwell among his
people, &c. — None of his
posterity shall remain to see my
people restored to their own
land again. See Jeremiah 29:11.
Because he hath taught rebellion
— Or, prevarication, as Blaney
translates סרה, observing, “It
properly signifies a declining,
or turning aside from the
straight path, the path of truth
and right. Here, and Jeremiah
28:16, it means the presumption
of uttering, as a revelation
from God, what the man who
uttered it knew to be not so.” |