Jer 22:14-26 | JFB | STEP | 14. wide-- literally, "a house of dimensions" ("measures"). Compare , Margin, "men of statures." large-- rather, as Margin, "airy" from Hebrew root, "to breathe freely." Upper rooms in the East are the principal apartments. cutteth him out windows-- The Hebrew, if a noun, is rather, "my windows"; then the translation ought to be, "and let my windows (Jehoiakim speaking) be cut out for it," that is, in the house; or, "and let (the workman) cut out my windows for it." But the word is rather an adjective; "he cutteth it (the house) out for himself, so as to be full of windows." The following words accord with this construction, "and (he makes it) ceiled with cedar," &c. [Maurer]. Retaining English Version, there must be understood something remarkable about the windows, since they are deemed worthy of notice. Gesenius thinks the word dual, "double windows," the blinds being two-leaved. vermilion-- Hebrew, shashar, called so from a people of India beyond the Ganges, by whom it is exported [Pliny, 6.19]. The old vermilion was composed of sulphur and quicksilver; not of red lead, as our vermilion.

‏ Jeremiah 22:14-26

14. wide--literally, "a house of dimensions" ("measures"). Compare Nu 13:32, Margin, "men of statures."

large--rather, as Margin, "airy" from Hebrew root, "to breathe freely." Upper rooms in the East are the principal apartments.

cutteth him out windows--The Hebrew, if a noun, is rather, "my windows"; then the translation ought to be, "and let my windows (Jehoiakim speaking) be cut out for it," that is, in the house; or, "and let (the workman) cut out my windows for it." But the word is rather an adjective; "he cutteth it (the house) out for himself, so as to be full of windows." The following words accord with this construction, "and (he makes it) ceiled with cedar," &c. [Maurer]. Retaining English Version, there must be understood something remarkable about the windows, since they are deemed worthy of notice. Gesenius thinks the word dual, "double windows," the blinds being two-leaved.

vermilion--Hebrew, shashar, called so from a people of India beyond the Ganges, by whom it is exported [Pliny, 6.19]. The old vermilion was composed of sulphur and quicksilver; not of red lead, as our vermilion.

15. closest thyself--rather, "thou viest," that is, art emulous to surpass thy forefathers in the magnificence of thy palaces.

eat and drink--Did not Josiah, thy father, enjoy all that man really needs for his bodily wants? Did he need to build costly palaces to secure his throne? Nay, he did secure it by "judgment and justice"; whereas thou, with all thy luxurious building, sittest on a tottering throne.

then--on that account, therefore.

16. was not this to know me--namely, to show by deeds that one knows God's will, as was the case with Josiah (compare Joh 13:17; contrast Tit 1:16).

17. thine--as opposed to thy father, Josiah.

18. Ah my brother! ... sister!--addressing him with such titles of affection as one would address to a deceased friend beloved as a brother or sister (compare 1Ki 13:30). This expresses, They shall not lament him with the lamentation of private individuals [Vatablus], or of blood relatives [Grotius]: as "Ah! lord," expresses public lamentation in the case of a king [Vatablus], or that of subjects [Grotius]. Henderson thinks, "Ah! sister," refers to Jehoiakim's queen, who, though taken to Babylon and not left unburied on the way, as Jehoiakim, yet was not honored at her death with royal lamentations, such as would have been poured forth over her at Jerusalem. He notices the beauty of Jeremiah's manner in his prophecy against Jehoiakim. In Jr 22:13, 14 he describes him in general terms; then, in Jr 22:15-17, he directly addresses him without naming him; at last, in Jr 22:18, he names him, but in the third person, to imply that God puts him to a distance from Him. The boldness of the Hebrew prophets proves their divine mission; were it not so, their reproofs to the Hebrew kings, who held the throne by divine authority, would have been treason.

Ah his glory!--"Alas! his majesty."

19. burial of an ass--that is, he shall have the same burial as an ass would get, namely, he shall be left a prey for beasts and birds [Jerome]. This is not formally narrated. But 2Ch 36:6 states that "Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon"; his treatment there is nowhere mentioned. The prophecy here, and in Jr 36:30, harmonizes these two facts. He was slain by Nebuchadnezzar, who changed his purpose of taking him to Babylon, on the way thither, and left him unburied outside Jerusalem. 2Ki 24:6, "Jehoiakim slept with his fathers," does not contradict this; it simply expresses his being gathered to his fathers by death, not his being buried with his fathers (Psa 49:19). The two phrases are found together, as expressing two distinct ideas (2Ki 15:38; 16:20).

20. Delivered in the reign of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah or Coniah), son of Jehoiakim; appended to the previous prophecy respecting Jehoiakim, on account of the similarity of the two prophecies. He calls on Jerusalem, personified as a mourning female, to go up to the highest points visible from Jerusalem, and lament there (see on Jr 3:21) the calamity of herself, bereft of allies and of her princes, who are one after the other being cast down.

Bashan--north of the region beyond Jordan; the mountains of Anti-libanus are referred to (Psa 68:15).

from the passages--namely, of the rivers (Jud 12:6); or else the borders of the country (1Sa 13:23; Is 10:29). The passes (1Sa 14:4). Maurer translates, "Abarim," a mountainous tract beyond Jordan, opposite Jericho, and south of Bashan; this accords with the mention of the mountains Lebanon and Bashan (Nu 27:12; 33:47).

lovers--the allies of Judea, especially Egypt, now unable to help the Jews, being crippled by Babylon (2Ki 24:7).

21. I admonished thee in time. Thy sin has not been a sin of ignorance or thoughtlessness, but wilful.

prosperity--given thee by Me; yet thou wouldest not hearken to the gracious Giver. The Hebrew is plural, to express, "In the height of thy prosperity"; so "droughts" (Is 58:11).

thou saidst--not in words, but in thy conduct, virtually.

thy youth--from the time that I brought thee out of Egypt, and formed thee into a people (Jr 7:25; 2:2; Is 47:12).

22. wind--the Chaldees, as a parching wind that sweeps over rapidly and withers vegetation (Jr 4:11, 12; Psa 103:16; Is 40:7).

eat up ... pastors--that is, thy kings (Jr 2:8). There is a happy play on words. The pastors, whose office it is to feed the sheep, shall themselves be fed on. They who should drive the flock from place to place for pasture shall be driven into exile by the Chaldees.

23. inhabitant of Lebanon--namely, Jerusalem, whose temple, palaces, and principal habitations were built of cedars of Lebanon.

how gracious--irony. How graciously thou wilt be treated by the Chaldees, when they come on thee suddenly, as pangs on a woman in travail (Jr 6:24)! Nay, all thy fine buildings will win no favor for thee from them. Maurer translates, "How shalt thou be to be pitied!"

24. As I live--God's most solemn formula of oath (Jr 46:18; 4:2; De 32:40; 1Sa 25:34).

Coniah--Jeconiah or Jehoiachin. The contraction of the name is meant in contempt.

signet--Such ring seals were often of the greatest value (So 8:6; Hag 2:23). Jehoiachin's popularity is probably here referred to.

right hand--the hand most valued.

I would pluck thee thence--(Compare Ob 4); on account of thy father's sins, as well as thine own (2Ch 36:9). There is a change here, as often in Hebrew poetry, from the third to the second person, to bring the threat more directly home to him. After a three months' and ten days' reign, the Chaldees deposed him. In Babylon, however, by God's favor he was ultimately treated more kindly than other royal captives (Jr 52:31-34). But none of his direct posterity ever came to the throne.

25. give ... into ... hand--"I will pluck thee" from "my right hand," and "will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life."

26. thy mother--Nehushta, the queen dowager (2Ki 24:6, 8, 15; see Jr 13:18).