Verse-by-Verse Bible CommentaryJeremiah 21:11
"Then say to the household of the king of Judah, `Hear the word of the LORD, Jump to: Barne's Notes • Coffman Commentaries • Gill's Exposition • Calvin's Commentary • Trapp's Commentary • Poole's Annotations • Commentary Critical and Explanatory - Unabridged • Ellicott's Commentary • Treasury of Knowledge Other Authors
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole BibleRather, And as to the royal house of Judah, Hear ye. Omit say. The words are no command to the prophet, but form his introduction to the discourse which extends to the end of Jeremiah 23:8. The king and his officers are to hear the gist of all the messages sent to the royal house since the accession of Jehoiakim. Copyright Statement Bibliography Coffman's Commentaries on the BibleTHE REASON FOR JERUSALEM'S DESTRUCTION VERSES "And touching the house of the king of Judah, hear ye the word of Jehovah: O house of David, thus saith Jehovah, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, let my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain, saith Jehovah; you that say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? And I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith Jehovah; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall destroy all that is round about her." Some of the scholars affirm that the end of the message to Zedekiah came in Jeremiah 21:10 and that this is a prophecy regarding the House of David, being a part of a number of similar prophecies in this sub-group of four chapters (Jeremiah 21-24). We do not deny this; but we also believe that the words here were also quite appropriate when understood as a continuation of the message to Zedekiah. Certainly, the burning of Jerusalem mentioned in Jeremiah 21:14 was appropriately spoken to Zedekiah, because that would occur within eighteen months of Jeremiah's response to the delegation from the king. Besides that, Jeremiah 21:12 relates that all of the punishment to come upon Jerusalem would be "because of the evil of your doings." Was not this appropriate for Zedekiah? His wickedness is seen even in this chapter where he repudiated the prophetic warnings of God's prophet. Even the verses regarding the king's duty to dispense justice were not inappropriate, because, as Harrison noted, "Along with the false prophets and the immoral cultic-priests, the monarchy itself must take its place and its share of the responsibility for the moral and social degradation of the people,"[13] with the resulting divine punishment that fell upon them. "I will kindle a fire in her forest ..." (Jeremiah 21:14) Thompson complained that, "In Jerusalem itself, there was no forest."[14] But the same scholar tells us that, "The royal palace itself was called the `House of the Forest of Lebanon' (1 Kings 7:2)."[15] This supports the opinion of Keil that "The city itself was a forest of houses."[16] Others have supposed that many of the houses of the ancient city were constructed from cedars brought down from the forest of Lebanon. In any case, there is no doubt that the reference is to Jerusalem. Bright especially thought that the words here spoke of "Jerusalem's great buildings of cedar."[17] Payne Smith stated that, "The commentators have made a difficulty here, simply by not remembering the delight which the Jews took in trees."[18] Copyright Statement Bibliography John Gill's Exposition of the Whole BibleAnd touching the house of the king of Judah, say,.... Or "to the house of the king of Judah" hear ye the word of the Lord; and obey it; for not bare hearing is meant, but a reverent attention to, and a cheerful and ready performance of, what is heard. Copyright Statement Bibliography Calvin's Commentary on the BibleNow the Prophet tells us that he was sent to the king and his counsellors. Hitherto he has been addressing the king and the whole people indiscriminately; but here a special message is committed to him to be delivered at the palace of the king; and he was to say that judgment was nigh him and his counsellors. But he is not now threatened as before, for there is a condition interposed: he exhorts them to repent, and indirectly promises them pardon, for in vain would he have spoken to them of repentance had he not given them some hopes of pardon and deliverance. He is not yet inconsistent with himself, for though the king was to be driven into exile, he might yet obtain some favor, after having submitted to a paternal correction. Though, then, the Prophet here exhorts the king and his counsellors to repent, he does yet shew that they were not to be wholly free from punishment, and yet he promises some mitigation. (26) And this passage reminds us that we ought not to rush headlong into despair when some great evil is suspended over us, and when God shews that we cannot wholly escape punishment. For there is nothing more unreasonable than that the fear by which God restores us to himself should be the cause of despair, so that we repent not; for though God’s wrath be not wholly removed, yet it is a great thing that it is mitigated, which is an alleviation accompanying the evil itself. In short, the Prophet intimates that God’s wrath might be alleviated, though not wholly pacified, provided the king and his counsellors began to act rightly and justly. But he mentions the house of David, not for honor’s sake, but, on the contrary, by way of reproach; nor does he refer to David, as some unmeaningly assert, because he ruled justly and was a most excellent and upright king; but the Prophet had regard to God’s covenant. For we know that they deceived themselves when they thought that they were to be exempt from trouble through a peculiar privilege, because God had chosen that family, and promised that the kingdom would be perpetual. Thus hypocrites appropriate to their own advantage whatever God has promised; and at the same time they boast, though without faith and repentance, that God is bound to them. Such, then, was the presumption of the king and his counsellors; for they who were David’s descendants doubted not but that they were exempt from the common lot of men, and that they were, as they say, sacred beings. Hence the Prophet says, in contempt, The house of David! that is, “let these vain boastings now cease, for God will not spare you, though you may a hundred times boast that you are the descendants of David.” And at the same time he upbraids them with having become wholly degenerate, for God had made a covenant with David on the condition that he served him faithfully; but his posterity were become perfidious and apostates. Therefore the Prophet brought before them the name of David, in order that he might the more reproach them, because they were become wholly unlike their father, having departed from his piety. Copyright Statement Bibliography John Trapp Complete CommentaryJeremiah 21:11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, [say], Hear ye the word of the LORD Ver. 11. And touching the house of the king of Judah, say,] i.e., His courtiers and his counsellors. which probably were now as bad or worse than they had been in his father Josiah’s days. "Her princes within her were roaring lions, her judges evening wolves." [Zephaniah 3:3] {See Trapp on "Zephaniah 3:3"} Copyright Statement Bibliography Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy BibleBy the house of the king of Judah he means the house of Zedekiah, the court, or those (as appeareth by the next verse) who were the magistrates. These, how great soever, are not excused from the common obligation upon all to listen to and to obey the revelations of the Divine will. Copyright Statement Bibliography Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - UnabridgedAnd touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD No JFB commentary on this verse. Copyright Statement Bibliography Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(11) Say, Hear ye the word of the Lord.—The interpolated “say” is not wanted, and tends to convey the probably wrong impression that we are dealing with a new message rather than a continuation of the former one. The question whether it is such a continuation has been variously answered by different commentators. On the one hand, the conditional threatenings are said to imply an earlier stage of Jeremiah’s work than the doom, absolute and unconditional, pronounced in Jeremiah 21:1-10, and so have led men to refer the message to the earlier years of Jehoiakim. On the other, it is urged that the words may have the character of a last promise, and therefore a last warning. Copyright Statement Bibliography Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeAnd touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
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