Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, prophet to Judah during the final decades before Jerusalem's fall.
The Yoke of Babylon and the Test of Submitting to the Lord's Hard Word
When the Lord places the yoke of Babylon on Judah and the nations, the path of life is humble submission to his hard word rather than believing comforting lies of quick deliverance.
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When the Lord places the yoke of Babylon on Judah and the nations, the path of life is humble submission to his hard word rather than believing comforting lies of quick deliverance.
Jeremiah 27 argues that submission to Babylon is submission to the Lord's present decree. The issue is not whether Babylon is righteous or whether exile is pleasant, but whether Judah and the nations will accept the yoke God has appointed. The Lord's authority as Creator means he can give kingdoms to whomever he pleases and set the time of their rise and fall.
False prophets become deadly because they promise deliverance where God has commanded discipline. The chapter teaches that obedience sometimes looks like surrender, that true hope must wait for God's appointed restoration, and that resisting the Lord's hard word in the name of optimism leads to death.
Zedekiah king of Judah, Judah's priests and people, and envoys representing the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon.
The chapter is set in Jerusalem during Zedekiah's reign, when foreign envoys are present and anti-Babylonian resistance appears to be under discussion.
When the Lord places the yoke of Babylon on Judah and the nations, the path of life is humble submission to his hard word rather than believing comforting lies of quick deliverance.
Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, prophet to Judah during the final decades before Jerusalem's fall.
Zedekiah king of Judah, Judah's priests and people, and envoys representing the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon.
The chapter is set in Jerusalem during Zedekiah's reign, when foreign envoys are present and anti-Babylonian resistance appears to be under discussion.
- The people face the humiliation of accepting imperial yoke, the fear of further loss, and the temptation to prefer messages of quick restoration.
Jeremiah 27 develops the exile theology already introduced in Jeremiah 21, 24, and 25: submission to Babylon is not betrayal of the Lord but obedience to the Lord's present word.
The chapter moves from Jeremiah's yoke sign, to the Lord's universal sovereignty over nations, to the command for surrounding kingdoms to serve Babylon, to the same command for Zedekiah and Judah, and finally to the warning against false prophets concerning the temple vessels.
Theological exposition and fulfillment
Jeremiah 27 forms humility under divine sovereignty, discernment against false hope, patience for God's timing, and submission to the Lord's life-giving discipline.
- 1-3: Jeremiah's yoke symbolizes the Babylonian servitude the Lord has decreed.
- 4-7: The Lord's sovereignty over creation and history explains why Babylon must be served.
- 8-11: Prophets, diviners, dreamers, mediums, and sorcerers promising escape from Babylon are to be rejected.
- 12-15: Jeremiah calls Judah's king to accept the yoke of Babylon and warns that false prophets will lead him to death.
- 16-18: The false claim of quick return for the vessels is exposed, and true prophets are called to intercede.
- 19-22: The Lord promises that remaining temple vessels will be taken to Babylon, but also that he will bring them back at the appointed time.
Sense yoke bar, pole, crossbar
Definition A wooden bar or frame placed on the neck for bearing a load or controlling draft animals, used figuratively for subjection or servitude.
References Jeremiah 27:2, 8, 11-12
Lexicon yoke bar, pole, crossbar
Why it matters The yoke is the chapter's controlling sign, embodying Babylonian servitude as the Lord's appointed discipline.
Form in passage Both · Plural · Absolute What is this?
Sense bands, straps, bonds
Definition Bonds or straps used for binding.
References Jeremiah 27:2
Lexicon bands, straps, bonds
Why it matters The straps intensify the physical symbolism of being bound under Babylon's rule.
Pastoral Entry
עָשָׂה (asah) is the foundational Hebrew verb for doing and making — the local Hebrew index currently counts about 2,640 occurrences, and it carries the full weight of creation, covenant-keeping, and covenant-breaking from Genesis to Malachi. When God makes the world (Gen 1:7, 25), when Noah does everything YHWH commanded (Gen 6:22), when Israel is called to do what is good in YHWH's sight (Deut 6:18), and when YHWH does wonders (Ps 77:14) — all of it is asah.
Genesis 1-2 gives asah its creation-weight: the phrase 'and God made' (vayaas Elohim) punctuates the creation narrative as YHWH acts to bring into being what was not. The firmament, the animals, the luminaries, the entire order of creation — all are asah. Genesis 2:2 closes the creative work: 'on the seventh day God finished his work (melakah, H4399) that he had made (asah), and he rested.' The creation is YHWH's asah; the Sabbath is the cessation of that asah. The asah of Genesis 1 becomes the pattern for Israel's asah in Exodus 20:11: 'for in six days YHWH made (asah) the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.' Israel's Sabbath-keeping is a participation in the rhythm of the divine asah.
Genesis 6:22 gives asah its covenant-obedience form: 'Noah did (vayaas) according to all that God commanded him; so he did (ken asah).' Noah's asah is the OT prototype of covenant-keeping: when YHWH commands, the covenant partner does exactly as commanded. The double emphasis ('he did exactly so, he did') is the OT formula for unqualified obedience — the full correspondence between the divine command and the human asah.
Deuteronomy 6:18 gives asah its land-covenant use: 'And you shall do (asah) what is right and good in the sight of YHWH, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land.' The entire covenant obligation can be compressed into the asah: do what is right and good before YHWH. The covenant blessings (land, well-being, long life) flow from the asah; the curses flow from failing to asah.
Micah 6:8 gives asah its ethical-covenant peak: 'what does YHWH require of you but to asah justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?' The asah of Micah 6:8 is the first of three requirements — and it is the most concrete: justice (mishpat) must be done, not merely believed in or affirmed. The asah of justice is the embodied covenant life in the public square.
Psalm 118:23 gives asah its doxological use: 'This is YHWH's doing (asah); it is marvelous in our eyes.' The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone (v. 22) — and Israel's response is to name what YHWH has done: this is his asah. YHWH's asah includes not just creation and command but the unexpected reversals of redemptive history — the things that are marvelous (niflaot) precisely because no human asah could produce them.
For the preacher, עָשָׂה (asah) gives the congregation the active character of both divine and human covenant life. YHWH is a God who does; his people are called to do. The faith that does not asah is not the faith of Noah, Abraham, Israel, or David. And the highest human asah is still responsive: it is always 'according to all that YHWH commanded him, so he did.'
Sense to make, do, create, fashion
Definition To make, accomplish, or act.
References Jeremiah 27:5
Lexicon to make, do, create, fashion
Why it matters The Lord's command rests on his identity as the Maker of earth, humanity, and animals.
Pastoral Entry
אֶרֶץ is the Hebrew word that carries one of the broadest freight-loads in all of Scripture. It can mean the earth in its totality — the physical cosmos as created and upheld by God — and it can mean a particular land, a defined territory, a region, or even the ground beneath one's feet. The range is not a weakness. It is a strength, because it means that אֶרֶץ holds together what we tend to separate: cosmic theology and local address, creation and covenant, universal sovereignty and particular promise.
In its widest sense, אֶרֶץ names the created order as the domain of God's lordship. The opening movement of Genesis does not merely describe origins; it establishes ownership. The earth belongs to its Maker. What fills it, what is drawn from it, what walks upon it — all of it exists under the governance of the One who spoke it into being. The earth is not a neutral stage for human history. It is the theater of God's redemptive purposes, and those purposes are inseparable from the ground itself.
In its narrower, partitive sense, אֶרֶץ becomes one of the most theologically loaded terms in the Hebrew Bible. The land — the particular territory sworn to Abraham, promised to his descendants, given to Israel, lost in exile, and longed for in return — is not simply geography. Land in Israel's story is the embodiment of covenant relationship. To be in the land is to dwell under God's blessing. To be cast out of the land is to experience the weight of covenant failure. To return to the land is to taste the mercy of God who keeps his promises beyond the reach of human faithlessness.
For the pastor and teacher, the word does something that no English gloss fully achieves. It holds cosmic and covenantal together in a single term. When the Psalms invite all the earth to worship, and when Deuteronomy warns Israel about the land they are about to enter, the same word is doing both kinds of work. Recognizing this prevents the common error of flattening every אֶרֶץ into either pure cosmology or pure geography. Context must govern. But both dimensions belong to the theology the word carries.
Sense earth, land, territory
Definition The earth, a land, or a territory depending on context.
References Jeremiah 27:5
Lexicon earth, land, territory
Why it matters The Lord's ownership of the earth explains his right to assign kingdoms and lands.
Sense great strength, mighty power
Definition A phrase describing the LORD's powerful ability to create and govern.
References Jeremiah 27:5
Lexicon great strength, mighty power
Why it matters The Lord's power over creation grounds his command to nations and kings.
Sense extended arm, decisive power
Definition A phrase associated with decisive divine action and power.
References Jeremiah 27:5
Lexicon extended arm, decisive power
Why it matters The Lord's outstretched arm, often connected with deliverance, here grounds his right to impose judgment and servitude.
Pastoral Entry
נָתַן is one of the most common verbs in the Hebrew Bible, and its very ordinariness is part of its theological weight. At its center it means to give — to pass something from one hand to another, one person to another, one realm to another. But BDB's note that it is used with the greatest latitude of application is not a caveat to its meaning; it is an invitation to see how deeply a theology of giving runs through Israel's life with God.
The range is genuinely vast. נָתַן can mean to give, place, put, set, deliver, appoint, cause, hand over, allow, produce, assign, render, or make. A father gives his daughter in marriage. A king appoints an official. God gives rain to the land. A man delivers his enemy into another's hands. The word does not carry a single nuance but a governing posture: something is transferred, entrusted, released, or assigned. Agency moves. What was held is now extended toward another.
When the subject is God, נָתַן becomes one of the most expansive verbs of divine generosity in Scripture. God gives the land to Abraham's seed. He gives rest to Israel. He gives his law at Sinai. He gives kings, gives rain, gives commands, gives children to the barren, gives deliverance to the hunted, gives an everlasting covenant. The repetition is not incidental — it is the texture of covenant life. Israel exists because God gave: gave rescue, gave inheritance, gave name, gave presence, gave future.
But נָתַן also moves in darker directions. Israel is given over to enemies when she breaks the covenant. Cities are given into judgment. A person can give themselves over to folly or to faithfulness. The same verb that describes divine generosity can describe divine discipline, human betrayal, and the handing over of the innocent. Preachers need both registers. The word opens the full range of what it means to live inside a covenant with a God who acts, transfers, appoints, and — when mercy runs out — hands over.
Pastorally, נָתַן keeps pointing toward a God who is not hoarding. He gives and gives and gives again — land, law, life, covenant, and eventually, in the fullness of time, his Son. The verb's sheer frequency is itself a theological witness: Israel's entire story is held together by the one who keeps giving.
Sense to give, place, appoint
Definition To give, set, appoint, or deliver into another's hand.
References Jeremiah 27:5-6
Lexicon to give, place, appoint
Why it matters The Lord gives the nations into Nebuchadnezzar's hand, showing Babylon's authority is derivative.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Pastoral Entry
עֶבֶד (eved) means slave, servant, or worshiper — a range that moves from the legal institution of slavery to the most honorable title the OT can give to one who belongs to and serves God. The local Hebrew index counts about 803 occurrences, and the entry's theological center is the eved YHWH (servant of the Lord) — the title given to Moses, David, the prophets, and supremely to the Servant of Isaiah 40-53 whose suffering and vindication Isaiah describes in detail.
The eved YHWH title in Isaiah's servant songs (Isa 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12) is the OT's most developed theology of servanthood. The servant is God's chosen one in whom God delights (42:1), the one who brings justice to the nations (42:1-4), the light of the world (42:6), and — in the most striking movement — the one who bears the iniquities of the many and is 'wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities' (53:5). The eved suffers not for his own sins but for the sins of others, and through his suffering the covenant purposes of God are advanced.
Moses is the paradigmatic eved YHWH in the Pentateuch: 'Moses the servant (eved) of the Lord died there in the land of Moab' (Deut 34:5). The title at Moses' death is the OT's highest recognition of a human life — he who served the Lord is memorialized as His eved. The Psalms use eved as a self-designation before God: 'Save your servant (eved) who trusts in you' (Ps 86:2), 'your servant meditates on your statutes' (Ps 119:23). This is the posture of the covenant person before God: not a contractor negotiating terms but a eved belonging entirely to the one who is Lord.
The word's dual use — both legal slavery and honored service — is itself theologically significant. To be an eved YHWH is to be completely dependent on and belonging to God: one's labor, one's direction, one's identity all flow from the Lord. What looks like limitation from outside is honor from within. The greatest human beings in the OT are called God's eved; the greatest NT servants take their vocabulary from this tradition (Paul: 'Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus').
For the preacher, עֶבֶד is the word that names the ultimate human vocation: belonging to and serving the God who made us and redeemed us, after the pattern of the One who came 'not to be served but to serve' (Mark 10:45).
Sense servant, agent, one who serves
Definition One who serves or functions as an instrument under another's authority.
References Jeremiah 27:6
Lexicon servant, agent, one who serves
Why it matters Nebuchadnezzar is the Lord's servant as an instrument of judgment, not as a model of covenant faithfulness.
Pastoral Entry
עָבַד is the primary Hebrew verb for work, service, and worship — three realities the word holds together without separating them. In its basic range it means to labor, to till, to serve a master, or to perform assigned work. But the same root also carries the full weight of religious devotion: to serve God, to worship, to do the acts of obedience that belong to the covenant relationship. The noun form עֶבֶד (servant, slave) and the related עֲבֹדָה (service, labor, worship) share the same root, so that in Hebrew thought the servant and the worshiper are joined by the same word.
Deuteronomy is the book of עָבַד in concentrated form. Deuteronomy 6:13 — 'Fear the Lord your God, serve him only (אֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד), and take your oaths in his name' — places service alongside fear and oath-taking as the defining posture of covenant loyalty. The same verse is cited by Jesus in the wilderness temptation when Satan offers him the kingdoms of the world: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only' (Matthew 4:10). Service to God is presented as exclusive: Israel may not עָבַד other gods (Deuteronomy 6:14, 7:16, 13:5). The verb marks out who or what receives the devotion that belongs to God alone.
Deuteronomy 28:47-48 uses the word at the hinge of the curse section: 'Because you did not serve (עָבַד) the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, when you had abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies.' The failure to serve God with joy — not merely to perform religious duty but to do it with the affective quality of delight — becomes the root of covenant breach and its consequences. Joyless worship is not neutral. It is a form of withheld service that the covenant cannot tolerate.
Across the OT, עָבַד names the vocation of Israel: to serve the living God, not idols. The prophets use it to indict Israel for serving Baals (Jeremiah 2:20), and to promise restoration when Israel will return to serve God rightly (Isaiah 40:26-31; Malachi 3:14-18). The NT builds on this foundation: Jesus comes as the Servant (using the Greek δοῦλος and διάκονος), and Paul calls himself a δοῦλος of Christ. The category of servant-worship is not abolished in the NT but transformed — those who serve the risen Lord do so not from duty under threat but from love in the Spirit.
Sense to serve, work, be subject to
Definition To serve, labor, worship, or be subject to another.
References Jeremiah 27:7-8, 11-12, 17
Lexicon to serve, work, be subject to
Why it matters The repeated call to serve Babylon defines the required response to the Lord's appointed yoke.
Form in passage Both · Singular · Construct What is this?
Sense time, appointed season
Definition A time, season, or appointed period.
References Jeremiah 27:7
Lexicon time, appointed season
Why it matters Babylon's rule lasts only until its own appointed time comes, preserving divine sovereignty over empire.
Pastoral Entry
חֶרֶב (cherev) is the Hebrew word for sword — the primary weapon of ancient warfare, with about 413 occurrences in the local Hebrew index from the Garden to the restored city. The cherev carries the weight of human violence, divine judgment, covenantal consequence, and ultimately eschatological hope. Its first appearance in Genesis 3:24 is not in the hands of a soldier but of the cherubim guarding Eden — the flaming, turning cherev that bars return to the tree of life. The cherev does not merely cut; it marks boundaries, enforces judgments, and announces the condition of things.
Genesis 3:24 plants the cherev at the center of the human story: 'he drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword (cherev lahavat) that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.' The cherev here is not punitive but protective — it guards the tree, not to destroy people who approach but to enforce the reality that access to eternal life is now closed off on human terms. The flaming cherev makes the exclusion dramatic and final. The OT redemptive narrative can be framed, in one sense, the question of what will remove the guardian cherev.
Deuteronomy 32:41-42 puts the cherev in YHWH's own hand: 'I whet my glittering sword (cherev); my hand takes hold on judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh.' The divine cherev is the instrument of covenantal justice — not arbitrary violence but the execution of the verdict that YHWH has pronounced. When the cherev of YHWH appears in the prophets (Isa 34, Ezek 21, Zeph 2), it signals that divine judgment is on the way and that the edge of the cherev is sharpened.
Isaiah 49:2 gives the cherev an unexpected application: 'He made my mouth like a sharp sword (cherev chaddah), in the shadow of his hand he hid me.' The Servant's mouth as cherev means that the word spoken by the Servant has the cutting power of a sword — not to wound arbitrarily but to penetrate with divine precision. The cherev-mouth is one of the OT's images that Hebrews 4:12 develops: 'the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.'
Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 give the cherev its eschatological reversal: 'they shall beat their swords (charevotam) into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.' The gathered nations at YHWH's mountain stop making war because the cherev is no longer needed when the Judge rules in justice. The cherev is beaten into an instrument of food — the sword becomes the plow.
For the preacher, חֶרֶב (cherev) traces the full arc: the guardian cherev of Eden, the judgment cherev of YHWH, the Servant's mouth-cherev, and the eschatological swords beaten into plowshares.
Sense sword, warfare, violent judgment
Definition A sword or warfare as an instrument of judgment.
References Jeremiah 27:8, 13
Lexicon sword, warfare, violent judgment
Why it matters Sword is one judgment threatened against those who refuse Babylon's yoke.
Sense famine, hunger, scarcity
Definition Severe lack of food, especially in siege or judgment contexts.
References Jeremiah 27:8, 13
Lexicon famine, hunger, scarcity
Why it matters Famine is one consequence of resisting the Lord's appointed discipline.
Sense pestilence, plague
Definition A deadly disease or pestilence, often as judgment.
References Jeremiah 27:8, 13
Lexicon pestilence, plague
Why it matters Plague completes the repeated judgment triad against refusal to submit.
Pastoral Entry
נָבִיא is the OT's title for those whom YHWH called to speak His word into Israel's history — not at their own initiative but under compulsion, often at great personal cost. Amos 7:14-15 is the normative self-portrait: 'I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman... and the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
The נָבִיא does not choose the role; he is chosen for it. The prophets stand in two postures: intercession (standing before YHWH on Israel's behalf, like Abraham in Gen 20:7 — the first occurrence of נָבִיא in the OT) and proclamation (standing before Israel on YHWH's behalf). Both are present in Moses, who is the paradigm נָבִיא. Deut 18:15 promises a prophet like Moses — and the NT reads that promise as arriving in Jesus, who speaks with the authority of YHWH directly ('you have heard it said...
But I say to you') and in whom the intercessory and proclamatory dimensions of the office are fulfilled simultaneously.
Sense prophets, spokesmen
Definition Those claiming to speak a divine message.
References Jeremiah 27:9, 14-16
Lexicon prophets, spokesmen
Why it matters The chapter distinguishes true prophetic speech from lying prophecy promising escape from Babylon.
Sense diviners, practitioners of divination
Definition Those who seek hidden knowledge through forbidden or manipulative spiritual means.
References Jeremiah 27:9
Lexicon diviners, practitioners of divination
Why it matters The nations are warned not to follow unauthorized sources of guidance that contradict the Lord's word.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Sense dreams
Definition Dreams or dream reports claimed as sources of revelation.
References Jeremiah 27:9
Lexicon dreams
Why it matters Dreams are included among false sources used to resist the Lord's command.
Pastoral Entry
שֶׁקֶר is the Hebrew noun for falsehood, lie, deception — but its range is wider than a single English word captures. BDB's definitions include: falsehood, lying, deception, what is false, disappointment, and vanity (in the sense of what comes to nothing). The root idea is that which does not correspond to reality — the word, the action, or the claim that presents a false picture.
שֶׁקֶר is currently counted by the local OT index at about 113 uses across several major registers. First, the judicial register: 'you shall not bear false witness' (Exod 20:16 uses שָׁוְא, the synonym, but Exod 23:7 uses שֶׁקֶר — 'keep far from a false matter'); a witness who testifies שֶׁקֶר destroys justice at its source. Second, the prophetic register: the false prophets speak שֶׁקֶר (Jer 14:14, 'prophesying a lie'; Jer 23:25-26, 'they prophesy lies in my name; I did not send them'); the prophet who claims to speak for God when God has not sent them is the paradigmatic שֶׁקֶר-speaker.
Third, the idolatry register: idols are called שֶׁקֶר because they are false — they claim divine status they do not have; Jer 10:14 calls the idol-maker's product שֶׁקֶר ('the molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them'). Fourth, the relational register: friends and allies who prove unfaithful are called שֶׁקֶר; trust that is not warranted by reality is trust placed in falsehood.
The Psalms' use of שֶׁקֶר is particularly concentrated: Psalm 119 alone uses it 8 times to express the psalmist's hatred of falsehood and love of the true (אֱמֶת) in contrast. The fundamental theological claim embedded in שֶׁקֶר is that the God who is true (אֱמֶת is one of his primary attributes) is the judge of all שֶׁקֶר. Jeremiah's contrast between the false prophets who speak שֶׁקֶר and the true prophet who speaks what God actually said is the OT's paradigmatic account of the conflict between the true word and the false word.
Sense lie, falsehood, deception
Definition Falsehood, deception, or what is unreliable.
References Jeremiah 27:10, 14-16
Lexicon lie, falsehood, deception
Why it matters The prophets' hopeful message is called a lie because it contradicts the Lord's revealed word.
Form in passage Hiphil · Sequential imperfect · 2nd Person · Masculine · Plural What is this?
Sense bring the neck under, submit
Definition A physical image of submitting one's neck under a yoke.
References Jeremiah 27:12
Lexicon bring the neck under, submit
Why it matters Zedekiah is commanded to accept Babylon's yoke as the path to life.
Sense vessels, utensils, articles, implements
Definition Objects, vessels, or implements, here sacred temple furnishings and articles.
References Jeremiah 27:16, 18-22
Lexicon vessels, utensils, articles, implements
Why it matters The temple vessels become a test case for false hope and true restoration timing.
Form in passage Qal · Jussive · 3rd Person · Masculine · Plural What is this?
Sense to intercede, plead, entreat, encounter
Definition To intercede or make entreaty in a context of prayer.
References Jeremiah 27:18
Lexicon to intercede, plead, entreat, encounter
Why it matters Jeremiah says true prophets should intercede that remaining vessels not be taken, exposing false prophecy by the test of truthful prayer.
Pastoral Entry
פָּקַד is one of the richest verbs in the OT precisely because it is one of the most difficult to translate with a single English word. English translations render it as visit, attend to, appoint, muster, number, punish, and several others — because פָּקַד is the verb for the act of a superior giving attention to something under their authority in a way that changes the situation.
The common thread across all its uses is the movement of a superior's attention toward someone or something, with consequences that follow. BDB identifies the range: to visit (in any sense — for blessing or for judgment), to attend to, to appoint, to deposit with, to number, to muster (troops), to commission. The word is currently counted by the local OT index at about 304 uses in the OT and is the foundational term for divine visitation — the moment when God turns his attention toward a person or people and acts.
The theological weight of פָּקַד in the OT oscillates between blessing and judgment. 'The Lord visited Sarah' (Gen 21:1) — the result is the birth of Isaac, the fulfillment of the promise. 'The Lord visited the Egyptians' (Exod 4:31 context; 12:12) — the result is the plagues and the Exodus. 'I will visit their transgression with the rod' (Ps 89:32) — the result is discipline.
'When you visit men, what are you doing to them?' (Ps 8:4 — though this verse uses פָּקַד to name the wonder of God's attention to humanity). The double edge of פָּקַד — it can mean a visit of blessing or a visit of judgment — is part of its theological content. When the OT says God פָּקַד his people, both possibilities are open until the context clarifies. The Exodus confession in Exod 4:31 — when Moses delivers the message and the people hear that 'the Lord had visited the children of Israel' — produces worship (שָׁחָה), because they know this פָּקַד is a visitation of liberation.
The word runs through Genesis to Revelation: from God remembering and visiting the barren (Gen 21:1) to God visiting the imprisoned Joseph (Gen 50:24-25) to God visiting the nations in judgment. The NT's ἐπισκέπτομαι (to visit, to attend to) carries the same range.
Sense to visit, attend to, appoint, intervene
Definition To attend to someone or something for care, judgment, or appointed action.
References Jeremiah 27:22
Lexicon to visit, attend to, appoint, intervene
Why it matters The vessels will remain in Babylon until the Lord visits them, signaling appointed restoration by divine initiative.
Lexicon data: MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML (CC0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon (CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible Data (CC BY 4.0) · Full details
| v.1 | H1961הָיָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.10 | H5012נָבָאNiphal · ParticipleH7368רָחַקHiphil · Infinitive construct |
| v.11 | H935בּוֹאHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.12 | H1696דָבַרPiel · Perfect · IndicativeH935בּוֹאHiphil · Imperative · Imperative |
| v.13 | H4191מוּתQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH1696דָבַרPiel · Perfect · IndicativeH5647עָבַדQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.14 | H8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperfect · JussiveH5647עָבַדQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH5012נָבָאNiphal · Participle |
| v.15 | H5012נָבָאNiphal · Participle |
| v.16 | H1696דָבַרPiel · Perfect · IndicativeH559אָמַרQal · Perfect · IndicativeH8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperfect · JussiveH7725שׁוּבHophal · Participle passiveH5012נָבָאNiphal · Participle |
| v.17 | H8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperfect · JussiveH5647עָבַדQal · Imperative · ImperativeH1961הָיָהQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.18 | H6293פָּגַעQal · Imperfect · JussiveH935בּוֹאQal · Imperative · Imperative |
| v.19 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.2 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · IndicativeH6213עָשָׂהQal · Imperative · Imperative |
| v.21 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.22 | H935בּוֹאHophal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH1961הָיָהQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.4 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · IndicativeH559אָמַרQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.5 | H6213עָשָׂהQal · Perfect · IndicativeH3474יָשַׁרQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.6 | H5414נָתַןQal · Perfect · IndicativeH5414נָתַןQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.7 | H935בּוֹאQal · Infinitive construct |
| v.8 | H5647עָבַדQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH5414נָתַןQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH6485פָּקַדQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.9 | H8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperfect · JussiveH559אָמַרQal · ParticipleH5647עָבַדQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
Aspect in Hebrew is grammatical form, not tense. Perfect = completed action; Imperfect = incomplete/ongoing. Stem modifies action type (Qal=simple, Niphal=passive, Piel=intensive).
Morphology: OSHB WLC (Open Scriptures, CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible TEHMC (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0)
Theological Argument
Jeremiah 27 argues that submission to Babylon is submission to the Lord's present decree. The issue is not whether Babylon is righteous or whether exile is pleasant, but whether Judah and the nations will accept the yoke God has appointed. The Lord's authority as Creator means he can give kingdoms to whomever he pleases and set the time of their rise and fall.
False prophets become deadly because they promise deliverance where God has commanded discipline. The chapter teaches that obedience sometimes looks like surrender, that true hope must wait for God's appointed restoration, and that resisting the Lord's hard word in the name of optimism leads to death.
From sign-act, to Creator sovereignty, to international submission, to Judah's submission, to temple-vessel correction, to future restoration.
- 1.The LORD's sovereignty over creation grounds his sovereignty over nations.
- 2.Babylon's authority is real because the LORD has appointed it.
- 3.Babylon's authority is temporary and accountable.
- 4.Refusing Babylon's yoke is refusing the LORD's judgment word.
- 5.False prophecy is deadly when it promises escape from God's discipline.
- 6.Life is found by submitting to the LORD's hard command.
- 7.True hope is tied to God's appointed time, not immediate relief.
Theological Focus
- Divine Sovereignty Over Nations
- Babylon as the Lord's Instrument
- Hard Obedience
- False Prophecy
- Life Through Submission
- Temple Confidence Corrected
- Appointed Restoration
- Divine Sovereignty
- Providence Over Nations
- Judgment
- Prophetic Revelation
- Human Responsibility
- Discipline
- Hope and Restoration
- Christology
Covenant Significance
Jeremiah 27 applies covenant judgment to Judah and the nations through the yoke of Babylon. Judah's refusal to submit would intensify covenant curses of sword, famine, and plague. Yet the chapter also preserves covenant hope because Babylon's power is temporary and the temple vessels will eventually be restored by the Lord himself.
- The yoke of Babylon is the Lord's imposed discipline for covenant rebellion.
- Sword, famine, and plague are threatened against those who resist the Lord's appointed yoke.
- The covenant community must distinguish the Lord's true word from false promises that reject discipline.
- The removal of the vessels symbolizes the continuation of judgment against temple-based false security.
- The Lord promises that the vessels will remain in Babylon only until the day he restores them.
Canonical Connections
When the Lord places the yoke of Babylon on Judah and the nations, the path of life is humble submission to his hard word rather than believing comforting lies of quick deliverance.
Canon-Wide Connections
Cross-reference data: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Jeremiah 27 clarifies the gospel by exposing humanity's desire for salvation without submission. Judah wants deliverance from Babylon without receiving the Lord's discipline. False prophets offer a gospel of quick relief without repentance, obedience, or waiting. The true gospel does not bypass judgment; it resolves judgment through Christ. Jesus receives the Father's will fully, bears judgment for sinners, and frees his people from condemnation.
Therefore true hope is not found in rejecting God's hard word, but in bowing before the Lord who judges sin and saves through the cross and resurrection.
Primary Emphasis
Jeremiah 27 contributes to the biblical theology fulfilled in Christ by showing that life comes through submission to God's will, even when that submission is humiliating and contrary to human expectations. Jeremiah's yoke points to the hard discipline Judah must accept, while the false prophets promise relief without repentance or waiting. In Christ, the theme reaches its righteous fulfillment: Jesus submits perfectly to the Father's will, bears the curse and burden of judgment not for his own sin but for sinners, and offers a true yoke that gives rest to those who come to him.
Unlike Babylon's yoke of discipline, Christ's yoke is the gracious rule of the Savior who has borne the crushing weight of judgment for his people.
Chapter Contribution
Jeremiah 27 argues that submission to Babylon is submission to the Lord's present decree. The issue is not whether Babylon is righteous or whether exile is pleasant, but whether Judah and the nations will accept the yoke God has appointed. The Lord's authority as Creator means he can give kingdoms to whomever he pleases and set the time of their rise and fall.
False prophets become deadly because they promise deliverance where God has commanded discipline. The chapter teaches that obedience sometimes looks like surrender, that true hope must wait for God's appointed restoration, and that resisting the Lord's hard word in the name of optimism leads to death.
Track judgment as covenant accountability, divine justice, and eschatological reckoning.
Trace remnant preservation, covenant continuity, and mercy under judgment across Scripture.
Study temple presence, worship, corruption, judgment, and renewal across Scripture.
Only messages that originate from God’s commission carry divine authority.
God’s people must reject prophetic claims that contradict His revealed word.
God’s people must distinguish between true and false spiritual messages.
God’s discipline can include the removal of sacred institutions when covenant faithfulness collapses.
God governs both judgment and restoration according to His appointed time.
God governs political events and appoints rulers according to His purposes.
Even during judgment God preserves the promise of eventual restoration for His people.
Nations are responsible for responding to God’s revealed will.
Rejecting God’s revealed will results in severe consequences.
God may use foreign powers as instruments of discipline against His people.
Historical events, including the rise of empires, unfold under God’s governing hand.
The Lord made the earth and gives nations to whomever he pleases.
Babylon's rise, duration, and eventual fall are governed by the Lord's decree.
Sword, famine, and plague fall on those who resist the Lord's appointed yoke.
True prophecy aligns with the Lord's revealed word, while false prophecy offers lies in God's name.
Kings, nations, priests, and people must respond to the Lord's word with obedience rather than resistance.
Babylonian servitude functions as divine discipline that must be received rather than denied.
The temple vessels will return only at the Lord's appointed time, preserving hope without false immediacy.
The yoke theme contributes canonically to understanding Christ's obedient submission and gracious yoke of discipleship.
Theological exposition and fulfillment
- Jeremiah 27 forms humility under divine sovereignty, discernment against false hope, patience for God's timing, and submission to the Lord's life-giving discipline.
Jeremiah 27 forms humility under divine sovereignty, discernment against false hope, patience for God's timing, and submission to the Lord's life-giving discipline.
- Hard-word obedience - Practice receiving God's commands even when they contradict instinct, pride, or public pressure.
- False-hope testing - Examine hopeful messages by whether they align with Scripture and lead to obedience.
- Discipline acceptance - Submit to God's correction instead of fighting every humbling consequence.
- Truthful prayer - Pray in ways that acknowledge God's revealed word and present reality honestly.
- Patient restoration hope - Wait for the Lord's appointed day rather than demanding immediate reversal.
- Christ-yoked discipleship - Receive Christ's gracious rule as the only yoke that leads to true rest.
- Jeremiah 27 warns against resisting God's appointed discipline, believing optimistic lies, and confusing quick relief with true hope.
- Do not resist the Lord's hard word because it feels humiliating.
- Do not believe spiritual voices merely because they offer hope.
- Do not confuse relief from consequences with restoration from God.
- Do not call resistance faith when God has commanded submission.
- Do not assume that sacred objects guarantee divine favor.
- Do not let false teachers set a timetable that contradicts God's word.
- Do not separate intercession from truth.
- Jeremiah 27 teaches that all oppressive regimes should always be accepted without question. - The command to submit to Babylon is a specific prophetic command in a specific covenant-historical moment. The chapter teaches submission to God's revealed word, not a blanket approval of oppression.
- Nebuchadnezzar being called the Lord's servant means he was spiritually faithful. - Servant here means instrument of the Lord's purpose. Babylon remains temporary and later accountable.
- The false prophets were dangerous because they were pessimistic. - They were dangerous because they were falsely optimistic, promising relief where God had commanded discipline.
- The temple vessels prove restoration must be immediate. - Jeremiah says the opposite: the remaining vessels will go to Babylon and stay there until the Lord restores them.
- The yoke sign is merely political theater. - The yoke is a prophetic sign-act embodying the Lord's theological interpretation of Babylonian domination.
- Submission to Babylon means God has abandoned his people. - Submission is the path of life under discipline, and the chapter preserves hope by promising future restoration of the vessels.
- True prophecy always sounds encouraging in the short term. - In Jeremiah 27, the true word is hard, humiliating, and life-giving · the false word is comforting, proud, and deadly.
- Where am I calling resistance faith when God is actually calling me to humble submission?
- What comforting voices do I listen to because they tell me what I want to hear?
- Am I willing to accept God's discipline as the path of life?
- Do I trust the Lord's timing for restoration, or do I demand immediate relief?
- How do I test whether a hopeful message is truly from God or merely from human desire?
- Do my prayers align with God's word, or do they deny what he has revealed?
- How does Christ's invitation to take his yoke reshape my understanding of submission?
- Preach Jeremiah 27 as a confrontation of false hope. The hard word from God is the only safe word, even when it calls for humiliation and waiting.
- Use the chapter to help people receive consequences honestly rather than grasp for voices that promise immediate escape without repentance.
- Warn leaders against building a ministry culture that only accepts encouraging messages. Shepherds must help people receive correction and discipline as mercy.
- Teach the church to test spiritual claims by Scripture, fruit, and alignment with God's revealed word rather than emotional appeal.
- Jeremiah's challenge to false prophets teaches that prayer should face God's word honestly. Intercession must be truthful, not escapist.
- For those under painful providence, emphasize that submission to God's discipline is not hopelessness but the path by which life may be preserved.
- Use the yoke image to move toward Christ's yoke, showing that the Savior bears judgment and gives rest to those who submit to him.
C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–91) — public domain
The Biblical World
Chapter At A Glance
The chapter moves from Jeremiah's yoke sign, to the Lord's universal sovereignty over nations, to the command for surrounding kingdoms to serve Babylon, to the same command for Zedekiah and Judah, and finally to the warning against false prophets concerning the temple vessels.
Jeremiah 27 applies covenant judgment to Judah and the nations through the yoke of Babylon. Judah's refusal to submit would intensify covenant curses of sword, famine, and plague. Yet the chapter also preserves covenant hope because Babylon's power is temporary and the temple vessels will eventually be restored by the Lord himself.
Jeremiah 27 clarifies the gospel by exposing humanity's desire for salvation without submission. Judah wants deliverance from Babylon without receiving the Lord's discipline. False prophets offer a gospel of quick relief without repentance, obedience, or waiting. The true gospel does not bypass judgment; it resolves judgment through Christ. Jesus receives the Father's will fully, bears judgment for sinners, and frees his people from condemnation.
Therefore true hope is not found in rejecting God's hard word, but in bowing before the Lord who judges sin and saves through the cross and resurrection.
Focus Points
- Divine Sovereignty Over Nations
- Babylon as the Lord's Instrument
- Hard Obedience
- False Prophecy
- Life Through Submission
- Temple Confidence Corrected
- Appointed Restoration
- Divine Sovereignty
- Providence Over Nations
- Judgment
- Prophetic Revelation
- Human Responsibility
- Discipline
- Hope and Restoration
- Christology
Passages
Chapter opening: Jeremiah 27:1-11
Jer 27:2-8 The yoke of the king of Babylon upon the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. - Jer 27:2. "Thus said Jahveh to me: Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, Jer 27:3. And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers that are come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
Jer 27:4. And command them to say unto their masters, Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: Thus shall ye say unto your masters: Jer 27:5. I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched hand, and give it to whom it seemeth meet unto me. Jer 27:6. And how have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him.
Jer 27:7. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his land come, and many nations and great kings serve themselves of him. Jer 27:8. And the people and the kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword, with famine, and with pestilence I will visit that people, until I have made an end of them by his hand.
Jer 27:9. And ye, hearken not to your prophets, and your soothsayers, and to your dreams, to your enchanters and your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon. Jer 27:10. For they prophesy a lie unto you, that I should remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out and ye should perish. Jer 27:11. But the people that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and will serve him, that will I let remain in its land, saith Jahveh, to till it and to dwell therein."
The yoke Jeremiah is to make and lay on his neck is a plain emblem of the Babylonian yoke the nations are to bear. The words "bonds and yokes" denote together one yoke. מטות are the two wooden beams or poles of the yoke, which were fastened together by means of the מוסרות, bonds, ropes, so that the yoke might be laid on the beast’s neck; cf. Lev 26:13. That Jeremiah really put such a yoke on his neck and wore it, we see from Jer 28:10, Jer 28:12, where a false prophet breaks it for him.
He is to send the yoke to the kings of Edom, Moab, etc. , by means of envoys of those kings, who were come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah. And since Jeremiah laid a yoke on his own neck, and so carried out the commanded symbolical action in objective reality, there is no reason to doubt that he made yokes for the five kings named and gave them to their respective envoys.
Chr. B. Mich. , Hitz. , Graf, hold this to be improbable, and suppose that Jeremiah only made a yoke for himself and put it on his neck; but by appearing abroad with it, he set before the eyes of the ambassadors, the yoke that was to be laid on their kings, and, in a certain sense, emblematically gave it to them. But even though this might have sufficed to accomplish the aim of the prophecy, it is difficulty to reconcile it with the wording of the text; hence Hitz.
seeks arbitrarily to change שׁלּחתּם into שׁלּחתּה. And it is a worthless argument that Jeremiah cannot possibly have believed that the envoys would carry the yokes with them and deliver them to their masters. Why should not he have believed they would do so? And if they did not, it was their concern. The plur. "bands and yokes" may indeed mean a single yoke, but it may also mean many; and the verbs נתתּם and שׁלּחתּם, both with plural suffixes, indicate clearly that he was to make not merely one yoke for himself, but yokes for himself and the kings.
In Jer 28:10 and Jer 28:12, where one yoke is spoken of, the singular המּוטה is used; while, Jer 28:13, "yokes of wood hast thou broken," does not prove that this plural has the same force as the singular. We are not told for what purpose ambassadors from the kings named had come to Jerusalem; but we can discover what it was from the message Jeremiah gives them for their lords.
From this it appears, without a doubt, that they were come to take counsel as to a coalition with the view of throwing off the Chaldean supremacy. By God’s command Jeremiah opposes this design with the announcement, that the God of Israel, the Creator of the world and of all creatures, has given all these lands (those of the kings named in Jer 27:3) into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar; that men, and even beasts, should serve him, i.
e. , that he might exercise unbounded dominion over these lands and all that belonged to them, cf. Jer 28:14. "My servant," as in Jer 25:9. All nations are to serve him, his son and his grandson. These words simply express the long duration of the king of Babylon’s power over them, without warranting us in concluding that he was succeeded on the throne by his son and his grandson, cf.
Deu 6:2; Deu 4:25. For, as we know, Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach; then came his brother-in-law Neriglissar, who murdered Evil-Merodach, who was followed by his son Laborosoarchod, a child, murdered after a nine months’ reign by conspirators. Of these latter, Neboned ascended the throne of Babylon; and it was under his reign that the time for his land came that it should be made subject by many nations and great kings, cf.
Jer 25:14. גּם הוּא serves to strengthen the suffix on ארצו; and the suffix, like בּו, refers to Nebuchadnezzar. What is said in Jer 27:6 and Jer 27:7 is made sterner by the threatening of Jer 27:8, that the Lord will punish with sword, famine, and pestilence the people and kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar. ואת introduces a second relative clause, the את being here quite in place, since "the people and the kingdom" are accusatives made to precede absolutely, and resumed again by the 'על הגּוי ה, which belongs directly to the verb "visit."
With עד־תּמּי, cf. Jer 24:10 and אתם עד־כּלּותי, corresponding in meaning, in Jer 9:15.
Jer 27:2-8 The yoke of the king of Babylon upon the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. - Jer 27:2. "Thus said Jahveh to me: Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, Jer 27:3. And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers that are come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
Jer 27:4. And command them to say unto their masters, Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: Thus shall ye say unto your masters: Jer 27:5. I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched hand, and give it to whom it seemeth meet unto me. Jer 27:6. And how have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him.
Jer 27:7. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his land come, and many nations and great kings serve themselves of him. Jer 27:8. And the people and the kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword, with famine, and with pestilence I will visit that people, until I have made an end of them by his hand.
Jer 27:9. And ye, hearken not to your prophets, and your soothsayers, and to your dreams, to your enchanters and your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon. Jer 27:10. For they prophesy a lie unto you, that I should remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out and ye should perish. Jer 27:11. But the people that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and will serve him, that will I let remain in its land, saith Jahveh, to till it and to dwell therein."
The yoke Jeremiah is to make and lay on his neck is a plain emblem of the Babylonian yoke the nations are to bear. The words "bonds and yokes" denote together one yoke. מטות are the two wooden beams or poles of the yoke, which were fastened together by means of the מוסרות, bonds, ropes, so that the yoke might be laid on the beast’s neck; cf. Lev 26:13. That Jeremiah really put such a yoke on his neck and wore it, we see from Jer 28:10, Jer 28:12, where a false prophet breaks it for him.
He is to send the yoke to the kings of Edom, Moab, etc. , by means of envoys of those kings, who were come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah. And since Jeremiah laid a yoke on his own neck, and so carried out the commanded symbolical action in objective reality, there is no reason to doubt that he made yokes for the five kings named and gave them to their respective envoys.
Chr. B. Mich. , Hitz. , Graf, hold this to be improbable, and suppose that Jeremiah only made a yoke for himself and put it on his neck; but by appearing abroad with it, he set before the eyes of the ambassadors, the yoke that was to be laid on their kings, and, in a certain sense, emblematically gave it to them. But even though this might have sufficed to accomplish the aim of the prophecy, it is difficulty to reconcile it with the wording of the text; hence Hitz.
seeks arbitrarily to change שׁלּחתּם into שׁלּחתּה. And it is a worthless argument that Jeremiah cannot possibly have believed that the envoys would carry the yokes with them and deliver them to their masters. Why should not he have believed they would do so? And if they did not, it was their concern. The plur. "bands and yokes" may indeed mean a single yoke, but it may also mean many; and the verbs נתתּם and שׁלּחתּם, both with plural suffixes, indicate clearly that he was to make not merely one yoke for himself, but yokes for himself and the kings.
In Jer 28:10 and Jer 28:12, where one yoke is spoken of, the singular המּוטה is used; while, Jer 28:13, "yokes of wood hast thou broken," does not prove that this plural has the same force as the singular. We are not told for what purpose ambassadors from the kings named had come to Jerusalem; but we can discover what it was from the message Jeremiah gives them for their lords.
From this it appears, without a doubt, that they were come to take counsel as to a coalition with the view of throwing off the Chaldean supremacy. By God’s command Jeremiah opposes this design with the announcement, that the God of Israel, the Creator of the world and of all creatures, has given all these lands (those of the kings named in Jer 27:3) into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar; that men, and even beasts, should serve him, i.
e. , that he might exercise unbounded dominion over these lands and all that belonged to them, cf. Jer 28:14. "My servant," as in Jer 25:9. All nations are to serve him, his son and his grandson. These words simply express the long duration of the king of Babylon’s power over them, without warranting us in concluding that he was succeeded on the throne by his son and his grandson, cf.
Deu 6:2; Deu 4:25. For, as we know, Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach; then came his brother-in-law Neriglissar, who murdered Evil-Merodach, who was followed by his son Laborosoarchod, a child, murdered after a nine months’ reign by conspirators. Of these latter, Neboned ascended the throne of Babylon; and it was under his reign that the time for his land came that it should be made subject by many nations and great kings, cf.
Jer 25:14. גּם הוּא serves to strengthen the suffix on ארצו; and the suffix, like בּו, refers to Nebuchadnezzar. What is said in Jer 27:6 and Jer 27:7 is made sterner by the threatening of Jer 27:8, that the Lord will punish with sword, famine, and pestilence the people and kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar. ואת introduces a second relative clause, the את being here quite in place, since "the people and the kingdom" are accusatives made to precede absolutely, and resumed again by the 'על הגּוי ה, which belongs directly to the verb "visit."
With עד־תּמּי, cf. Jer 24:10 and אתם עד־כּלּותי, corresponding in meaning, in Jer 9:15.
Jer 27:2-8 The yoke of the king of Babylon upon the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. - Jer 27:2. "Thus said Jahveh to me: Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, Jer 27:3. And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers that are come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
Jer 27:4. And command them to say unto their masters, Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: Thus shall ye say unto your masters: Jer 27:5. I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched hand, and give it to whom it seemeth meet unto me. Jer 27:6. And how have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him.
Jer 27:7. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his land come, and many nations and great kings serve themselves of him. Jer 27:8. And the people and the kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword, with famine, and with pestilence I will visit that people, until I have made an end of them by his hand.
Jer 27:9. And ye, hearken not to your prophets, and your soothsayers, and to your dreams, to your enchanters and your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon. Jer 27:10. For they prophesy a lie unto you, that I should remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out and ye should perish. Jer 27:11. But the people that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and will serve him, that will I let remain in its land, saith Jahveh, to till it and to dwell therein."
The yoke Jeremiah is to make and lay on his neck is a plain emblem of the Babylonian yoke the nations are to bear. The words "bonds and yokes" denote together one yoke. מטות are the two wooden beams or poles of the yoke, which were fastened together by means of the מוסרות, bonds, ropes, so that the yoke might be laid on the beast’s neck; cf. Lev 26:13. That Jeremiah really put such a yoke on his neck and wore it, we see from Jer 28:10, Jer 28:12, where a false prophet breaks it for him.
He is to send the yoke to the kings of Edom, Moab, etc. , by means of envoys of those kings, who were come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah. And since Jeremiah laid a yoke on his own neck, and so carried out the commanded symbolical action in objective reality, there is no reason to doubt that he made yokes for the five kings named and gave them to their respective envoys.
Chr. B. Mich. , Hitz. , Graf, hold this to be improbable, and suppose that Jeremiah only made a yoke for himself and put it on his neck; but by appearing abroad with it, he set before the eyes of the ambassadors, the yoke that was to be laid on their kings, and, in a certain sense, emblematically gave it to them. But even though this might have sufficed to accomplish the aim of the prophecy, it is difficulty to reconcile it with the wording of the text; hence Hitz.
seeks arbitrarily to change שׁלּחתּם into שׁלּחתּה. And it is a worthless argument that Jeremiah cannot possibly have believed that the envoys would carry the yokes with them and deliver them to their masters. Why should not he have believed they would do so? And if they did not, it was their concern. The plur. "bands and yokes" may indeed mean a single yoke, but it may also mean many; and the verbs נתתּם and שׁלּחתּם, both with plural suffixes, indicate clearly that he was to make not merely one yoke for himself, but yokes for himself and the kings.
In Jer 28:10 and Jer 28:12, where one yoke is spoken of, the singular המּוטה is used; while, Jer 28:13, "yokes of wood hast thou broken," does not prove that this plural has the same force as the singular. We are not told for what purpose ambassadors from the kings named had come to Jerusalem; but we can discover what it was from the message Jeremiah gives them for their lords.
From this it appears, without a doubt, that they were come to take counsel as to a coalition with the view of throwing off the Chaldean supremacy. By God’s command Jeremiah opposes this design with the announcement, that the God of Israel, the Creator of the world and of all creatures, has given all these lands (those of the kings named in Jer 27:3) into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar; that men, and even beasts, should serve him, i.
e. , that he might exercise unbounded dominion over these lands and all that belonged to them, cf. Jer 28:14. "My servant," as in Jer 25:9. All nations are to serve him, his son and his grandson. These words simply express the long duration of the king of Babylon’s power over them, without warranting us in concluding that he was succeeded on the throne by his son and his grandson, cf.
Deu 6:2; Deu 4:25. For, as we know, Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach; then came his brother-in-law Neriglissar, who murdered Evil-Merodach, who was followed by his son Laborosoarchod, a child, murdered after a nine months’ reign by conspirators. Of these latter, Neboned ascended the throne of Babylon; and it was under his reign that the time for his land came that it should be made subject by many nations and great kings, cf.
Jer 25:14. גּם הוּא serves to strengthen the suffix on ארצו; and the suffix, like בּו, refers to Nebuchadnezzar. What is said in Jer 27:6 and Jer 27:7 is made sterner by the threatening of Jer 27:8, that the Lord will punish with sword, famine, and pestilence the people and kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar. ואת introduces a second relative clause, the את being here quite in place, since "the people and the kingdom" are accusatives made to precede absolutely, and resumed again by the 'על הגּוי ה, which belongs directly to the verb "visit."
With עד־תּמּי, cf. Jer 24:10 and אתם עד־כּלּותי, corresponding in meaning, in Jer 9:15.
Jer 27:9-10 Therefore they must not hearken to their prophets, soothsayers, and sorcerers, that prophesy the contrary. The mention of dreams between the prophets and soothsayers on the one hand, and the enchanters and sorcerers on the other, strikes us as singular. It is, however, to be explained from the fact, that prophets and soothsayers often feigned dreams and dream-revelations (cf.
Jer 23:25); and other persons, too, might have dreams, and could give them out as significant. Cf. Jer 29:8, where dreams are expressly distinguished from the discourse of the prophets and soothsayers. Whether the reckoning of five kinds of heathen prophecy has anything to do with the naming of five kings (Hitz.) , appears to us to be questionable; but it is certain that Jeremiah does not design to specify five different, i.
e. , distinct and separate, kinds of heathen divination. For there was in reality no such distinction. Heathen prophecy was closely allied with sorcery ad soothsaying; cf. Deu 18:9. , and Oehler on the Relation of Old Testament Prophecy to Heathen Divination (Tüb. 1861). The enumeration of the multifarious means and methods for forecasting the future is designed to show the multitude of delusive schemes for supplying the lack of true and real divine inspiration.
כּשּׁפים, equivalent to מכשּׁפים , the same which in Deu 18:10 is used along with מעונן. The explanation of the last-mentioned word is disputed. Some take it from ענן, cloud = cloud-maker or storm-raiser; others from עין, eye = fascinator, the idea being that of bewitching with the evil eye; see on Lev 19:26. The use of the word along with מנחשׁ וּמכשּׁף, Deu 18:10, favours the latter rendering, whereas no passage in which the word is used in the Old Testament supports the sig.
storm-raiser. "That I should remove you," as is shown by the continuation of the infinitive by והדּחתּי. The false prophets delude the people, inducing them to rise in rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, contrary to God’s will, and thus simply bringing about their expulsion from their land, i. e. , removal into banishment. למען shows, as frequently, that the inevitable consequence of these persons’ proceedings is designed by them.
Jer 27:9-10 Therefore they must not hearken to their prophets, soothsayers, and sorcerers, that prophesy the contrary. The mention of dreams between the prophets and soothsayers on the one hand, and the enchanters and sorcerers on the other, strikes us as singular. It is, however, to be explained from the fact, that prophets and soothsayers often feigned dreams and dream-revelations (cf.
Jer 23:25); and other persons, too, might have dreams, and could give them out as significant. Cf. Jer 29:8, where dreams are expressly distinguished from the discourse of the prophets and soothsayers. Whether the reckoning of five kinds of heathen prophecy has anything to do with the naming of five kings (Hitz.) , appears to us to be questionable; but it is certain that Jeremiah does not design to specify five different, i.
e. , distinct and separate, kinds of heathen divination. For there was in reality no such distinction. Heathen prophecy was closely allied with sorcery ad soothsaying; cf. Deu 18:9. , and Oehler on the Relation of Old Testament Prophecy to Heathen Divination (Tüb. 1861). The enumeration of the multifarious means and methods for forecasting the future is designed to show the multitude of delusive schemes for supplying the lack of true and real divine inspiration.
כּשּׁפים, equivalent to מכשּׁפים , the same which in Deu 18:10 is used along with מעונן. The explanation of the last-mentioned word is disputed. Some take it from ענן, cloud = cloud-maker or storm-raiser; others from עין, eye = fascinator, the idea being that of bewitching with the evil eye; see on Lev 19:26. The use of the word along with מנחשׁ וּמכשּׁף, Deu 18:10, favours the latter rendering, whereas no passage in which the word is used in the Old Testament supports the sig.
storm-raiser. "That I should remove you," as is shown by the continuation of the infinitive by והדּחתּי. The false prophets delude the people, inducing them to rise in rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, contrary to God’s will, and thus simply bringing about their expulsion from their land, i. e. , removal into banishment. למען shows, as frequently, that the inevitable consequence of these persons’ proceedings is designed by them.
Jer 27:11 The people, on the other hand, that bends under the yoke of the king of Babylon shall remain in its own land. For the great Asiatic conquerors contented themselves, in the first place, with thoroughly subjecting the vanquished nations and imposing a tribute; only in the case of stubborn resistance or of insurrection on the part of the conquered did they proceed to destroy the kingdoms and deport their populations.
This Zedekiah and the ambassadors that had come to him might have learnt from Nebuchadnezzar’s course of action after the capture of Jerusalem under Jehoiachin, as compared with that in Jehoiakim’s time, had they not been utterly infatuated by the lying spirit of the false prophets, whose prophecies accommodated themselves to the wishes of the natural heart.
Jer 27:12-15 To King Zedekiah Jeremiah addressed words of like import, saying: "Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and ye shall live. Jer 27:13. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by sword, famine, and pestilence, as Jahveh hath spoken concerning the people that will not serve the king of Babylon? Jer 27:14.
And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. Jer 27:15. For I have not sent them, saith Jahveh, and they prophesy in my name falsely, that I might drive you out and ye might perish, ye and the prophets that prophesy unto you." - The discourse addressed to the king in the plural, "bring your necks," etc.
, is explained by the fact that, as Jer 27:13 shows, in and along with the king of his people are addressed. The imperative וחיוּ intimates the consequence of the preceding command. Jer 27:13 gives the application of the threat in Jer 27:8 to King Zedekiah and his people; and Jer 27:14. gives the warning corresponding to Jer 27:9 and Jer 27:10 against the sayings of the lying prophets; cf.
Jer 14:14 and Jer 23:16, Jer 23:21.
Jer 27:12-15 To King Zedekiah Jeremiah addressed words of like import, saying: "Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and ye shall live. Jer 27:13. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by sword, famine, and pestilence, as Jahveh hath spoken concerning the people that will not serve the king of Babylon? Jer 27:14.
And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. Jer 27:15. For I have not sent them, saith Jahveh, and they prophesy in my name falsely, that I might drive you out and ye might perish, ye and the prophets that prophesy unto you." - The discourse addressed to the king in the plural, "bring your necks," etc.
, is explained by the fact that, as Jer 27:13 shows, in and along with the king of his people are addressed. The imperative וחיוּ intimates the consequence of the preceding command. Jer 27:13 gives the application of the threat in Jer 27:8 to King Zedekiah and his people; and Jer 27:14. gives the warning corresponding to Jer 27:9 and Jer 27:10 against the sayings of the lying prophets; cf.
Jer 14:14 and Jer 23:16, Jer 23:21.
Jer 27:12-15 To King Zedekiah Jeremiah addressed words of like import, saying: "Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and ye shall live. Jer 27:13. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by sword, famine, and pestilence, as Jahveh hath spoken concerning the people that will not serve the king of Babylon? Jer 27:14.
And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. Jer 27:15. For I have not sent them, saith Jahveh, and they prophesy in my name falsely, that I might drive you out and ye might perish, ye and the prophets that prophesy unto you." - The discourse addressed to the king in the plural, "bring your necks," etc.
, is explained by the fact that, as Jer 27:13 shows, in and along with the king of his people are addressed. The imperative וחיוּ intimates the consequence of the preceding command. Jer 27:13 gives the application of the threat in Jer 27:8 to King Zedekiah and his people; and Jer 27:14. gives the warning corresponding to Jer 27:9 and Jer 27:10 against the sayings of the lying prophets; cf.
Jer 14:14 and Jer 23:16, Jer 23:21.
Jer 27:12-15 To King Zedekiah Jeremiah addressed words of like import, saying: "Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and ye shall live. Jer 27:13. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by sword, famine, and pestilence, as Jahveh hath spoken concerning the people that will not serve the king of Babylon? Jer 27:14.
And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. Jer 27:15. For I have not sent them, saith Jahveh, and they prophesy in my name falsely, that I might drive you out and ye might perish, ye and the prophets that prophesy unto you." - The discourse addressed to the king in the plural, "bring your necks," etc.
, is explained by the fact that, as Jer 27:13 shows, in and along with the king of his people are addressed. The imperative וחיוּ intimates the consequence of the preceding command. Jer 27:13 gives the application of the threat in Jer 27:8 to King Zedekiah and his people; and Jer 27:14. gives the warning corresponding to Jer 27:9 and Jer 27:10 against the sayings of the lying prophets; cf.
Jer 14:14 and Jer 23:16, Jer 23:21.
Jer 27:16-22 The priests and all the people are warned to give no belief to the false prophesyings of a speedy restoration of the vessels carried off to Babylon. - Jer 27:16. "Thus hath Jahveh said: Hearken not to the sayings of your prophets that prophesy unto you: Behold, the vessels of Jahveh’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Jer 27:17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live; wherefore should this city become a desert? Jer 27:18. But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jahveh be with them, let them now make intercession to Jahveh of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the king’s house, and in Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. Jer 27:19.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts concerning the pillars and the [brazen] sea and the frames, and concerning the other vessels that are left in this city, Jer 27:20. Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not away when he carried away captive Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Jer 27:21.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: Jer 27:22. To Babylon shall they be brought, and there shall they remain until the day that I visit them, saith Jahveh, and carry them up, and bring them back to this place." Here Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah warning that the prophecies of a speedy end to Chaldean bondage are lies, and that confidence in such lies will hurry on the ruin of the state.
He at the same time disabuses the priests of the hope raised by the false prophets, that the vessels of the temple and of the palace that had been carried off at the time Jechoniah was taken to Babylon will very soon be restored; and assures them that such statements can only procure the destruction of the city, since their tendency is to seduce king and people to rebellion, and rebellion against the king of Babylon means the destruction of Jerusalem - a prophecy that was but too soon fulfilled. The vessels of the temple, Jer 27:16, are the golden vessels Solomon caused to be made (1Ki 7:48.)
, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon, 2Ki 24:13. מבּבלה, from towards Babylon, i. e. , from Babylon, whither they had been taken; cf. Ew. §216, b . "Now shortly," lit. , hastily or speedily, i. e. , ere long, cf. Jer 28:3, where the prophet Hananiah foretells the restoration of them within two years, in opposition to Jeremiah’s affirmation that the exile will last seventy years.
To show more clearly the irreconcilableness of his own position with that of the false prophets, Jeremiah further tells what true prophets, who have the word of Jahveh, would do. They would betake themselves in intercession to the Lord, seeking to avert yet further calamity or punishment, as all the prophets sent by God, including Jeremiah himself, did, cf. Jer 7:16.
They should endeavour by intercession to prevent the vessels that are still left in Jerusalem from being taken away. The extraordinary expression לבלתּי באוּ has probably come from the omission of Jod from the verb, which should be read יבאוּ. As it stands, it can only be imperative, which is certainly not suitable. לבלתּי is usually construed with the infinitive, but occasionally also with the temp.
fin . ; with the imperf. , which is what the sense here demands, in Exo 20:20; with the perf. , Jer 23:14. - Of the temple furniture still remaining, he mentions in Jer 27:19 as most valuable the two golden pillars, Jachin and Boaz , 1Ki 7:15. , the brazen sea, 1Ki 7:23. , and המּכונות, the artistic waggon frames for the basins in which to wash the sacrificial flesh, 1Ki 7:27.
; and he declares they too shall be carried to Babylon, as happened at the destruction of Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:13. (בּגלותו for בּהגלותו.)
Jer 27:16-22 The priests and all the people are warned to give no belief to the false prophesyings of a speedy restoration of the vessels carried off to Babylon. - Jer 27:16. "Thus hath Jahveh said: Hearken not to the sayings of your prophets that prophesy unto you: Behold, the vessels of Jahveh’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Jer 27:17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live; wherefore should this city become a desert? Jer 27:18. But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jahveh be with them, let them now make intercession to Jahveh of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the king’s house, and in Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. Jer 27:19.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts concerning the pillars and the [brazen] sea and the frames, and concerning the other vessels that are left in this city, Jer 27:20. Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not away when he carried away captive Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Jer 27:21.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: Jer 27:22. To Babylon shall they be brought, and there shall they remain until the day that I visit them, saith Jahveh, and carry them up, and bring them back to this place." Here Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah warning that the prophecies of a speedy end to Chaldean bondage are lies, and that confidence in such lies will hurry on the ruin of the state.
He at the same time disabuses the priests of the hope raised by the false prophets, that the vessels of the temple and of the palace that had been carried off at the time Jechoniah was taken to Babylon will very soon be restored; and assures them that such statements can only procure the destruction of the city, since their tendency is to seduce king and people to rebellion, and rebellion against the king of Babylon means the destruction of Jerusalem - a prophecy that was but too soon fulfilled. The vessels of the temple, Jer 27:16, are the golden vessels Solomon caused to be made (1Ki 7:48.)
, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon, 2Ki 24:13. מבּבלה, from towards Babylon, i. e. , from Babylon, whither they had been taken; cf. Ew. §216, b . "Now shortly," lit. , hastily or speedily, i. e. , ere long, cf. Jer 28:3, where the prophet Hananiah foretells the restoration of them within two years, in opposition to Jeremiah’s affirmation that the exile will last seventy years.
To show more clearly the irreconcilableness of his own position with that of the false prophets, Jeremiah further tells what true prophets, who have the word of Jahveh, would do. They would betake themselves in intercession to the Lord, seeking to avert yet further calamity or punishment, as all the prophets sent by God, including Jeremiah himself, did, cf. Jer 7:16.
They should endeavour by intercession to prevent the vessels that are still left in Jerusalem from being taken away. The extraordinary expression לבלתּי באוּ has probably come from the omission of Jod from the verb, which should be read יבאוּ. As it stands, it can only be imperative, which is certainly not suitable. לבלתּי is usually construed with the infinitive, but occasionally also with the temp.
fin . ; with the imperf. , which is what the sense here demands, in Exo 20:20; with the perf. , Jer 23:14. - Of the temple furniture still remaining, he mentions in Jer 27:19 as most valuable the two golden pillars, Jachin and Boaz , 1Ki 7:15. , the brazen sea, 1Ki 7:23. , and המּכונות, the artistic waggon frames for the basins in which to wash the sacrificial flesh, 1Ki 7:27.
; and he declares they too shall be carried to Babylon, as happened at the destruction of Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:13. (בּגלותו for בּהגלותו.)
Jer 27:16-22 The priests and all the people are warned to give no belief to the false prophesyings of a speedy restoration of the vessels carried off to Babylon. - Jer 27:16. "Thus hath Jahveh said: Hearken not to the sayings of your prophets that prophesy unto you: Behold, the vessels of Jahveh’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Jer 27:17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live; wherefore should this city become a desert? Jer 27:18. But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jahveh be with them, let them now make intercession to Jahveh of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the king’s house, and in Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. Jer 27:19.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts concerning the pillars and the [brazen] sea and the frames, and concerning the other vessels that are left in this city, Jer 27:20. Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not away when he carried away captive Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Jer 27:21.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: Jer 27:22. To Babylon shall they be brought, and there shall they remain until the day that I visit them, saith Jahveh, and carry them up, and bring them back to this place." Here Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah warning that the prophecies of a speedy end to Chaldean bondage are lies, and that confidence in such lies will hurry on the ruin of the state.
He at the same time disabuses the priests of the hope raised by the false prophets, that the vessels of the temple and of the palace that had been carried off at the time Jechoniah was taken to Babylon will very soon be restored; and assures them that such statements can only procure the destruction of the city, since their tendency is to seduce king and people to rebellion, and rebellion against the king of Babylon means the destruction of Jerusalem - a prophecy that was but too soon fulfilled. The vessels of the temple, Jer 27:16, are the golden vessels Solomon caused to be made (1Ki 7:48.)
, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon, 2Ki 24:13. מבּבלה, from towards Babylon, i. e. , from Babylon, whither they had been taken; cf. Ew. §216, b . "Now shortly," lit. , hastily or speedily, i. e. , ere long, cf. Jer 28:3, where the prophet Hananiah foretells the restoration of them within two years, in opposition to Jeremiah’s affirmation that the exile will last seventy years.
To show more clearly the irreconcilableness of his own position with that of the false prophets, Jeremiah further tells what true prophets, who have the word of Jahveh, would do. They would betake themselves in intercession to the Lord, seeking to avert yet further calamity or punishment, as all the prophets sent by God, including Jeremiah himself, did, cf. Jer 7:16.
They should endeavour by intercession to prevent the vessels that are still left in Jerusalem from being taken away. The extraordinary expression לבלתּי באוּ has probably come from the omission of Jod from the verb, which should be read יבאוּ. As it stands, it can only be imperative, which is certainly not suitable. לבלתּי is usually construed with the infinitive, but occasionally also with the temp.
fin . ; with the imperf. , which is what the sense here demands, in Exo 20:20; with the perf. , Jer 23:14. - Of the temple furniture still remaining, he mentions in Jer 27:19 as most valuable the two golden pillars, Jachin and Boaz , 1Ki 7:15. , the brazen sea, 1Ki 7:23. , and המּכונות, the artistic waggon frames for the basins in which to wash the sacrificial flesh, 1Ki 7:27.
; and he declares they too shall be carried to Babylon, as happened at the destruction of Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:13. (בּגלותו for בּהגלותו.)
Jer 27:16-22 The priests and all the people are warned to give no belief to the false prophesyings of a speedy restoration of the vessels carried off to Babylon. - Jer 27:16. "Thus hath Jahveh said: Hearken not to the sayings of your prophets that prophesy unto you: Behold, the vessels of Jahveh’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Jer 27:17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live; wherefore should this city become a desert? Jer 27:18. But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jahveh be with them, let them now make intercession to Jahveh of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the king’s house, and in Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. Jer 27:19.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts concerning the pillars and the [brazen] sea and the frames, and concerning the other vessels that are left in this city, Jer 27:20. Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not away when he carried away captive Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Jer 27:21.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: Jer 27:22. To Babylon shall they be brought, and there shall they remain until the day that I visit them, saith Jahveh, and carry them up, and bring them back to this place." Here Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah warning that the prophecies of a speedy end to Chaldean bondage are lies, and that confidence in such lies will hurry on the ruin of the state.
He at the same time disabuses the priests of the hope raised by the false prophets, that the vessels of the temple and of the palace that had been carried off at the time Jechoniah was taken to Babylon will very soon be restored; and assures them that such statements can only procure the destruction of the city, since their tendency is to seduce king and people to rebellion, and rebellion against the king of Babylon means the destruction of Jerusalem - a prophecy that was but too soon fulfilled. The vessels of the temple, Jer 27:16, are the golden vessels Solomon caused to be made (1Ki 7:48.)
, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon, 2Ki 24:13. מבּבלה, from towards Babylon, i. e. , from Babylon, whither they had been taken; cf. Ew. §216, b . "Now shortly," lit. , hastily or speedily, i. e. , ere long, cf. Jer 28:3, where the prophet Hananiah foretells the restoration of them within two years, in opposition to Jeremiah’s affirmation that the exile will last seventy years.
To show more clearly the irreconcilableness of his own position with that of the false prophets, Jeremiah further tells what true prophets, who have the word of Jahveh, would do. They would betake themselves in intercession to the Lord, seeking to avert yet further calamity or punishment, as all the prophets sent by God, including Jeremiah himself, did, cf. Jer 7:16.
They should endeavour by intercession to prevent the vessels that are still left in Jerusalem from being taken away. The extraordinary expression לבלתּי באוּ has probably come from the omission of Jod from the verb, which should be read יבאוּ. As it stands, it can only be imperative, which is certainly not suitable. לבלתּי is usually construed with the infinitive, but occasionally also with the temp.
fin . ; with the imperf. , which is what the sense here demands, in Exo 20:20; with the perf. , Jer 23:14. - Of the temple furniture still remaining, he mentions in Jer 27:19 as most valuable the two golden pillars, Jachin and Boaz , 1Ki 7:15. , the brazen sea, 1Ki 7:23. , and המּכונות, the artistic waggon frames for the basins in which to wash the sacrificial flesh, 1Ki 7:27.
; and he declares they too shall be carried to Babylon, as happened at the destruction of Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:13. (בּגלותו for בּהגלותו.)
Jer 27:16-22 The priests and all the people are warned to give no belief to the false prophesyings of a speedy restoration of the vessels carried off to Babylon. - Jer 27:16. "Thus hath Jahveh said: Hearken not to the sayings of your prophets that prophesy unto you: Behold, the vessels of Jahveh’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Jer 27:17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live; wherefore should this city become a desert? Jer 27:18. But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jahveh be with them, let them now make intercession to Jahveh of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the king’s house, and in Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. Jer 27:19.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts concerning the pillars and the [brazen] sea and the frames, and concerning the other vessels that are left in this city, Jer 27:20. Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not away when he carried away captive Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Jer 27:21.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: Jer 27:22. To Babylon shall they be brought, and there shall they remain until the day that I visit them, saith Jahveh, and carry them up, and bring them back to this place." Here Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah warning that the prophecies of a speedy end to Chaldean bondage are lies, and that confidence in such lies will hurry on the ruin of the state.
He at the same time disabuses the priests of the hope raised by the false prophets, that the vessels of the temple and of the palace that had been carried off at the time Jechoniah was taken to Babylon will very soon be restored; and assures them that such statements can only procure the destruction of the city, since their tendency is to seduce king and people to rebellion, and rebellion against the king of Babylon means the destruction of Jerusalem - a prophecy that was but too soon fulfilled. The vessels of the temple, Jer 27:16, are the golden vessels Solomon caused to be made (1Ki 7:48.)
, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon, 2Ki 24:13. מבּבלה, from towards Babylon, i. e. , from Babylon, whither they had been taken; cf. Ew. §216, b . "Now shortly," lit. , hastily or speedily, i. e. , ere long, cf. Jer 28:3, where the prophet Hananiah foretells the restoration of them within two years, in opposition to Jeremiah’s affirmation that the exile will last seventy years.
To show more clearly the irreconcilableness of his own position with that of the false prophets, Jeremiah further tells what true prophets, who have the word of Jahveh, would do. They would betake themselves in intercession to the Lord, seeking to avert yet further calamity or punishment, as all the prophets sent by God, including Jeremiah himself, did, cf. Jer 7:16.
They should endeavour by intercession to prevent the vessels that are still left in Jerusalem from being taken away. The extraordinary expression לבלתּי באוּ has probably come from the omission of Jod from the verb, which should be read יבאוּ. As it stands, it can only be imperative, which is certainly not suitable. לבלתּי is usually construed with the infinitive, but occasionally also with the temp.
fin . ; with the imperf. , which is what the sense here demands, in Exo 20:20; with the perf. , Jer 23:14. - Of the temple furniture still remaining, he mentions in Jer 27:19 as most valuable the two golden pillars, Jachin and Boaz , 1Ki 7:15. , the brazen sea, 1Ki 7:23. , and המּכונות, the artistic waggon frames for the basins in which to wash the sacrificial flesh, 1Ki 7:27.
; and he declares they too shall be carried to Babylon, as happened at the destruction of Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:13. (בּגלותו for בּהגלותו.)
Jer 27:16-22 The priests and all the people are warned to give no belief to the false prophesyings of a speedy restoration of the vessels carried off to Babylon. - Jer 27:16. "Thus hath Jahveh said: Hearken not to the sayings of your prophets that prophesy unto you: Behold, the vessels of Jahveh’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Jer 27:17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live; wherefore should this city become a desert? Jer 27:18. But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jahveh be with them, let them now make intercession to Jahveh of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the king’s house, and in Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. Jer 27:19.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts concerning the pillars and the [brazen] sea and the frames, and concerning the other vessels that are left in this city, Jer 27:20. Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not away when he carried away captive Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Jer 27:21.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: Jer 27:22. To Babylon shall they be brought, and there shall they remain until the day that I visit them, saith Jahveh, and carry them up, and bring them back to this place." Here Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah warning that the prophecies of a speedy end to Chaldean bondage are lies, and that confidence in such lies will hurry on the ruin of the state.
He at the same time disabuses the priests of the hope raised by the false prophets, that the vessels of the temple and of the palace that had been carried off at the time Jechoniah was taken to Babylon will very soon be restored; and assures them that such statements can only procure the destruction of the city, since their tendency is to seduce king and people to rebellion, and rebellion against the king of Babylon means the destruction of Jerusalem - a prophecy that was but too soon fulfilled. The vessels of the temple, Jer 27:16, are the golden vessels Solomon caused to be made (1Ki 7:48.)
, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon, 2Ki 24:13. מבּבלה, from towards Babylon, i. e. , from Babylon, whither they had been taken; cf. Ew. §216, b . "Now shortly," lit. , hastily or speedily, i. e. , ere long, cf. Jer 28:3, where the prophet Hananiah foretells the restoration of them within two years, in opposition to Jeremiah’s affirmation that the exile will last seventy years.
To show more clearly the irreconcilableness of his own position with that of the false prophets, Jeremiah further tells what true prophets, who have the word of Jahveh, would do. They would betake themselves in intercession to the Lord, seeking to avert yet further calamity or punishment, as all the prophets sent by God, including Jeremiah himself, did, cf. Jer 7:16.
They should endeavour by intercession to prevent the vessels that are still left in Jerusalem from being taken away. The extraordinary expression לבלתּי באוּ has probably come from the omission of Jod from the verb, which should be read יבאוּ. As it stands, it can only be imperative, which is certainly not suitable. לבלתּי is usually construed with the infinitive, but occasionally also with the temp.
fin . ; with the imperf. , which is what the sense here demands, in Exo 20:20; with the perf. , Jer 23:14. - Of the temple furniture still remaining, he mentions in Jer 27:19 as most valuable the two golden pillars, Jachin and Boaz , 1Ki 7:15. , the brazen sea, 1Ki 7:23. , and המּכונות, the artistic waggon frames for the basins in which to wash the sacrificial flesh, 1Ki 7:27.
; and he declares they too shall be carried to Babylon, as happened at the destruction of Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:13. (בּגלותו for בּהגלותו.)
Jer 27:16-22 The priests and all the people are warned to give no belief to the false prophesyings of a speedy restoration of the vessels carried off to Babylon. - Jer 27:16. "Thus hath Jahveh said: Hearken not to the sayings of your prophets that prophesy unto you: Behold, the vessels of Jahveh’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Jer 27:17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live; wherefore should this city become a desert? Jer 27:18. But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jahveh be with them, let them now make intercession to Jahveh of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the king’s house, and in Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. Jer 27:19.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts concerning the pillars and the [brazen] sea and the frames, and concerning the other vessels that are left in this city, Jer 27:20. Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not away when he carried away captive Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Jer 27:21.
For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jahveh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: Jer 27:22. To Babylon shall they be brought, and there shall they remain until the day that I visit them, saith Jahveh, and carry them up, and bring them back to this place." Here Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah warning that the prophecies of a speedy end to Chaldean bondage are lies, and that confidence in such lies will hurry on the ruin of the state.
He at the same time disabuses the priests of the hope raised by the false prophets, that the vessels of the temple and of the palace that had been carried off at the time Jechoniah was taken to Babylon will very soon be restored; and assures them that such statements can only procure the destruction of the city, since their tendency is to seduce king and people to rebellion, and rebellion against the king of Babylon means the destruction of Jerusalem - a prophecy that was but too soon fulfilled. The vessels of the temple, Jer 27:16, are the golden vessels Solomon caused to be made (1Ki 7:48.)
, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon, 2Ki 24:13. מבּבלה, from towards Babylon, i. e. , from Babylon, whither they had been taken; cf. Ew. §216, b . "Now shortly," lit. , hastily or speedily, i. e. , ere long, cf. Jer 28:3, where the prophet Hananiah foretells the restoration of them within two years, in opposition to Jeremiah’s affirmation that the exile will last seventy years.
To show more clearly the irreconcilableness of his own position with that of the false prophets, Jeremiah further tells what true prophets, who have the word of Jahveh, would do. They would betake themselves in intercession to the Lord, seeking to avert yet further calamity or punishment, as all the prophets sent by God, including Jeremiah himself, did, cf. Jer 7:16.
They should endeavour by intercession to prevent the vessels that are still left in Jerusalem from being taken away. The extraordinary expression לבלתּי באוּ has probably come from the omission of Jod from the verb, which should be read יבאוּ. As it stands, it can only be imperative, which is certainly not suitable. לבלתּי is usually construed with the infinitive, but occasionally also with the temp.
fin . ; with the imperf. , which is what the sense here demands, in Exo 20:20; with the perf. , Jer 23:14. - Of the temple furniture still remaining, he mentions in Jer 27:19 as most valuable the two golden pillars, Jachin and Boaz , 1Ki 7:15. , the brazen sea, 1Ki 7:23. , and המּכונות, the artistic waggon frames for the basins in which to wash the sacrificial flesh, 1Ki 7:27.
; and he declares they too shall be carried to Babylon, as happened at the destruction of Jerusalem, 2Ki 25:13. (בּגלותו for בּהגלותו.)
Jer 28:1-4 Against the False Prophet Hananiah. - Jer 28:1-4. This man’s prophecy. At the same time, namely in the fourth year of Zedekiah (cf. rem. on Jer 27:1. The Chet . בּשׁנת is supported by Jer 46:2 and Jer 51:59; the Keri בּשּׁנה is an unnecessary alteration), in the fifth month, spake Hananiah the son of Azur , - a prophet not otherwise known, belonging to Gibeon, a city of the priests (Jos 21:17; now Jib , a large village two hours north-west of Jerusalem; see on Jos 9:3), possibly therefore himself a priest - in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and people assembled there, saying: Jer 28:2.
"Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: I break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Jer 28:3. Within two years I bring again into this place the vessels of the house of Jahveh, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. Jer 28:4. And Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, bring I again to this place, saith Jahveh; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon."
- The false prophet endeavours to stamp on his prediction the impress of a true, God-inspired prophecy, by copying the title of God, so often used by Jeremiah, "Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel," and by giving the utmost definiteness to his promise: "within two years" (in contrast to Jeremiah’s seventy years). "Two years" is made as definite as possible by the addition of ימים: two years in days, i.
e. , in two full years. See on Gen 41:1; 2Sa 13:23.
Jer 28:1-4 Against the False Prophet Hananiah. - Jer 28:1-4. This man’s prophecy. At the same time, namely in the fourth year of Zedekiah (cf. rem. on Jer 27:1. The Chet . בּשׁנת is supported by Jer 46:2 and Jer 51:59; the Keri בּשּׁנה is an unnecessary alteration), in the fifth month, spake Hananiah the son of Azur , - a prophet not otherwise known, belonging to Gibeon, a city of the priests (Jos 21:17; now Jib , a large village two hours north-west of Jerusalem; see on Jos 9:3), possibly therefore himself a priest - in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and people assembled there, saying: Jer 28:2.
"Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: I break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Jer 28:3. Within two years I bring again into this place the vessels of the house of Jahveh, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. Jer 28:4. And Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, bring I again to this place, saith Jahveh; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon."
- The false prophet endeavours to stamp on his prediction the impress of a true, God-inspired prophecy, by copying the title of God, so often used by Jeremiah, "Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel," and by giving the utmost definiteness to his promise: "within two years" (in contrast to Jeremiah’s seventy years). "Two years" is made as definite as possible by the addition of ימים: two years in days, i.
e. , in two full years. See on Gen 41:1; 2Sa 13:23.
Jer 28:1-4 Against the False Prophet Hananiah. - Jer 28:1-4. This man’s prophecy. At the same time, namely in the fourth year of Zedekiah (cf. rem. on Jer 27:1. The Chet . בּשׁנת is supported by Jer 46:2 and Jer 51:59; the Keri בּשּׁנה is an unnecessary alteration), in the fifth month, spake Hananiah the son of Azur , - a prophet not otherwise known, belonging to Gibeon, a city of the priests (Jos 21:17; now Jib , a large village two hours north-west of Jerusalem; see on Jos 9:3), possibly therefore himself a priest - in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and people assembled there, saying: Jer 28:2.
"Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: I break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Jer 28:3. Within two years I bring again into this place the vessels of the house of Jahveh, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. Jer 28:4. And Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, bring I again to this place, saith Jahveh; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon."
- The false prophet endeavours to stamp on his prediction the impress of a true, God-inspired prophecy, by copying the title of God, so often used by Jeremiah, "Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel," and by giving the utmost definiteness to his promise: "within two years" (in contrast to Jeremiah’s seventy years). "Two years" is made as definite as possible by the addition of ימים: two years in days, i.
e. , in two full years. See on Gen 41:1; 2Sa 13:23.
Jer 28:1-4 Against the False Prophet Hananiah. - Jer 28:1-4. This man’s prophecy. At the same time, namely in the fourth year of Zedekiah (cf. rem. on Jer 27:1. The Chet . בּשׁנת is supported by Jer 46:2 and Jer 51:59; the Keri בּשּׁנה is an unnecessary alteration), in the fifth month, spake Hananiah the son of Azur , - a prophet not otherwise known, belonging to Gibeon, a city of the priests (Jos 21:17; now Jib , a large village two hours north-west of Jerusalem; see on Jos 9:3), possibly therefore himself a priest - in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and people assembled there, saying: Jer 28:2.
"Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: I break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Jer 28:3. Within two years I bring again into this place the vessels of the house of Jahveh, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. Jer 28:4. And Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, bring I again to this place, saith Jahveh; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon."
- The false prophet endeavours to stamp on his prediction the impress of a true, God-inspired prophecy, by copying the title of God, so often used by Jeremiah, "Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel," and by giving the utmost definiteness to his promise: "within two years" (in contrast to Jeremiah’s seventy years). "Two years" is made as definite as possible by the addition of ימים: two years in days, i.
e. , in two full years. See on Gen 41:1; 2Sa 13:23.