mh_parser/vol_split/24 - Jeremiah/Chapter 52.xml

<div2 id="Jer.liii" n="liii" next="Lam" prev="Jer.lii" progress="47.10%" title="Chapter LII">
<h2 id="Jer.liii-p0.1">J E R E M I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Jer.liii-p0.2">CHAP. LII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jer.liii-p1" shownumber="no">History is the best expositor of prophecy; and
therefore, for the better understanding of the prophecies of this
book which relate to the destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom
of Judah, we are here furnished with an account of that sad event.
It is much he same with the history we had <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.24.1-2Kgs.25.30" parsed="|2Kgs|24|1|25|30" passage="2Ki 24:1-25:30">2 Kings xxiv. and xxv.</scripRef>, and many of the
particulars we had before in that book, but the matter is here
repeated and put together, to give light to the book of the
Lamentations, which follows next, and to serve as a key to it. That
article in the close concerning the advancement of Jehoiachin in
his captivity, which happened after Jeremiah's time, gives colour
to the conjecture of those who suppose that this chapter was not
written by Jeremiah himself, but by some man divinely inspired
among those in captivity, for a constant memorandum to those who in
Babylon preferred Jerusalem above their chief joy. In this chapter
we have, I. The bad reign of Zedekiah, very bad in regard both of
sin and of punishment, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.1-Jer.52.3" parsed="|Jer|52|1|52|3" passage="Jer 52:1-3">ver.
1-3</scripRef>. II. The besieging and taking of Jerusalem by the
Chaldeans, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.4-Jer.52.7" parsed="|Jer|52|4|52|7" passage="Jer 52:4-7">ver. 4-7</scripRef>. III.
The severe usage which Zedekiah and the princes met with, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.8-Jer.52.11" parsed="|Jer|52|8|52|11" passage="Jer 52:8-11">ver. 8-11</scripRef>. IV. The destruction of
the temple and the city, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.12-Jer.52.14" parsed="|Jer|52|12|52|14" passage="Jer 52:12-14">ver.
12-14</scripRef>. V. The captivity of the people (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.15-Jer.52.16" parsed="|Jer|52|15|52|16" passage="Jer 52:15,16">ver. 15, 16</scripRef>) and the numbers of
those that were carried away into captivity, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.28-Jer.52.30" parsed="|Jer|52|28|52|30" passage="Jer 52:28-30">ver. 28-30</scripRef>. VI. The carrying off of the
plunder of the temple, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.17-Jer.52.23" parsed="|Jer|52|17|52|23" passage="Jer 52:17-23">ver.
17-23</scripRef>. VII. The slaughter of the priests, and some other
great men, in cold blood, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.24-Jer.52.27" parsed="|Jer|52|24|52|27" passage="Jer 52:24-27">ver.
24-27</scripRef>. VIII. The better days which king Jehoiachin lived
to see in the latter end of his time, after the death of
Nebuchadnezzar, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.31-Jer.52.34" parsed="|Jer|52|31|52|34" passage="Jer 52:31-34">ver.
31-34</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Jer.liii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52" parsed="|Jer|52|0|0|0" passage="Jer 52" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jer.liii-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.1-Jer.52.11" parsed="|Jer|52|1|52|11" passage="Jer 52:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.liii-p1.13">
<h4 id="Jer.liii-p1.14">Jerusalem Taken by
Nebuchadnezzar. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p1.15">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.liii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Zedekiah <i>was</i> one and twenty years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name <i>was</i> Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah
of Libnah.   2 And he did <i>that which was</i> evil in the
eyes of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p2.1">Lord</span>, according to all
that Jehoiakim had done.   3 For through the anger of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p2.2">Lord</span> it came to pass in Jerusalem
and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.   4 And it came
to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the
tenth <i>day</i> of the month, <i>that</i> Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched
against it, and built forts against it round about.   5 So the
city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.   6
And in the fourth month, in the ninth <i>day</i> of the month, the
famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the
people of the land.   7 Then the city was broken up, and all
the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the
way of the gate between the two walls, which <i>was</i> by the
king's garden; (now the Chaldeans <i>were</i> by the city round
about:) and they went by the way of the plain.   8 But the
army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah
in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
  9 Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king
of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment
upon him.   10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of
Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in
Riblah.   11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the
king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon,
and put him in prison till the day of his death.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.liii-p3" shownumber="no">This narrative begins no higher than the
beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, though there were two
captivities before, one in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the other
in the first of Jeconiah; but probably it was drawn up by some of
those that were carried away with Zedekiah, as a reproach to
themselves for imagining that they should not go into captivity
after their brethren, with which hopes they had long flattered
themselves. We have here, 1. God's just displeasure against Judah
and Jerusalem for their sin, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.3" parsed="|Jer|52|3|0|0" passage="Jer 52:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. His anger was against them to such a degree that he
determined to <i>cast them out from his presence,</i> his
favourable gracious presence, as a father, when he is extremely
angry with an undutiful son, bids him get out of his presence, he
expelled them from that good land that had such tokens of his
presence in providential bounty and that holy city and temple that
had such tokens of his presence in covenant-grace and love. Note,
Those that are banished from God's ordinances have reason to
complain that they are in some degree <i>cast out of his
presence;</i> yet none are cast out from God's gracious presence
but those that by sin have first thrown themselves out of it. This
fruit of sin we should therefore deprecate above any thing, as
David (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.11" parsed="|Ps|51|11|0|0" passage="Ps 51:11">Ps. li. 11</scripRef>), <i>Cast
me not away from thy presence.</i> 2. Zedekiah's bad conduct and
management, to which God left him, in displeasure against the
people, and for which God punished him, in displeasure against him.
Zedekiah had arrived at years of discretion when he came to the
throne; he <i>was twenty-one years old</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.1" parsed="|Jer|52|1|0|0" passage="Jer 52:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>); he was none of the worst of the
kings (we never read of his idolatries), yet his character is that
he <i>did evil in the eyes of the Lord,</i> for he did not do the
good he should have done. But that evil deed of his which did in a
special manner hasten this destruction was his <i>rebelling against
the king of Babylon,</i> which was both his sin and his folly, and
brought ruin upon his people, not only meritoriously, but
efficiently. God was greatly displeased with him for his perfidious
dealing with the king of Babylon (as we find, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.15" parsed="|Ezek|17|15|0|0" passage="Eze 17:15">Ezek. xvii. 15</scripRef>, &amp;c.); and, because he
was angry at Judah and Jerusalem, he put him into the hand of his
own counsels, to do that foolish thing which proved fatal to him
and his kingdom. 3. The possession which the Chaldeans at length
gained of Jerusalem, after eighteen months' siege. They sat down
before it, and blocked it up, in the ninth year of Zedekiah's
reign, in the tenth month (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.4" parsed="|Jer|52|4|0|0" passage="Jer 52:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), and made themselves masters of it in the <i>eleventh
year in the fourth month,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.6" parsed="|Jer|52|6|0|0" passage="Jer 52:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. In remembrance of these two
steps towards their ruin, while they were in captivity, they kept
<i>a fast in the fourth month, and a fast in the tenth</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Zech.8.19" parsed="|Zech|8|19|0|0" passage="Zec 8:19">Zech. viii. 19</scripRef>): that in
the <i>fifth month</i> was in remembrance of the burning of the
temple, and that in the <i>seventh</i> of the murder of Gedaliah.
We may easily imagine, or rather cannot imagine, what a sad time it
was with Jerusalem, during this year and half that it was besieged,
when all provisions were cut off from coming to them and they were
ever and anon alarmed by the attacks of the enemy, and, being
obstinately resolved to hold out to the last extremity, nothing
remained but a <i>certain fearful looking for of judgment.</i> That
which disabled them to hold out, and yet could not prevail with
them to capitulate, was the <i>famine in the city</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.6" parsed="|Jer|52|6|0|0" passage="Jer 52:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>); there was <i>no bread
for the people of the land,</i> so that the soldiers could not make
good their posts, but were rendered wholly unserviceable; and then
no wonder that <i>the city was broken up,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.7" parsed="|Jer|52|7|0|0" passage="Jer 52:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Walls, in such a case, will not
hold out long without men, any more than men without walls; nor
will both together stand people in any stead without God and his
protection. 4. The inglorious retreat of the king and his mighty
men. They got out of the city <i>by night</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.7" parsed="|Jer|52|7|0|0" passage="Jer 52:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>) and made the best of their way,
I know not whither, nor perhaps they themselves; but the king was
overtaken by the pursuers <i>in the plains of Jericho,</i> his
guards were dispersed, and all his army was <i>scattered from
him,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.8" parsed="|Jer|52|8|0|0" passage="Jer 52:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. His
fright was not causeless, for there is no escaping the judgments of
God; they will <i>come upon the sinner,</i> and will <i>overtake
him,</i> let him flee where he will (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.15" parsed="|Deut|28|15|0|0" passage="De 28:15">Deut. xxviii. 15</scripRef>), and these judgments
particularly that are here executed were there threatened,
<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.52-Deut.28.53" parsed="|Deut|28|52|28|53" passage="De 28:52,53"><i>v.</i> 52, 53</scripRef>,
&amp;c. 5. The sad doom passed upon Zedekiah by the king of
Babylon, and immediately put in execution. He treated him as a
rebel, <i>gave judgment upon him,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.14" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.9" parsed="|Jer|52|9|0|0" passage="Jer 52:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. One cannot think of it without
the utmost vexation and regret that a king, a king of Judah, a king
of the house of David, should be arraigned as a criminal at the bar
of this heathen king. But he <i>humbled not himself before
Jeremiah</i> the prophet; therefore God thus humbled him. Pursuant
to the sentence passed upon him by the haughty conqueror, <i>his
sons were slain before his eyes,</i> and all <i>the princes of
Judah</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.15" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.10" parsed="|Jer|52|10|0|0" passage="Jer 52:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>);
then <i>his eyes were put out,</i> and he was <i>bound in
chains,</i> carried in triumph to Babylon; perhaps they made sport
with him, as they did with Samson when his eyes were put out;
however, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, wearing out
the remainder of his life (I cannot say his days, for he saw day no
more) in darkness and misery. He was kept in prison till <i>the day
of his death,</i> but had some honour done him at his funeral,
<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p3.16" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.5" parsed="|Jer|34|5|0|0" passage="Jer 34:5"><i>ch.</i> xxxiv. 5</scripRef>.
Jeremiah had often told him what it would come to, but he would not
take warning when he might have prevented it.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.liii-p3.17" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.12-Jer.52.23" parsed="|Jer|52|12|52|23" passage="Jer 52:12-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.liii-p3.18">
<h4 id="Jer.liii-p3.19">The Babylonish Captivity. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p3.20">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.liii-p4" shownumber="no">12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth
<i>day</i> of the month, which <i>was</i> the nineteenth year of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the
guard, <i>which</i> served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
  13 And burned the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p4.1">Lord</span>, and the king's house; and all the houses
of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great <i>men,</i> burned he
with fire:   14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that
<i>were</i> with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls
of Jerusalem round about.   15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of
the guard carried away captive <i>certain</i> of the poor of the
people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city,
and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the
rest of the multitude.   16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard left <i>certain</i> of the poor of the land for vinedressers
and for husbandmen.   17 Also the pillars of brass that
<i>were</i> in the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p4.2">Lord</span>, and the bases, and the brasen sea that
<i>was</i> in the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p4.3">Lord</span>,
the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
  18 The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and
the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith
they ministered, took they away.   19 And the basons, and the
firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks,
and the spoons, and the cups; <i>that</i> which <i>was</i> of gold
<i>in</i> gold, and <i>that</i> which <i>was</i> of silver
<i>in</i> silver, took the captain of the guard away.   20 The
two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that <i>were</i>
under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p4.4">Lord</span>: the brass of all these vessels
was without weight.   21 And <i>concerning</i> the pillars,
the height of one pillar <i>was</i> eighteen cubits; and a fillet
of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof
<i>was</i> four fingers: <i>it was</i> hollow.   22 And a
chapiter of brass <i>was</i> upon it; and the height of one
chapiter <i>was</i> five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon
the chapiters round about, all <i>of</i> brass. The second pillar
also and the pomegranates <i>were</i> like unto these.   23
And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; <i>and</i>
all the pomegranates upon the network <i>were</i> a hundred round
about.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.liii-p5" shownumber="no">We have here an account of the woeful havoc
that was made by the Chaldean army, a month after the city was
taken, under the command of Nebuzaradan, who was <i>captain of the
guard,</i> or general of the army, in this action. In the margin he
is called the <i>chief of the slaughter-men,</i> or
<i>executioners;</i> for soldiers are but slaughter-men, and God
employs them as executioners of his sentence against a sinful
people. Nebuzaradan was chief of those soldiers, but, in the
execution he did, we have reason to fear he had no eye to God, but
he served the king of Babylon and his own designs, now that he came
into Jerusalem, into the very bowels of it, as captain of the
slaughter-men there. And, 1. He laid the temple in ashes, having
first plundered it of every thing that was valuable: He <i>burnt
the house of the Lord,</i> that holy and beautiful house, where
their <i>fathers praised him,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.64.11" parsed="|Isa|64|11|0|0" passage="Isa 64:11">Isa. lxiv. 11</scripRef>. 2. He burnt the royal palace,
probably that which Solomon built after he had built the temple,
which was, ever since, <i>the king's house.</i> 3. He burnt <i>all
the houses of Jerusalem,</i> that is, all the houses of the great
men, or those particularly; if any escaped, it was only some sorry
cottages for the poor of the land. 4. He <i>broke down all the
walls of Jerusalem,</i> to be revenged upon them for standing in
the way of his army so long. Thus, of a defenced city, it was made
a ruin, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.2" parsed="|Isa|25|2|0|0" passage="Isa 25:2">Isa. xxv. 2</scripRef>. 5. He
<i>carried away many into captivity</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.15" parsed="|Jer|52|15|0|0" passage="Jer 52:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>); he took away <i>certain of
the poor of the people,</i> that is, of the people in the city, for
<i>the poor of the land</i> (the poor of the country) he left for
<i>vine-dressers and husbandmen.</i> He also carried off <i>the
residue of the people that remained in the city,</i> that had
escaped the sword and famine, and the deserters, such as he thought
fit, or rather such as God thought fit; for he had already
determined some for the <i>pestilence,</i> some for the
<i>sword,</i> some for <i>famine,</i> and some for
<i>captivity,</i> <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.15.2" parsed="|Jer|15|2|0|0" passage="Jer 15:2"><i>ch.</i> xv.
2</scripRef>. But, 6. Nothing is more particularly and largely
related here than the carrying away of the appurtenances of the
temple. All that were of great value were carried away before,
<i>the vessels of silver and gold,</i> yet some of that sort
remained, which were now carried away, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.19" parsed="|Jer|52|19|0|0" passage="Jer 52:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. But most of the temple-prey
that was now seized was of brass, which, being of less value, was
carried off last. When the gold was gone, the brass soon went after
it, because the people repented not, according to Jeremiah's
prediction, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.27.19" parsed="|Jer|27|19|0|0" passage="Jer 27:19"><i>ch.</i> xxvii.
19</scripRef>, &amp;c. When the walls of the city were demolished,
the pillars of the temple were pulled down too, and both in token
that God, who was the strength and stay both of their civil and
their ecclesiastical government, had departed from them. No walls
can protect those, nor pillars sustain those, from whom God
withdraws. These pillars of the temple were not for support (for
there was nothing built upon them), but for ornament and
significancy. They were called <i>Jachin—He will establish;</i>
and <i>Boaz—In him is strength;</i> so that the breaking of these
signified that God would no longer establish his house nor be the
strength of it. These pillars are here very particularly described
(<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.21-Jer.52.23 Bible:1Kgs.7.15" parsed="|Jer|52|21|52|23;|1Kgs|7|15|0|0" passage="Jer 52:21-23,1Ki 7:15"><i>v.</i> 21-23, from 1
Kings vii. 15</scripRef>), that the extraordinary beauty and
stateliness of them may affect us the more with the demolishing of
them. All the vessels that belonged to the brazen altar were
carried away; for the iniquity of Jerusalem, like that of Eli's
house, was not to be purged by sacrifice or offering, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.3.14" parsed="|1Sam|3|14|0|0" passage="1Sa 3:14">1 Sam. iii. 14</scripRef>. It is said (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.20" parsed="|Jer|52|20|0|0" passage="Jer 52:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), <i>The brass of all
these vessels was without weight;</i> so it was in the making of
them (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.7.47" parsed="|1Kgs|7|47|0|0" passage="1Ki 7:47">1 Kings vii. 47</scripRef>),
<i>the weight of the brass was not</i> then <i>found out</i>
(<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.4.18" parsed="|2Chr|4|18|0|0" passage="2Ch 4:18">2 Chron. iv. 18</scripRef>), and so
it was in the destroying of them. Those that made great spoil of
them did not stand to weigh them, as purchasers do, for, whatever
they weighted, it was all their own.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.liii-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.24-Jer.52.30" parsed="|Jer|52|24|52|30" passage="Jer 52:24-30" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.liii-p5.13">
<h4 id="Jer.liii-p5.14">The Babylonish Captivity. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p5.15">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.liii-p6" shownumber="no">24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the
chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three
keepers of the door:   25 He took also out of the city an
eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of
them that were near the king's person, which were found in the
city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people
of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that
were found in the midst of the city.   26 So Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of
Babylon to Riblah.   27 And the king of Babylon smote them,
and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah
was carried away captive out of his own land.   28 This
<i>is</i> the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in
the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:  
29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive
from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:   30 In
the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred
forty and five persons: all the persons <i>were</i> four thousand
and six hundred.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.liii-p7" shownumber="no">We have here a very melancholy account, 1.
Of the slaughter of some great men, in cold blood, at Riblah,
seventy-two in number (according to the number of the elders of
Israel, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.11.24-Num.11.25" parsed="|Num|11|24|11|25" passage="Nu 11:24,25">Num. xi. 24,
25</scripRef>), so they are computed, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.25.18-2Kgs.25.19" parsed="|2Kgs|25|18|25|19" passage="2Ki 25:18,19">2 Kings xxv. 18, 19</scripRef>. We read there of
five out of the temple, two out of the city, five out of the court,
and sixty out of the country. The account here agrees with that,
except in one article; there it is said that there were five, here
there were seven, of those that were <i>near the king,</i> which
Dr. Lightfoot reconciles thus, that he took away seven of those
that were near the king, but two of them were Jeremiah himself and
Ebed-melech, who were both discharged, as we have read before, so
that there were only five of them put to death, and so the number
was reduced to seventy-two, some of all ranks, for they had all
corrupted their way; and it is probable that such were made
examples of as had been most forward to excite and promote the
rebellion against the king of Babylon. <i>Seraiah the chief
priest</i> is put first, whose sacred character could not exempt
him from this stroke; how should it, when he himself had profaned
it by sin? Seraiah the prince was <i>a quiet prince</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.51.59" parsed="|Jer|51|59|0|0" passage="Jer 51:59"><i>ch.</i> li. 59</scripRef>), but perhaps
Seraiah the priest was not so, but unquiet and turbulent, by which
he had made himself obnoxious to the king of Babylon. The leaders
of this people had caused them to err, and now they are in a
particular manner made monuments of divine justice. 2. Of the
captivity of the rest. Come and see how <i>Judah was carried away
captive out of his own land</i> (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.27" parsed="|Jer|52|27|0|0" passage="Jer 52:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>), and how it spued them out as
it spued out the Canaanites that went before them, which God had
told them it would certainly do if they trod in their steps and
copied out their abominations, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Lev.18.28" parsed="|Lev|18|28|0|0" passage="Le 18:28">Lev.
xviii. 28</scripRef>. Now here is an account, (1.) Of two
captivities which we had an account of before, one in the seventh
year of Nebuchadnezzar (the same with that which is said to be in
his eighth year, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.24.12" parsed="|2Kgs|24|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 24:12">2 Kings xxiv.
12</scripRef>), another in his eighteenth year, the same with that
which is said (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.12" parsed="|Jer|52|12|0|0" passage="Jer 52:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>) to be in his nineteenth year. But the sums here are
very small, in comparison with what we find expressed concerning
the former (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.24.14 Bible:2Kgs.24.16" parsed="|2Kgs|24|14|0|0;|2Kgs|24|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 24:14,16">2 Kings xxiv. 14,
16</scripRef>), when there were 18,000 carried captive, whereas
here they are said to be 3023; they are also small in comparison
with what we may reasonably suppose concerning the latter; for,
when all the residue of the people were carried away (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.15" parsed="|Jer|52|15|0|0" passage="Jer 52:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), one would think there
should be more than 832 souls; therefore Dr. Lightfoot conjectures
that, these accounts being joined to the story of the putting to
death of the great men at Riblah, all that are here said to be
carried away were <i>put to death</i> as rebels. (2.) Of a third
captivity, not mentioned before, which was in the twenty-third year
of Nebuchadnezzar, four years after the destruction of Jerusalem
(<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.30" parsed="|Jer|52|30|0|0" passage="Jer 52:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>): Then
<i>Nebuzaradan</i> came, and <i>carried away</i> 745 Jews; it is
probable that this was done in revenge of the murder of Gedaliah,
which was another rebellion against the king of Babylon, and that
those who were now taken were aiders and abetters of Ishmael in
that murder, and were not only carried away, but put to death for
it; yet this is uncertain. If this be the sum total of the captives
(<i>all the persons were</i> 4600, <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p7.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.30" parsed="|Jer|52|30|0|0" passage="Jer 52:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>), we may see how strangely they
were reduced from what they had been, and may wonder as much how
they came to be so numerous again as afterwards we find them; for
it should seem that, as at first in Egypt, so again in Babylon, the
Lord made them fruitful in the land of their affliction, and the
more they were oppressed the more they multiplied. And the truth
is, this people were often miracles both of judgment and mercy.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jer.liii-p7.12" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.31-Jer.52.34" parsed="|Jer|52|31|52|34" passage="Jer 52:31-34" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Jer.liii-p7.13">
<h4 id="Jer.liii-p7.14">Jehoiachin Favoured by
Evil-merodach. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jer.liii-p7.15">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jer.liii-p8" shownumber="no">31 And it came to pass in the seven and
thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the
twelfth month, in the five and twentieth <i>day</i> of the month,
<i>that</i> Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the <i>first</i> year
of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and
brought him forth out of prison,   32 And spake kindly unto
him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that
<i>were</i> with him in Babylon,   33 And changed his prison
garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days
of his life.   34 And <i>for</i> his diet, there was a
continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a
portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jer.liii-p9" shownumber="no">This passage of story concerning the
reviving which king Jehoiachin had in his bondage we had likewise
before (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.25.27-2Kgs.25.30" parsed="|2Kgs|25|27|25|30" passage="2Ki 25:27-30">2 Kings xxv.
27-30</scripRef>), only there it is said to be done on <i>the
twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month,</i> here <i>on the
twenty-fifth;</i> but in a thing of this nature two days make a
very slight difference in the account. It is probable that the
orders were given for his release on the twenty-fifth day, but that
he was not presented to the king till the twenty-seventh. We may
observe in this story, 1. That new lords make new laws.
Nebuchadnezzar had long kept this unhappy prince in prison; and his
son, though well-affected to the prisoner, could not procure him
any favour, not one smile, from his father, any more than Jonathan
could for David from his father; but, when the old peevish man was
dead, his son countenanced Jehoiachin and made him a favourite. It
is common for children to undo what their fathers have done; it
were well if it were always as much for the better as this was. 2.
That the world we live in is a changing world. Jehoiachin, in his
beginning, fell from a throne into a prison, but here he is
advanced again to a throne of state (<scripRef id="Jer.liii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.32" parsed="|Jer|52|32|0|0" passage="Jer 52:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>), though not to a throne of
power. As, before, the robes were changed into prison-garments, so
now they were converted into robes again. Such chequer-work is this
world; prosperity and adversity are set the one over-against the
other, that we may learn to <i>rejoice as though we rejoiced not
and weep as though we wept not.</i> 3. That, though the night of
affliction be very long, yet we must not despair but that the day
may dawn at last. Jehoiachin was thirty-seven years a prisoner, in
confinement, in contempt, ever since he was eighteen years old, in
which time we may suppose him so inured to captivity that he had
forgotten the sweets of liberty; or, rather, that after so long an
imprisonment it would be doubly welcome to him. Let those whose
afflictions have been lengthened out encourage themselves with this
instance; the vision will at the end speak comfortably, and
therefore wait for it. <i>Dum spiro spero—While there is life
there is hope. Non si male nunc, et olim sic erit—Though now we
suffer, we shall not always suffer.</i> 4. That god can make his
people to find favour in the eyes of those that are their
oppressors, and unaccountably turn their hearts to pity them,
according to that word ( <scripRef id="Jer.liii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.46" parsed="|Ps|106|46|0|0" passage="Ps 106:46">Ps. cvi.
46</scripRef>), <i>He made them to be pitied of all those that
carried them captives.</i> He can bring those that have spoken
roughly to speak kindly, and those to feed his people that have fed
upon them. Those therefore that are under oppression will find that
it is not in vain to hope and quietly to <i>wait for the salvation
of the Lord. Therefore</i> our times are in God's hand, because the
hearts of all we deal with are so. 5. And now, upon the whole
matter, comparing the prophecy and the history of this book
together, we may learn, in general, (1.) That it is no new thing
for churches and persons highly dignified to degenerate, and become
very corrupt. (2.) That iniquity tends to the ruin of those that
harbour it; and, if it be not repented of and forsaken, will
certainly end in their ruin: (3.) That external professions and
privileges will not only not amount to an excuse for sin and an
exemption from ruin, but will be a very great aggravation of both.
(4.) That no word of God shall fall to the ground, but the event
will fully answer the prediction; and the unbelief of man shall not
make God's threatenings, any more than his promises, of no effect.
The justice and truth of God are here written in bloody characters,
for the conviction or the confusion of all those that make a jest
of his threatenings. Let them <i>not be deceived, God is not
mocked.</i></p>
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