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Jeremiah 27

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A Sign to the Nations: Submit to Babylon 1–11

1
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ​
2
Thus saith Jehovah to me: Make thee bonds and bars, and put them upon thy neck; ​
3
and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers that come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah:
4
and give them a charge unto their masters, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters:
5
I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me. ​
6
And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. ​
7
And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondman. ​
8
And it shall come to pass, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith Jehovah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9
But as for you, hearken ye not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: ​
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for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
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But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own land, saith Jehovah; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. ​

Jeremiah Warns King Zedekiah 12–15

12
And I spake to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. ​
13
Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14
And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
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For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that ye may perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. ​

Warning to the Priests and People 16–22

16
Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Jehovah’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. ​
17
Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city become a desolation?
18
But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jehovah be with them, let them now make intercession to Jehovah of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. ​
19
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that are left in this city,
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which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; ​
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yea, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:
22
They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I visit them, saith Jehovah; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 27

Verse 1

in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim — The words are those of 26:1, which dates the temple sermon. In this chapter the messengers come to 'Zedekiah king of Judah' (v.3), the word is spoken to Zedekiah (v.12), and 28:1 places the next event 'the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah'. The message that follows is addressed to Zedekiah's time.

Verse 2

bonds and yokes — Moserot are the cords that bind a yoke and motot its wooden bars. Jeremiah wears them as a sign. Hananiah 'took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it' (28:10), and the answer comes: 'Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron' (28:13).

Verse 5

I have made the earth — The ground of what follows: the LORD who made 'the man and the beast' gives the earth 'unto whom it seemed meet unto me'. 'Great power' and the 'outstretched arm' recur in Jer 32:17: 'thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm'. Dan 4:32 says the most High 'giveth it to whomsoever he will'.

Verse 6

Nebuchadnezzar… my servant — The LORD gives this title to the king as the one he sends against Judah and the nations (25:9) and against Egypt (43:10). 'The beasts of the field' are given to him also (28:14), and Daniel tells him, 'the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory' (Dan 2:37).

Verse 7

his son, and his son's son — Later Evilmerodach 'in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin' (52:31), and Belshazzar is called the son of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 5:18, 22). 'The very time of his land' ends when Belshazzar 'in that night' is slain and 'Darius the Median took the kingdom' (Dan 5:30–31). 25:12 sets that end at the seventy years.

Verse 9

your prophets, … your diviners, … your dreamers — Five kinds of counsellor are listed. Three roots return in the forbidden practices of Deut 18:10: 'useth divination' (qasam), 'an observer of times' (anan), 'a witch' (kashaph, the root of 'sorcerers'). Jer 29:8 gives the same warning to the exiles: 'neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed'.

Verse 11

bring their neck under the yoke — One verb, abad, is both 'serve' and, in the last clause, 'till': nations that serve Babylon 'shall till' their own land. 'Let remain' is nuach, to leave at rest. Gedaliah gave the remnant the same counsel: 'serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you' (40:9).

Verse 12

and live — The plea made to the nations is made to Zedekiah, and it is the same that he hears at the end of the siege: 'go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live' (38:17). Zedekiah had been made to 'swear by God' and 'rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar' (2 Chr 36:13); Ezek 17:19 calls it 'mine oath that he hath despised'.

Verse 15

I have not sent them — The same denial as 23:21 and 14:14, where the LORD says 'I sent them not, neither have I commanded them'. The lie told 'in my name' leads to the result of v.10, that 'I should drive you out, and ye should perish', and 14:15 says of the prophets that 'By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed'.

Verse 16

the vessels of the LORD'S house — Some were taken in Jehoiakim's time (2 Chr 36:7) and more under Jeconiah (2 Kgs 24:13). The prophets' claim, 'shall now shortly be brought again', is given by Hananiah as 'Within two full years' (28:3). The vessels did return, under Cyrus, who 'brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD' (Ezra 1:7).

Verse 18

make intercession — Paga', to come between, is the verb of Isa 53:12, 'made intercession for the transgressors'. The test of a prophet is whether he stands between the LORD and the people: Jeremiah himself had been told 'neither make intercession to me' (7:16). The vessels 'left' are the remnant of the temple's furnishings, named in v.19: the pillars, the sea and the bases.

Verse 20

Which Nebuchadnezzar… took not — The exile of Jeconiah 'and all the nobles of Judah' is the one dated in 24:1. 'Nobles' is chor, the free-born. Though 2 Kgs 24:13 says he carried out 'all the treasures' and cut in pieces the gold vessels, v.19 lists what 'remain in this city', the pillars, the sea and the bases, and v.21 says they too will go.

Verse 22

until the day that I visit them — Paqad, to attend to, is the verb of 29:10, 'after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you'. The vessels follow the people to Babylon and return in due time: 'All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred' (Ezra 1:11).