English · ASV

Jeremiah 28

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Hananiah's False Prophecy of Peace 1–4

1
And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of Jehovah, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, ​
2
Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ​
3
Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of Jehovah’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon: ​
4
and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went to Babylon, saith Jehovah; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. ​

Jeremiah Challenges the False Prophet 5–11

5
Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of Jehovah,
6
even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: Jehovah do so; Jehovah perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Jehovah’s house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon unto this place. ​
7
Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people:
8
The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. ​
9
The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that Jehovah hath truly sent him. ​
10
Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and brake it. ​
11
And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. ​

The Iron Yoke of Babylon 12–14

12
Then the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13
Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast broken the bars of wood; but thou hast made in their stead bars of iron. ​
14
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also. ​

Judgment and Death of Hananiah 15–17

15
Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah: Jehovah hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. ​
16
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will send thee away from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast spoken rebellion against Jehovah. ​
17
So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. ​

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

Study Notes for Jeremiah 28

Verse 1

the fourth year, and in the fifth month — Zedekiah's fourth year is the year Seraiah went with him to Babylon (Jer 51:59). Hananiah (Chananyah, 'Jah has favored') speaks 'in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people', so his claim is made before the whole nation.

Verse 2

I have broken the yoke — Hananiah opens with a true oracle's words, 'Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel', and states the yoke ('ol) of Babylon as already broken (shabar). It reverses what Jeremiah had told Zedekiah: 'Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live' (Jer 27:12).

Verse 3

all the vessels of the LORD'S house — The vessels went in stages: part under Jehoiakim (Dan 1:2), more under Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 24:13). Jeremiah had said that the vessels still left would go to Babylon too (Jer 27:19–22). 'Two full years' is the idiom of Gen 41:1, literally two years of days.

Verse 4

Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim — The same king is Coniah (Jer 22:24) and Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 25:27). Of Coniah the LORD had said, 'I will cast thee out… into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die' (Jer 22:26). Hananiah promises the opposite, with 'all the captives of Judah'.

Verse 6

Amen: the LORD do so — Amen means 'so be it'; Jeremiah uses it as a prayer in Jer 11:5, 'So be it, O LORD'. He asks that the LORD 'perform' Hananiah's words, which hands the matter to the LORD and prepares the test he gives in vv.8–9. 'Nevertheless' (v.7) turns to what he must say before the people.

Verse 8

of war, and of evil, and of pestilence — Jeremiah points to the prophets 'before me and before thee of old', whose word to nations and kingdoms was judgment. 'Pestilence' (deber) ends the series 'by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence' (Jer 14:12). Ahab said of Micaiah, 'he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil' (1 Kgs 22:8).

Verse 9

when the word of the prophet shall come to pass — The prophet of peace is tested by fulfilment, as in Deut 18:22: 'if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken'. Jeremiah had already named the cry of the prophets who said, 'Peace, peace; when there is no peace' (Jer 6:14).

Verse 10

took the yoke… and brake it — The yoke is motah, the bar or bow laid across the neck, the word of Jer 27:2. Hananiah breaks it with the verb he used in v.2 (shabar). In Lev 26:13 the LORD says, 'I have broken the bands of your yoke', with the same noun and verb; Hananiah acts out a word the LORD had not given him.

Verse 11

Jeremiah went his way — Hananiah adds that the yoke will go 'from the neck of all nations' in two years. Jeremiah had said that all nations would serve Nebuchadnezzar 'and his son, and his son's son' (Jer 27:7). He does not answer on the spot; the next word comes only when 'the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah' (v.12).

Verse 13

yokes of wood… yokes of iron — The wooden yokes (motah, as in v.10) Hananiah broke are replaced by yokes of iron, and the verb is 'thou shalt make': the false word brings on a heavier servitude. The 'yoke of iron' is the figure of Deut 28:48, the yoke the LORD puts upon a disobedient people's neck.

Verse 14

the beasts of the field also — The LORD repeats what he had said in Jer 27:6, that he gave Nebuchadnezzar the beasts of the field as well. 'Put' and 'given' translate one verb, nathan, and 'serve' ('abad) is said twice; Daniel tells the king, 'the beasts of the field… hath he given into thine hand' (Dan 2:38).

Verse 15

The LORD hath not sent thee — 'Sent' is shalach, the verb of a prophet's commission. Of the prophets of this book the LORD says, 'I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran' (Jer 23:21), and of Shemaiah, 'he caused you to trust in a lie' (Jer 29:31). The charge is the false confidence Hananiah has produced.

Verse 16

thou hast taught rebellion — Sarah is turning aside from the LORD. It is used of a prophet in Deut 13:5, where such a prophet 'shall be put to death', and again of Shemaiah (Jer 29:32). 'Cast' is shalach, 'send', the verb of v.15: the man whom the LORD 'hath not sent' is sent from the face of the earth.

Verse 17

in the seventh month — The confrontation was in the fifth month (v.1), so Hananiah died two months later, within the 'this year' of v.16. The law of the prophet read, 'even that prophet shall die' (Deut 18:20). The death bore out Jeremiah's word in v.15.