Chapter 27
Nebuchadnezzar’s coming domain
Lecture 1
Surrender to Nebuchadnezzar
27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying:
27:2 thus says the Lord to me: make bands and chains for yourself and put them on your neck,
27:3 and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, in the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah, king of Judah.
27:4 And command them that they should speak to their lords: thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: thus shall you say to your lords:
27:5 I made the earth, and men, and the beasts, which are upon the face of the earth, in my great strength and with my outstretched arm, and I gave it to the one who was pleasing in my eyes.
27:6 And now, therefore, I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant; moreover, I have given all the beasts of the field to him, that they may serve him.
27:7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land come; and many nations, and great kings shall serve him.
27:8 But the nation and the kingdom which shall not serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and whoever does not bow the neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I shall visit with the sword, and famine, and pestilence upon that nation, says the Lord, until I consume them in his hand.
27:9 Do not, therefore, listen to your prophets, and your soothsayers, and your dreamers, and your augurs, and your sorcerers, who say to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’
27:10 because they prophesy a lie to you, to drive you far from your land, and to cast you out, so that you perish.
27:11 Further, the nation which shall bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and shall serve him, I shall send them back to their own land, says the Lord , and they shall till it, and shall dwell in it.
140 . Here, a clear title having been set forth, he excludes the false consolation of the prophets:
first, in general;
second, by touching on certain prophets in particular: and it came to pass in that year (Jer 28:1).
Concerning the former, there are two points.
First, he excludes the consolations of the prophets of the nations;
second, those of the prophets of the Jews, at and I spoke to Zedekiah, king of Judah (Jer 27:12).
Concerning the former, there are two points.
First, he presignifies the prophecy with an action: make chains for yourself , as a sign of the bondage of the nations, in the hand of the messengers , who had been sent to make an alliance with the king of Jerusalem; or they had been sent to resist Nebuchadnezzar. I have multiplied visions, and in the hand of the prophets I have used similitudes (Hos 12:10). And you, O son of man, behold, chains are set upon you, and they shall bind you in them, and you shall not go forth from their midst (Ezek 3:25).
Second, he expresses it with words: and command them . But he urges them in three ways to submit themselves to the king of Babylon, against the counsel of the prophets.
First, because of the power of Nebuchadnezzar, which he shows in two ways.
First, by divine concession, when he speaks about the creation of things: I made the earth , with regard to the work of creation and its disposition; men , with regard to the work of its provision; with my arm , which speaks to the application of his power to the work. Establishing the earth, and what springs from it (Isa 42:5). And he concludes with the bestowal of authority: and I gave it to the one , to a person, or to whomever. The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he wills (Dan 4:14).
And when he shows the concession made by God to Nebuchadnezzar, with regard to men: and now, therefore, I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar . The most high God gave kingship, great glory, and honor to Nebuchadnezzar your father. And because of the magnificence which he had given him, all peoples, tribes, and languages trembled and feared him (Dan 5:18–19). And with regard to animals: moreover, all the beasts —this is speaking hyperbolically. Alternatively, by beasts are meant the fierce men, who were under him. Or because, the people having been subdued, even the beasts, which were subject to them, were brought under his authority. For this reason, it is written: the beasts would rest under the shadow of the tree (Dan 4:9), by which Nebuchadnezzar is signified.
In another way, he shows his power by the subjection of the nations: and all nations shall serve . All things have a time (Eccl 3:1).
Second, he persuades them with the punishment of those who rebel, when he speaks about the punishment of those who rebel: but the nation and the kingdom . And therefore, be subject by necessity, not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience (Rom 13:5).
And he excludes the counsel of the prophets: do not, therefore, listen to your prophets , whom the gentiles say are able to foreknow even future events by the gleam of an intelligence acting in their souls, soothsayers , who were in the temples of the idols, dreamers , who from dreams, augurs , who from the chattering of birds, sorcerers , who predict the future by the conjuring of demons. As it says above: do not listen to the words of the prophets, who prophecy to you, and deceive you; they speak the vision of their own heart, and not by the mouth of the Lord (Jer 23:16).
And he gives for his reason the lie of the prophets: because they prophesy a lie , and the imminent danger, to drive you far , and this to introduces a result clause. I shall be as a lying spirit in the mouths of all the prophets (1 Kgs 22:22).
Third, he persuades them by the favor of those who obey, which they will receive from the Lord: further, the nation . As it says below: do not fear to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you (Jer 40:9).
Lecture 2
Ignore false prophets
27:12 And I spoke to Zedekiah, king of Judah, according to all these words, saying: bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, and his people, and you shall live.
27:13 Why should you die, you and your people, by the sword, and famine, and pestilence, and the Lord has spoken to the nation which refuses to serve the king of Babylon?
27:14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ because they speak a lie to you.
27:15 Because I have not sent them, says the Lord , and they prophesy falsely in my name, to drive you out, and you perish, both you and your prophets who prophesy to you.
141 . Because those messengers could ask why he did not say such things to his own people intent upon rebellion, he responds that he has already said as much to them.
First is given his admonition to the king;
second, to the priests and to the people, at and I spoke to the priests, and to this people (Jer 27:16).
Concerning the former, there are two points.
First, he offers good advice, giving the advice itself: bow your neck . Servants, be submissive with all fear to your masters, not only to the good and modest, but also to the unreasonable (1 Pet 2:18).
And setting forth the imminent danger: why should you die? As it says above: he who shall dwell in this city shall die by the sword, and the famine, and the plague; but he who shall go out and flee over to the Chaldeans, who besiege you, shall live, and his soul shall be as a spoil to him (Jer 21:9).
Second, he excludes the false counsel of the prophets: do not listen , for three reasons.
First, because of the false promise: because they speak a lie . His prophets have daubed them without tempering the mortar, seeing vain things and divining a lie unto them; saying, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ when the Lord has not spoken (Ezek 22:28).
Second, because of the authority they claimed for themselves: because I have not sent them . As it says above: I did not send prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied (Jer 23:21).
Third, because of the imminent punishment: to drive you out , as the occasion arises. You shall fall today, and the prophet also shall fall with you (Hos 4:5).
Lecture 3
Captivity and liberation
27:16 And I spoke to the priests, and to this people, saying: thus says the Lord : do not listen to the words of your prophets, who prophesy to you, saying: behold, the vessels of the Lord shall now be returned swiftly from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie to you.
27:17 Therefore, do not listen to them, but serve the king of Babylon, that you may live: why should this city be made a desolation?
27:18 And if they are prophets, and the word of the Lord is in them, let them make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which were left in the house of the Lord , and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.
27:19 For thus says the Lord of hosts to the columns, and to the sea, and to the bases, and the rest of the vessels, which have remained in this city,
27:20 which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not take, when he carried away Jekoniah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah, and Jerusalem.
27:21 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to the vessels which were left in the house of the Lord , and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem.
27:22 They shall be carried off to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day of its visitation, says the Lord , and I shall cause them to be brought, and to be restored to this place.
142 . Here is given the admonition to the priests, and to the common people.
First, he excludes the false counsel: do not listen . . . behold, the vessels , which were taken away to Babylon with Jekoniah (2 Kgs 24:13–15). And he gives the cause when he exposes the lie of the prophets: for they prophesy a lie to you ; the fruit of bondage: that you may live ; the danger of rebellion: why should this city be made a desolation? As it says above: he who shall go out and flee over to the Chaldeans, who besiege you, shall live (Jer 21:9).
Second, he asks for proof of their veracity: and if they are prophets ; it is as though he were saying, “Let them do what is less,” namely, that by turning to God in their prayers, the vessels that remained may not be carried off, so that they might be believed in what is greater, namely, that those which have been carried away will be brought back. You have not gone up against the enemy, neither have you set up a wall for the house of Israel, that you may stand in battle on the day of the Lord (Ezek 13:5).
Third, he shows the clear proof of their falsity by an argument from the greater to the less, because if what seems more likely—namely, that the remaining vessels will not be carried away—does not happen, then neither therefore will what is less likely happen—namely, that those that have already been taken away will be returned. For thus says the Lord to the columns , the two which Solomon made for the portico, and to the sea, and to their bases , the vessel in which the water was kept for the washings of the priests, which was set upon twelve bases, all of which is found written in 1 Kings 7.
And he resumes: for thus says the Lord , because of the vessels of the temple, which he had not moved, except for the vessels which were in the portico. The vessels of her glory were led captive (1 Macc 2:9). And he promises that they will be brought back in the distant future: and I shall cause them to be brought , in the times of Cyrus. Cyrus the king brought forth the sacred vessels of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem, and consecrated to his idol. And bringing them, Cyrus, king of the Persians, handed them over to Mithradites, who had charge of his treasures, and by him were they given over to Shalmanezar, the ruler of Judah (1 Ezra 1:7–8).