*H Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremias the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the ancients that were carried into captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nabuchodonosor had carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Ver. 1. Letter. Lit. "book." H. — It was probably sent at the beginning of the reign of Sedecias by his ambassadors, and is different from that sent by Baruch i. and C. lii. 28. — Prophets. Chal. "scribes." C. — Sept. "false prophets." v. 8. H. — Daniel had begun to prophesy, A. 3402. Ezechiel commenced only five years after the captivity of Jechonias. One prophet frequently instructs another, as Nathan did David. Dan. ix. 2. and 1 Pet. i. 11. C. — Jeremias declares that the captivity would continue long. He comforts and rebukes to C. xl. W.
*H After that Jechonias the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Juda, and of Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the engravers were departed out of Jerusalem:
Ver. 2. Queen. Nohesta. — Eunuchs. Real. (Heb.) or "Grandee." Chal. — Engravers. C. xxiv. 2.
*H By the hand of Elasa the son of Saphan, and Gamarias the son of Helcias, whom Sedecias king of Juda sent to Babylon to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, saying:
Ver. 3. Gamarias, the son of Saphan, is different. These two are unknown.
*H Build ye houses, and dwell in them: and plant orchards, and eat the fruit of them.
Ver. 5. Build. Establish yourselves, as you must remain a long time in captivity. We are exhorted not to be attached to the things of the world, to remind us that we shall not live long. C. xvi. 2. and xxxv. 7. and 1 Cor. vii. 29.
*H And seek the peace of the city, to which I have caused you to be carried away captives; and pray to the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall be your peace.
Ver. 7. Peace. We must submit to the magistrates, where we reside. Bar. i. 11. and 1 Tim. ii. 1.
*H For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners deceive you: and give no heed to your dreams which you dream:
Ver. 8. Prophets. There were many false ones. v. 21. Ezec. xiii. — Dreams. The prophets, or people. They are vain.
*H For thus saith the Lord: When the seventy years shall begin to be accomplished in Babylon, I will visit you: and I will perform my good word in your favour, to bring you again to this place.
Ver. 10. Seventy. Dating from the 4th of Joakim to the 1st of Cyrus, A. 3468. C. See C. xxv. 1. 11. H.
* Footnote * 2_Paralipomenon 36 : 21
That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, and the land might keep her sabbaths: for all the days of the desolation she kept a sabbath, till the seventy years were expired.* Footnote * Daniel 9 : 2
The first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, concerning which the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, the prophet, that seventy years should be accomplished of the desolation of Jerusalem.*H For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, to give you an end and patience.
Ver. 11. An end. Sept. "these things." This version is much abridged. From v. 15. to 21. is omitted in S. Jerom's and the Rom. edit.; but not in the Comp. or Theodoret. C. — Grabe inserts what is wanting, and places the 15th at the end of our 20th verse. H.
*H Because you have said: The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon:
Ver. 15. Said. Expressing your confidence in Providence; or rather, if we join this with what follows, he rebukes them for trusting in false prophets, who represented their condition as worse than that of their brethren, who were left behind; whereas it was really better. v. 17. C. xxiv. 2. 8. C. — The deluded people supposed that the false prophets had been sent by God. W.
*H Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord: which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising by night, and sending: and you have not heard, saith the Lord.
Ver. 19. By night, or "early," de nocte, as soon as the night was over. H.
*H And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Juda, that are in Babylon, saying: The Lord make thee like Sedecias, and like Achab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire:
Ver. 22. Curse. v. 18. The malediction which has befallen the Jews, "overtake thee." W. — Fire, in frying-pans, (see 2 Mac. vii. 5.) or cauldrons of boiling oil. This death shews that these were not the infamous judges who tempted Susanna, (C.) as the Jews quoted by (H.) S. Jerom, Salien, &c. would infer from v. 23. and Dan. xiii. 57. They were stoned to death by the people. ib. lxii. C. — Yet the king might order their dead bodies to be cut in two and burnt, to express his horror of their wicked conduct. Dan. xiii. 55. 59. H.
*H Because they have acted folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with the wives of their friends, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I commanded them not: I am the judge and the witness, saith the Lord.
Ver. 23. Folly. A crime. Judge xix. 23. and 2 K. xiii. 12. — Witness, the sovereign truth. C.
*H And to Semeias the Nehelamite thou shalt say:
Ver. 24. And. God orders his prophet what to say, to an accusation sent from Babylon, in consequence of the former letter. v. 5. 28. H. — Nehelamite, "torrent," (S. Jer.) or "dreamer." We know of no place of this name.
*H Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Because thou hast sent letters in thy name to all the people that are in Jerusalem, and to Sophonias the son of Maasias the priest, and to all the priests, saying:
Ver. 25. The second priest, (4 K. xxv. 18.) a chief officer of the temple. C. xxi. 1.
*H The Lord hath made thee priest instead of Joiada the priest, that thou shouldst be ruler in the house of the Lord, over every man that raveth and prophesieth, to put him in the stocks, and into prison.
Ver. 26. Joiada, whose zeal had been conspicuous long before, under Joas, in persuading him to destroy the false prophets. 4 K. xi. 17. Sophonias is exhorted to imitate him, by treating Jeremias in like manner. C. — Thou. Heb. "ye should be officers." Prot. H. — There were many chief priests. — Raveth. Heb. "is possessed, and counterfeits the prophet." Such were to be slain, being confined till sentence had been passed. Deut. xviii. 20. C.
*H For he hath also sent to us in Babylon, saying: It is a long time: build ye houses, and dwell in them: and plant gardens, and eat the fruits of them.
Ver. 28. Time, before you will return. H. — Sophonias read the letter, approving of its contents, (S. Jer.) though this is not certain. He took no violent steps against Jeremias, as Phassur had done. H.
*H Therefore thus saith the Lord: behold I will visit upon Semeias the Nehelamite, and upon his seed: he shall not have a man to sit in the midst of this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, saith the Lord: because he hath spoken treason against the Lord.
Ver. 32. Sit, in an honourable station, or they shall all die. C.