Jerusalem carried a II. KINGS, XXIV. B.C. 599. Captive into Babylon. all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. (15) And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the a ch. 20. 17: Isa land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. (16) And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and 2 his servants did besiege it. (12) And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his or, eunuchs. princes, and his 1 officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. (13) And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the Chron. 36. 10: craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. (14) And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and Came against.-Came unto. 39, 6. Esther 2. 6. 2 Or, eunuchs. that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. (17) And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in c Jer. 37. 1, & 52. 1. his stead, and changed his name to (12) And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out...-Despairing of the defence, he threw himself upon the clemency of Nebuchadnezzar. The queenmother (Jer. xxii. 2) and all his grandees and courtiers accompanied the king, who probably hoped to be allowed to keep his throne as a vassal of Babylon. Took him-i.e., as a prisoner. In the eighth year of his (i.e., Nebuchadnezzar's) reign. This exactly tallies with the data of Jer. xxv. 1, xlvi. 2. (13) And he carried out thence . . .- It is not said, but implied, that Nebuchadnezzar entered the city. He may have done so at the time of his invasion under Jehoiakim (verse 1). On that occasion he had carried off some of the sacred vessels (2 Chron xxxvi. 7; Dan. i. 2, v. 2, 3; comp. Ezra i. 7 seq.) It is certainly surprising to find that anything was left in the Temple treasury after the repeated spoliations which it had undergone. The fact not only indicates the probable existence of secret (subterranean) store-chambers, but also lends some support to the chronicler's representations of the great wealth stored up in the sanctuary. Cut in pieces.-Chap. xvi. 17; 2 Chron. xxviii. 24. The meaning seems to be that the gold-plating was now stripped off from such “ vessels as the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, and the Ark. (Comp. chap. xviii. 16.) As the Lord had said-e.g., to Hezekiah (chap. xx. 17; comp. Jer. xv. 13, xvii. 3). (14) All Jerusalem. - Limited by what follows, and meaning the most important part of the population. The princes-i.e., the nobles, e.g., the grandees of the court, some of the priests (Ezek. i. 1), and the heads of the claus. The mighty men of valour.-This is probably right. Thenius and Bähr prefer to understand the men of property and the artisans, as in chap. xv. 20. All the craftsmen and smiths.- The former were workers in wood, stone, and metal, i.e., carpenters, masons, and smiths. (Comp. Gen. iv. 22.) The smiths" (properly, "they who shut ") answer to what we should call locksmiths. They were makers of bolts and bars for doors and gates (Jer. xxiv. 1, xxix. 2). It is obvious that by deporting "the craftsmen and smiths" the king of Babylon made further outbreaks impossible (comp. 1 Sam. xiii. 19.) Kimchi's explanation of "smiths " is a curiosity of exegesis. He makes of them "learned persons, who shut other people's mouths, and propose riddles which nobody else can guess. Hitzig and Thenius derive the word (masger) from mas, "levy," and gēr, “alien," so that it would originally mean "statute labourers,"" Canaanites compelled to work for the king;" and afterwards, as here, manual labourers" in general. But such a compound term in Hebrew would be very surprising. The poorest sort.-Those who had neither property nor handicraft. (Comp. Jer. xxxix. 10.) (15) And he carried away.- The form of the verb is different from that in verse 14. We might render: "Yea, he carried away; for verses 15, 16 simply give the particulars of what was stated generally in verse 14. In the present verse the “ "princes" are defined. He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother.-Fulfilment of Jer. xxii. 24-27. The mighty of the land. So the Targum, "the magnates of the land." All who could do so, must have taken refuge in Jerusalem at the approach of the Chaldæan army. (16) And all the men of might.-"The mighty men of valour" of verse 14. (The words depend on the verb, "he carried away," in verse 14.) As there were 7,000 of these, and 1,000" craftsmen and smiths," and the total number of the exiles was 10,000, there were 2.000 belonging to the aristocratic classes. Jer. lii. 28 gives a total of 3,023. Thenius explains his discrepancy as resulting from a transcriber's confusion of a large y, i.e. 10, with g, i.e. 3. Josephus has made his total of 10.832 out of the 832 of the second deportation (Jer. lii. 29) added to the 10,000 here assigned. 66 All that were strong and apt for war.Literally, the whole, warriors and doers of battle. This clause refers to both those which precede, and it states that the 8,000 were all men in their prime, and trained in the use of weapons (Thenius). But may not the term “strong” (gibbôrîm, “heroes,"" warriors") refer to the 7,000 as actual fighting men; and the phrase "makers of war" denote the craftsmen as employed in forging weapons and constructing defences? Syriac reads, and all the men that made war.) Even them the king of Babylon brought. Literally, and the King of Babylon brought them. (17) Mattaniah his father's brother.- He was the third son of Josiah (comp. Jer. i. 3, xxxvii. 1), and full brother of Jehoahaz-Shallum (chap. xxiii. 31). | Jehoiachin was childless at the time (comp. verses 12 (The a Jer. 39. 1, & 52. 4 Zedekiah. (18) Zedekiah was twenty and and 15 with chap. xxv. 7 and Jer. xxii. 30). In the exile he had offspring (1 Chron. iii. 17, 18). (The LXX. reads, his son, vidv, a corruption of eîov, uncle). And changed his name to Zedekiah.-His former name meant "gift of Jah;" his new one, “ Jah is righteousness" (or "my righteousness"). The prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer. xxiii. 1-9), denouncing "the shepherds that destroy and scatter the flock," and promising a future king, whose name shall be "Jehovah is our righteousness" (Iahweh çidgēnu), evidently refers to the delusive expectations connected with Zedekiah's elevation. Nebuchadnezzar's act of clemency in putting another native prince on the throne may have been the execution of a promise made at the surrender of the city. THE REIGN OF ZEDEKIAH, the last KING OF JUDAH (verse 17-chap. xxv. 7; comp. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 11 seq.; Jer. lii). This section and the parallel in Jeremiah appear to have been derived from the same historical work. The text of Jeremiah is generally, though not always, the best. (19) And he did that which was evil The evidence of the prophet Jeremiah should be compared with this statement. (See especially Jer. xxiv. 8; xxxvii. 1, 2; xxxviii. 5, and Comp. Note on 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13.) The contemporary state of religion is vividly reflected in the pages of Ezekiel (chaps. viiixi.); who, moreover, denounces Zedekiah's breach of faith with the king of Babylon (Ezek. xvii. 11—21). According to all that Jehoiakim . . .-He is not compared with Jehoiachin, who only reigned three months. (20) For through . . . in Jerusalem.-Literally, for upon the anger of Jehovah it befel Jerusalem. That which fell upon Jerusalem and Judah like a ruinous disaster was the evil doing of Zedekiah, mentioned in verse 19. That such a prince as Zedekiah was raised to the throne was itself a token of Divine displeasure, for his character was such as to hasten the final catastrophe. Until he had cast them out. See Note on chap. xvii. 23. That Zedekiah rebelled.-Rather, and Zedekiah rebelled. There should be a full stop after "presence. Zedekiah expected help from Pharaoh Hophra (Apries), king of Egypt, to whom he sent ambassadors (Ezek. xvii. 15; comp. Jer. xxxvii. 5, xliv. 30.) Moreover the neighbouring peoples of Edom, Ammon, and Moab, as well as Tyre and Zidon, were eager to throw off the Babylonian yoke, and had proposed a general rising to Zedekiah (Jer. xxvii. 3 seq.) The high hopes which Jerusalem besieged. CHAPTER XXV.-(1) And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. (2) And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. (3) And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people were inspired by the negotiations may be inferred from the prophecy of Hananiah (Jer. xxviii.). Jeremiah opposed the project of revolt to the utmost of his power; and the event proved that he was right. In the early part of his reign Zedekiah had tried to procure the return of the exiles carried away in the last reign (Jer. xxix. 3); and in his fourth year he visited Babylon himself, perhaps with the same object, and to satisfy Nebuchadnezzar of his fidelity (Jer. li. 59). The date of his open revolt cannot be fixed. XXV. (1) And it came to pass.-With the account which follows comp. Jer. lii. 4 seq., xxxix. 1-10, xl.— xliii. In the ninth year. . . tenth day.-Comp. the similarly exact dates in verses 3 and 8. Ezek. xxiv. 1, 2, agrees with the present. The days were observed as fasts during the exile (Zech. vii. 3, 5, viii. 19). Came against Jerusalem.-After taking the other strong places of Judah, as Sennacherib bad done (Jer. xxxiv. 7; comp. 2 Kings xviii. 13, xix. 8), Zedekiah must have prepared for the siege, as it lasted a year and a half. Forts.-The Hebrew word (dāyeq) occurs in Ezek. iv. 2, xvii. 17; xxi. 27; xxvi. 8. Its meaning is some kind of siege work, as appears from the context in each case; but what precisely is not clear. The LXX. here has "wall" (Teixos); Syriac, "palisade" (qalqûmê, i.ε., χαράκωμα). (2) Unto the eleventh year.-The siege lasted altogether one year, five months, and twenty-seven days (verse 1 compared with verse 8). The Chaldæans raised the siege for a time, and marched against PharaohHophra, who was coming to the help of the Jews (Jer. Xxxvii. 5 seq.; comp. Ezek. xvii. 17, xxx. 20 seq.) (3) And on the ninth day of the fourth month. -The text is supplemented from Jer. xxxix. 2, lii. 6. The Syriac, however, has, "And in the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, in the fifth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine prevailed," &c.; which may be original. (Comp. verse 1.) As in The famine prevailed.-Not that the scarcity was first felt on that day, but that it then had reached a climax, so that defence was no longer possible. The horrors of the siege are referred to in Lam. ii. 11 seq., 19 seq., iv. 3-10; Ezek. v. 10; Baruch ii. 3. the famine of Samaria and the last siege of Jerusalem, parents ate their own offspring. (Comp. the prophetic threats of Lev. xxvi. 29; Deut. xxviii. 53 seq.; Jer. xv. 2 seq., xxvii. 13; Ezek. iv. 16 seq.) The people of the land. The population of the city, especially the families which had crowded into it from the country. Thenius, as usual, insists that the ment with him. of the land. (4) And the city was broken 1 Heb, spake judg- 2 Heb., made blind. Carried Captive to Babylon. Babylon to Riblah; and they1gave judgment upon him. (7) And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and 2put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. (8) And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant and brought him up to the king of 3 or chief marshal. of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: militia are meant. But these are the "men of war (verse 4). (4) Broken up.-Comp. 2 Chron. xxxii. 1. A breach was made in the wall with battering-rams, such as are depicted in the Assyrian sculptures. The Chaldæans forced their entry on the north side of the city, i.e., they took the Lower City (chap. xxii. 14). This is clear from Jer. xxxix. 3, where it is said that, after effecting an entrance, their generals proceeded to assault "the middle gate,” i.e., the gate in the north wall of Zion, which separated the upper from the lower city. (See also chap. xiv. 13.) All the men of war fled.-The Hebrew here is defective, for it wants a verb, and mention of the king is implied by what follows. (See Jer. xxxix. 4; lii. 7.) A comparison of these parallels suggests the reading: "And Zedekiah king of Judah and all the men of war fled, and went out of the city by night," &c. By the way of the gate between (the) two walls which is (was) by the king's garden.This gate lay at the south end of the Tyropoon, i.e., the glen between Ophel and Zion; and is the same as "the Gate of the Fountain" (Neh. iii. 15). The two walls were necessary for the protection of the Pool of Siloam and the water supply; besides which the point was naturally weak for purposes of defence. Whether "the king's garden was within or without the double wall is not clear, probably the latter, as Thenius supposes. Now the Chaldees round about.An indication that even by this route the king and his warriors had to break through the enemy's lines, as the city was completely invested. (Comp. Ezek. xii. 12.) And the king went.-Some MSS. and the Syriac, and they went. (So Jer. lii. 7; a correction, after the mention of the king had fallen out of the text.) The way toward the plain.-The Arabah, or valley of the Jordan (Josh. xi. 2; 2 Sam. ii. 29). (5) In the plains of Jericho.-In the neighbour. hood of Jericho, the Arabah expands to the breadth of eleven or twelve miles. The part west of Jordan was called the "plains" (Arboth plural of Arabah) of Jericho; and that which lay east of the river was known as the plains of Moab (Josh. iv. 13; Num. xxii. 1). The depression between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akaba still bears the old name of the Arabah; between the Dead Sea and the Lake of Tiberias it is called the Ghor. (6) To the king of Babylon, to Riblah.— Chap. xxiii. 33. Nebuchadnezzar was not present at the storm of Jerusalem (Jer. xxxix. 3). He awaited the result in his headquarters. And they gave judgment upon him.-Or, brought him to trial. (Comp. Jer. i. 16, iv. 12.) Nebu in Jer. xxxix. 6, and lii. 10, 11; so that the acts in question are attributed directly to Nebuchadnezzar, to whose orders they were due. (So the versions, except that the Targum has "they slew.") The blinding of Zedekiah need not have been done by the conqueror himself, although in the Assyrian sculptures kings are actually represented as blinding and otherwise torturing their captives. It is no argument against the singular, "he carried him to Babylon," to say with Thenius that Zedekiah was sent to Babylon at once, while Nebuchadnezzar remained at Riblah. Qui facit per alium, facit per se." 66 The sons.-Who fled with him (Comp. Jer. xli. 10). In Jeremiah it is added that all the nobles or princes of Judah were slain also. Put out the eyes.-A Babylonian_punishment (Herod. vii. 18). This was the meaning of Ezekiel's prediction; "I will bring him to Babylon yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there" (Ezek. xii. 13). With fetters of brass.-Literally, with the double brass (2 Chron. xxxiii. 12); i.e., with manacles and fetters, as represented on the Assyrian monuments. 66 Carried him to Babylon.-Jer. lii. 11;" and put him in prison till the day of his death." So the Arabic of Kings. (8) On the seventh day...-An error for the tenth day (Jer. lii. 12), one numeral letter having been mistaken for another. The Syriac and Arabic read ninth (perhaps, because, as Thenius suggests, the memorial fasts began on the evening of the ninth day). According to Josephus the second Temple also was burnt on the tenth of the fifth month (Bell. Jud. vi. 4. 8). The nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.This agrees with Jer. xxxii. 1, according to which the tenth of Zedekiah was the eighteenth of Nebuchad nezzar. Nebuzaradan.-A Hebrew transcript of the Babylonian name Nabú-zir-iddina, "Nebo gave seed." Captain of the guard.-Strictly, chief of executioners. (See Gen. xxxvii. 36.) This means commander of the Royal Bodyguard, the "Prætorians" of the time; a corps of picked warriors, answering to the "Cherethites and Pelethites," and the "Carians and Runners" among the Hebrews (chap. xi. 4). Nebuzaradan is not 1 Heb. fallen away. and Spoiling of the Temple. Babylon. (14) And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. (15) And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. (16) The two pillars, one sea, and the bases. which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. (17) The height (9) and he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. (10) And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. (11) Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the 'fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away. (12) But the captain of the 2 Heb., the one sea. of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. a (13) And the pillars of brass that were a ch. 20. 17; Jer. Jer. 52. 21. 2 and the chapiter upon it was brass and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegra in the house of the LORD, and the bases, Kings 7. 15; nates upon the chapiter round about, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to mentioned among the other generals in Jer. xxxix. 3. On this ground, and because his coming is expressly mentioned here, and because a month elapsed between the taking of the city (verse 4) and its destruction (verses 9, 10), Thenius infers that the city of David and the Temple did not at once fall into the hands of the Chaldeans; but were so well defended under the lead of some soldier like Ishmael (verse 23), that Nebuchadnezzar was compelled to despatch a specially distinguished commander to bring the matter to a conclusion. Verses 18-21 certainly appear to favour this view. A servant.-In Jer. lii., "who stood before the king;" probably the original phrase. (Comp. chap. iii. 14, v. 16). ... (9) He burnt the house -Which were in the upper city. be a semicolon after "king's house.") king's house. And every great man's house.- Omit man's. The phrase limits the preceding one, "all the houses of Jerusalem," that is to say, "every great house (2 Chron. xxxvi. 19, "all her palaces"). The common houses were spared for the poor who were left (verse 12). (10) With the captain. The preposition, though wanting in the common Hebrew text, is found in many MSS. and the old versions, as well as Jer. lii. (11) The fugitives that fell away-i.e., the deserters. (See Jer. xxvii. 12, xxxvii. 13 seq., xxxviii. 2, 4, 17, 19.) The multitude.-Probably the rank and file of the fighting men (Judges iv. 7). The word is hāmôn, strictly a shouting throng. (The Syriac has "the rest of the army.") Jer. lii. 15, spells the word with the light breathing ('āmôn-either a dialectic use, or a mistake, not a distinct word). (12) Of the poor of the land.-Chap. xxiv. 14 (Comp. Jer. xxxix. 10.) Husbandmen.-Ór, plowmen. The word (Hebrew text, gabim) occurs here only. Jer. lii. 16 has a cognate form (yogʻbim) also unique. (13) And the pillars of brass.-From this point Jer. xxxix. ceases to be parallel with the present narrative. (See the Notes on 1 Kings vii. 15 seq., for the all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work. (18) And the captain of the guard took objects enumerated in this and the following verses.) Instead of "brass" we should probably understand copper throughout. (14) The snuffers.-Jer. lii. 18 adds: and the sprink ling-bowls. The account there is in general more detailed than the present. (See 1 Kings vii. 40, 50.) Ministered.-Used to minister. Things belonging to the service of the brazen altar are enumerated in this verse. (15) Firepans.-See 1 Kings vii. 50. Besides "firepans" and "bowls" five other sorts of vessel are given in Jer. lii. 19. Such things as were... silver.-A general expression intended to include all other objects of the same material as the two kinds mentioned. The verse treats of the utensils of the holy place. Many such had doubtless been carefully concealed by the priests on the occasion of the first plundering of the Temple (chap. xxiv. 13). (Comp. Jer. xxvii. 19 seq.) (16) The two pillars, (the) one sea. .-A nominative absolute. All these vessels .-Those just mentioned, the two pillars, &c. Without weight.-A natural hyperbole closely resembling one which we often meet with in Assyrian accounts of the plunder carried off from conquered towns: "spoils without number I carried off.” (17) Three cubits.-An error of transcription for five. Five cubits was the height of the capital according to 1 Kings vii. 16; Jer. lii. 22; 2 Chron. iii. 15. The wreathen work.-Lattice-work (1 Kings vii. 17). With wreathen work.-Upon the lattice-work. Thenius says this is the residuum of a sentence preserved in Jeremiah-namely, " And the pomegranates were ninety and six towards the outside; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the lattice-work round about" (Jer. lii. 23). Our text is, at any rate, much abridged. (18, 19) List of the chief personages taken by Nebuzaradan in the Temple and the city of David. This notice may be regarded as an indirect proof that the upper city was not captured before. 2 Or, eunuch. the land of Hamath. Slain at Riblah. So Judah was carried away out of their land. a (22) And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah ji Heb, threshold. the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: (19) And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that 3 were in the king's presence, which 3 Heb, saw the left, even over them he made Gedaliah were found in the city, and the 'principal scribe of the host, which mustered king's face. the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. (23) And when all the 'captains of the people of the land, and threescore 4 or, scribe of the the armies, they and their men, heard captain of the men of the people of the land that were found in the city: (20) and Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah (21) and the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in Jer. 40. 7. : a Jer. 40. 5, 9. (18) Seraiah the chief (high) priest.-And grandfather or great-grandfather of Ezra (1 Chron. vi. 14; Ezra. vii. 1). Zephaniah the second priest.-See chap. xxiii. 4, Note; and Jer. xxi. 1, xxix. 25, 29, xxxvii. 3. From the last three passages it is clear that Zephaniah was a priest of high rank, being probably the high priest's deputy. The three keepers of the door (threshold).— The chief warders of the principal entrances to the Temple. (See Jer. xxxviii. 13.) All the chief officials of the Temple were apparently taken away together. (19) The city.-Thenius is probably right in explaining the city of David. An officer that was set over the men of war -i.e., a royal officer commanding the garrison of the city of David. He was probably not an eunuch (chap. xx. 18, xxiv. 12), though in the Byzantine empire, at all events, eunuchs were sometimes great soldiers-e.g., the heroic Narses. And five men of them. . .-See margin. The phrase is explained by the seclusion affected by Oriental sovereigns. The LXX., Syriac, and Vulg., read five; the Targum, fifty. Jer. lii. and the Arabic read seven. The numeral letter denoting 5 had probably become partially obliterated in the MS. used by the writer of Jer. lii. The persons in question were royal counsellors. They may have dissuaded the king from flight, and so held out to the last (Thenius). The principal scribe of the host. See margin. This scribe was an officer on the staff of the commander-in-chief, who had himself either fallen fighting or accompanied the king in his flight. Which mustered the people of the land-i.e., enrolled the names of such persons as were bound to serve in the army. Threescore men of the people of the land -i.e., apparently the remains of the garrison of the citadel. Keil thinks such as had distinguished themselves above others in the defence, or had been ringleaders in the rebellion. That were found...-This expression seems to imply that they were the few survivors of a much larger force. In the city.-Jer. lii. in the midst of the city, an expression which seems to point to the city of David, which was the strategical centre of Jerusalem. (21) The king of Babylon smote them He was too irritated by the obstinacy of their defence to admire their bravery. that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah So Judah was carried away .-This sentence evidently concludes the whole account of the destruc. tion of Jerusalem and the deportation of the people (comp. chap. xvii. 23; Jer. lii. 27); and not merely that of the proceedings of Nebuzaradan. The prophecy of Obadiah refers to the heartless behaviour of the Edomites on occasion of the ruin of Judah. (Comp. Ps. cxxxvii.; Lam. iv. 21, 22.) (22-26) An extract from Jer. xl.-xliii., relating to the people left in the land. (22) Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.-Ahikam was one of Josiah's princes (chap. xxii. 12). In the reign of Jehoiakim he saved the prophet Jeremiah from the popular fury (Jer. xxvi. 24). Nebuzaradan committed the prophet to the care of Gedaliah, who probably, like his father, sympathised with Jeremiah's views (Jer. xxxix. 13, 14). After hesitating whether to accompany Nebuzaradan to Babylon or not, the prophet finally decided upon repairing to Gedaliah at Mizpah (Jer. xl. 1—6). Gedaliah's magnanimous behaviour in regard to Ishmael (Jer. xl. 16 seq.) shows that he was not a traitor and deserter as some have misnamed him. Rather he was a disciple of Jeremiah, and did his utmost to induce the remnant over which he was appointed governor to submit with patience to their divinely-ordered lot, as the prophet urged them to do. (23) The captains of the armies.-Rather, the army captains; or, the captains of the forces. They and their men had fled with the king, and dispersed themselves over the country (Jer. xl. 7). Now they came out of hiding. Their men.-The Hebrew text has the men, but all the versions, and Jer. xl. 7, read rightly, their men. Mizpah. See 1 Kings xv. 22. It was well suited to be the governor's residence, as it lay high, and was a naturally strong position. Moreover, it was the seat of an ancient sanctuary (Judg. xx. 1), which might serve in some sort as a substitute for the destroyed Temple of Jerusalem (Jer. xli. 5). Ishmael.-Grandson of Elishama the royal secretary (verse 25; Jer. xxxvi. 12, 20), and of royal blood (Jer. xli. 1). Johanan the son of Careah.-Jer. xl. 8, "and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Careah." The Netophathite.-The words, “and the sons of Ophai," have fallen out before this epithet (Jer. xl. 8), and probably the names of these sons of Ophai in both passages. Netophah is mentioned in Ezra ii. 22; Nel. |
