Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor along with some other men.

“This explains the readiness with which he got the Egyptians to give up Urijah to him, when that prophet had sought an asylum in Egypt.”

Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

“Ahikam--son of Shaphan the scribe, or royal secretary. He was one of those whom King Josiah, when struck by the words of the book of the law, sent to inquire of the Lord (2Ki 22:12, 14).”

At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD.

“Jehoiakim--The prophecy that follows was according to this reading given in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, fifteen years before it was published in the reign of Zedekiah to whom it refers; it was thus long deposited in the prophet's bosom, in order that by it…”

Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

“The task assigned to Jeremiah required great faith, as it was sure to provoke alike his own countrymen and the foreign ambassadors and their kings, by a seeming insult, at the very time that all were full of confident hopes grounded on the confederacy.”

So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.

“As the beasts are to submit to Christ, the Restorer of the dominion over nature, lost by the first Adam (compare Ge 1:28; Ps 8:6-8), so they were appointed to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, the representative of the world power and prefigurer of Antichrist; this universal…”

But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and…

“serve . . . till it--The same Hebrew root expresses "serve" and "till," or "cultivate." Serve ye the king of Babylon, and the land will serve you [CALVIN].”

“Amen!” Jeremiah said. “May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied, and may He restore the articles of His house and all the exiles…

“The event was the appointed test between contradictory predictions (De 18:21, 22). "Would that what you say were true!" I prefer the safety of my country even to my own estimation.”

For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to make them…

“I have put--Though Hananiah and those like him were secondary instruments in bringing the iron yoke on Judea, God was the great First Cause (Jer 27:4-7).”

Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth.

“Hananiah's death took place in the seventh month, that is, within two months after the prediction, answering with awful significance to the two years in which Hananiah had foretold that the yoke imposed by Babylon would end.”

(This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)

“(Elnathan, her father, is perhaps the same as the one mentioned in Jer 26:22). She reigned jointly with her son. princes--All the men of authority were taken away lest they should organize a rebellion.”

The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It stated:

“Zedekiah . . . sent unto Babylon--In Jer 51:59, Zedekiah himself goes to Babylon; here he sends ambassadors.”

“Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce.

“Build . . . houses--In opposition to the false prophets' suggestions, who told the captives that their captivity would soon cease, Jeremiah tells them that it will be of long duration, and that therefore they should build houses, as Babylon is to be for long…”

Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

“True religion teaches patient submission, not sedition, even though the prince be an unbeliever. In all states of life let us not throw away the comfort we may have, because we have not all we would have.”

For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.

“This proves that the seventy years date from Jeconiah's captivity, not from the last captivity. The specification of time was to curb the impatience of the Jews lest they should hasten before God's time. good word--promise of a return.”

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

“The moral malady of man is twofold--at one time vain confidence; then, when that is disappointed, despair. So the Jews first laughed at God's threats, confident that they should speedily return; then, when cast down from that confidence, they sank in inconsolable despondency.”

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

“Fulfilled (Da 9:3, &c.). When God designs mercy, He puts it into the hearts of His people to pray for the mercy designed. When such a spirit of prayer is poured out, it is a sure sign of coming mercy.”

this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest…

“He was one of those sent to consult Jeremiah by Zedekiah (Jer 21:1). Slain by Nebuchadnezzar at the capture of Jerusalem (2Ki 25:18-21).”

‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet—you…

“Jeremiah is in this a type of Christ, against whom the same charge was brought (Joh 10:20). prison--rather, "the stocks" (see on Jer 20:2). stocks--from a root, "to confine"; hence rather, "a narrow dungeon."”

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

“This resumes the thread of the sentence which began at Jer 29:25, but was left there not completed. Here, in this thirtieth verse, it is completed, not however in continuity, but by a new period.”

“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.

“Write . . . in a book--After the destruction of Jerusalem Jeremiah is not ordered as heretofore to speak, but to write the succeeding prophecy (Jer 30:4, &c.), so as thereby it might be read by his countrymen wheresoever they might be in their dispersion.”

Why do you cry out over your wound? Your pain has no cure! Because of your great iniquity and your numerous sins I have done these things to you.

“Why criest thou--as if God's severity was excessive. Thou hast no reason to complain, for thine affliction is just. Thy cry is too late, for the time of repentance and mercy is past [CALVIN].”

Nevertheless, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your adversaries—every one of them—will go off into exile.

“Therefore--connected with Jer 30:13, because "There is none to plead thy cause . . . therefore" I will plead thy cause, and heal thy wound, by overwhelming thy foes. This fifteenth verse is inserted to amplify what was said at the close of Jer 30:14.”

But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”

“Outcast--as a wife put away by her husband (Isa 62:4, contrasted with Jer 30:12). Zion--alluding to its Hebrew meaning, "dryness"; "sought after" by none, as would be the case with an arid region (Isa 62:12).”

Thanksgiving will proceed from them, a sound of celebration. I will multiply them, and they will not be decreased; I will honor them, and they will not be belittled.

“thanksgiving--The Hebrew word includes confession as well as praise; for, in the case of God, the highest praises we can bestow are only confessing what God really is [BENGEL], (Jer 17:26;”

Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.

“Vengeance upon God's foes always accompanies manifestations of His grace to His people. continuing--literally, "sojourning," abiding constantly; appropriately here in the case of Babylon, which was to be permanently destroyed, substituted for "whirling itself about" ("grievous" in English Version) (see on Jer 23:19,20), where the…”