Jeremiahchapter 26
24 verses · BSBJeremiah book hub →
Speaks with:2 Kings 22×4Jeremiah 36×3Acts 5×3Isaiah 1×2Jeremiah 7×2Jeremiah 38×2
Summary
Chapter summary
The temple sermon told again, this time from the outside, as courtroom drama. Jeremiah stands in the court and is told to hold back not a word; when he finishes, priests, prophets, and all the people seize him: 'Thou shalt surely die.' The princes come up and sit in judgment at the new gate. Jeremiah's defense is simply his commission. Amend your ways, and Jehovah will repent of the evil; as for me, I am in your hand. The elders rescue him with precedent, recalling Micah of Moresheth, who said Zion should be plowed as a field, and Hezekiah, who repented rather than killed. The counter-example is chilling: Uriah, extradited from Egypt and executed. Ahikam's hand keeps Jeremiah alive.
Context
Prophecy · Jeremiah — Jeremiah overview
- A. 1–9 Prophesy in the Court: This House Shall Be Like Shiloh
- B. 10–19 The Princes Judge, and Micah of Moresheth Is Remembered
- C. 20–24 Uriah Slain; Ahikam's Hand Shields Jeremiah
The outline
A.Prophesy in the Court: This House Shall Be Like Shilohvv. 1 to 9
Read vv. 1 to 9 →B.The Princes Judge, and Micah of Moresheth Is Rememberedvv. 10 to 19
Read vv. 10 to 19 →C.Uriah Slain; Ahikam's Hand Shields Jeremiahvv. 20 to 24
Read vv. 20 to 24 →
The world behind this chapter
Jeremiah 26The history
This is the trial that followed the temple-gate sermon of chapter 7. The priests and prophets seize him and the charge is capital: he prophesied against this city. The officials of Judah come up from the palace and take their seats at the entry of the New Gate — a city gate was where court was held, and the officials sat as judges with the crowd standing as the public.
Jeremiah's defence is procedural and brave at once. He does not deny the words; he says God sent him, tells the court to amend their ways, and adds that if they kill him they will bring innocent blood on themselves and the city.
The elders then argue precedent, which is how such cases were won. They cite Micah of Moresheth, who a hundred years earlier had said Zion would be plowed as a field, and point out that King Hezekiah did not put him to death but repented — and the disaster was averted. That is case law, quoted accurately, from a book the court had.
The counter-example is chilling. Uriah son of Shemaiah prophesied the same message, fled to Egypt, and Jehoiakim sent men after him, had him extradited, killed him and threw his body into a commoners' burial ground. Extradition of a fugitive was a standard clause in treaties between states, and Judah at this moment was under Egyptian control, so the request was easy to grant.
What it meant to them
For first hearers this chapter answers a live question: what actually happens to a man who says what Jeremiah says. Sometimes the elders remember Micah. Sometimes the king sends soldiers to Egypt.
The man who saves his life is named — Ahikam son of Shaphan, from the scribal family that had served in Josiah's reform. Clay seal impressions bearing the names of members of that family have been found in the burnt debris of Jerusalem's final destruction. This is one of the places where the Bible's cast of characters and the dirt of the City of David overlap.
Sources cited
- Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
- Walton, Matthews and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Jeremiah 26. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.