Jeremiahchapter 26
24 verses · Jeremiah, written by Baruch · 7th to 6th century BC · The Prophets
How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
Introduction
Jeremiah, written by Baruch, The Prophets, Jeremiah Overview.
Jeremiah spoke at the start of Jehoiakim's reign, and this chapter records what happened after he preached in the temple court. The book gives the sermon itself in chapter 7 and places the trial here, beside his conflicts with the other prophets. Its first hearers were a crowd deciding whether a preacher should die for his words. The chapter moves like a court case, with a charge, a defence and an appeal to earlier cases. Listen for the name of an older prophet brought in as a witness, and for the second prophet whose story ends differently. Read it as an account of what faithful speech could cost.
Context
- Who
- A crowd that had just heard a sermon and now had to decide whether the preacher should die for it
- What
- The account of Jeremiah's arrest after his temple sermon, his trial for his life, and the verdict that spared him.
- Where
- The temple court in Jerusalem and the entry of the New Gate, where the officials sat as judges.
- When
- The beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, about 609 to 608 BC.
- Why
- To record that the word of the LORD was tested in court and to show what Judah did with the prophets God sent.
Historical context
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.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
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.
Significance
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.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
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.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
No part of this chapter is read in the synagogue. Probed for this lane, the site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts printed parashot 0 and haftarah uses 0 for Jeremiah 26, and no festival reading for the book. Across chapters 1 to 26 of Jeremiah the same probe found a Haftarah only in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 16 and 17.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY.
Rashi dates the chapter before the one it follows: "This chapter below preceded the above chapter by four years" (Rashi on Jeremiah 26:1:1). On the elders who cite Micah and Uriah he reads two parties. Those who told of Micah were the righteous, and the wicked answered with Uriah to argue that Jeremiah should die as he did. Rashi cites Sifrei for the reading (Rashi on Jeremiah 26:20:1).
The corpus carries nineteen further notes on this chapter without an English text, each marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They stand cited and unquoted at Metzudat David on Jeremiah 26:2:1, 26:3:1, 26:7:1, 26:8:1, 26:11:1, 26:12:1, 26:13:1, 26:14:1, 26:15:1 and 26:16:1. Metzudat David also stands cited at 26:23:1 and 26:24:1. The same holds for Malbim on Jeremiah 26:4:1. The same holds for Radak on Jeremiah 26:5:1, 26:6:1, 26:9:1, 26:17:1, 26:21:1 and 26:22:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries 32 rabbinic locators on the verses of this chapter, 6 in the Talmud and 26 in the Midrash. It carries the text of none, so each is cited by ref here and never quoted or paraphrased. The verse numbers are the Hebrew ones the corpus prints.
On verse 1 it holds Arakhin 17a:5, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 11:78, Ein Yaakov, Arakhin 3:11, Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 1:1:30, Sanhedrin 103a:4 and Seder Olam Rabbah 24:1. On verse 5 it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Bava Batra 1:18. On verse 8 it holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 14:5. On verse 10 it holds Introductions to Tanaitic Literature, Introduction to Halakhic Midrashim, Halakhic Midrash 27 and Jerusalem Talmud Eruvin 5:1:15. On verse 14 it holds Tractate Kallah Rabbati 4:3.
On verse 16 it holds Sifrei Bamidbar 88:1 and Tractate Kallah Rabbati 4:2. On verse 18 it holds Aggadat Bereshit 43:2, Aggadat Bereshit 64:1, Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Toldot 12, Eikhah Rabbah 5:18, Eikhah Rabbah, Petichta 22, Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 27:27:3 and Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 30:15:8. It also holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Lamentations 5:18:1, Midrash Lekach Tov, Deuteronomy 28:6:1, Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 27:26:3, Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 9:2, Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo 4:1 and Sifrei Devarim 43:13 there.
It also holds Sifrei Zuta 11:5:4 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 734:1 there. On verse 20 it holds Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayishlach 26, Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 11:16:14, Pesikta DeRav Kahana 13:12 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 771:21.
The corpus also files Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 9:14 under Jeremiah 26:29, a verse this chapter does not have. It is left out of the list above rather than cited on a verse that is not there.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Jeremiah 26:1:1 to 26:20:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Malbim, Malbim on Jeremiah 26:4:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Jeremiah 26:2:1, 26:3:1, 26:7:1, 26:8:1, 26:11:1, 26:12:1, 26:13:1, 26:14:1, 26:15:1, 26:16:1, 26:23:1 and 26:24:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Radak, Radak on Jeremiah 26:5:1, 26:6:1, 26:9:1, 26:17:1, 26:21:1 and 26:22:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/jeremiah/26.json, the 32 Talmud and Midrash locators on the verses of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for Jeremiah 26: parashot 0, haftarah uses 0, and no festival reading for the book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Prophesy in the Court: This House Shall Be Like Shiloh
Jeremiah 26:1-3
At the beginning of the reign: The scene is dated “At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim,” and records the trial that followed the temple sermon of chapter 7. Verse 3 keeps the door open, “Perhaps they will listen and turn,” so that the LORD “may relent of the disaster.”
Stand in the courtyard of the house: People from all the cities of Judah came to this courtyard to worship. Barnes links the scene to the temple sermon of chapter 7. Matthew Henry notes that the whole message carried an offer: if they turned from their sins, God would stop the judgment already at the door.
The LORD speaks as if unsure they will listen. Jerome notes that such a word of doubt hardly suits the majesty of the Lord. He reads it as a guard on free will, so that the LORD knowing their deeds in advance forces no one to turn from evil.
Jeremiah 26:3
“This was the main thing God intended in sending him to them, to try if they would return from their sins, that so God might turn from his anger and turn away the judgments that threatened them, which he was not only willing, but very desirous to do, as soon as he could do it without prejudice to the honour of his justice and holiness.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 26:4-6
And you are to tell them: The condition is to “listen to Me and walk in My law”. The threat names a place: “I will make this house like Shiloh,” the sanctuary destroyed after Eli's sons. The city is to become “an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.”
Jeremiah 26:4
“If ye will not hearken - This and several of the following verses are nearly the same with those in Jer 7:13, etc., where see the notes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the words of My servants the prophets: Clarke notes that this passage repeats the sermon of chapter 7. The prophets sent again and again appear there too, in 7:25, and again in 25:4. The charge takes in every prophet the LORD sent before Jeremiah, so his hearers refuse a long line of voices.
Jeremiah 26:5
“To us, therefore, the power has been given to act or not to act, with the consequence that whatever good work we desire, will and accomplish, we should refer to the grace of God, who, according to the apostle, enables us to will and to work.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Six Books on Jeremiah 5:37.2-4patristic
I will make this house like Shiloh: Jerome explains “this house” as the temple of God and Shiloh as the place where the tabernacle stood. Once the temple falls, the city becomes “an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.” The sermon of 7:12 sent the people to see what was left of Shiloh.
Jeremiah 26:7-9
heard Jeremiah speaking these words: Jeremiah is heard by “the priests and prophets and all the people” in the courtyard of the sermon in chapter 7. He said “this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted,” heard as an attack on the temple itself.
all the people seized him: The cry for his death rests on Deuteronomy 18:20, which sentenced a false prophet to die. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that his hearers could set his words against Psalm 132:14, where God chooses Zion as His home forever. The priests and prophets took his message as a lie.
Jeremiah 26:8
“The charge against Jeremiah was that of uttering falsehood in Jehovah's name, an act punishable with death (De 18:20). His prophecy against the temple and city (Jer 26:11) might speciously be represented as contradicting God's own words (Ps 132:14).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How dare you prophesy in the name: Barnes explains that the crowd held it impossible for Jerusalem ever to become like Shiloh. Chapter 7 had warned against trusting in the temple. Barnes adds that the people assembled as a congregation to take part in the trial of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 26:9
“The charge against Jeremiah was that of prophesying falsely, for which the penalty was death Deu 18:20. They assumed that it was absolutely impossible that Jerusalem ever could become like Shiloh. Against Jeremiah - unto Jeremiah. They regularly constituted themselves a congregation to take part in his trial.”
The Princes Judge, and Micah of Moresheth Is Remembered
Jeremiah 26:10-11
When the officials of Judah heard: The officials leave the palace and sit “at the entrance of the New Gate,” a place of public judgment. Their arrival turns a mob into a court. The priests and prophets press the charge, “This man is worthy of death,” citing what “you have heard with your own ears!”
Jeremiah 26:10
“The princes of Judah - The priests could scourge a man etc., but could not then try him for his life, as the Sanhedrim subsequently did until the Romans deprived them of the power. The new gate - That built by Jotham 2Ki 15:35, and probably a usual place for trials.”
The charge now turns from the temple to the city: he “has prophesied against this city.” Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Hebrew word rendered against can also mean concerning. The accusers make the officials witnesses, “as you have heard with your own ears.”
Jeremiah 26:11
“For the prophets prophesied falsely, and the priests bore rule by their means, ch. v. 31 . Observe, When Jeremiah is indicted before the princes the stress of his accusation is laid upon what he said concerning the city, because they thought the princes would be most concerned about that.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 26:12-15
But Jeremiah said to all the: Jeremiah denies nothing and rests his defense on its source, “The LORD sent me,” repeating the offer of verse 3: “correct your ways and deeds.” Verse 15 warns his judges, “you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its residents.”
Jeremiah 26:12
“The Lord sent me to prophesy - My commission is from him, and my words are his own. I sought not this painful office. I did not run before I was sent.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 26:12
“They had used the same Hebrew word (Jer 26:11), which ought to be translated "concerning," though they meant it in the unfavorable sense. Jeremiah takes up their word in a better sense, implying that there is still room for repentance: that his prophecies aim at the real good of the city; for or concerning this house . . . city [GROTIUS].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
correct your ways and deeds: Jeremiah repeats the offer of verse 3 in his own defense. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read his words as proof that there was still room for repentance. His aim was the good of the city, and the LORD could still relent.
Jeremiah 26:13
“Therefore now amend your ways - If ye wish to escape the judgment which I have predicted, turn to God, and iniquity shall not be your ruin.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
here I am in your hands: Jeremiah places himself in the hands of the officials. Clarke hears the words of the messenger of God, who leaves them free to do as they please. The next verse adds the warning that goes with that surrender, the innocent blood that would fall on them.
Jeremiah 26:14
“As for me, behold, I am in your hand - I am the messenger of God; you may do with me what you please; but if you slay me, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves: Innocent blood would add to the guilt of the city and its residents, as Matthew Henry notes. Killing the prophet could never defeat the prophecy. The words came from the LORD, so to treat His messenger as a criminal was to put themselves in the utmost peril.
Jeremiah 26:15
“They might think that killing the prophet would help to defeat the prophecy, but they would prove wretchedly deceived; it would but add to their guilt and aggravate their ruin. Their own consciences could not but tell them that, if Jeremiah was (as certainly he was) sent of God to bring them this message, it was at their utmost peril if they treated him for it as a malefactor.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Then the officials and all the: The people who seized Jeremiah join the officials against the priests and prophets: “This man is not worthy of death.” Their ground is his commission, “he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God,” accepted as his defense. The cry for his death becomes an acquittal.
Jeremiah 26:16
“The priests, through envy of his holy zeal, were more his enemies than the princes, whose office was more secular than religious. A prophet could not legally be put to death unless he prophesied in the name of other gods (therefore, they say, "in the name of the Lord"), or after his prophecy had failed in its accomplishment.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 26:17-19
Some of the elders of the: Some “elders of the land” answer with a precedent, quoting Micah 3:12 from a century earlier: “Zion will be plowed like a field.” Hezekiah spared Micah and sought the LORD's favor, the LORD relented, and now “we are about to bring great harm on ourselves!”
The elders quote Micah 3:12, and Wesley notes that the words match that book exactly. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain the temple mount as Moriah, where woods would grow in place of buildings. Micah spoke just as hard a word and lived.
Jeremiah 26:18
“Morasthite--called so from a village of the tribe Judah. Hezekiah--The precedent in the reign of such a good king proved that Jeremiah was not the only prophet, or the first, who threatened the city and the temple without incurring death. mountain of the house--Moriah, on which stood the temple (peculiarly called "the house") shall be covered with woods instead of buildings.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah - This was that Micah, whose prophecies are part of holy writ, as appears by Micah i, 1; iii, 12, where are the very words of the prophecy here mentioned, the substance of whose prophecy was the same with this, that Zion should be plowed up, and the place where the temple stood, should become so desolate that trees should grow there, as in a forest.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Morasthite - The same as stands among the prophets. Now all these prophesied as hard things against the land as Jeremiah has done; yet they were not put to death, for the people saw that they were sent of God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Did Hezekiah king of Judah: The elders argue from what Hezekiah did with Micah. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the precedent came from the reign of a good king. Hezekiah answered the warning by seeking the LORD, the disaster was held back, and killing Jeremiah would bring great harm on Judah itself.
Jeremiah 26:19
“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death?....”
2 more voices on this verse
Jeremiah 26:19
“Thus might we procure ... - Rather, And we should commit a great evil against our own souls; i. e., by putting Jeremiah to death, we should commit a sin which would prove a great misfortune to ourselves.”
Jeremiah 26:19
“Thus - Now, if we should take a quite contrary course, and put this man to death, we should do ourselves no good, but procure great evil against our souls; that is against ourselves.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Uriah Slain; Ahikam's Hand Shields Jeremiah
Jeremiah 26:20-23
Now there was another man prophesying: A second case stands beside the first: “Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim” prophesied “the same things that Jeremiah did.” When he fled to Egypt, Jehoiakim sent “Elnathan son of Achbor” to bring him back. Hezekiah heard Micah and turned, and Jehoiakim hears the same warning and kills the messenger.
Jeremiah 26:20
“Urijah - who prophesied - The process against Jeremiah is finished at the nineteenth verse; and the case of Urijah is next brought on, for he was also to be tried for his life; but hearing of it he fled to Egypt. He was however condemned in his absence; and the king sent to Egypt, and brought him thence and slew him, and caused him to have an ignominious burial, Jer 26:21-23.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 26:20
“And there was - This is a story which we have recorded in no other part of scripture. They are probably the words of some others, who were enemies to Jeremiah.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
he fled in fear and went to Egypt: Uriah fled in fear, and Matthew Henry notes that some who have much grace have little courage. Jehoiakim was bent on his death even with the prophet gone to Egypt. Henry cites Proverbs 29:10 on the bloodthirsty who hate the upright.
Jeremiah 26:21
“Note, There are many that have much grace, but they have little courage, that are very honest, but withal very timorous. His execution notwithstanding. Jehoiakim's malice, one would think, might have contented itself with his banishment, and it might suffice to have driven him out of the country; but those are bloodthirsty that hate the upright, Prov. xxix.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Elnathan son of Achbor: Gill takes Achbor, the father of Elnathan, as the man Josiah sent in 2 Kings 22:12. Jehoiakim owed his throne to Pharaoh, so Egypt handed Uriah over. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown judge that Uriah was faithful in his message but wrong to leave his work.
Jeremiah 26:22
“And Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt,.... To seek for him; and to require the delivery of him upon being found: namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor; the father of this man very probably is the same we read of in Josiah's time, 2Ki 22:12; who is called Abdon in 2Ch 34:20; and certain men with him, into Egypt; to assist him in taking him, whose names are not mentioned; Elnathan's is, as being the principal, and to fix an eternal infamy upon him.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 26:22
“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. Urijah was faithful in delivering his message, but faulty in leaving his work, so God permitted him to lose his life, while Jeremiah was protected in danger. The path of duty is often the path of safety.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
They brought Uriah out of Egypt: Clarke notes that Uriah was condemned while away, brought back and killed, and denied an honored grave. The burial place of the common people was a mark of shame for a prophet. Wesley adds that this story appears nowhere else in Scripture.
Jeremiah 26:23
“Out of Egypt - As Jehoiakim was a vassal of Egypt, he would easily obtain the surrender of a man accused of treason.”
Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported: “Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.” Ahikam's son Gedaliah is later made governor over the land after Jerusalem falls. The same household protects Jeremiah at his trial and governs the remnant afterward.
Jeremiah 26:24
“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). Hence his interference here in behalf of Jeremiah is what we should expect from his past association with that good king.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Jeremiah 26:24
“It is here left upon record, as it were, by way of appeal to the judgment of impartial men in all ages, whether Jeremiah was worthy to die for delivering such a message as this from God, and whether his persecutors were not very wicked and unreasonable men.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 26:24
“The hand of Ahikam - was with Jeremiah - And it was probably by his influence that Jeremiah did not share the same fate with Urijah. The Ahikam mentioned here was probably the father of Gedaliah, who, after the capture of Jerusalem, was appointed governor of the country by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 40:5. Of the Prophet Urijah, whether he was true or false, we know nothing but what we learn from this place.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.