Jeremiahchapter 28
17 verses · KJVJeremiah book hub →
Key verse
Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
It stands in scene B of the chapter, verses 12 to 17.
The chapter
Chapter summary
A prophet against a prophet, in public. Hananiah of Gibeon announces in the temple that within two full years Jehovah will break Babylon's yoke and bring back the vessels and Jeconiah. Jeremiah's reply is disarming ('Amen: Jehovah do so'), followed by the test: the prophet who prophesies peace is vindicated only when his word comes to pass. Hananiah then takes the bar from Jeremiah's neck and breaks it, and Jeremiah simply walks away. Later the word comes: thou hast broken bars of wood, but made in their stead bars of iron. Jeremiah tells him Jehovah never sent him, and that he will die this year, and in the seventh month Hananiah dies.
Context
Prophecy · Jeremiah · Jeremiah overview
Where the chapter sits
Jeremiah 28 falls in Against kings, prophets, and priests (chapters 21–29). Oracles against Judah's last kings; the Branch (23:5–6); false prophets; Hananiah's yoke; the letter to the exiles.
Before it: Temple sermon and symbolic acts, chapters 7–20. After it: Book of consolation, chapters 30–33.
The whole shape of Jeremiah→The world behind this chapter
Jeremiah 28The history
Hananiah of Gibeon is not described as a fraud on sight. He speaks with the same opening formula, in the same holy place, with the same confidence, and he says what everyone wants: within two full years God will break Babylon's yoke and bring back the vessels and King Jehoiachin.
Jeremiah's first answer is generous, amen, may the LORD do so, followed by the historical point that the prophets before them both had preached war, famine and plague against many countries, so the burden of proof falls on the man promising peace. The Law's own test was that a prophet's word must come true.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
Then Hananiah takes the wooden yoke off Jeremiah's neck and breaks it, an act of prophetic theatre answering prophetic theatre. Jeremiah walks away without a reply. The text notes plainly that he went his way, which is a striking admission, no instant rebuttal came.
The word comes later: the wooden bars are replaced with iron bars. And a sentence is pronounced on Hananiah himself, this year you shall die, because you have made this people trust in a lie. The chapter records that he died in the seventh month, two months later, and dates it.
What it meant to them
For the first hearers this is the clearest case study in the book of how to tell true from false when both men sound the same. The difference was not volume or venue. It was two years, then two months, and a calendar.
It also shows something about the true prophet. He had no comeback in the moment, and he did not manufacture one. He waited until he had a word, which is exactly the discipline the other man lacked.
Sources cited
- Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament: Jeremiah
- John Bright, Jeremiah (Anchor Bible)
A. Hananiah Breaks the Wooden Yoke Off the Prophet's Neck
1. (v. 1)
a.Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon: The date is precise, the fourth year and fifth month of Zedekiah, and the setting is public, the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, the same courtyard where Jeremiah had worn the yoke of chapter 27. Hananiah is named as of Gibeon, a levitical city, which the bench takes as a hint he may have come from priestly stock himself before turning false prophet, though the text does not say so directly. The confrontation is staged to happen in the open, prophet against prophet before the same witnesses.
Jeremiah 28:1, 2 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
Jeremiah 28:1
“In the beginning ... Zedekiah - Probably a gloss put into the margin to explain “the same year,” from where it has crept into the text. Gibeon - A city of priests Jos 21:17. Hananiah was probably a priest as well as a prophet. He chose either a Sabbath or a new moon, that he might confront Jeremiah not only in the presence of the priests, but also of all the people. He used Jer 28:2 the solemn formula which claims direct inspiration.”
Jeremiah 28:1
“The fourth year - Perhaps the fourth year of the sabbatical course is here intended. Of Gibeon - it is probable from the place where he lived, which was one of the cities of the priests; that he was a priest.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2. (vv. 2-4)
a.I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon: Hananiah takes up Jeremiah's own picture and inverts it, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon, promising the vessels' return and Jeconiah's release with all the captives within two full years. The claim directly contradicts what Jeremiah had just said in the previous chapter, that the remaining vessels would go to Babylon and stay until the Lord visits them, no date given. Hananiah's message is more attractive precisely because it is nearer and more specific, a fixed two years against Jeremiah's undated word, which the commentators mark as the shape every false comfort tends to take.
Jeremiah 28:2, 2 voices
Jeremiah 28:2
“Ought not Hananiah then to have trembled when any other had alleged God's name? But now, though he derided and laughed to scorn the prophetic office as well as God's holy name, he yet hesitated not to boast that God was the author of this prophecy, which was yet nothing but an imposture.”
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554)reformed
Jeremiah 28:2-4
“Now, upon the reading of this sham prophecy, and comparing it with the messages that God sent by the true prophets, we may observe what a vast difference there is between them. Here is nothing of the spirit and life, the majesty of style and sublimity of expression, that appear in the discourses of God's prophets, nothing of that divine flame and flatus.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 28:3, 1 voice
Jeremiah 28:3
“Within two full years - literally, In yet two years even days. Hananiah probably was induced to fix this date by the expectation that the confederacy then on foot would defeat Nebuchadnezzar.”
Jeremiah 28:4, 1 voice
Jeremiah 28:4
“Jeconiah - Zedekiah not being popular, the people would have preferred the young king, who had not reigned long enough to make enemies. Probably also Zedekiah had started for Babylon Jer 51:59.”
3. (vv. 5-9)
a.in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people: Jeremiah answers in front of the same crowd, Amen: the Lord do so, a wish rather than sarcasm as the older writers read it, the patriot in him hoping his own harder word is the one that turns out false. He then states the standing test for a peace-prophecy: the prophets before them mostly spoke of war, evil and pestilence, so a prophet who promises peace is known to be truly sent only when his word comes to pass, the same fulfillment test set out at Deuteronomy 18:22. Hananiah's claim is not refused outright here, only held for the one proof that actually settles it, time.
Jeremiah 28:5, 2 voices
Jeremiah 28:5
“Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah,.... The false prophet, as he is called by the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic versions: in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord; waiting and worshipping in the temple; and said boldly and before them all, in answer to Hananiah's prophecy, what follows.”
Jeremiah 28:5-6
“Though, as a faithful prophet, he foresaw and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, yet, as a faithful Israelite, he prayed earnestly for the preservation of it, in obedience to that command, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Though the will of God's purpose is the rule of prophecy and patience, the will of his precept is the rule of prayer and practice.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 28:6, 2 voices
Jeremiah 28:6
Jeremiah wishes "May the Lord do" what the false prophet said falsely, for this is what "Amen" signifies, a word that the Lord often employed in the Gospel: "Amen, amen, I say to you." He also has greater desire that prosperity is realized than that the truth is told. Another prophet testifies in this connection, saying, "O that I not be a man who has the Spirit and prefers to speak falsely!"
Jerome· written before 420· SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 5:58.2-59:1patristic
Jeremiah 28:6
“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. The prophets had no pleasure in announcing God's judgment, but did so as a matter of stern duty, not thereby divesting themselves of their natural feelings of sorrow for their country's woe.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 28:8, 1 voice
Jeremiah 28:8
“The prophets that have been before me - Namely, Joel, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and others; all of whom denounced similar evils against a corrupt people.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 28:9, 1 voice
Jeremiah 28:9
“When the word of the prophet shall come to pass - Here is the criterion. He is a true prophet who specifies things that he says shall happen, and also fixes the time of the event; and the things do happen, and in that time. You say that Nebuchadnezzar shall not overthrow this city; and that in two years from this time, not only the sacred vessels already taken away shall be restored, but also that Jeconiah and all the Jewish captives shall be restored, and the Babylonish yoke broken, see Jer 28:2, Jer 28:3, Jer 28:”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4. (vv. 10-11)
a.took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and brake it: Hananiah answers with an act rather than a further word, taking the yoke from Jeremiah's own neck and breaking it before the people, repeating his message that within two years every nation's yoke will be broken the same way. Jeremiah offers no reply and simply goes his way, a silence the commentators find strange until the next verses explain it, the word had not yet come to him for an answer. Prophecy in the book is shown here as something received rather than produced on demand, even for Jeremiah himself.
Jeremiah 28:10, 2 voices
Jeremiah 28:10-11
“The Septuagint does not translate "two years," nor does it call Hananiah a "prophet," lest it appear to name someone a prophet who was in fact no prophet, as if not many persons in sacred Scripture were named in accordance with the opinion of the time in which they lived or according to the truth of the matter. But Joseph is called the father of the Lord.”
Jerome· written before 420· SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 5:60.2-4patristic
Jeremiah 28:10
“Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck,.... Which he wore as a symbol of the subjection of Judea, and other nations, to the king of Babylon: an impudent and insolent action this was, to take the prophet's yoke from his neck; and the more so, as it was by the command of God that he made it, and wore it: and brake it; being made of wood, as it afterwards appears, and so might easily be broken.”
B. Yokes of Iron, and Hananiah Dies That Same Year
1. (vv. 12-14)
a.after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke: The Lord's reply comes only after Hananiah has broken the wooden yoke, and it takes up his own symbol against him, thou hast broken the yokes of wood, but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. The bondage is made harder rather than lighter by the false hope that opposed it, and the beasts of the field are given to Nebuchadnezzar as well, the same total submission demanded in chapter 27 now restated in the wake of Hananiah's denial. A yoke wished away by a false word returns doubled, iron in place of wood.
Jeremiah 28:13, 1 voice
Jeremiah 28:13
“Yokes of iron - Instead of Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke being broken, this captivity shall be more severe than the preceding. All these nations shall have a yoke of iron on their neck. He shall subdue them and take all their property, even the beasts of the field.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 28:14, 1 voice
Jeremiah 28:14
“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).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2. (vv. 15-17)
a.The Lord hath not sent thee: Jeremiah's sentence on Hananiah is severe and specific, the Lord hath not sent thee, but thou makest this people to trust in a lie, and this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. The charge is not simply wrong prediction but rebellion, a false prophet's message treated as treason against the God he claims to speak for, the same accusation that will be leveled at Shemaiah in chapter 29. The narrative records its own fulfillment in the next line, Hananiah died the same year in the seventh month, roughly two months after his own two-year promise was made, the test of Deuteronomy 18:22 answered inside the text itself.
Jeremiah 28:15, 2 voices
Jeremiah 28:15-17
When Jeremiah admonishes him, saying, "Listen, Hananiah, the Lord did not send you," he omits the title "prophet," for how could he call him a prophet who refused to be sent by the Lord? But the truth and order of history is preserved, as we said above, not according to what was but according to what was thought to be at the time. He says, in effect, "You have deceived the people with a falsehood, to prevent them from agreeing with the judgment of God. Hence, you know that this will be the year you die."
Jerome· written before 420· SIX BOOKS ON JEREMIAH 5:62.2-4patristic
Jeremiah 28:15
“Hear now, Hananiah; the Lord hath not sent thee - This was a bold speech in the presence of those priests and people who were prejudiced in favor of this false prophet, who prophesied to them smooth things. In such cases men wish to be deceived.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 28:16, 2 voices
Jeremiah 28:16
“This year thou shalt die - By this shall the people know who is the true prophet. Thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord, and God will cut thee off; and this shall take place, not within seventy years, or two years, but in this very year, and within two months from this time.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 28:16
“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. rebellion--opposition to God's plain direction, that all should submit to Babylon (Jer 29:32).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 28:17, 2 voices
Jeremiah 28:17
“So Hananiah - died the same year in the seventh month - The prophecy was delivered in the fifth month, (Jer 28:1), and Hananiah died in the seventh month. And thus God, in mercy, gave him about two months, in which he might prepare to meet his Judge. Here, then the true prophet was demonstrated, and the false prophet detected. The death of Hananiah thus predicted, was God’s seal to the words of his prophet; and must have gained his other predictions great credit among the people.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 28:17
“Died - Within two months after Jeremiah had thus prophesied; so dangerous a thing it is for ministers to teach people contrary to the revealed will of God.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Jeremiah 28. 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 9 works. Open for the list.
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown; Jerome; John Calvin; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765) and Matthew Henry.