Jeremiah 28:2
in Jeremiah 28“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
KJV
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 28
Commentary
6 notes on this verseOught 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.
This site's exposition
I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon
on Jeremiah 28:2-4
Hananiah takes up Jeremiah's own picture and turns it over: “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.” He promises the articles back “Within two years.” At 27:22 Jeremiah had said the articles would stay in Babylon, and Hananiah's fixed two years is the nearer, more pleasing word.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 28, Verses 1 onwards) In that year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Ananias son of Azur, a prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people. He said: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years, I will bring back all the vessels of the Lord to this place.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thus speaketh the Lord - What awful impudence! when he knew in his conscience that God had given him no such commission.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And it came to pass in that year When that time arrived that Nebuchadnezzar gave Zedekiah dominion over the five kings to whom Jeremiah stated his message and sent the thongs and the bars to the kings by the hand of their ambassadors.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֞ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֧ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֛וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֥י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שָׁבַ֞רְתִּי | shavarti | I will break | H7665 → | 147 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֹ֖ל | ʾol | [the] yoke of | H5923 → | 40 times |
| מֶ֥לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| בָּבֶֽל׃ | bavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֞רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֧הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֛וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
שָׁבַ֞רְתִּיI will break
shavartiH7665 →147 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֹ֖ל[the] yoke of
ʾolH5923 →40 times
מֶ֥לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
בָּבֶֽל׃Babylon
bavelH894 →262 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Micah 3:11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:13
“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Micah 3:5
This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their…
- Jeremiah 7:4
Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
- Titus 1:11
who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.
- Jeremiah 6:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.