The Mystery of Ephraim

The Targum is another source of the Bible, much like the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint; and to dismiss it as another testimony for spiritual inspiration and understanding, as virtually all the endtime Churches do, is an absolute disgrace.

The Targum was started by Ezra for those returning from the Babylon exile and for these returnees they could only understand the Scriptures in Aramaic. That is, the Targum is as if Ezra is speaking to us today from the Hebrew Bible quoted.

Hence, for ignoring the Targum as an authority for Understanding and Truth, the endtime Churches of God is being discribed as wretches, blind and naked; and would be thus justifiably destined to be spewed out of God’s mouth!

False shepherds and false teachings abound everywhere so much so that, if possible, even the elect are deceived! Thus for correction, it is with certainty that when it is spewed out of God’s mouth, it is into the Fire! Selah!

“The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He has executed and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart; in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly” Jeremiah 23:20

That is, we wouldn’t be able to understand these prophecies until the “latter days.” In the latter days could be our time, the endtime, or soon to be, then we shall understand these prophecies clearly: a foretaste of which is that the calamities which will have come upon us are the divine judgement upon our sins. We are all trying, but only in the endtime would we be able to understand these things perfectly.

Jeremiah 51

The Chaldeans, especially under Nebuchadnezzar their king, has been described by God as “the king of Babylon, My servant” in multiple places (Jeremiah 25:9, Jeremiah 27:6, Jeremiah 43:10). So this and the previous chapter contain a long prophecy concerning the destruction of Babylon following their judgement as well.

¹ Thus saith the Lord: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against Me, a destroying wind.

— thus saith the Lord, behold, I will raise up against Babylon; this is not a new prophecy, but a continuation of the former. The Babylonians being the last and most notorious enemies of the Jews, yet Nebuchadnezzar was God’s servant, his horsewhip, but as they were against the Lord’s people the Lord was against them;

— the Targum renders it, “against the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans;” a destroying wind; a northern one, the army of the Medes and Persians, which should sweep away all before it. The Targum says, “people that are slayers; whose hearts are lifted up, and are beautiful in stature, and their spirit destroying.”

² And will send unto Babylon winnowers that shall fan her, and shall empty her land; for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

— and God will send unto Babylon farmers that shall fan her, and shall empty her land; or “strangers that shall fan her” meaning the Medes and Persians, who should be like a strong wind upon the mountains, where corn, having been threshed was fanned and the chaff carried away by the wind;

—and such would the Chaldeans be in the hand of the Persians, scattered and dispersed among the nations as chaff with the wind and their cities be emptied of inhabitants and of their wealth and riches; the Targum says, “I will send against Babylon spoilers, that shall spoil and exhaust the land:”

— for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about; in the time of the siege they shall surround her on all sides so that none might escape; as Babylon had been a fanner of the Lord’s people, now she should be fanned herself and stripped of all she had.

³ Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine; and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

— against him let the archer bend his bow; these are either the words of the Lord to the Medes and Persians, to the archers among them, to bend their bows and level their arrows against the Chaldeans who had bent their bows and shot their arrows against others; or of the Medes and Persians stirring up one another to draw their bows and fight manfully against the enemy:

— and against him that lifteth up himself in his brigandine; or coat of mail; that swaggers about it, proud of it and putting his confidence in it as if out of all danger. The sense is, that they should direct their arrows both against those that were more lightly or more heavily armed; since by them they might do execution among the one and the other:

— and spare ye not her young men; because of their youth, beauty and strength: destroy ye utterly all her host; her whole army, whether officers or common soldiers; or let them be accoutred in what manner they will. The Targum says “consume all her substance.”

⁴ Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. — thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans; by the sword or by arrows and darts of the Medes and Persians; and they that are thrust through in her streets; either by the one or by the other, especially the latter since they only are mentioned.

⁵ For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah by his God, by the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”

— though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel, rather, but the land of the Israelites is filled with sins, because they refused to accept the true God in spite of the many manifestations of his power and glory in their midst; therefore the Lord addresses himself to his chosen people living in Babylon, urging the proper behavior at the time of Babylon’s downfall.

⁶ Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the Lord’S vengeance; He will render unto her a recompense.

— flee out of Babylon and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity, by taking part in the idolatry which brought destruction upon her; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.

⁷ Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’S hand, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. — Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, a nation noted for power and glory;

— gold, denoting the grandeur, splendour and riches of the empire, all is due to the Lord’s blessing that made all the earth drunken, drawn the nations of the earth into idolatry; the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad, intoxicated and deprived of a sound mind, are bound for destruction.

⁸ Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: Howl for her! Take balm for her pain; if so be she may be healed. — Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed; or “broken” even into shivers, as a cup is;

— for when it had been used to answer the purposes designed by the Lord, he let it fall cut of his hands at once and it was broken; or rather he dashed it in pieces as a potter’s vessel.

⁹ We woud have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country, for her judgement reacheth unto heaven and is lifted up even to the skies.

¹⁰ The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness; come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.

¹¹ Make bright the arrows! Gather the shields! The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; for His device is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of His temple.

¹² Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Set up the watchmen! Prepare the ambushes! For the Lord hath both devised and done that which He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.

— Set up the watchmen! God would set up numerous watchmen at the endtime! thus this chapter must be prophetic instead of historical, although there is always some elements of been historical;

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, unless He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets,” Amos 3:7

— prepare the ambushes; or “lies in wait” to second or relieve those on the walls upon occasion; or seize unawares the besiegers, should they attempt to scale the walls and enter the city;

¹³ O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. — O thou that dwellest upon many waters; here Babylon is addressed either by the Lord or by the prophet;

— who is described by her, situation, which was by the great river Euphrates; which being branched out into several canals or rivers, both ran through it and encompassed it; hence mention is made of the rivers of Babylon, Psalms 137:1; and a fit emblem this city was of mystical Babylon, which is also said to sit on many waters, interpreted as of many people and nations, Revelation 17:1;

— thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness; this flourishing city was now near its end and with it the whole Babylonish monarchy; the Targum says, “the day of thy destruction is come, and the time of the visitation of thy wickedness.”

¹⁴ The Lord of hosts hath sworn by Himself, saying, “Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars, and they shall lift up a shout against thee.”

¹⁵ He hath made the earth by His power; He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding. — the omnipotence of the Lord and Creator of the whole world will destroy the idols of Babylon, and break the mighty kingdom that rules the world.

¹⁶ When He uttereth His voice there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures.

— through thunders, he makes a roaring sound of water in the heavens, he causes clouds to ascend from the end of the earth, makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.

¹⁷ Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. — he brings ruin on the whole earth by subjugation of the nations and devastation of their molten inages.

¹⁸ They are vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their visitation they shall perish. — all idols will be destroyed before the almighty power of the Creator and Ruler of the whole world on the day of judgement,

¹⁹ The portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of His inheritance; the Lord of Hosts is His name. — and Israel shall then learn that he who formed the universe will show himself by the fall of Babylon.

²⁰ “Thou art My battleax and weapons of war; for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms. — for with thee will I break in pieces the nations and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; or “with thee I have broke in pieces and have destroyed” as the nations and kingdoms of Judea, Egypt, Edom, Moab, Ammon and others.

²¹ And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider.

²² With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid.

²³ I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. —

²⁴ And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” saith the Lord.

— all their evil that they have done in Zion, in your sight, saith the Lord; the sense is, that for all the evil the Chaldeans had done in Judea; the ravages they had made there, the blood they had shed and the desolation they had made; and particularly for what they had done in Jerusalem and especially in the Temple, burning, spoiling and profaning;

— God would now righteously punish them and retaliate all this evil on them; and which should be done publicly before all the nations of the world and particularly in the sight of God’s own people: for this phrase, “in your sight” does not refer to the evils done in Zion but to the recompense that should be made for them.

²⁵ “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain,” saith the Lord, who destroyest all the earth; “and I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

— behold, God am against thee, O destroying mountain; Babylon was situated in a plain, but is called a mountain here; because a mountain being a strong nation, even an empire; a hill being a smaller nation;

— and God will stretch out his hand upon thee: in a way of vindictive wrath, pouring it out upon her and inflicting his judgements on her; laying hold on and seizing her in a furious manner as a man does his enemy when he has found him.

²⁶ And they shall not take from thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever,” saith the Lord. — God threateneth to Babylon an utter ruin and desolation, so as they should not have a stone left fit to lay a foundation,

— or to make a corner-stone; or, as some others interpret it, that city should never be built again, there should never from the rubbish of it be taken a stone to lay the foundation.

²⁷ Set ye up a standard in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her; call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.

— kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; these were countries under the dominion of the Medes.

²⁸ Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. — prepare the nations against her: animate them, stir up their spirits against her, and furnish them with armour to engage with her.

²⁹ And the land shall tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without an inhabitant.

— And the land shall tremble and sorrow; the land of Chaldea, the inhabitants of it, should tremble; to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant;

³⁰ The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their strongholds; their might hath failed, they have become as women; they have burned her dwelling places, her bars are broken.

— her bars are broken; the bars of the gates of the city, or of the palaces of the king and nobles and of the houses of the people, by the soldiers to get the plunder; see Isaiah 45:1.

³¹ One courier shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, — one post should be after another, and one messenger after another, post upon post, and messenger upon messenger, as fast as they could run;

— when one had been with his message and delivered it, and returned, he meets another; or they met one another, coming from different places: to show the king of Babylon his city is taken.

³² and that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. — the reeds; literally, the marshes or pools, which formed an important part of the defenses of Babylon, were dried up as completely as a piece of wood would be consumed by fire.

³³ For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor; it is time to thresh her; yet a little while and the time of her harvest shall come.” — the daughter of Babylon is like a thrashing-floor; God’s people have been sorely bruised and trodden under foot by the Babylonians,

³⁴ “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me; he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel. He hath swallowed me up like a dragon; he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath cast me out.

— Nebuchadnezzar hath swallowed God’s people like a dragon; or “whale” or any large fish which swallow the lesser ones whole. The allusion is to the large swallow of dragons which is sometimes represented as almost beyond all belief.

³⁵ The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” shall the inhabitant of Zion say; “and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!” shall Jerusalem say. — the violence done to me, and to my flesh, be upon Babylon; that is, let the injuries done to Zion and her children, be avenged on Babylon;

— the Targum says, “the sin of the innocent blood which is shed in me;” let that be imputed to them, and vengeance come upon them for it.

³⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord: “Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. —

³⁷ And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant. —

³⁸ They shall roar together like lions; they shall yell as lions’ whelps.

³⁹ In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,” saith the Lord.

⁴⁰ “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with hegoats. — God will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter; to the place of slaughter; who shall be able to make no more resistance than lambs; this explains what is meant by being made drunk, both the Chaldeans, or Israelites;

— like Boris Johnson, intoxicated and deprived of a sound mind, purposely flew over to Kyiv to sabotage the Peace Deal between Ukraine and Russia way back in April, 2022; and as a result, almost one year on, Ukraine is being ravaged and destroyed! and the UK is sleeping a perpetual sleep, with high inflation; even destruction and a slow death.

⁴¹ “How Sheshach is taken! And how the praise of the whole earth is surprised! How Babylon has become an astonishment among the nations! — how is Sheshach taken! Not the city Shushan but Babylon as is plain from a following clause; and so the Targum says, “how is Babylon subdued!”

— how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! or “a desolation” and indeed it had being a desolation was the reason of its being an astonishment among the nations; who were amazed to see so strong, rich and splendid a city brought to ruin in a very short time

— same as the Israelites:

“And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and an astonishment and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations whither I have driven them,” Jeremiah 29:18

⁴² The sea has come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. — by a grand metaphor the invading army is compared to the sea; the image is appropriately taken from the Euphrates.

⁴³ Her cities are a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. — Babylon is abundant in treasures, yet neither her waters nor her wealth shall secure her; destruction comes when they least think of it.

⁴⁴ And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him. Yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

— and I will punish Bel in Babylon, the chief deity of the Babylonians, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up, taking away from him what he had robbed and devoured through the hands of those who worshiped him;

— and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him, flocking to Babylon in streams to consecrate their treasures to him; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall so that the city would be open to all enemies.

⁴⁵ “My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord. — my people, go ye out of the midst of her; this is a call of the Jews to go out of Babylon, not before the taking of the city by Cyrus;

— but when he should issue out a proclamation, giving them liberty to return to their own land; which many of them, being well settled in Babylon, would not be ready to accept the offer, but choose to continue to live there;

— wherefore they are urged to depart from thence, because of the danger they would be exposed unto their idols; for though the city was not destroyed by Cyrus upon his taking it, yet it was by Darius Hystaspes some time after. The same call is given to the people of God to come out of mystical Babylon, Revelation 18:4.

⁴⁶ And lest your heart faint and ye fear for the rumor that shall be heard in the land—a rumor shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumor and violence in the land, ruler against ruler” — for rumours after rumours shall come; the war, then, will last some time, and all kinds of rumours will be in the air.

⁴⁷ therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgement upon the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. — and the whole land of Chaldea shall be confounded, when they shall see that their idols will do them no more service.

⁴⁸ Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon, for the despoilers shall come unto her from the north,” saith the Lord.

— then the heaven and the earth and all that is therein shall sing for Babylon, rejoicing over her fall; for the spoilers shall come unto her from the North, saith the Lord, and the sentence executed by him is the cause of their jubilation.

⁴⁹ As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. — as Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel; in Jerusalem, when that city was taken the Chaldeans, and destroyed:

— so at Babylon shall all the slain of all the earth; or “land” that is, the land of Chaldea; the inhabitants of which fled to Babylon upon the invasion of the Medes and Persians, both for their own safety, and the defence of that city; and where being slain they fell; and this was a just judgement for what they had done to Israel.

⁵⁰ Ye that have escaped the sword, go away; stand not still. Remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. — let those in exile in Babylon, who have escaped death, hasten their return to Jerusalem, while yet there is time.

⁵¹ We are confounded because we have heard reproach; shame hath covered our faces, for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’S house. — for strangers; the “reproach” which has stung us, came when they taunted us with the fact that they had burned the Temple.

⁵² “Therefore behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “that I will do judgement upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan. — for which profanation of my holy place, I will be revenged upon their graven images;

⁵³ Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me shall despoilers come unto her,” saith the Lord. — though Babylon should mount up to heaven; could their walls, which were very high, two hundred cubits high, as Herodotus says, be carried up as high as heaven; or the towers of it, which were exceeding high,

— the Targum says, “if Babylon should be built with buildings as high as heaven, and should fortify the strong holds on high:” yet from me shall spoilers come, saith the Lord; the Medes and Persians;

⁵⁴ A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, — the cry of the distressed was then heard upon the great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans;

⁵⁵ because the Lord hath despoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice. When her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered, — the prophet Jeremiah heard the cry of the captured city like great running waters.

⁵⁶ because the despoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken; every one of their bows is broken. For the Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite. — the prophet Jeremiah in the spirit sees these destroyers as already come.

⁵⁷ “And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her captains and her rulers and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,” saith the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts.

— and God will make her princes and wise men drunk, the counselors of the kingdom, her captains and her rulers and her mighty men, all those who were at the head of the nation, both in peace and in war; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, namely, the sleep of death, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

⁵⁸ Thus saith the Lord of hosts: “The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire; and they shall be weary.”

— thickness of the walls of Nineveh and Babylon shall be utterly broken; nor are we to be astonished, that no remains, not the least traces of these prodigious works are to be found today.

⁵⁹ The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.

— the word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah; the order the prophet gave this prince to take a copy of it with him to Babylon and there read it and cast it into the river Euphrates, with a stone bound it. Of this Seraiah: he is further described as:

— the son of Neriah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign; the Jews say that Zedekiah, in the fourth year of his reign, went to Babylon, to reconcile himself to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and took Seraiah with him and returned and came to his kingdom in Jerusalem; but we have no account in Scripture of any such journey he took.

⁶⁰ So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. — so Jeremiah wrote all the evil that should come upon Babylon; the punishment prophecised by God:

— this jeremiah delivered, not by word of mouth to Seraiah to relate when he came to Babylon; but he wrote it in a book for him to read and reread; and he wrote it himself; Baruch, his scribe, not one who transcripted for him here:

— even all these words that are written against Babylon; in this and the preceding chapter: this book written by Jeremiah was a copy of them.

⁶¹ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When thou comest to Babylon and shalt see, and shalt read all these words, — thou shalt see to it and read, or see to it and read; who is to read it to his countrymen in captivity; not in public, but in private, for the Chaldeans would not have understood Hebrew.

⁶² then shalt thou say, ‘O Lord, Thou hast spoken against this place to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.’ —

⁶³ And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates.

— that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates; the book being read was to be rolled up again and then a stone tied to it and cast into the middle of the river, from whence it could not be taken up; and this was a sign confirming the above prophecy; compare with this what was done by a mighty angel concerning mystical Babylon, in which there is an allusion to this, Revelation 18:21.

⁶⁴ And thou shalt say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

— thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her; as this book, with the stone bound to it does, and shall no more rise than that can;

— the evil of punishment brought on Babylon will sink her to such a degree that she will never be able to bear up under it; but be so depressed by it as never to rise to her former state and grandeur any more.

Jeremiah 52

The list of kings of Judah towards the end; in successive reigns, as Josiah (reign 640–609), Jehoahaz (reign 609), Jehoiakim (reign 609–598), Jehoiachin or Jechonias (reign 598–597), and Zedekiah (reign 597–586)

¹ Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

— and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; so that he was thirty two years of age when he was taken and carried captive into Babylon.

² And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. — and he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord; though we do not read of any idolatry he was guilty of;

— yet he was disobedient to the word of the Lord, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet; and particularly he rebelled against the king of Babylon and violated the oath he made to him, II Chronicles 36:12.

³ For because of the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till He had cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

— for through the anger of the Lord against Jerusalem and Judah, his wrath over their disobedience causing him to cast them from his presence and to permit the rebellion of Zedekiah, which resulted in the final overthrow of the southern kingdom, till he had cast them out from his presence, (the Shekinah left the Temple, out of Jerusalem and finally out of the land of Judea).

⁴ And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came — he and all his army — against Jerusalem, and encamped against it and built forts against it round about. — this would be around 588 BC.

⁵ So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. — the siege continued about eighteen months; from the tenth day of the tenth month, in the ninth of Zedekiah’s reign to the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year of his reign; from 588 to 586 BC.

⁶ And in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. — the month Tammuz, which is part of June and part of July; hence the fast of the fourth month, for the taking of the city, Zechariah 8:19; in the year 586 BC.

⁷ Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about), and they went by the way of the plain.

⁸ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. — not finding him in his palace, and being informed of his flight, and which way he took, they overtook him in the plains of Jericho.

⁹ Then they took the king and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgement upon him. — and carried him up unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath; which is supposed to be Antioch in Syria;

¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. — and the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; or, however, ordered them to be slain;

— Nebuchadnezzar slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah; who together with the king’s sons were taken with him; or, however, were taken in Jerusalem and brought to Riblah; which of them is not certain, very probably the former.

¹¹ Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah. And the king of Babylon bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. — and for his treason, Nebuchadnezzar put out the eyes of Zedekiah;

¹² Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem. — came Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, or chief marshal; which served the king of Babylon,

¹³ And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem and all the houses of the great men burned he with fire. — and burnt the house of the Lord; the Temple built by Solomon, after it had stood four hundred and seventy years, six months and ten days, according to Josephus: but the Jews say it stood but four hundred ten years;

— and all the houses of the great men burnt he with fire; of the princes and nobles in Jerusalem; it is in the singular number, “and every house of the great one” or “every great house.” Rashi interprets it of the synagogue, where prayer was magnified; but others, understood it of the schools, where the law was magnified.

¹⁴ And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. — a picture is worth a thousand words!

¹⁵ Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive certain of the poor of the people and the residue of the people who remained in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. — some of the poor of the people he carried captive, and some of them he left behind.

¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen. — but Nebuzaradan left certain of the poor of the land there; of the land of Judea who lived in the country and had not been concerned in defending the city against the Chaldeans:

— for vinedressers and for husbandmen; to look after the vineyards and fields and dress and manure them, that the king of Babylon might receive some tributes in return by the conquest he had made.

¹⁷ Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke, and carried all their brass to Babylon.

— also the pillars of brass that were in the Tenple; on either aide of the main entrance of the Sanctuary, 1 Kings 7:15, and the bases and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke, in order to make all these pieces fit for transportation and carried all the brass to Babylon.

¹⁸ The cauldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

— the cauldrons are large pots made of bright brass used for sacrificial worship and the shovels and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons, vessels for incense and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away, all those used for the altar of burnt offerings in the Court of the Priests.

¹⁹ And the basins, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the cauldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups — that which was of gold in gold and that which was of silver in silver — took the captain of the guard away.

— and the basins and the firepans and the bowls and the cauldrons and the candlesticks and the spoons and the cups, all these used chiefly in the ministrations of the Temple; that which was of gold in gold and that which was of silver in silver, in either case of solid metal, not of some cheap alloy or merely plated, took the captain of the guard away.

²⁰ The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made in the house of the Lord — the brass of all these vessels was beyond weighing.

— the two pillars, one sea and twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, 1 Kings 7:23:, which King Solomon had made in the house of the Lord. The brass of all these vessels was without weight, its mass beyond calculation.

²¹ And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it, and the thickness thereof was four fingers; it was hollow.

— and concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it, that in round numbers, being the circumference of either of the pillars and the thickness thereof was four fingers; it was hollow. The thirty-five cubits of II Chronicles 3:15 either refer to a different cubit, or they give the sum total of both pillars less the bases.

²² And a capital of brass was upon it; and the height of one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capitals round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.

— and a capital or column of brass was upon it and the height of its upper part, where it curved away from the shaft, was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capitals round about, all of brass, in the nature of ornaments in chains or festoons. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these;

— the bases (1 Kings 7:27), and the brazen sea (1 Kings 7:23), which were too vast in their proportions to be easily carried away to Babylon, were broken to pieces by the Chaldeans, who carried off the brass of which they were made.

²³ And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were a hundred round about. — to the four winds; towards every corner or wind twenty four, which make up ninety six;

— and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about; four, standing upon the four angles, added to the ninety six to make a hundred;

²⁴ And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door. — the three keepers of the door; these were not the ordinary porters, who were taken from among the Levites, but were priests who stood at the door to receive the offerings of the people, and thus were keepers of the sacred treasury.

²⁵ He took also out of the city a eunuch who had the charge of the men of war, and seven men from those who were near the king’s person who were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host who mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city.

— and threescore men of the people of the land; persons of prime note, who, upon the invasion, betook themselves from the country to the city of Jerusalem with their effects, and to defend it. Josephus calls them rulers or governors.

²⁶ So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. — and brought them to Nebuchadnezzar in Riblah; to knew his thought concerning them; how they should be disposed of; and for him to pass sentence on them,

²⁷ And the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land. — but Nebuchadnezzar smote them and put them to death: and according to Josephus, by having them smitten with the sword; to have their heads cut off.

²⁸ These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand Jews and three and twenty; — in the seventh year, at the first captivity under Jehoiachin, three thousand Jews and three and twenty, these being of the tribe of Judah only, those from other tribes being more than twice as many;

²⁹ in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons; — in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, after his actual accession to the throne, but nineteen years after he had gotten into power, II Kings 25:8, he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons;

³⁰ in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

— in the three and twentieth year, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive seven hundred forty and five persons; evidently Jews only, not including any of the other tribes who had sought and found refuge in Jerusalem since the fall of the northern kingdom, were four thousand and six hundred, not including the general multitude and the women and children.

³¹ And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him forth out of prison;

— and it came to pass in the seven-and-thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, the decree being issued, II Kings 25:27, that Evilmerodach, king of Babylon (or during Nebuchadnezzar’s exclusion from men among beasts), son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, in which he had been held all these years,

³² and he spoke kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, — and spoke kindly unto him, treated him with great respect, and set his throne above the throne of the king’s that were with him in Babylon, captive monarchs of other conquered nations,

³³ and changed his prison garments. And Jehoiachin continually ate bread before him all the days of his life. — giving the captive king new garments, more suitable to his royal dignity than those he wore in prison, filthy and of ill smell.

³⁴ And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life. — every day a portion, until the day of his death, all the days of his life; that is, of Jeconiah’s; how long he lived after this is not known;

— he was now fifty five years of age and cannot be thought to have lived a great while after, having been imprisoned so many years; and it is certain he did not live to the return from the captivity. Of the death of Zedekiah we have no account, only that he died in prison. The Jews say he died at this very time, when Jeconiah was advanced;

— the account here given of Jeconiah has led some to conclude that this chapter was not written by Jeremiah; since it cannot be well thought he should live so long as to the death of this prince; and besides had given an account of the destruction of Jerusalem in the thirty ninth chapter, which he would hardly repeat: though that he might do, partly for the sake of new circumstances here added; and partly as an introduction to the book of the Lamentations, which follows the book of Jeremiah. Amen!

Last thought!

“The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He has executed and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart; in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly” Jeremiah 23:20.

That is, we wouldn’t be able to understand all these prophecies until the “latter days.” In the latter days could be our time, the endtime, or soon to be, then we shall understand these prophecies clearly: a foretaste of which is that the calamities which will have come upon us are the divine judgement upon our sins. We are all trying, but only in the endtime would we be able to understand these things perfectly. Amen!

~ by Joel Huan on March 22, 2023.

Posted in Jeremiah