16 He was judge in the cause of the poor and those in need; then it was well. Was not this to have knowledge of me? says the Lord.
But if any man has pride, let it be in this, that he has the wisdom to have knowledge of me, that I am the Lord, working mercy, giving true decisions, and doing righteousness in the earth: for in these things I have delight, says the Lord.
And by this we may be certain that we have knowledge of him, if we keep his laws. The man who says, I have knowledge of him, and does not keep his laws, is false, and there is nothing true in him:
Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.
For he will be a saviour to the poor in answer to his cry; and to him who is in need, without a helper. He will have pity on the poor, and be the saviour of those who are in need.
<Of Solomon.> Give the king your authority, O God, and your righteousness to the king's son. May he be a judge of your people in righteousness, and make true decisions for the poor. May the mountains give peace to the people, and the hills righteousness. May he be a judge of the poor among the people, may he give salvation to the children of those who are in need; by him let the violent be crushed.
And you, Solomon my son, get knowledge of the God of your father, and be his servant with a true heart and with a strong desire, for the Lord is the searcher of all hearts, and has knowledge of all the designs of men's thoughts; if you make search for him, he will be near you; but if you are turned away from him, he will give you up for ever.
And this is eternal life: to have knowledge of you, the only true God, and of him whom you have sent, even Jesus Christ.
Be the saviour of those who are given up to death, and do not keep back help from those who are slipping to destruction. If you say, See, we had no knowledge of this: does not the tester of hearts give thought to it? and he who keeps your soul, has he no knowledge of it? and will he not give to every man the reward of his work?
They will do these things to you because they have not had knowledge of the Father or of me.
I have given knowledge of your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world: yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your words.
Jesus said in answer, If I take glory for myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father who gives me glory, of whom you say that he is your God. You have no knowledge of him, but I have knowledge of him; and if I said I have no knowledge of him I would be talking falsely like you: but I have full knowledge of him, and I keep his word.
Then they said to him, Where is your Father? Jesus said in answer, You have no knowledge of me or of my Father: if you had knowledge of me you would have knowledge of my Father.
But this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my law in their inner parts, writing it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And no longer will they be teaching every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, Get knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord: for they will have my forgiveness for their evil-doing, and their sin will go from my memory for ever.
And I will send them wandering among the nations, among people strange to them and to their fathers: and I will send the sword after them till I have put an end to them.
Their tongues are bent like a bow to send out false words: they have become strong in the land, but not for good faith: they go on from evil to evil, and they have no knowledge of me, says the Lord.
For he is ever at the right hand of the poor, to take him out of the hands of those who go after his soul.
Give ear to the cause of the poor and the children without fathers; let those who are troubled and in need have their rights. Be the saviour of the poor and those who have nothing: take them out of the hand of the evil-doers.
For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter. The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart. I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking. I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me. By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 22
Commentary on Jeremiah 22 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 22
Upon occasion of the message sent in the foregoing chapter to the house of the king, we have here recorded some sermons which Jeremiah preached at court, in some preceding reigns, that it might appear they had had fair warning long before that fatal sentence was pronounced upon them, and were put in a way to prevent it. Here is,
Jer 22:1-9
Here we have,
Jer 22:10-19
Kings, though they are gods to us, are men to God, and shall die like men; so it appears in these verses, where we have a sentence of death passed upon two kings who reigned successively in Jerusalem, two brothers, and both the ungracious sons of a very pious father.
Jer 22:20-30
This prophecy seems to have been calculated for the ungracious inglorious reign of Jeconiah, or Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, who succeeded him in the government, reigned but three months, and was then carried captive to Babylon, where he lived many years, ch. 52:31. We have, in these verses, a prophecy,