16 Therefore thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 Behold, I will cast H7971 thee from off the face H6440 of the earth: H127 this year H8141 thou shalt die, H4191 because thou hast taught H1696 rebellion H5627 against the LORD. H3068
And Moses H4872 said, H559 Hereby ye shall know H3045 that the LORD H3068 hath sent H7971 me to do H6213 all these works; H4639 for I have not done them of mine own mind. H3820 If these men die H4191 the common death H4194 of all men, H120 or if they be visited H6485 after the visitation H6486 of all men; H120 then the LORD H3068 hath not sent H7971 me. But if the LORD H3068 make H1254 a new thing, H1278 and the earth H127 open H6475 her mouth, H6310 and swallow them up, H1104 with all that appertain unto them, and they go down H3381 quick H2416 into the pit; H7585 then ye shall understand H3045 that these men H582 have provoked H5006 the LORD. H3068 And it came to pass, as he had made an end H3615 of speaking H1696 all these words, H1697 that the ground H127 clave asunder H1234 that was under them: And the earth H776 opened H6605 her mouth, H6310 and swallowed them up, H1104 and their houses, H1004 and all the men H120 that appertained unto Korah, H7141 and all their goods. H7399 They, and all that appertained to them, went down H3381 alive H2416 into the pit, H7585 and the earth H776 closed H3680 upon them: and they perished H6 from among H8432 the congregation. H6951 And all Israel H3478 that were round about H5439 them fled H5127 at the cry H6963 of them: for they said, H559 Lest the earth H776 swallow us up H1104 also. And there came out H3318 a fire H784 from the LORD, H3068 and consumed H398 the two hundred H3967 and fifty H2572 men H376 that offered H7126 incense. H7004
And that prophet, H5030 or that dreamer H2492 of dreams, H2472 shall be put to death; H4191 because he hath spoken H1696 to turn H5627 you away from the LORD H3068 your God, H430 which brought you out H3318 of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 and redeemed H6299 you out of the house H1004 of bondage, H5650 to thrust H5080 thee out of the way H1870 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 commanded H6680 thee to walk in. H3212 So shalt thou put H1197 the evil H7451 away H1197 from the midst H7130 of thee. If thy brother, H251 the son H1121 of thy mother, H517 or thy son, H1121 or thy daughter, H1323 or the wife H802 of thy bosom, H2436 or thy friend, H7453 which is as thine own soul, H5315 entice H5496 thee secretly, H5643 saying, H559 Let us go H3212 and serve H5647 other H312 gods, H430 which thou hast not known, H3045 thou, nor thy fathers; H1 Namely, of the gods H430 of the people H5971 which are round about H5439 you, nigh H7138 unto thee, or far off H7350 from thee, from the one end H7097 of the earth H776 even unto the other end H7097 of the earth; H776 Thou shalt not consent H14 unto him, nor hearken H8085 unto him; neither shall thine eye H5869 pity H2347 him, neither shalt thou spare, H2550 neither shalt thou conceal H3680 him: But thou shalt surely H2026 kill H2026 him; thine hand H3027 shall be first H7223 upon him to put him to death, H4191 and afterwards H314 the hand H3027 of all the people. H5971 And thou shalt stone H5619 him with stones, H68 that he die; H4191 because he hath sought H1245 to thrust thee away H5080 from the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 which brought thee out H3318 of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 from the house H1004 of bondage. H5650 And all Israel H3478 shall hear, H8085 and fear, H3372 and shall do H6213 no more H3254 any H1697 such wickedness H7451 as this is among H7130 you.
Say H559 unto them which daub H2902 it with untempered H8602 morter, that it shall fall: H5307 there shall be an overflowing H7857 shower; H1653 and ye, H859 O great hailstones, H417 H68 shall fall; H5307 and a stormy H5591 wind H7307 shall rend H1234 it. Lo, when the wall H7023 is fallen, H5307 shall it not be said H559 unto you, Where is the daubing H2915 wherewith ye have daubed H2902 it?
But G1161 Elymas G1681 the sorcerer G3097 (for G1063 so G3779 is his G846 name G3686 by interpretation G3177 ) withstood G436 them, G846 seeking G2212 to turn away G1294 the deputy G446 from G575 the faith. G4102 Then G1161 Saul, G4569 (who G3588 also G2532 is called Paul,) G3972 filled with G4130 the Holy G40 Ghost, G4151 G2532 set his eyes G816 on G1519 him, G846 And said, G2036 O G5599 full G4134 of all G3956 subtilty G1388 and G2532 all G3956 mischief, G4468 thou child G5207 of the devil, G1228 thou enemy G2190 of all G3956 righteousness, G1343 wilt thou G3973 not G3756 cease G3973 to pervert G1294 the right G2117 ways G3598 of the Lord? G2962 And G2532 now, G3568 behold, G2400 the hand G5495 of the Lord G2962 is upon G1909 thee, G4571 and G2532 thou shalt be G2071 blind, G5185 not G3361 seeing G991 the sun G2246 for G891 a season. G2540 And G1161 immediately G3916 there fell G1968 on G1909 him G846 a mist G887 and G2532 a darkness; G4655 and G2532 he went about G4013 seeking G2212 some to lead him by the hand. G5497
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 28
Commentary on Jeremiah 28 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Against the False Prophet Hananiah. - Jeremiah 28:1-4. This man's prophecy. At the same time, namely in the fourth year of Zedekiah (cf. rem. on Jeremiah 27:1. The Chet . בּשׁנת is supported by Jeremiah 46:2 and Jeremiah 51:59; the Keri בּשּׁנה is an unnecessary alteration), in the fifth month, spake Hananiah the son of Azur , - a prophet not otherwise known, belonging to Gibeon, a city of the priests (Joshua 21:17; now Jib , a large village two hours north-west of Jerusalem; see on Joshua 9:3), possibly therefore himself a priest - in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and people assembled there, saying: Jeremiah 28:2. "Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: I break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Jeremiah 28:3. Within two years I bring again into this place the vessels of the house of Jahveh, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. Jeremiah 28:4. And Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, bring I again to this place, saith Jahveh; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." - The false prophet endeavours to stamp on his prediction the impress of a true, God-inspired prophecy, by copying the title of God, so often used by Jeremiah, "Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel," and by giving the utmost definiteness to his promise: "within two years" (in contrast to Jeremiah's seventy years). "Two years" is made as definite as possible by the addition of ימים : two years in days, i.e., in two full years.See on Genesis 41:1; 2 Samuel 13:23.
Jeremiah's reply . - First Jeremiah admits that the fulfilment of this prediction would be desirable (Jeremiah 28:6), but then reminds his opponent that all the prophets of the Lord up till this time have prophesied of war and calamity (Jeremiah 28:7 and Jeremiah 28:8). So that if a prophet, in opposition to these witnesses of God, predicts nothing but peace and safety, then nothing short of the fulfilment of his prediction can make good his claim to be a true prophet (Jeremiah 28:9). - Jeremiah's answer is to this effect: Jeremiah 28:6. " Amen (i.e., yea ), may Jahveh so do! may Jahveh perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Jahveh's house and all the captives from Babylon into this place. Jeremiah 28:7. Only hear now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people. Jeremiah 28:8. The prophets that were before me and before thee from of old, they prophesied concerning many lands and great kingdoms, of war, and of trouble, and of pestilence. Jeremiah 28:9. The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet cometh to pass, shall be known as the prophet that Jahveh hath truly sent. - As to אמן , yea, see on Jeremiah 11:5. The scope of this assent is straightway defined in "may Jahveh so do." But in order that the hearers may not misunderstand his assent, Jeremiah proceeds to show that hitherto only threatening predictions have carried with them the presumption of their being true prophecies, inasmuch as it is these alone that have been in harmony with the predictions of all previous prophets. ויּנּבאוּ (Jeremiah 28:8) is explained by the fact that "the prophets" with the accompany relative clause is made to precede absolute-wise. In the same absolute manner the clause "the prophet...peace" is disposed so that after the verb יוּדע the word הנּביא is repeated. For לרעה many MSS have לרעב ; manifestly an adaptation to passages like Jeremiah 14:12; Jeremiah 21:9; Jeremiah 24:10; Jeremiah 27:8, Jeremiah 27:13; Jeremiah 29:17., where sword, famine, and pestilence are mentioned together as three modes of visitation by God; whereas only the general word רעה seems in place here, when mentioned alongside of "war." For this very reason Hitz. rejects רעב as being the least difficult reading, while Ew. takes it under his protection on account of the parallel passages, not considering that the train of thought is different there. - The truth expressed in Jeremiah 28:9 is based on the Mosaic law concerning prophecy, Deuteronomy 18:21., where the fulfilment of the prediction is given as the test of true, God-inspired prophecy.
Had Hananiah been sent by the Lord, he might have been satisfied with Jeremiah's opinion, and have contentedly awaited the issue. But instead of this, he seeks by means of violence to secure credence for his prophesying. He takes the yoke from off the neck of the prophet, and breaks it in pieces, as he repeats before the people his former prediction: "Thus hath Jahveh said: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within two years." - Thereupon Jeremiah went his way without answering a word, calmly entrusting to the Lord the vindication of the truth of His own word.
The Lord's testimony against Hananiah. - Apparently not long after Jeremiah had departed, he received from the Lord the commission to go to Hananiah and to say to him: Jeremiah 28:13. "Thus saith Jahveh: Yokes of wood hast thou broken, but hast made in place of them yokes of iron. Jeremiah 28:14. For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: A yoke of iron I lay upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him; and the beasts of the field also have I given him." - When the prophet says: Yokes of wood hast thou broken, etc., we are not to understand him as speaking of the breaking of the wooden yoke Jeremiah had been wearing; he gives the deeper meaning of that occurrence. By breaking Jeremiah's wooden yoke, Hananiah has only signified that the yoke Nebuchadnezzar lays on the nations will not be so easily broken as a wooden one, but is of iron, i.e., not to be broken. The plural "yokes" is to be explained by the emblematical import of the words, and is not here to be identified, as it sometimes may be, with the singular, Jeremiah 28:10. Jeremiah 28:14 shows in what sense Hananiah put an iron yoke in the place of the wooden one: Jahveh will lay iron yokes on all nations, that they may serve the king of Babel. Hananiah's breaking the wooden yoke does not alter the divine decree, but is made to contribute to its fuller revelation. With the last clause of Jeremiah 28:14, cf. Jeremiah 27:6. - Hereupon Jeremiah forewarns the false prophets what is to be God's punishment on them for their false and audacious declarations. Jeremiah 28:15. "Hear now, Hananiah: Jahveh hath not sent thee, and thou hast made this people to believe a lie. Jeremiah 28:16. Therefore thus saith Jahveh: Behold, I cast thee from off the face of the earth; this year shalt thou die, for thou hast spoken rebellion against Jahveh." "The year" = this year, as in Isaiah 37:30. The words "for thou hast spoken," etc., recall Deuteronomy 13:6. They involve an application to Hananiah's case of the command there given to put such a prophet to death, and show how it can with justice be said that the Lord will cast him from off the face of the earth. The verb משׁלּחך is chosen for the sake of the play on לא שׁלחך . God has not sent him as prophet to His people, but will send him away from off the earth, i.e., cause him to die. - In Jeremiah 28:17 it is recorded that this saying was soon fulfilled. Hananiah died in the seventh month of that year, i.e., two months after his controversy with Jeremiah (cf. Jeremiah 28:1).