Jeremiah 21





	בֶּן־מַלְכִּיָּה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר־הָיָה אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ מֵאֵת יְהוָה בִּשְׁלֹחַ אֵלָיו הַמֶּלֶךְ צִדְקִיָּהוּ אֶת־פַּשְׁחוּר 21:1 וְאֶת־צְפַנְיָה בֶן־מַעֲשֵׂיָה הַכֹּהֵן לֵאמֹר׃ Jere. 21:1 The word that occurred to Jeremiah from the Lord when the king, Zedekiah, sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, אֹותָנוּ דְּרָשׁ־נָא בַעֲדֵנוּ אֶת־יְהוָה כִּי נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל נִלְחָם עָלֵינוּ אוּלַי יַעֲשֶׂה יְהוָה 21:2 כְּכָל־נִפְלְאֹתָיו וְיַעֲלֶה מֵעָלֵינוּ׃ Jere. 21:2 “Seek, please, the Lord on our behalf, for Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, wages war against us; maybe the Lord will deal with us according to all His marvelous works, and he will depart from being against us.” This chapter may be out of time sequence. It apparently occurs near the fall of Jerusalem. Nebuchadrezzar has already started his offensive against Judea and Zedekiah had become king (apparently placed on the throne by Nebuchadrezzar), so the time frame in which this chapter could occur is at most about eleven years, from about 597 BCE to 586 BCE. But what of the name(s) of the ruler of Babylon? Shouldn’t the correct name be Nebuchadnezzar? We will find that in Jeremiah 27 his name becomes that. Most, if not all, scholars refer to Nebuchadnezzar as the appropriate name. I will have more to say about this in that chapter. וַיֹּאמֶר יִרְמְיָהוּ אֲלֵיהֶם כֹּה תֹאמְרֻן אֶל־צִדְקִיָּהוּ׃ 21:3 Jere. 21:3 And Jeremiah said to them, “Thus shall you say to Zedekiah: כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִנְנִי מֵסֵב אֶת־כְּלֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה אֲשֶׁר בְּיֶדְכֶם אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם נִלְחָמִים בָּם 21:4 אֶת־מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל וְאֶת־הַכַּשְׂדִּים הַצָּרִים עֲלֵיכֶם מִחוּץ לַחֹומָה וְאָסַפְתִּי אֹותָם אֶל־תֹּוךְ הָעִיר הַזֹּאת׃ Jere. 21:4 ‘Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: ‘Behold, I turn back the implements of battle that are in your hands with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, besiegers against you outside the wall, and I will gather them to the middle of this city.’ וְנִלְחַמְתִּי אֲנִי אִתְּכֶם בְּיָד נְטוּיָה וּבִזְרֹועַ חֲזָקָה וּבְאַף וּבְחֵמָה וּבְקֶצֶף גָּדֹול׃ 21:5 Jere. 21:5 ‘And I will wage war with you Myself, with an outstretched ‘hand’ and with a strong ‘arm,’ and with ‘anger’ and with ‘fury’ and with great ‘wrath.’ וְהִכֵּיתִי אֶת־יֹושְׁבֵי הָעִיר הַזֹּאת וְאֶת־הָאָדָם וְאֶת־הַבְּהֵמָה בְּדֶבֶר גָּדֹול יָמֻתוּ׃ 21:6 Jere. 21:6 ‘And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; by a great pestilence they shall die.’ וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵן נְאֻם־יְהוָה אֶתֵּן אֶת־צִדְקִיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה וְאֶת־עֲבָדָיו וְאֶת־הָעָם וְאֶת־הַנִּשְׁאָרִים בָּעִיר 21:7 הַזֹּאת מִן־הַדֶּבֶר מִן־הַחֶרֶב וּמִן־הָרָעָב בְּיַד נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל וּבְיַד אֹיְבֵיהֶם וּבְיַד מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשָׁם וְהִכָּם לְפִי־חֶרֶב לֹא־יָחוּס עֲלֵיהֶם וְלֹא יַחְמֹל וְלֹא יְרַחֵם׃ Jere. 21:7 ‘Then after this,” says the Lord, “I will deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and any survivors in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of seekers of their life, and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword. He will not have compassion on them or have pity or mercy.’ וְאֶל־הָעָם הַזֶּה תֹּאמַר כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם אֶת־דֶּרֶךְ הַחַיִּים וְאֶת־דֶּרֶךְ הַמָּוֶת׃ 21:8 Jere. 21:8 ‘And to this people you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I have been setting before you the way of life and the way of death.’ The phrases the way of life and the way of death reflect Moses’ offer in Deut. 30:19 and 20. The choice of life or death is constantly before us and has been since shortly after the Exodus. הַיֹּשֵׁב בָּעִיר הַזֹּאת יָמוּת בַּחֶרֶב וּבָרָעָב וּבַדָּבֶר וְהַיֹּוצֵא וְנָפַל עַל־הַכַּשְׂדִּים הַצָּרִים עֲלֵיכֶם יִחְיֶה 21:9 וְהָיְתָה־לֹּו נַפְשֹׁו לְשָׁלָל׃ Jere. 21:9 ‘Who remains in this city shall die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out and falls down by the Chaldeans, the besiegers against you, shall live, and his life will be for a spoil to him.’ [Return to Ezek. 11:3] [Return to Ezek. 13:5] כִּי שַׂמְתִּי פָנַי בָּעִיר הַזֹּאת לְרָעָה וְלֹא לְטֹובָה נְאֻם־יְהוָה בְּיַד־מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל תִּנָּתֵן וּשְׂרָפָהּ בָּאֵשׁ׃ 21:10 Jere. 21:10 ‘But I have set My presence in this city for evil and not for good,” declares the Lord. “Into the hand of the king of Babylon shall it be given, and he shall burn it with fire.’” וּלְבֵית מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה שִׁמְעוּ דְּבַר־יְהוָה׃ 21:11 Jere. 21:11 “And to the house of the king of Judah: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ בֵּית דָּוִד כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה דִּינוּ לַבֹּקֶר מִשְׁפָּט וְהַצִּילוּ גָזוּל מִיַּד עֹושֵׁק פֶּן־תֵּצֵא כָאֵשׁ חֲמָתִי 21:12 וּבָעֲרָה וְאֵין מְכַבֶּה מִפְּנֵי רֹעַ (מַעַלְלֵיהֶם) [מַעַלְלֵיכֶם]׃ Jere. 21:12 ‘O house of David! Thus says the Lord: ‘Plead the cause of justice in the morning and snatch away the seized from the hand of the oppressor, lest My ‘rage’ go forth like fire and it burn without being quenched, because of the evil of their deeds.’ At the end of this verse an assumed error is in the parentheses. I translate the word in question as their deeds. Apparently the sages thought the word should be your deeds. So they changed the heh in the parentheses to a chaph in the brackets. Now I’m afraid that I have to question one of their decisions again. The Lord is speaking to the king’s house, and I believe that we have been told frequently and often that destruction is coming because of the people’s sins. It is their deeds (those of the seized mentioned in the third line), not simply the deeds of the king’s house that has inspired the Lord’s “anger.” So I believe that the word is not in error. הִנְנִי אֵלַיִךְ יֹשֶׁבֶת הָעֵמֶק צוּר הַמִּישֹׁר נְאֻם־יְהוָה הָאֹמְרִים מִי־יֵחַת עָלֵינוּ וּמִי יָבֹואבִּ מְעֹונֹותֵינוּ׃ 21:13 Jere. 21:13 ‘Behold, I am against you, dweller of the valley, rock of the plain,’ declares the Lord, ‘those who say, ‘Who can descend upon us?’ or, ‘Who can come into our habitations?’ וּפָקַדְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם כִּפְרִי מַעַלְלֵיכֶם נְאֻם־יְהוָה וְהִצַּתִּי אֵשׁ בְּיַעְרָהּ וְאָכְלָה כָּל־סְבִיבֶיהָ׃ 21:14 Jere. 21:14 ‘and I will attend to you according to the fruit of your deeds,’ declares the Lord, ‘so I will kindle a fire in its forests that will devour all its surroundings.’” [Return to Jeremiah Chapters] [Prev.: Jere. 20] [Next: Jere. 22]