of Jchoill.kim. The S)·riac substitutes for belonging to another fomily, Nabonedus or •• ,Tchoialdm" "Ze,lckiah," to bring tho Nalmnita, ascended the throno, which he pussitgo into <'Onformity with eh. xxviii. occupied till e.o. 538, the year of the fall of 1. where the fourth yoRr of the reign of Dabylon. •• Seventy ycnrs," to.ken literally, Ze,lekiah is expressly mentioned. But is only brings us to n.c. 555, seventeen yoars this emendation sufficient? Can the fourth short of the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus. ~·car be called "the beginning of the reign Until the very time of his land ooma; rather, of Zedckiah," when that reign fasted o.lto- until tlie tinis of Ms own land come. N cbu- gether ouly eleven years? Is it not probable cha<lnozz,ir cannot ensnro his realm against that lhc tr,1nscriber hns inadvertently copied captivity. Shall servo themselves of him. the heading of oh. xxvi., which corresponds (For the meaning of the phrase, see on eh. Yerbally 'l<ith oh. u:vii. l, except that" unto xxv. 14.) J L·n·1uiah" is wanting? Ver. 9.-Your dreamers; rather, your Yer. 2.-Make thee bonds and yokes; dreams. So in eh. xxix. 8 the "dreams" of mther, bands ancl poles; i.e. the bands which the people aro expressly distinguished from secured the two pieces of wood placed the utterances of the prophets and sooth- respectively nbovo and beneath the neck of sayers. In our pasdnge the "dreo.mers" t!:c ox, so forming a yoke. Hence, in Lev. nrc appropriately mentioned between the xxYi. 13, ,rn find the phrase, "the poles "diviners" and the "enchanters," because [Authorized Version wrongly,' the bands'] the skill of the soothsayers partly lay in of your yoke." It is clear from eh. xx'l"iii. the interpretation of dreams (comp. Gen. 10 that this account is to be taken literally. xii. 8; Dan. ii. 2). Ver. 3.-And send them, etc. The letter Ver. 10.-To remove yon far; or, more of the text certainly suggests that Jeremiah distinctly, that 1 may 1·emove you jar. So actually delivered a separate yoke to each Isa. vi. 12, "(Uulil) Jehovah have removed of the five ambassadors. Some commen- men afar off." 'l'he deportation policy of tators, however, finding such an act o.lmost tho Assyrians and Babylonians was over- incredible, suppose the statement to be ruled by God for his own deep purposes. nllcgo1foal, and the "sending of the yoke" Ver. 11.-The nations that bring their to mean the declaration of the subjection of nec:it, etc. 'l'he Hebrew has, '' The nation t!,c nations to Nebuchadnezzar which foJ. that shall bring its neck," etc. lows,somewbat as in ch.xxv.15 the "causing Vera. 12-15.-But the warnings of Jere- all the nations to d1·ink "means the utterance miah were not confined, far from it, to the of a prophecy of woe to the rnrious peop lea neighbouring kings. Zedekiah had received concerned. But we can hardly pronounce a precisely similo.r message. Bring your upon this passage by itself. We h!!.ve to necks. The plural ia used, for Zedekiah consider whether a whole group of similar was but an individual among a number of statements is or is not to be taken literally. much more vigorous personalities (comp. on It may be enough to instance oh. xiii. 1-7. eh. xxii. 2). Which come; rather, which are come. Vers.16-22.-The warning to the priests Yers. 5, 6.-Jehornh ie the Creator nnd and to the rest of tho people. The Inst four Proprietor of !be earth nnd all that is tl:ere- verses of this section appear in a much short- in. Therefore be c;i.n give nny part of it to ened form in tbo Septuugint, and it must bo whomsoe'l"er he will. Therefore, Jeremiah admitted that the description is singularly being his trustworthy prophet, the kings lengthy. It is, therefore, quite conceivable ore called upon to take notice that Jehovah that this ie oue of the cases in which tho has transferred their kingdoms to N ebn- Hebrew text has been disfigured by wilful chadnczzar. Observe, in chs. xxvii.-xxix. interpolation. On the other ham!, it is o.lao tlie fonn employed is not" Nclmchadrczzar," possible that the description was filled out l1ut "Ncbuchadnc-zzar" (eo also eh. xxxiv. by an editor, e.g. by Baruch, conscientiously 1; xxxix. 5). (See on eh. xxi. 7.) for the benefit of later rca<lers. Ver. 6.-My servant (see on eh. xxv. D). Ver. 16.-The vessels of the Lord's house; The beasts of the field; i.e. the wild beasts. i.e. the golden vessola which Solomon had This last feature indicates the unlimited made,and which Ncbuchadnczzurhacl to.ken character of Nebuchadnezzar's power. away (1 Kiugs vii. 48-50; 2 Kings xxiv.13). Ver. 7.-Him, and his son, and his son's Now shortly. These words are wanting in son. This is iatelligil,Ie only if the seventy the Septuagint, and, consi<lering that the years predicted by Jeremiah in eh. xxv. Greek is also without !ho prediction in vor 11, 12, xxix. 10, are a round number. 22, that the vessels of the temple and of the Nebucha<lnezzo.r died in s.o. 561, and was palace should be brought back in the day succeeded by hiB son Evil-Mcrodach, who, of visitation (which seems inconsistent with ufter iwo yLars, wns put to death by Neri- eh. Iii. 17), tho question arises whether the glisear. In u.c. 555 Laboroaoarchod (?) bo- words "now shortly" hero o.ro uot duo to ce<mc ki11;;, but after nino months a urnrpet o. hasty copyisL. cu. xxvu. 1-22.] 'fllE DOOK O[~ 'l'Il8 PllOPilET JEP.EMIAil. 575
Yer. 18.-:But if they be prophets, etc. verses are thus given in the Septuao-iut · Tho "fabe prophets," so Jeremiah declares, "For thus saith the Lord, ... and th~ rest have neglected one of the principal functions of tbe vessels which the king of Babylon of a prophet, viz. intercessory prayer (comp. took not, when he carried J cconiah captive on eh. vii. 16). Seeing that o. part of the from Jerusalem; they shall come to Baby Ion s~cred vessels had been carried to Dabylon, saith the Lord." This shortened for~ ull true prophets ought to intercede with throws a light on the fact of the absence of Jehovah that thoso still left might bo "now shortly'' in ver. 16 (see note). Tha spared. The end was that the remaining pillars, etc.; i.e. the two bronze pillars called vessels wero cnrried off on the capture of Jachin and IJoaz (1 Kings vii. 21). The Jerusalem (2 Kings xxv. 13). sea; i.e. the molten "sea," or basin (1 Kings Ver. 19.-This and the two following vii. 23). The baaea (1 Kings vii. 27).