Jeremiah 26:1

JEREMIAH 26

JEREMIAH WAS TRIED ON CAPITAL CHARGES

This chapter is dated "early in the reign of Jehoiachim," which is supposed to be a technical term indicating the time between his accession to the throne and the New Year following that event. Some dispute this; and there are several opinions held by various scholars regarding the date, which seems certainly to have been at some point in the reign of Jehoiachim. "Most of the present-day expositors date the chapter in 609-608 B.C."[1]

Another disputed interpretation relates this chapter to chapter 7, in which is recorded the prophecy of God's forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem; of course, the same prophecy, or another one much like it, is in Jeremiah 25 (immediately preceding). Some have supposed that the specific prophecy of the seventy years captivity in Jeremiah 25 was what actually precipitated the death-threatening procedure against Jeremiah. Of course, Keil and others do not agree with the alleged connection between Jeremiah 7 and Jeremiah 25; but as Feinberg noted, "The affinities between the chapters are too many and too minute for them not to relate to the same address."[2]

Barnes understood that, "This chapter is a narrative of the danger to which Jeremiah was exposed by reason of his prophecy in Jeremiah 7. Jeremiah 26:6-7 here contain a summary of that prophecy; and that, again, is only an outline of what was a long address."[3]

The violation of all conceptions of chronological order is a phenomenon of Biblical literature; and, as Cheyne declared, "It is only natural to expect it in Jeremiah."[4]

Cawley and Millard began their final division of the Book of Jeremiah with this chapter, lumping the rest of the book (Jeremiah 26-52) into a single division entitled "Historical Narratives."[5] This treatment of the Book of Jeremiah appeals to this writer. However, those who prefer further divisions may find Ash's system satisfactory. He divided the rest of the book as follows:

V. Jeremiah and the False Prophets (Jeremiah 26-29).

VI. The book of Consolation (Jeremiah 30-33).

VII. In the Days of Jehoiachim, Zedekiah (Jeremiah 35-39).

VIII. After the Fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 40-45).

IX. Oracles Concerning the Nations (Jeremiah 46-51).

X. An Historical Appendix (Jeremiah 52).[6]

The divisions of this chapter suggested by Henderson are: Jeremiah announces the doom of Jerusalem as God commanded him (Jeremiah 26:1-6); the false prophets and the priests at once accuse him of blasphemy and declare him to be worthy of death (Jeremiah 26:7-11); Jeremiah pleads his innocence (Jeremiah 26:12-15); the elders and princes decide in favor of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:16-19); the execution of Uriah (Jeremiah 26:20-23); and Ahikam rescues and protects Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:24).

The uncertainty which exists regarding the connection between the various chapters in this part of Jeremiah was noted by Smith who pointed out that, "Ewald considered these next three chapters as a historical supplement regarding the distinction between true and false prophecy; Havernick thought that the purpose of Jeremiah 26 was to prove that the Jews had rejected the prophets; Keil related it to the vindication of the truth of the prophecy that the captivity would last seventy years. All this is unsatisfactory; it is better to treat the chapter as a unit, complete in itself, and as connected with Jeremiah 7."[7]

Jeremiah 26:1-7

"In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiachim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from Jehovah, saying. Thus saith Jehovah: Stand in the court of Jehovah's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Jehovah's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word. It may be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may repent me of the evil which I purposed to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send unto you, even rising up early and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah."

"Stand in the court of Jehovah's house ..." (Jeremiah 26:4). This location enabled Jeremiah to preach to the greatest number of the throngs of people from all the cities of Judah, who were gathering upon some national feast-day.

"And turn every man from his evil way ..." (Jeremiah 26:3). Feinberg stressed two things of singular importance in this passage: "(1) The kind of repentance which God demands is always an individual matter; and (2) promises of divine judgment are always conditional."[8]

"Walk in my law ... hearken to the words of my servants the prophets ..." (Jeremiah 26:4-5). God's condemnation did not result from their refusal to hearken to Jeremiah, merely; but it was the consequence of their rejection of all of God's prophets, reaching all the way back to Moses and the sacred terms of the Old Sinaitic Covenant itself, all of this instruction being evident right here in this passage.

The great things that stand out in this paragraph are: (1) the necessity of obeying God's law, if the forthcoming destruction is to be averted; (2) the terrible nature of the doom awaiting them if they did not repent; (3) Shiloh was cited as an example of the destruction that awaited Jerusalem and the temple.

The significance of the citation of Shiloh derived from the fact of its having been the very first place where the ark of the Lord rested after Israel's entry into the promised land.

The Bible makes no specific reference to the occasion of Shiloh's destruction, and critics once disputed it; but "The Danish expedition uncovered pottery and other evidence demonstrating that the destruction of Shiloh occurred, by the hands of the Philistines about 1050 B.C."[9] The mention of this fact here was intended to refute the arrogant confidence of those Israelites who supposed that the existence of a mere building was their guarantee of safety no matter what they did, a guarantee which they erroneously ascribed to the existence of the temple.

As this narrative proceeds, it will be evident that "all the people" were a very fickle and undependable element discernible in this shameful trial of Jeremiah.

"The priests, and the prophets, and all the people ..." (Jeremiah 26:7). These were the enemies of Jeremiah. It should not be thought that the "prophets" were in any sense true prophets. These characters are mentioned in Jeremiah 26:7,8,11,16; and the LXX designates them as "pseudo-prophets."[10] That irresponsible and fickle Jerusalem mob, designated here as "all the people," that is, the majority, started yelling for the death of the holy Prophet. They were fit ancestors indeed of the mob in that same city centuries afterward who would cry, Crucify Him! Crucify Him!