Jeremiah 26:20

ARREST AND EXECUTION OF URIAH

"And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of Jehovah, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim: and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. And when Jehoiachim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt. And Jehoiachim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt; and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiachim the king, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people."

"Uriah ..." (Jeremiah 26:20). This prophet's name is spelled Urijah in the older versions. Why did not God spare his life also? We do not know; but it could have been because of his fear, and his flight into Egypt, from which place he would no longer be able to prophesy against Judah as God had commanded him.

It is clear enough, as Graybill stated it, that, "This account of how Jehoiachim vented his spleen upon a lesser adversary suggests his intense hatred of Jeremiah, and gives us reason to believe that he was behind Jeremiah's persecution here."[12]

"Elnathan ..." (Jeremiah 26:22). This man was probably the king's father-in-law (2 Kings 24:8), making the delegation to extradite Uriah from Egypt an impressive one. The circumstance that favored the success of their mission derived from the fact that Jehoiachim himself was a vassal of the king of Egypt and thus was likely to have enjoyed the advantage of the right to extradite wanted persons from Egypt.

"Uriah ..." (Jeremiah 26:23). Nothing is known of this individual except what is revealed in this tragic account of his death. "Kiriath-jearim, with which Uriah's name was connected, was located nine miles west of Jerusalem on the road to Jaffa. The ark of the covenant was once deposited there for a period of twenty years."[13]

"The graves of the common people ..." (Jeremiah 26:23). The king Jehoiachim dishonored the corpse of Uriah by denying it the honor due to the bodies of true prophets in order to keep the people from regarding him as a true prophet. "The prophets had a separate cemetery, as indicated in Matthew 23:29."[14] Jehoiachim was busy doing those things that would earn for him "the burial of an ass." (Jeremiah 22:19).