Глава 27

1–11. The Lord commands Jeremiah to put the bonds and yoke on himself and to send the bonds and yoke to the neighboring nations. 12–15. Exhortation to Zedekiah, 16–22. and to the priests. Jeremiah 27:1–11. During the reign of King Zedekiah, the prophet received a command from the Lord to place bonds with a yoke on himself and send the same to the rulers of neighboring kingdoms with the envoys of these sovereigns. At the same time, the Lord Himself explains the meaning of this symbolic action in this way: the Lord, as the Lord of the earth, decided to give all the lands of western Asia under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. Let, therefore, these lands voluntarily bear the yoke imposed by Nebuchadnezzar on them, let them not believe any fortune-tellers who point out to them the possibility of throwing off the Babylonian yoke. Jer.27:1. At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim ****, son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: That here it is necessary to read the name of Zedekiah instead of the name of Joachim is clearly seen a) from the 3rd article, where Zedekiah is named, b) from the 1st article. Chapter XXVIII, where it is said that the event described in this chapter happened “in the same year at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah” (Jer. 28:1); the exact time of the described event can be determined in such a way that it was no earlier than the 4th year of Zedekiah’s reign, because it is unlikely that Zedekiah, who was appointed king by Nebuchadnezzar, would immediately begin to plot against him. In the 4th year he even went to Babylon to prove his loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 51.59). Jer.27:2. Thus the Lord said to me: make yourself a bond and a yoke and put it on your neck; The wooden yoke was attached to the body with ropes or bonds (cf. Is 9.4). Jer.27:7. And all nations will serve him and his son and his son's son until the time comes for both his land and himself; and many nations and great kings will serve him. The Prophet speaks here only about the duration of the Babylonian captivity and hardly wants to say that the Babylonian throne will certainly pass from father to son. Jer.27:12. And I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah in all these words and said, “Bend your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and you will live.” Jer.27:13. Why should you and your people die from the sword, famine and pestilence, as the Lord said about that people who will not serve the king of Babylon? Jer.27:14. And do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you: “You will not serve the king of Babylon”; for they prophesy lies to you. Jer.27:15. I did not send them, says the Lord; and they prophesy falsely in My name, that I should drive you out and that you should perish—you and your prophets who prophesy to you. Jeremiah recommends the same submission to Nebuchadnezzar to Zedekiah, who was confused by various prophets who encouraged him about the possibility of overthrowing the alien yoke. Finally, the prophet also advises the priests and people not to believe the prophets who promise that the vessels taken from the church by Nebuchadnezzar will soon be returned to Jerusalem. It would be better if these prophets, if they were truly close to God, would pray that the remaining vessels would not also be carried away to Babylon, because in fact God promises to take them away from the Jews. You might be interested in: