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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 22

Jeremiah 22: judgment on Judah's kings, Shallum, Jehoiakim and Coniah

General context

The Lord sends Jeremiah to the house of the king of Judah to tell the king on David's throne, his servants and his people to execute judgment, do no violence to the stranger, fatherless and widow, and shed no innocent blood. If they do, kings will enter the gates in chariots; if not, the house will become a desolation. The king's house is Gilead and Lebanon's head to him, yet destroyers will cut down its cedars, and passing nations will say this was for forsaking his covenant. They are told to weep not for the dead but for him who goes away: Shallum the son of Josiah, who reigned instead of his father, will die where he was led captive. Woe is pronounced on the one who builds his house by unrighteousness, uses his neighbour's service without wages, and boasts of a wide house cieled with cedar. The Lord asks whether he will reign because he closes himself in cedar, when his father did justice and judged the cause of the poor, which was to know the Lord. Concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, none will lament him, and he will have the burial of an ass beyond the gates of Jerusalem. One addressed as inhabitant of Lebanon is told to cry, for all her lovers are destroyed and she would not hear in her prosperity. The Lord swears that though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim were the signet on his right hand he would pluck him off and give him to Nebuchadrezzar, casting him and his mother into another country to die. He asks whether Coniah is a despised broken idol, calls the earth to hear, and orders this man written childless, since no man of his seed will prosper on David's throne.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 22:1, Jeremiah 22:2, Jeremiah 22:3, Jeremiah 22:4, Jeremiah 22:5, Jeremiah 22:6, Jeremiah 22:7, Jeremiah 22:8, Jeremiah 22:9, Jeremiah 22:10, Jeremiah 22:11, Jeremiah 22:12, Jeremiah 22:13, Jeremiah 22:14, Jeremiah 22:15, Jeremiah 22:16, Jeremiah 22:17, Jeremiah 22:18, Jeremiah 22:19, Jeremiah 22:20, Jeremiah 22:21, Jeremiah 22:22, Jeremiah 22:23, Jeremiah 22:24, Jeremiah 22:25, Jeremiah 22:26, Jeremiah 22:27, Jeremiah 22:28, Jeremiah 22:29, Jeremiah 22:30

Jeremiah 22 (KJV)

1Thus saith the Lord; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

2And say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

3Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

4For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

5But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.

6For thus saith the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.

7And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

8And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?

9Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

10Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

11For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:

12But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.

13Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

14That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

15Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.

17But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

18Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

19He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

21I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.

22The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

23O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

24As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

25And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

27But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.

28Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.

30Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

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Historical context

Three kings are named, each as a son of Josiah or of Jehoiakim. Shallum is "the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place," and the text says only that he was led captive and will die there. Jehoiakim is "the son of Josiah king of Judah," and the woe on the builder of the cedar house in verses 13 through 17 is joined to his sentence by "Therefore" in verse 18; the text does not name the builder in the woe itself. "Thy father" who did judgment and justice in verses 15 and 16 is not named; the chapter has already called Jehoiakim a son of Josiah. Coniah is "the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah," and 24:1 names "Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah" with the same father; the text does not comment on the two forms. Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans are named as those who will receive Coniah. The chapter says nothing of Jehoiakim's actual death or burial; verse 19 is a sentence, not a report. The order of the three sections is not dated, and the opening address to the "king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David" does not say which king is meant. Verse 30, "Write ye this man childless," is explained by the text itself as meaning no prosperous seed on David's throne, not as a claim that Coniah had no children.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 22:2, Jeremiah 22:11, Jeremiah 22:12, Jeremiah 22:13, Jeremiah 22:15, Jeremiah 22:18, Jeremiah 22:19, Jeremiah 22:24, Jeremiah 22:25, Jeremiah 22:26, Jeremiah 22:28, Jeremiah 22:30

Literary context

The chapter is a series of royal oracles held together by the throne of David and the house of cedar. It opens with the same conditions as 21:12 and 17:25, justice for the spoiled, stranger, fatherless and widow, and the same reward, kings entering the gates in chariots. Lebanon, Gilead and cedar carry the images: the king's house is Lebanon's head, its cedars will be cut down, the builder cieled his house with cedar, and the inhabitant of Lebanon nests in the cedars. The oracle on the builder is built as a contrast between father and son: the father ate and drank and did justice, and the son's eyes are for covetousness and blood. The refusal of lament is repeated in pairs, "Ah my brother! or, Ah sister!" and "Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!" The Coniah oracle uses an oath, "As I live," and a signet ring on the Lord's own hand as the image of what will be plucked off, then a broken idol and a vessel with no pleasure. The threefold "O earth, earth, earth" makes the whole earth witness to a single written sentence. The chapter moves from a conditional promise to an unconditional verdict on Coniah and his seed.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 22:3, Jeremiah 22:4, Jeremiah 22:6, Jeremiah 22:7, Jeremiah 22:14, Jeremiah 22:15, Jeremiah 22:17, Jeremiah 22:18, Jeremiah 22:23, Jeremiah 22:24, Jeremiah 22:28, Jeremiah 22:29, Jeremiah 22:30

Key moments

  1. Down to the king's house (Jeremiah 22:1). Jeremiah is sent to speak to the king of Judah on David's throne.
  2. Cedars cast into the fire (Jeremiah 22:7). Destroyers will cut down the choice cedars of the king's house.
  3. Weep for him that goeth away (Jeremiah 22:11). Shallum the son of Josiah will die where he was led captive.
  4. A wide house cieled with cedar (Jeremiah 22:14). Woe is pronounced on the builder who uses his neighbour's service without wages.
  5. Was not this to know me? (Jeremiah 22:16). The father who judged the cause of the poor is held up against the son.
  6. The burial of an ass (Jeremiah 22:19). Jehoiakim will be dragged and cast out beyond the gates without lament.
  7. Write this man childless (Jeremiah 22:30). No seed of Coniah will prosper on the throne of David.

For reflection

The Lord says of a king that judging the cause of the poor and needy was to know him. What does that definition of knowing the Lord do to the claims of a king who trusts in cedar?

People in this chapter

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