Jeremiah 27

General context

The word comes to Jeremiah, and the Lord tells him to make bonds and yokes and put them on his own neck. He is to send them to the kings of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, Tyrus and Zidon by the messengers who come to Zedekiah in Jerusalem. The message says the Lord made the earth and gives it to whom he sees fit, that he has given these lands to Nebuchadnezzar his servant, and that all nations will serve him, his son and his son's son until the time of his own land comes. A nation that refuses the yoke will be punished with sword, famine and pestilence. The kings are told not to listen to their prophets, diviners, dreamers, enchanters and sorcerers, who prophesy a lie; nations that submit will remain in their own land. Jeremiah speaks the same words to Zedekiah, asking why he and his people should die. He tells the priests and people not to believe prophets who say the vessels of the Lord's house will shortly come back from Babylon; if they are prophets, let them intercede that the vessels still in Jerusalem not be taken. The Lord says the pillars, the sea, the bases and the remaining vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar left when he carried Jeconiah captive, will be carried to Babylon and stay there until the day he visits them and restores them.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 27:1, Jeremiah 27:2, Jeremiah 27:3, Jeremiah 27:5, Jeremiah 27:6, Jeremiah 27:7, Jeremiah 27:8, Jeremiah 27:9, Jeremiah 27:10, Jeremiah 27:11, Jeremiah 27:12, Jeremiah 27:13, Jeremiah 27:16, Jeremiah 27:18, Jeremiah 27:19, Jeremiah 27:20, Jeremiah 27:22

Jeremiah 27 (KJV)

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Historical context

The opening verse dates the word to the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, but the messengers in verse 3 come to Zedekiah, Jeremiah says he spoke to Zedekiah, and the next chapter places its events in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah. The printed text carries both names, and the chapter itself does not reconcile them. Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim has already been carried to Babylon with the nobles, so the vessels in question are the remainder left after that deportation. Nebuchadnezzar is called the Lord's servant, and the promised length of his rule is stated as three generations, his son and his son's son, without a number of years. The Lord's command in verse 2 is reported as spoken "to me," and from verse 12 Jeremiah reports his own speaking in the first person. The chapter names five foreign kings but does not report any reply from them, nor say what became of the yokes once sent. The vessels are promised a return on the day the Lord visits them, and no date is given for that day. The false prophets are grouped with diviners, dreamers, enchanters and sorcerers, and the charge against them is that the Lord has not sent them.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 27:1, Jeremiah 27:3, Jeremiah 27:12, Jeremiah 28:1, Jeremiah 27:20, Jeremiah 27:6, Jeremiah 27:7, Jeremiah 27:15, Jeremiah 27:22, Jeremiah 27:2

Literary context

The chapter moves through three audiences with one message. The foreign kings hear it first, then Zedekiah, then the priests and people, and each hearing repeats the warning not to listen to prophets who say Babylon will not be served. The refrain "they prophesy a lie unto you" returns in each section. The yoke begins as a physical object on Jeremiah's neck and becomes the language of the sermon, with necks brought under the yoke in order to live. The choice is put as life against death: "serve him and his people, and live" is set beside "Why will ye die." The promise of Nebuchadnezzar's rule contains its own limit, since many nations will one day serve themselves of him. The closing word about the vessels turns the argument from prophets' claims to testable intercession, and then to a promise of return that the following chapter's Hananiah will claim to shorten. The chapter therefore sets up both the broken yoke of chapter 28 and the letter of chapter 29.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 27:4, Jeremiah 27:10, Jeremiah 27:14, Jeremiah 27:16, Jeremiah 27:2, Jeremiah 27:11, Jeremiah 27:12, Jeremiah 27:13, Jeremiah 27:7, Jeremiah 27:18, Jeremiah 27:17

Key moments

1. Bonds and yokes on the neck (Jeremiah 27:2). The Lord commands Jeremiah to make yokes and wear them.
2. Lands given to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 27:6). The Lord calls the king of Babylon his servant and gives the lands into his hand.
3. Refusing the yoke (Jeremiah 27:8). Any nation that will not serve Babylon faces sword, famine and pestilence.
4. Zedekiah told to submit (Jeremiah 27:12). Jeremiah tells the king of Judah to bring his neck under the yoke and live.
5. The vessels will not return soon (Jeremiah 27:16). Priests and people are warned against prophets who promise the vessels' quick return.
6. Carried away until the day of visiting (Jeremiah 27:22). The remaining vessels will go to Babylon and stay there until the Lord restores them.

For reflection

Jeremiah tells the priests that if the hopeful prophets are real, they should be interceding that the remaining vessels not be taken. What would it look like to test a comforting message by what it asks of the person delivering it?

People in this chapter

• Judah
• Nebuchadnezzar
• Zedekiah
• Jacob
• Jehoiakim
• Jeremiah
• Josiah

Also indexed here:

• Jehoiachin