Jeremiah 27

Jeremiah 27:1-22 . THE FUTILITY OF RESISTING NEBUCHADNEZZAR ILLUSTRATED TO THE AMBASSADORS OF THE KING, DESIRING TO HAVE THE KING OF JUDAH CONFEDERATE WITH THEM, UNDER THE TYPE OF YOKES. JEREMIAH EXHORTS THEM AND ZEDEKIAH TO YIELD.

1. Jehoiakim--The prophecy that follows was according to this reading given in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, fifteen years before it was published in the reign of Zedekiah to whom it refers; it was thus long deposited in the prophet's bosom, in order that by it he might be supported under trials in his prophetic career in the interim [CALVIN]. But "Zedekiah" may be the true reading. So the Syriac and Arabic Versions. Jeremiah 27:3 Jeremiah 27:12 , Jeremiah 28:1 , confirm this; also, one of KENNICOTT'S manuscripts. The English Version reading may have originated from Jeremiah 26:1 . "Son of Josiah" applies to Zedekiah as truly as to "Jehoiakim" or "Eliakim." The fourth year may, in a general sense here, as in Jeremiah 28:1 , be called "the beginning of his reign," as it lasted eleven years ( 2 Kings 24:18 ). It was not long after the fourth year of his reign that he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar ( Jeremiah 51:59 , 52:3 , 2 Kings 24:20 ), in violation of an oath before God ( 2 Chronicles 36:13 ).

2. bonds--by which the yoke is made fast to the neck ( Jeremiah 5:5 ).
yokes--literally, the carved piece of wood attached at both ends to the two yokes on the necks of a pair of oxen, so as to connect them. Here the yoke itself. The plural is used, as he was to wear one himself, and give the others to the ambassadors; ( Jeremiah 27:3 , Jeremiah 28:10 Jeremiah 28:12 ) proves that the symbolical act was in this instance (though not in others, Jeremiah 25:15 ) actually done (compare Isaiah 20:2 , &c. Ezekiel 12:3 Ezekiel 12:11 Ezekiel 12:18 ).

3. And send them to the king of Edom, &c.--Appropriate symbol, as these ambassadors had come to Jerusalem to consult as to shaking off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. According to PHERECYDES in CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 567], Idanthura, king of the Scythians, intimated to Darius, who had crossed the Danube, that he would lead an army against him, by sending him, instead of a letter, a mouse, a frog, a bird, an arrow, and a plough. The task assigned to Jeremiah required great faith, as it was sure to provoke alike his own countrymen and the foreign ambassadors and their kings, by a seeming insult, at the very time that all were full of confident hopes grounded on the confederacy.

5. God here, as elsewhere, connects with the symbol doctrine, which is as it were its soul, without which it would be not only cold and frivolous, but even dead [CALVIN]. God's mention of His supreme power is in order to refute the pride of those who rely on their own power ( Isaiah 45:12 ).
given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me--( Psalms 115:15 Psalms 115:16 , Daniel 4:17 Daniel 4:25 Daniel 4:32 ). Not for his merits, but of My own sole good pleasure [ESTIUS].