Jeremiah 29:22

22 When the people who were taken away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia want to bring a curse on someone, they will say, "May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylonia roasted alive!'

Jeremiah 29:22 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 29:22

And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of
Judah which [are] in Babylon
A form of cursing; when they cursed anyone, or wished him ill, it should be in such like manner as follows; so odious and detestable would these men be afterwards to them, whom they, at least some of them, took to be the prophets of the Lord: saying, the Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king
of Babylon roasted in the fire;
or "burnt them" ^F4; not at once, but with a slow fire; so the Maccabees were roasted,

``Then the king, being in a rage, commanded pans and caldrons to be made hot: '' (2 Maccabees. 7:3)

Burning persons with fire, and casting them into a fiery furnace, were ways used by the Chaldeans in putting persons to death, ( Daniel 3:6 ) ; and roasting men at a fire was used by the Chinese ^F5.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Mlq) "combussit", Pagninus; "ustulavit", Munster; so Ben Melech says the word signifies "burning".
F5 Martin Hist. Sinic. p. 257.

Jeremiah 29:22 In-Context

20 All of you whom I sent into exile in Babylonia, listen to what I, the Lord, say.'

21 "The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has spoken about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are telling you lies in his name. He has said that he will hand them over to the power of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, who will put them to death before your eyes.

22 When the people who were taken away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia want to bring a curse on someone, they will say, "May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylonia roasted alive!'

23 This will be their fate because they are guilty of terrible sins - they have committed adultery and have told lies in the Lord's name. This was against the Lord's will; he knows what they have done, and he is a witness against them. The Lord has spoken."

24 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, gave me a message for Shemaiah of Nehelam, who had sent a letter in his own name to all the people of Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah and to all the other priests. In this letter Shemaiah wrote to Zephaniah: