Jeremiah 22:13

A Warning about Jehoiakim

13 “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,

Jeremiah 22:13 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 22:13

Woe unto him that buildeth his house by righteousness, and
his chambers by wrong
This respects Jehoiakim, the then reigning king; who, not content with the palace the kings of Judah before him had lived in, built another; or however enlarged that, and made great alterations in it; but this he did either with money ill gotten, or perverted to a wrong use, which ought to have been otherwise laid out; or by not paying for the materials of whom they were bought, or the workmen for their workmanship; and perhaps this may be the reason why so much notice is taken of the king's house or palace in the former part of the chapter, and why it is threatened with desolation, ( Jeremiah 22:1 Jeremiah 22:4-6 ) ; [that] useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not
for his work;
or, "that serveth [himself] of his neighbour freely"; or, "makes him serve freely" ^F7; "and giveth him not his work" ^F8; makes him, work for nothing; gives him no wages for it, but keeps back the hire of the labourers; which is a crying sin in any person, and much more in a king; see ( James 5:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (Mnx dbey wherb) "qui socium suum servire facit gratis", Schmidt; "amici sui servitutem exigenti gratis", Junius & Tremellius.
F8 (wl Nty al wlepw) "et opus ejus non dabit ei", Montanus; "mercedem operis", Pagninus.

Jeremiah 22:13 In-Context

11 For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah but has gone forth from this place: “He will never return,

12 but he will die in the place to which he was exiled; he will never see this land again.”

13 “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,

14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.

15 Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him.