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 ) .
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.
