Jeremiah 22

16. was not this to know me--namely, to show by deeds that one knows God's will, as was the case with Josiah (compare John 13:17 ; contrast Titus 1:16 ).

17. thine--as opposed to thy father, Josiah.

18. Ah my brother! . . . sister!--addressing him with such titles of affection as one would address to a deceased friend beloved as a brother or sister (compare 1 Kings 13:30 ). This expresses, They shall not lament him with the lamentation of private individuals [VATABLUS], or of blood relatives [GROTIUS]: as "Ah! lord," expresses public lamentation in the case of a king [VATABLUS], or that of subjects [GROTIUS]. HENDERSON thinks, "Ah! sister," refers to Jehoiakim's queen, who, though taken to Babylon and not left unburied on the way, as Jehoiakim, yet was not honored at her death with royal lamentations, such as would have been poured forth over her at Jerusalem. He notices the beauty of Jeremiah's manner in his prophecy against Jehoiakim. In Jeremiah 22:13 Jeremiah 22:14 he describes him in general terms; then, in Jeremiah 22:15-17 , he directly addresses him without naming him; at last, in Jeremiah 22:18 , he names him, but in the third person, to imply that God puts him to a distance from Him. The boldness of the Hebrew prophets proves their divine mission; were it not so, their reproofs to the Hebrew kings, who held the throne by divine authority, would have been treason.
Ah his glory!--"Alas! his majesty."

19. burial of an ass--that is, he shall have the same burial as an ass would get, namely, he shall be left a prey for beasts and birds [JEROME]. This is not formally narrated. But 2 Chronicles 36:6 states that "Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon"; his treatment there is nowhere mentioned. The prophecy here, and in Jeremiah 36:30 , harmonizes these two facts. He was slain by Nebuchadnezzar, who changed his purpose of taking him to Babylon, on the way thither, and left him unburied outside Jerusalem. 2 Kings 24:6 , "Jehoiakim slept with his fathers," does not contradict this; it simply expresses his being gathered to his fathers by death, not his being buried with his fathers ( Psalms 49:19 ). The two phrases are found together, as expressing two distinct ideas ( 2 Kings 15:38 , 16:20 ).

20. Delivered in the reign of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah or Coniah), son of Jehoiakim; appended to the previous prophecy respecting Jehoiakim, on account of the similarity of the two prophecies. He calls on Jerusalem, personified as a mourning female, to go up to the highest points visible from Jerusalem, and lament there calamity of herself, bereft of allies and of her princes, who are one after the other being cast down.
Bashan--north of the region beyond Jordan; the mountains of Anti-libanus are referred to ( Psalms 68:15 ).
from the passages--namely, of the rivers ( Judges 12:6 ); or else the borders of the country ( 1 Samuel 13:23 , Isaiah 10:29 ). The passes ( 1 Samuel 14:4 ). MAURER translates, "Abarim," a mountainous tract beyond Jordan, opposite Jericho, and south of Bashan; this accords with the mention of the mountains Lebanon and Bashan ( Numbers 27:12 , 33:47 ).
lovers--the allies of Judea, especially Egypt, now unable to help the Jews, being crippled by Babylon ( 2 Kings 24:7 ).

21. I admonished thee in time. Thy sin has not been a sin of ignorance or thoughtlessness, but wilful.
prosperity--given thee by Me; yet thou wouldest not hearken to the gracious Giver. The Hebrew is plural, to express, "In the height of thy prosperity"; so "droughts" ( Isaiah 58:11 ).
thou saidst--not in words, but in thy conduct, virtually.
thy youth--from the time that I brought thee out of Egypt, and formed thee into a people ( Jeremiah 7:25 , 2:2 , Isaiah 47:12 ).

22. wind--the Chaldees, as a parching wind that sweeps over rapidly and withers vegetation ( Jeremiah 4:11 Jeremiah 4:12 , Psalms 103:16 , Isaiah 40:7 ).
eat up . . . pastors--that is, thy kings ( Jeremiah 2:8 ). There is a happy play on words. The pastors, whose office it is to feed the sheep, shall themselves be fed on. They who should drive the flock from place to place for pasture shall be driven into exile by the Chaldees.

23. inhabitant of Lebanon--namely, Jerusalem, whose temple, palaces, and principal habitations were built of cedars of Lebanon.
how gracious--irony. How graciously thou wilt be treated by the Chaldees, when they come on thee suddenly, as pangs on a woman in travail ( Jeremiah 6:24 )! Nay, all thy fine buildings will win no favor for thee from them. MAURER translates, "How shalt thou be to be pitied!"

24. As I live--God's most solemn formula of oath ( Jeremiah 46:18 , 4:2 , Deuteronomy 32:40 , 1 Samuel 25:34 ).
Coniah--Jeconiah or Jehoiachin. The contraction of the name is meant in contempt.
signet--Such ring seals were often of the greatest value ( Solomon 8:6 , Haggai 2:23 ). Jehoiachin's popularity is probably here referred to.
right hand--the hand most valued.
I would pluck thee thence--(Compare Obadiah 1:4 ); on account of thy father's sins, as well as thine own ( 2 Chronicles 36:9 ). There is a change here, as often in Hebrew poetry, from the third to the second person, to bring the threat more directly home to him. After a three months' and ten days' reign, the Chaldees deposed him. In Babylon, however, by God's favor he was ultimately treated more kindly than other royal captives ( Jeremiah 52:31-34 ). But none of his direct posterity ever came to the throne.

25. give . . . into . . . hand--"I will pluck thee" from "my right hand," and "will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life."

26. thy mother--Nehushta, the queen dowager ( 2 Kings 24:6 2 Kings 24:8 2 Kings 24:15 ; see Jeremiah 13:18 ).

27. they--Coniah and his mother. He passes from the second person ( Jeremiah 22:26 ) to the third person here, to express alienation. The king is as it were put out of sight, as if unworthy of being spoken with directly.
desire--literally, "lift up their soul" ( Jeremiah 44:14 , Psalms 24:4 , 25:1 ). Judea was the land which they in Babylon should pine after in vain.

28. broken idol--Coniah was idolized once by the Jews; Jeremiah, therefore, in their person, expresses their astonishment at one from whom so much had been expected being now so utterly cast aside.
vessel . . . no pleasure--( Psalms 31:12 , Hosea 8:8 ). The answer to this is given ( Romans 9:20-23 ; contrast 2 Timothy 2:21 ).

29, 30. O earth! earth! earth!--Jeconiah was not actually without offspring (compare Jeremiah 22:28 , "his seed"; 1 Chronicles 3:17 1 Chronicles 3:18 , Matthew 1:12 ), but he was to be "written childless," as a warning to posterity, that is, without a lineal heir to his throne. It is with a reference to the three kings, Shallum, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah, that the earth is thrice invoked [BENGEL]. Or, the triple invocation is to give intensity to the call for attention to the announcement of the end of the royal line, so far as Jehoiachin's seed is concerned. Though Messiah ( Matthew 1:1-17 ), the heir of David's throne, was lineally descended from Jeconiah, it was only through Joseph, who, though His legal, was not His real father. Matthew gives the legal pedigree through Solomon down to Joseph; Luke the real pedigree, from Mary, the real parent, through Nathan, brother of Solomon, upwards ( Luke 3:31 ).
no man of his seed . . . upon the throne--This explains the sense in which "childless" is used. Though the succession to the throne failed in his line, still the promise to David ( Psalms 89:30-37 ) was revived in Zerubbabel and consummated in Christ.