Jeremiah 22:7-17

7 I will designate men to destroy you, each one with his weapons; they will chop down your choice cedars and throw them in the fire.'

8 "Many nations will pass by this city, and they will say to one another, 'Why has ADONAI done such a thing to this great city?'

9 The answer will be, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of ADONAI their God and worshipped other gods, serving them.'"

10 Do not weep for [the king] who has died, do not mourn for him [Yoshiyahu]. But weep for him who departs [to Egypt], for he will never return or see his native land again.

11 For this is what ADONAI says about Shalum the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y'hudah, who succeeded Yoshiyahu his father as king: "He has left this place, never to return;

12 but he will die in the place where they have led him captive, without seeing this land again.

13 "Woe to him who builds his palace unfairly, its upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbor work for free and will not give him his wages;

14 who says, 'I will build me a spacious palace with airy upper rooms,' then makes windows and cedar panels painted with vermilion!

15 Your cedar may be excellent, but that doesn't make you a better king. True, your father ate and drank, but he also did what was right and just, so things went well with him.

16 He upheld the cause of the poor and the weak, so everything went well. Isn't that what knowing me is all about?" says ADONAI.

17 "In contrast, your eyes and heart are controlled entirely by your greed, your desire for shedding innocent blood, oppressing and extorting."

Jeremiah 22:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 22

This chapter is a prophecy of what should befall the sons of Josiah, Jehoahaz or Shallum; Jehoiakim and Jeconiah. It begins with an exhortation to the then reigning prince, Jehoiakim, his family and court, to do justice, relieve the oppressed, and refrain from doing injury to any; with a promise of prosperity upon so doing, Jer 22:1-4; but, on the contrary behaviour, the king's family, however precious they had been in the sight of the Lord, should be destroyed, by persons described as fit for such work, which would occasion others to inquire the cause of such destruction; when it would be told them, it was for their apostasy from the Lord, their breaking covenant with him, and their idolatry, Jer 22:5-9; then of Shallum, who was then carried captive, it is predicted that he should never return more, which was matter of greater lamentation than the death of his father Josiah, Jer 22:10-12; next Jehoiakim, the present king on the throne, is reproved, and a woe denounced upon him for his injustice, luxury, covetousness, rapine, and murders, Jer 22:13-17; and it is particularly threatened that he should die unlamented, and have no burial, Jer 22:18,19; and then the people of the land are called upon to mourning and lamentation, their kings one after another being carried captive, Jer 22:20-23; also Jeconiah the king's son, and who succeeded him, is threatened with rejection from the Lord, and a delivery of him up into the hand of the king of Babylon, with exile in a strange country, and death there, and that without children; so that Solomon's line should cease in him, Jer 22:24-30.