Jeremiah 26:16-24

16 And the princes and all the people said to the priests and prophets, Doom of death is not to this man; for he spake to us in the name of our Lord God. (And the princes, or the leaders, and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, A judgement, or a sentence, of death should not be given to this man; for he spoke to us in the name of the Lord our God.)

17 Therefore men of the elder men of the land rose up, and said to all the company of the people, and spake, (And so some of the elders of the land rose up, and spoke to all the company of the people, and said,)

18 Micah of Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah; and he said to all the people of Judah, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Zion shall be eared as a field, and Jerusalem shall be into an heap of stones, and the hill of the house of the Lord shall be into high things of woods. (Micah of Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah; and he said to all the people of Judah, saying, The Lord of hosts saith these things, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the hill of the House of the Lord shall become the high places of a forest.)

19 Whether Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Judah condemned him by death? Whether they dreaded not the Lord, and besought the face of the Lord? and it repented the Lord of the evil which he spake against them. Therefore do we not great evil against our souls. (Did Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and all Judah condemn him to death? Rather, did they not fear the Lord, and besought the face of the Lord? and then the Lord repented for the evil which he spoke against them. And so let us not do this great evil against ourselves.)

20 Also Urijah, the son of Shemaiah, of Kiriathjearim, was a man prophesying in the name of the Lord; and he prophesied against this city, and against this land, by all the words of Jeremy (with words like those of Jeremiah).

21 And king Jehoiakim, and all the mighty men, and princes of them (and their leaders), heard these words; and the king sought to slay him; and Urijah heard, and dreaded, and he fled, and entered into Egypt.

22 And king Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt, (namely,) Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and (the other) men with him, into Egypt;

23 and they led Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him to king Jehoiakim; and the king killed him with sword, and casted forth his carrion in the sepulchres of the common people unnoble. (and they led Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him to King Jehoiakim; and the king killed him with a sword, and cast forth his dead body onto the graves of the common, or the unnoble, people.)

24 Therefore the hand of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, was with Jeremy, that he was not betaken into the hands of the people, and that it killed not him (And so the hand, or the power, of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, was with Jeremiah, so that he was not delivered into the hands of the people, and so that they did not kill him.)

Jeremiah 26:16-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 26

This chapter gives an account of Jeremiah's preaching; of his being apprehended by the people; of his defence of himself, and acquittance upon it. The time when, place where, and persons to whom the prophet delivered his discourse, are pointed at in Jer 26:1,2; the substance of it was, that if the people of the Jews would repent of their sins and turn from them, the Lord would avert the evil he had threatened them with; but if not, he would make their temple like Shiloh, and their city a curse to all the earth, Jer 26:3-6; upon hearing which the people seized him, and vowed he should die, because he had prophesied of the destruction of their city and temple, Jer 26:7-9; which the princes hearing of, came from the king's house to one of the gates of the temple, and sat as a court of judicature; to whom the priests and prophets accused Jeremiah of the above things as worthy of death, Jer 26:10,11; and before whom the prophet made his defence, alleging his mission and orders from the Lord; and therefore, instead of recanting, repeats his exhortation; and as for himself, he was not careful what they did to him; but advises them not to shed innocent blood, since it would bring evil upon them, Jer 26:12-15; upon which the princes acquit him, and declare him innocent, Jer 26:16; and this is confirmed by a like instance of Micah the prophet, in the times of Hezekiah, who prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem, and yet was not put to death, Jer 26:17-19; and by a contrary instance of Uriah, in the then present reign of Jehoiakim, who had been put to death for the like, but wrongly, Jer 26:20-23; and, in the issue, Jeremiah, through the good office of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, particularly, was saved from being put to death, Jer 26:24.