Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 21:11

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

A king’s responsibility (21:11-22:9)

As he has no doubt done many times, Jeremiah tells the leaders of Judah that they must correct the widespread social injustice that has corrupted their nation. If they do not, God will destroy the nation in judgment (11-12). They are deceiving themselves if they think that God will not allow anyone to attack Jerusalem. They are going to be disappointed if they think that the city’s fortified position guarantees its safety (13-14).
The king has a duty to provide justice for all, no matter what their status in life. By ruling uprightly the king will ensure the continuance of the Davidic dynasty, but by ungodliness he is only helping to bring that dynasty to an end (22:1-5). As a mighty forest is cut down and burnt, so Judah will be destroyed if it forsakes God. When the king and his people abandon the covenant and worship other gods, they have no further assurance of God’s saving power (6-9).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE REASON FOR JERUSALEM'S DESTRUCTION VERSES

"And touching the house of the king of Judah, hear ye the word of Jehovah: O house of David, thus saith Jehovah, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, let my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain, saith Jehovah; you that say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? And I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith Jehovah; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall destroy all that is round about her."

Some of the scholars affirm that the end of the message to Zedekiah came in Jeremiah 21:10 and that this is a prophecy regarding the House of David, being a part of a number of similar prophecies in this sub-group of four chapters (Jeremiah 21-24). We do not deny this; but we also believe that the words here were also quite appropriate when understood as a continuation of the message to Zedekiah. Certainly, the burning of Jerusalem mentioned in Jeremiah 21:14 was appropriately spoken to Zedekiah, because that would occur within eighteen months of Jeremiah's response to the delegation from the king. Besides that, Jeremiah 21:12 relates that all of the punishment to come upon Jerusalem would be "because of the evil of your doings." Was not this appropriate for Zedekiah? His wickedness is seen even in this chapter where he repudiated the prophetic warnings of God's prophet.

Even the verses regarding the king's duty to dispense justice were not inappropriate, because, as Harrison noted, "Along with the false prophets and the immoral cultic-priests, the monarchy itself must take its place and its share of the responsibility for the moral and social degradation of the people,"R. K. Harrison, Jeremiah in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, p. 116. with the resulting divine punishment that fell upon them.

"I will kindle a fire in her forest" Thompson complained that, "In Jerusalem itself, there was no forest."J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 470. But the same scholar tells us that, "The royal palace itself was called the `House of the Forest of Lebanon' (1 Kings 7:2)."Ibid. This supports the opinion of Keil that "The city itself was a forest of houses."C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 332. Others have supposed that many of the houses of the ancient city were constructed from cedars brought down from the forest of Lebanon. In any case, there is no doubt that the reference is to Jerusalem. Bright especially thought that the words here spoke of "Jerusalem's great buildings of cedar."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), p. 141. Payne Smith stated that, "The commentators have made a difficulty here, simply by not remembering the delight which the Jews took in trees."Scribner's Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898), p. 435.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Rather, And as to the royal house of Judah, Hear ye. Omit say. The words are no command to the prophet, but form his introduction to the discourse which extends to the end of Jeremiah 23:8. The king and his officers are to hear the gist of all the messages sent to the royal house since the accession of Jehoiakim.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Now the Prophet tells us that he was sent to the king and his counsellors. Hitherto he has been addressing the king and the whole people indiscriminately; but here a special message is committed to him to be delivered at the palace of the king; and he was to say that judgment was nigh him and his counsellors. But he is not now threatened as before, for there is a condition interposed: he exhorts them to repent, and indirectly promises them pardon, for in vain would he have spoken to them of repentance had he not given them some hopes of pardon and deliverance. He is not yet inconsistent with himself, for though the king was to be driven into exile, he might yet obtain some favor, after having submitted to a paternal correction. Though, then, the Prophet here exhorts the king and his counsellors to repent, he does yet shew that they were not to be wholly free from punishment, and yet he promises some mitigation. ⁽²⁶⁾

And this passage reminds us that we ought not to rush headlong into despair when some great evil is suspended over us, and when God shews that we cannot wholly escape punishment. For there is nothing more unreasonable than that the fear by which God restores us to himself should be the cause of despair, so that we repent not; for though God’s wrath be not wholly removed, yet it is a great thing that it is mitigated, which is an alleviation accompanying the evil itself.

In short, the Prophet intimates that God’s wrath might be alleviated, though not wholly pacified, provided the king and his counsellors began to act rightly and justly. But he mentions the house of David, not for honor’s sake, but, on the contrary, by way of reproach; nor does he refer to David, as some unmeaningly assert, because he ruled justly and was a most excellent and upright king; but the Prophet had regard to God’s covenant. For we know that they deceived themselves when they thought that they were to be exempt from trouble through a peculiar privilege, because God had chosen that family, and promised that the kingdom would be perpetual. Thus hypocrites appropriate to their own advantage whatever God has promised; and at the same time they boast, though without faith and repentance, that God is bound to them. Such, then, was the presumption of the king and his counsellors; for they who were David’s descendants doubted not but that they were exempt from the common lot of men, and that they were, as they say, sacred beings. Hence the Prophet says, in contempt, The house of David! that is, “let these vain boastings now cease, for God will not spare you, though you may a hundred times boast that you are the descendants of David.” And at the same time he upbraids them with having become wholly degenerate, for God had made a covenant with David on the condition that he served him faithfully; but his posterity were become perfidious and apostates. Therefore the Prophet brought before them the name of David, in order that he might the more reproach them, because they were become wholly unlike their father, having departed from his piety.

(26) The verb “thou shalt say,” or “say,” at the beginning of verse 8, is to be understood here, “say also to the house,” etc. So the Vulg. connects the sentence, and also the Targ. But the Sept., Syr., and the Arab. put the word “house” in the vocative case — “O house of the king of Judah, hear the word of the Lord.” More consistent with the original is the former construction. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Jeremiah chapter 21.

Now the book of Jeremiah is not written in a consecutive kind of an order. This particular prophecy Jeremiah dates. They're just the prophecies of Jeremiah at particular times in particular situations, but they don't necessarily follow in a sequential order or in a chronological order. So this particular prophecy in chapter 21 to king Zedekiah actually takes place about six years after the prophecy of chapter 24. So you see, they're not in a chronological order. They are just his prophecies at the various times and they're just thrown in, not in a chronological order, but just thrown in. Now I don't know what the order is, or if there is any, or if there's any reason for their not being in a chronological order. But he is careful to date for us the particular times of the prophecies. So he dates chapter 21, this particular prophecy to Zedekiah.

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us ( Jeremiah 21:1-2 );

Now Pashur last week was the priest that when Jeremiah was prophesying put him in stocks. Arrested him and put him in stocks and all. And, of course, it brought great discouragement to Jeremiah, for he decided to quit his prophetic ministry until God's word like a fire burned in him and he could not hold back from speaking forth God's truth. And this same Pashur now is sent by king Zedekiah to find out what's going to happen because Babylon is marching. The armies of Nebuchadnezzar are there. What's going to happen to us? And so they're sending to Jeremiah now to find the word of the Lord concerning their present dilemma. "Inquire, I pray thee, to the Lord for us."

for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon is making war against us; see if will so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all of his wondrous works, that he [Nebuchadnezzar] may go up from us ( Jeremiah 21:2 ).

And so he is asking Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord concerning what is going to be happening. Will the Lord turn back Nebuchadnezzar according to God's marvelous works? and so forth. Jeremiah does not have a good message for Zedekiah.

Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls ( Jeremiah 21:3-4 ),

They're already outside besieging them.

I will assemble them into the midst of this city ( Jeremiah 21:4 ).

They're outside of the walls now, but they're going to be assembling right in the middle of town.

And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: and they shall die of a great pestilence. And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; and he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy ( Jeremiah 21:5-7 ).

So the message that he has for Zedekiah is not at all a comforting message. Not only is God going to allow the Babylonian troops to assemble right here in the middle of the city, but God Himself is going to turn His hand against Israel, against Zedekiah, and against the armies, and God is going to destroy them. And there will not be a sparing of them, pity nor mercy.

And unto this people ( Jeremiah 21:8 )

Now that was the message to Zedekiah. Now to the people Jeremiah declares,

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death ( Jeremiah 21:8 ).

Isn't this true always? That God sets before man the way of life and the way of death. When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, God set before him the way of life and the way of death. There were two special trees in the garden. There was the tree of life; there was also the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil, which also was the tree of death. For God said, "Thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" ( Genesis 2:17 ). So it was the tree of death. Now I always marvel to myself that Adam would have eaten of the tree of death before he ate of the tree of life. But after he had eaten of the tree of death and the Lord drove him from the garden, you remember that the Lord put an angel there to guard the way into the garden lest he would come back and eat of the tree of life and live forever in that degenerated spiritual state.

Now that always amazes and surprises me that God gives to man a way of life, a way of death, and man so foolishly oftentimes takes the way of death. Now it is true of every one of us tonight. God has laid before each of us tonight the way of life, the way of death. The Bible says the mind of the flesh is death. The mind of the Spirit is life and joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. You have your choice. You can live after your flesh, that's the way of death. You can live after the Spirit, that is the way of life. So don't blame Adam for making a foolish choice, because so many people today are making the same foolish choices because God has laid before each man the way of life and the way of death. This is the perpetual story of God. "I've laid before you the way of life, the way of death." And now you must exercise your own capacity of choice to choose either life or death. "He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" ( 1 John 5:12 ). "The wrath of God is abiding upon him" ( John 3:36 ). God has given you the way of life, the way of death.

So in this particular case, he said,

If you abide [or stay] in this city you will surely die by the sword, or the famine, or the pestilence: but if you'll go out, and surrender to the Chaldeans that are besieging you, you will live, and your life will be for him a prey ( Jeremiah 21:9 ).

So he is saying now, "Look, if you'll just go out and surrender they'll spare your life. If you stay in here, you're going to be slain in one of three ways-either by the pestilence that God will bring against it, the famine, or the sword of the Babylonians."

Now you can see how that this kind of a message would be interpreted as a treasonable statement. And so Jeremiah was accused of treason and thrown into the dungeon because of this particular prophecy, because he is encouraging them to capitulate, to surrender to the enemy. And so he's accused of being a traitor and placed into prison when this message was delivered to the people, because he's encouraging them to surrender. But it's God saying, "Hey, you have the way of life, the way of death. If you want to live, go out and surrender to them. If you want to die, just stay here in this city and you're going to die either by the sword, the pestilence or famine."

For the Lord said,

For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire ( Jeremiah 21:10 ).

This city's going to be destroyed, burned with fire.

And touching the house of the king of Judah, say ( Jeremiah 21:11 ),

And so this is a third part of the message. This is now to the house of Zedekiah.

Hear ye the word of the LORD; O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like a fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it ( Jeremiah 21:11-14 ).

And so the message to Zedekiah in response to his request to find out how things are going to go. Not so good, buddy. It's looking tough, you know. You're in bad shape.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jeremiah was to tell the king of Judah and his administrators to be careful to dispense justice every day, particularly with the poor and powerless. If they did not, the Lord’s wrath would burn against them as an inextinguishable fire (cf. Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 17:4; Jeremiah 17:27; Jeremiah 21:12; Jeremiah 21:14; Jeremiah 43:12; Jeremiah 49:27). Normally court convened in the morning to avoid the heat of the day (cf. 2 Samuel 4:5).

"The administration of justice was one of the main duties of kings all over the Near East. The king was the guardian of justice [cf. 2 Samuel 15:4; 1 Kings 3:9; 1 Kings 3:16-28; 1 Kings 8:32]." [Note: Thompson, pp. 470-71.]

The Lord also sent a message to the residents of Jerusalem.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And touching the house of the king of Judah, [say],.... Or "to the house of the king of Judah" p; that is, his palace, as Calvin understands it; go to it, and there say as follows, as in Jeremiah 22:1; and some think that this part of the chapter belongs to that, and was not delivered at the time the former part of it was; but before the peremptory decree was gone forth, to deliver the city into the hand of the king of Babylon to be burned with fire; since, upon a reformation, some hope of pardon and salvation is yet given. The Syriac version joins this clause to Jeremiah 21:10; "and he shall burn it with fire, and the house of the king of Judah"; burn the city of Jerusalem, and particularly the king's palace; but by "the house of the king" is not meant his dwelling house, but his family, himself, his sons, his servants, his courtiers and nobles, to whom the following speech is directed:

hear ye the word of the Lord; and obey it; for not bare hearing is meant, but a reverent attention to, and a cheerful and ready performance of, what is heard.

p לבית מלך "domui regis", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Schmidt.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.   9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.   10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.   11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;   12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.   13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?   14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

      By the civil message which the king sent to Jeremiah it appeared that both he and the people began to have a respect for him, which it would have been Jeremiah's policy to make some advantage of for himself; but the reply which God obliges him to make is enough to crush the little respect they begin to have for him, and to exasperate them against him more than ever. Not only the predictions in the Jeremiah 21:1-7, but the prescriptions in these, were provoking; for here,

      I. He advises the people to surrender and desert to the Chaldeans, as the only means left them to save their lives, Jeremiah 21:8-10; Jeremiah 21:8-10. This counsel was very displeasing to those who were flattered by their false prophets into a desperate resolution to hold out to the last extremity, trusting to the strength of their walls and the courage of their soldiery to keep out the enemy, or to their foreign aids to raise the siege. The prophet assures them, "The city shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall not only plunder it, but burn it with fire, for God himself hath set his face against this city for evil and not for good, to lay it waste and not to protect it, for evil which shall have no good mixed with it, no mitigation or merciful allay; and therefore, if you would make the best of bad, you must beg quarter of the Chaldeans, and surrender prisoners of war." In vain did Rabshakeh persuade the Jews to do this while they had God for them (Isaiah 36:16), but it was the best course they could take now that God was against them. Both the law and the prophets had often set before them life and death in another sense--life if they obey the voice of God, death if they persist in disobedience, Deuteronomy 30:19. But they had slighted that life which would have made them truly happy, to upbraid them with which the prophet here uses the same expression (Jeremiah 21:8; Jeremiah 21:8): Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death, which denotes not, as that, a fair proposal, but a melancholy dilemma, advising them of two evils to choose the less; and that less evil, a shameful and wretched captivity, is all the life now left for them to propose to themselves. He that abides in the city, and trusts to that to secure him, shall certainly die either by the sword without the walls or famine or pestilence within. But he that can so far bring down his spirit, and quit his vain hopes, as to go out, and fall to the Chaldeans, his life shall be given him for a prey; he shall save his life, but with much difficulty and hazard, as a prey is taken from the mighty. It is an expression like that, He shall be saved, yet so as by fire. He shall escape but very narrowly, or he shall have such surprising joy and satisfaction in escaping with his life from such a universal destruction as shall equal theirs that divide the spoil. They thought to make a prey of the camp of the Chaldeans, as their ancestors did that of the Assyrians (Isaiah 33:23), but they will be sadly disappointed; if by yielding at discretion they can but save their lives, that is all the prey they must promise themselves. Now one would think this advice from a prophet, in God's name, should have gained some credit with them and been universally followed; but, for aught that appears, there were few or none that took it; so wretchedly were their hearts hardened, to their destruction.

      II. He advises the king and princes to reform, and make conscience of the duty of their place. Because it was the king that sent the message to him, in the reply there shall be a particular word for the house of the king, not to compliment or court them (that was no part of the prophet's business, no, not when they did him the honour to send to him), but to give them wholesome counsel (Jeremiah 21:11; Jeremiah 21:12): "Execute judgment in the morning; do it carefully and diligently. Those magistrates that would fill up their place with duty had need rise betimes. Do it quickly, and do not delay to do justice upon appeals made to you, and tire out poor petitioners as you have done. Do not lie in your beds in a morning to sleep away the debauch of the night before, nor spend the morning in pampering the body (as those princes, Ecclesiastes 10:16), but spend it in the despatch of business. You would be delivered out of the hand of those that distress you, and expect that therein God should do you justice; see then that you do justice to those that apply to you, and deliver them out of the hand of their oppressors, lest my fury go out like fire against you in a particular manner, and you fare worst who think to escape best, because of the evil of your doings." Now, 1. This intimates that it was their neglect to do their duty that brought all this desolation upon the people. It was the evil of their doings that kindled the fire of God's wrath. Thus plainly does he deal even with the house of the king; for those that would have the benefit of a prophet's prayers must thankfully take a prophet's reproofs. 2. This directs them to take the right method for a national reformation. The princes must begin, and set a good example, and then the people will be invited to reform. They must use their power for the punishment of wrong, and then the people will be obliged to reform. He reminds them that they are the house of David, and therefore should tread in his steps, who executed judgment and justice to his people. 3. This gives them some encouragement to hope that there may yet be a lengthening of their tranquillity, Daniel 4:27. If any thing will recover their state from the brink of ruin, this will.

      III. He shows them the vanity of all their hopes so long as they continued unreformed, Jeremiah 21:13; Jeremiah 21:14. Jerusalem is an inhabitant of the valley, guarded with mountains on all sides, which were their natural fortifications, making it difficult for an army to approach them. It is a rock of the plain, which made it difficult for an enemy to undermine them. These advantages of their situation they trusted to more than to the power and promise of God; and, thinking their city by these means to be impregnable, they set the judgments of God at defiance, saying, "Who shall come down against us? None of our neighbours dare make a descent upon us, or, if they do, who shall enter into our habitations?" They had some colour for this confidence; for it appears to have been the sense of all their neighbours that no enemy could force his way into Jerusalem, Lamentations 4:12. But those are least safe that are most secure. God soon shows the vanity of that challenge, Who shall come down against us? when he says (Jeremiah 21:13; Jeremiah 21:13), Behold, I am against thee. They had indeed by the wickedness driven God out of their city when he would have tarried with them as a friend; but they could not by their bulwarks keep them out of their city when he came against them as an enemy. If God be for us, who can be against us? But, if he be against us, who can be for us, to stand us in any stead? Nay, he comes against them not as an enemy that may lawfully and with some hope of success be resisted, but as a judge that cannot be resisted; for he says (Jeremiah 21:14; Jeremiah 21:14), I will punish you, by due course of law, according to the fruit of your doings, that is, according to the merit of them and the direct tendency of them. That shall be brought upon you which is the natural product of sin. Nay, he will not only come with the anger of an enemy and the justice of a judge, but with the force of a consuming fire, which has no compassion, as a judge sometimes has, nor spares any thing combustible that comes in its way. Jerusalem has become a forest, in which God will kindle a fire that shall consume all before it; for our God is himself a consuming fire; and who is able to stand in his sight when once he is angry?