Jeremiah 26

Chapter context

What is happening in Jeremiah 26?

judgmenttearsnew covenantfalse worship

Jeremiah 26 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as conflict with kings, priests, and prophets. Jeremiah combines fierce warning, autobiographical anguish, symbolic action, the promise of a new covenant, and the trauma of Jerusalem’s fall. Read this chapter with the wider themes of judgment, tears, and new covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying, ² Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: ³ If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. ⁴ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, ⁵ To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; ⁶ Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. ⁷ So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. ⁸ Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die. ⁹ Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. ¹⁰ When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house. ¹¹ Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears. ¹² Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. ¹³ Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. ¹⁴ As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. ¹⁵ But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears. ¹⁶ Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God. ¹⁷ Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, ¹⁸ Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. ¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls. ²⁰ And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: ²¹ And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; ²² And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. ²³ And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. ²⁴ Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

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Glossary

Jehoiakim Person v. 1, 21-23: He whom Jehovah has set up, the second son of Josiah, and eighteenth king of Judah, which he ruled over for eleven years (B. C. 610-599). His original name was Eliakim (q. v. ).
Josiah Person v. 1: Healed by Jehovah, or Jehovah will support. The son of Amon, and his successor on the throne of Judah ( 2 Kings 22:1 ; 2 Chr. 34:1 ). His history is contained in 2 Kings 22, 23.
City People v. 6, 9, 11-12, 15, 20: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Jerusalem Place v. 6, 9, 18: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Shiloh Place v. 6, 9: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Seilun.
Jeremiah Person v. 7-9, 12, 20, 24: Raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1. ) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness ( 1 Chr. 12:10 ). (2. ) A Gadite warrior ( 1 Chr. 12:13 ). (3. ) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:4 ).
New Gate Place v. 10: Biblical gate. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Hezekiah Person v. 18-19: Whom Jehovah has strengthened. (1. ) Son of Ahaz ( 2 Kings 18:1 ; 2 Chr. 29:1 ), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B. C. 726-697).
Micah Person v. 18: A shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah? (1. ) A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history so far is introduced in Judg.
Moresheth-gath Place v. 18: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tel Goded.
Mount Zion Place v. 18: Biblical hill. Modern identification: Mount Zion.
Zion Place v. 18: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Kiriath-jearim Place v. 20: City, a city belonging to Benjamin ( Josh. 18:28 ), the modern Kuriet el-‘Enab, i. e., “city of grapes”, about 7 1/2 miles west-north-west of Jerusalem. Modern identification: Deir el Azar.
Shemaiah Person v. 20: Whom Jehovah heard. (1. ) A prophet in the reign of Rehoboam ( 1 Kings 12:22-24 ). (2. ) Neh. 3:29 . (3. ) A Simeonite ( 1 Chr. 4:37 ). (4. ) A priest ( Neh. 12:42 ). (5. ) A Levite ( 1 Chr. 9:16 ). (6. ) 1 Chr. 9:14 ; Neh. 11:15 .
Egypt Place v. 21-23: The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture. Modern identification: Ain Shams.
Elnathan Person v. 22: Whom God has given. (1. ) An inhabitant of Jerusalem, the father of Nehushta, who was the mother of king Jehoiachin ( 2 Kings 24:8 ).
Ahikam Person v. 24: Brother of support = helper, one of the five whom Josiah sent to consult the prophetess Huldah in connection with the discovery of the book of the law ( 2 Kings 22:12-14 ; 2 Chr. 34:20 ).