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22. Judgment Against Evil Kings

¹ This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: ² ‘Hear the word of the LORD to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. ³ This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. ⁵ But if you do not obey these commands, declares the LORD, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’”

⁶ For this is what the LORD says about the palace of the king of Judah:

   “Though you are like Gilead to me,
   like the summit of Lebanon,
I will surely make you like a wasteland,
   like towns not inhabited.
⁷ I will send destroyers against you,
   each man with his weapons,
and they will cut up your fine cedar beams
   and throw them into the fire.

⁸ “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’ ⁹ And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”

    ¹⁰ Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss;
   rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return
   nor see his native land again.

¹¹ For this is what the LORD says about Shallum Also called Jehoahaz son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return. ¹² He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”

    ¹³ “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
   his upper rooms by injustice,
making his own people work for nothing,
   not paying them for their labor.
¹⁴ He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace
   with spacious upper rooms.’
So he makes large windows in it,
   panels it with cedar
   and decorates it in red.

    ¹⁵ “Does it make you a king
   to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
   He did what was right and just,
   so all went well with him.
¹⁶ He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
   and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?”
   declares the LORD.
¹⁷ “But your eyes and your heart
   are set only on dishonest gain,
on shedding innocent blood
   and on oppression and extortion.”

¹⁸ Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

   “They will not mourn for him:
   ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’
They will not mourn for him:
   ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
¹⁹ He will have the burial of a donkey—
   dragged away and thrown
   outside the gates of Jerusalem.”

    ²⁰ “Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
   let your voice be heard in Bashan,
cry out from Abarim,
   for all your allies are crushed.
²¹ I warned you when you felt secure,
   but you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your way from your youth;
   you have not obeyed me.
²² The wind will drive all your shepherds away,
   and your allies will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced
   because of all your wickedness.
²³ You who live in ‘Lebanon, That is, the palace in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 7:2)’
   who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
   pain like that of a woman in labor!

²⁴ “As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Jehoiachin Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin; also in verse 28 son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. ²⁵ I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. Or Chaldeans ²⁶ I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. ²⁷ You will never come back to the land you long to return to.”

    ²⁸ Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
   an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out,
   cast into a land they do not know?
²⁹ O land, land, land,
   hear the word of the LORD!
³⁰ This is what the LORD says:
“Record this man as if childless,
   a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
   none will sit on the throne of David
   or rule anymore in Judah.”

They explain this verse of Jehoiakim and Jeconiah, but I consider it rather a general declaration, for the Prophet wished briefly to shew how miserable would be the condition of the people, as it would be better and more desirable at once to die than to protract life in continual languor. Of the kings he wilt afterwards speak, but reason compels us to extend these words to the whole people.

When a people flee away, being not able to resist their enemies, they may look for a restoration. In that case all dread death more than exile and all other calamities which are endured in this life, for they who remain alive may somehow emerge from their ills and troubles, or at least they may have them alleviated; but death cuts off all hopes. But the Prophet says here that death would be better than exile; and why? Because it would have been better at once to die than to protract a life of misery, weariness, and reproach, and at last to be destroyed. By saying, then, Weep ye not for the dead, nor bewail him, ⁴³⁴³     Literally, “nor nod for him.” They were not to shake the head for him in sign of sorrow. There was a shaking of the head in scorn or derision as well as in condolence or sympathy. See Jeremiah 18:16. — Ed. it is the same as though he had said, “If the destruction of this city be lamented, much more ought they to be lamented who shall remain alive than those who shall die, for death will be as it were a rest, it will be a harbor to end all evils; but life will be nothing else than a continual succession of miseries.” We hence conclude that this ought not to be confined to the two kings, but viewed as declared generally of the whole people. ⁴⁴⁴⁴     The Versions and the Targum seem to favor this view of Calvin, as they render the participle, “going away,” in the present tense, as in our version. The verse, then, is as follows, —
   Weep ye not for the dead, nor bewail him; Weep, weep for him who goeth away; For he will not return any more, And see the land of his nativity.
   The repetition of the verb “weep” is emphatical. Our version, “weep sore,” is the Arab. The Sept. and the Targ. take it as an instance of what often occurs in Hebrew, a participle joined to a verb to enhance its force; but it is not so here, the two verbs are in the imperative mood. But it may be that there is here, as many think, a direct allusion to Josiah, who was dead, and was much lamented, and to Shallum, who was taken captive and carried into Egypt, where he died. In that case we ought to render the second line thus, —
   Weep, weep for him who has gone away.
   The Hebrew participle may often be rendered in the past tense; and so it is rendered here by Gataker, Venema, and Blayney. — Ed.

It follows, For he shall return no more, that he may see the land of his nativity He shews that exile would be a sort of infection that would gradually consume the miserable Jews. Thus death would have been far better for them than to be in this manner long tormented and to have no relaxation. He then takes away the hope of a return, that he might shew that their exile would be as it were a dying languor, corroding them as a worm, so that to die a hundred times would have been more desirable than to remain in such a hard and miserable bondage. It now follows: