26:20 Now there was another man 17 who prophesied as the Lord’s representative 18 against this city and this land just as Jeremiah did. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim. 19 26:21 When the king and all his bodyguards 20 and officials heard what he was prophesying, 21 the king sought to have him executed. But Uriah found out about it and fled to Egypt out of fear. 22 26:22 However, King Jehoiakim sent some men to Egypt, including Elnathan son of Achbor, 23 26:23 and they brought Uriah back from there. 24 They took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed and had his body thrown into the burial place of the common people. 25
23:34 “For this reason I 27 am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, 28 some of whom you will kill and crucify, 29 and some you will flog 30 in your synagogues 31 and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, 32 whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, 33 this generation will be held responsible for all these things! 34
23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 35 you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! 36 How often I have longed 37 to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but 38 you would have none of it! 39
1 tn Heb “cutting off.”
2 tn Heb “Has it not been told to my master what I did…?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “Of course it has!”
3 tn Or “very zealous.” The infinitive absolute preceding the finite verb emphasizes the degree of his zeal and allegiance.
4 tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”
5 tn Heb “abandoned your covenant.”
6 tn Heb “and they are seeking my life to take it.”
7 tn Heb “saying.”
8 tn Heb “So may the gods do to me, and so may they add.”
9 tn Heb “I do not make your life like the life of one of them.”
10 tc Many Hebrew
11 tn Heb “the eyes of all Israel are upon you to declare to them who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him.”
12 tn The words “if a decision is not made” are added for clarification.
13 tn Heb “lies down with his fathers.”
14 tn Heb “I and my son Solomon.” The order has been reversed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
15 tn Heb “will be guilty”; NASB “considered offenders”; TEV “treated as traitors.”
16 tn Heb “bowed low and bowed down to.”
17 sn This is a brief parenthetical narrative about an otherwise unknown prophet who was executed for saying the same things Jeremiah did. It is put here to show the real danger that Jeremiah faced for saying what he did. There is nothing in the narrative here to show any involvement by Jehoiakim. This was a “lynch mob” instigated by the priests and false prophets which was stymied by the royal officials supported by some of the elders of Judah. Since it is disjunctive or parenthetical it is unclear whether this incident happened before or after that in the main narrative being reported.
18 tn Heb “in the name of the
19 tn Heb “Now also a man was prophesying in the name of the
20 tn Heb “all his mighty men/soldiers.” It is unlikely that this included all the army. It more likely was the palace guards or royal bodyguards (see 2 Sam 23 where the same word is used of David’s elite corps).
21 tn Heb “his words.”
22 tn Heb “But Uriah heard and feared and fled and entered Egypt.”
23 sn Elnathan son of Achbor was one of the officials who urged Jeremiah and Baruch to hide after they heard Jeremiah’s prophecies read before them (Jer 36:11-19). He was also one of the officials who urged Jehoiakim not to burn the scroll containing Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jer 36:25). He may have been Jehoiakim’s father-in-law (2 Kgs 24:6, 8).
24 tn Heb “from Egypt.”
25 sn The burial place of the common people was the public burial grounds, distinct from the family tombs, where poor people without any distinction were buried. It was in the Kidron Valley east of Jerusalem (2 Kgs 23:6). The intent of reporting this is to show the ruthlessness of Jehoiakim.
26 sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.
27 tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
28 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
29 sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.
30 tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”
31 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
32 sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).
33 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
34 tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”
35 sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.
36 tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).
37 sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.
38 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
39 tn Grk “you were not willing.”
40 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
41 sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.
42 tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
43 sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.
44 sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).