Jeremiah 22:18

22:18 So ¹  the Lord has this to say about Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:

People will not mourn for him, saying,

“This makes me sad, my brother!

This makes me sad, my sister!”

They will not mourn for him, saying,

“Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!” ² 

Jeremiah 22:2

22:2 Say: ‘Listen, O king of Judah who follows in David’s succession. ³  You, your officials, and your subjects who pass through the gates of this palace must listen to what the Lord says. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 21:1

The Lord Will Hand Jerusalem over to Enemies

21:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ⁵  when King Zedekiah ⁶  sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. ⁷  Zedekiah sent them to Jeremiah to ask, ⁸ 

Lamentations 4:20

ר (Resh)

4:20 Our very life breath – the Lord’s anointed king ⁹  –

was caught in their traps, ¹⁰ 

of whom we thought, ¹¹ 

“Under his protection ¹²  we will survive among the nations.”

¹ sn This is the regular way of introducing the announcement of judgment after an indictment of crimes. See, e.g., Isa 5:13, 14; Jer 23:2.

² tn The translation follows the majority of scholars who think that the address of brother and sister are the address of the mourners to one another, lamenting their loss. Some scholars feel that all four terms are parallel and represent the relation that the king had metaphorically to his subjects; i.e., he was not only Lord and Majesty to them but like a sister or a brother. In that case something like: “How sad it is for the one who was like a brother to us! How sad it is for the one who was like a sister to us.” This makes for poor poetry and is not very likely. The lover can call his bride sister in Song of Solomon (Song 4:9, 10) but there are no documented examples of a subject ever speaking of a king in this way in Israel or the ancient Near East.

³ tn Heb “who sits on David’s throne.”

⁴ tn Heb “Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah who sits on the throne of David, you, and your officials and your people who pass through these gates.”

⁵ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.”

⁶ sn Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He ruled from 597 b.c. when he was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kgs 24:17) until the fall of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. He acquiesced to some of his anti-Babylonian counselors, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and sought help from the Egyptians (Ezek 17:12-15). This brought Nebuchadnezzar against the city in 588 b.c. This is the first of two delegations to Jeremiah. The later one was sent after Nebuchadnezzar withdrew to take care of the Egyptian threat (cf. Jer 37:1-9).

⁷ sn The Pashhur son of Malkijah referred to here is not the same as the Pashhur referred to in 20:1-6 who was the son of Immer. This Pashhur is referred to later in 38:1. The Zephaniah referred to here was the chief of security referred to later in Jer 29:25-26. He appears to have been favorably disposed toward Jeremiah.

⁸ tn Heb “sent to him…Maaseiah, saying,….”

⁹ tn Heb “the anointed one of the Lord.” The term “king” is added in the translation to clarify the referent of the phrase “the Lord’s anointed.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “was captured in their pits.”

¹¹ tn Heb “of whom we had said.”

¹² tn Heb “under his shadow.” The term צֵל (tsel, “shadow”) is used figuratively here to refer the source of protection from military enemies. In the same way that the shade of a tree gives physical relief and protection from the heat of the sun (e.g., Judg 9:15; Job 40:22; Ps 80:11; Song 2:3; Ezek 17:23; 31:6, 12, 17; Hos 4:13; 14:8; Jon 4:5, 6), a faithful and powerful king can provide “shade” (= protection) from enemies and military attack (Num 14:19; Ps 91:1; Isa 30:2, 3; 49:2; 51:16; Jer 48:45; Lam 4:20).