Jeremiah 22:13-17

Judgment on Jehoiakim

22:13 “‘Sure to be judged ¹  is the king who builds his palace using injustice

and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. ² 

He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing.

He does not pay them for their labor.

22:14 He says, “I will build myself a large palace

with spacious upper rooms.”

He cuts windows in its walls,

panels it ³  with cedar, and paints its rooms red. ⁴ 

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ⁵  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ⁶ 

He did what was just and right. ⁷ 

So things went well with him.

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ⁸ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ⁹ 

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ¹⁰ 

Ezekiel 22:25-28

22:25 Her princes ¹¹  within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows ¹²  within it. 22:26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, ¹³  or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore ¹⁴  my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit. 22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ¹⁵  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

Habakkuk 2:9-12

2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. ¹⁶ 

He does this so he can build his nest way up high

and escape the clutches of disaster. ¹⁷ 

2:10 Your schemes will bring shame to your house.

Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. ¹⁸ 

2:11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,

and the wooden rafters will answer back. ¹⁹ 

2:12 The one who builds a city by bloodshed is as good as dead ²⁰  –

he who starts ²¹  a town by unjust deeds.

Zephaniah 3:3

3:3 Her princes ²²  are as fierce as roaring lions; ²³ 

her rulers ²⁴  are as hungry as wolves in the desert, ²⁵ 

who completely devour their prey by morning. ²⁶ 

Matthew 27:25

27:25 In ²⁷  reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

John 11:50

11:50 You do not realize ²⁸  that it is more to your advantage to have one man ²⁹  die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” ³⁰ 

[22:13]  ¹ sn Heb “Woe.” This particle is used in laments for the dead (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 34:5) and as an introductory particle in indictments against a person on whom judgment is pronounced (cf., e.g., Isa 5:8, 11; Jer 23:1). The indictment is found here in vv. 13-17 and the announcement of judgment in vv. 18-19.

[22:13]  ² tn Heb “Woe to the one who builds his house by unrighteousness and its upper rooms with injustice using his neighbor [= countryman] as a slave for nothing and not giving to him his wages.”

[22:14]  ³ tc The MT should be emended to read חַלֹּנָיו וְסָפוֹן (khallonayv vÿsafon) instead of חַלֹּנָי וְסָפוּן (khallonay vÿsafon), i.e., the plural noun with third singular suffix rather than the first singular suffix and the infinitive absolute rather than the passive participle. The latter form then parallels the form for “paints” and functions in the same way (cf. GKC 345 §113.z for the infinitive with vav [ו] continuing a perfect). The errors in the MT involve reading the וְ once instead of twice (haplography) and reading the וּ (u) for the וֹ (o).

[22:14]  ⁴ tn The word translated “red” only occurs here and in Ezek 23:14 where it refers to the pictures of the Babylonians on the wall of the temple. Evidently this was a favorite color for decoration. It is usually identified as vermilion, a mineral product from red ocher (cf. C. L. Wickwire, “Vermilion,” IDB 4:748).

[22:15]  ⁵ tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ⁷ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[22:16]  ⁸ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[22:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[22:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a conspiracy of her prophets is in her midst.” The LXX reads “whose princes” rather than “a conspiracy of prophets.” The prophets are mentioned later in the paragraph (v. 28). If one follows the LXX in verse 25, then five distinct groups are mentioned in vv. 25-29: princes, priests, officials, prophets, and the people of the land. For a defense of the Septuagintal reading, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:720, n. 4.

[22:25]  ¹² tn Heb “her widows they have multiplied.” The statement alludes to their murderous acts.

[22:26]  ¹³ tn Or “between the consecrated and the common.”

[22:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “hide their eyes from.” The idiom means to disregard or ignore something or someone (see Lev 20:4; 1 Sam 12:3; Prov 28:27; Isa 1:15).

[22:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

[2:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”

[2:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you planned shame for your house, cutting off many nations, and sinning [against] your life.”

[2:11]  ¹⁹ sn The house mentioned in vv. 9-10 represents the Babylonian empire, which became great through imperialism. Here the materials of this “house” (the stones in the walls, the wooden rafters) are personified as witnesses who testify that the occupants have built the house through wealth stolen from others.

[2:12]  ²⁰ tn On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.

[2:12]  ²¹ tn Or “establishes”; or “founds.”

[3:3]  ²² tn Or “officials.”

[3:3]  ²³ tn Heb “her princes in her midst are roaring lions.” The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as fierce as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ²⁴ tn Traditionally “judges.”

[3:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “her judges [are] wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 128. The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as hungry as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they do not gnaw [a bone] at morning.” The precise meaning of the line is unclear. The statement may mean these wolves devour their prey so completely that not even a bone is left to gnaw by the time morning arrives. For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 129.

[27:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[11:50]  ²⁸ tn Or “you are not considering.”

[11:50]  ²⁹ tn Although it is possible to argue that ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") should be translated “person” here since it is not necessarily masculinity that is in view in Caiaphas’ statement, “man” was retained in the translation because in 11:47 “this man” (οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, outo" Jo anqrwpo") has as its referent a specific individual, Jesus, and it was felt this connection should be maintained.

[11:50]  ³⁰ sn In his own mind Caiaphas was no doubt giving voice to a common-sense statement of political expediency. Yet he was unconsciously echoing a saying of Jesus himself (cf. Mark 10:45). Caiaphas was right; the death of Jesus would save the nation from destruction. Yet Caiaphas could not suspect that Jesus would die, not in place of the political nation Israel, but on behalf of the true people of God; and he would save them, not from physical destruction, but from eternal destruction (cf. 3:16-17). The understanding of Caiaphas’ words in a sense that Caiaphas could not possibly have imagined at the time he uttered them serves as a clear example of the way in which the author understood that words and actions could be invested retrospectively with a meaning not consciously intended or understood by those present at the time.