Jeremiah 52:17-23

3. THE CARRYING AWAY OF THE SACRED VESSELS

Jeremiah 52:17-23

17Also the pillars of brass that were in [belonged to]11 the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord [Jehovah] the 18Chaldeans brake, and carried all12 the brass of them to Babylon. The caldrons [pots] also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and 19all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. And the basins,13 and the firepans,14 and the bowls, and the caldrons [pots], and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups;15 that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver [which were entirely of gold or silver]16 took the captain of 20the guard [halberdiers] away. The17 two pillars, one18 sea, and twelve brazen bulls that were under19 the bases, which king Solomon had made to [for] the house 21of the Lord [Jehovah]; the brass20 of all these vessels was without weight. And concerning the pillars, the height21 of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers; it was 22hollow.22 And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network23 and pomegranates upon the chapiter, round about, all 23of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates24 were like unto these. And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were a hundred round about [round about were a hundred].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Jeremiah 52:17-20. Also the pillars … weight. Concerning the brazen pillars of Solomon’s temple comp. 1 Kings 7:15-22; 2 Chronicles 3:15 sqq.; Winer, R.-W.-B., s. v. Jachin und Boas;Herzog, R.-Enc. VI. S. 366, 7. [ Wordsworth, ad loc., and Smith’sDict. s. v.].—The מְכֹנוֹת, bases (comp. 1 Kings 7:27 sqq.), were pedestals or stands, four cubits long, four broad and three high, to serve as supports for the ten basins required in washing the flesh of the sacrifices (2 Chronicles 4:6). Comp. Keil on the Books of Kings.—The brazen sea (comp. 1 Kings 7:23-26; 1 Chronicles 18:8; 2 Chronicles 4:2-6) served for the priests’ washing (comp. Exodus 30:18 sqq.). Winer, R.-W.-B. s. v.—Herz., R.-Enc. IX. S. 236 sqq. [Comp. Wordsworth and Smith’sDict.]—Of the smaller vessels are mentioned סירוֹת. pots for carrying away the ashes from the altar; יָעִים shovels for removing the ashes; מְזַמְּרוֹת, not to be confounded with מַזְמֵרוֹת, a vine-dresser’s knife, occurring in three places only besides this: 1 Kings 7:50; 2Ki 12:14; 2 Chronicles 4:22, and always with מִזְרָקוֹת, of uncertain meaning: Vulg., etc., psalteria; Luther, etc., knife; Gesenius, etc., scissors, lamp-scissors, at any rate an instrument so-called a carpendo;מִזְרָקוֹת, which is wanting in 2 Ki., probably that it might not occur twice, from זָרַק, sparsit, therefore vas unde spargitur, bowls, mentioned in Exodus 27:3; Exodus 38:3; Numbers 4:14 among the altar-utensils, therefore used for sprinkling the blood of the sacrifices, but comp. also Amos 6:0 : כַּפּוֹט likewise of uncertain meaning, LXX. κρεάγρα, flesh-fork, flesh-hook, the moderns—spoons, pans, bowls, on account of their resemblance to the bent hand. Comp. Keil on Kings. In Exodus 25:29 these appear among the utensils of the table of shew-bread, comp. Numbers 7:14; Numbers 7:20; Numbers 7:26, etc.Winer, R.-W.-B. and Herz., Real-Enc. s. v. Schaubrodtisch. All these vessels were of brass [Henderson, copper]. In the following verse the golden and silver vessels are also enumerated, which the Chaldeans carried away. Hitzig has unjustly attacked Jeremiah 52:19 as spurious, for it does not interrupt the connection, since evidently in Jeremiah 52:18-19 all the smaller vessels are to be enumerated, the larger ones having been mentioned in Jeremiah 52:17. These latter could, of course, be only of brass, but the total amount of the brass plundered was so great that it seemed to merit the special emphasis given to it in Jeremiah 52:20. The golden and silver vessels are not there mentioned, because it was only the brazen ones which were of such immense weight. The pots, sprinkling cups and spoons are mentioned a second time in Jeremiah 52:19, simply because there were such utensils both of brass and of gold and silver. Hitzig’sopinion that all the golden and silver vessels had already been carried away at Jehoiachin’s deportation, certainly finds some support in 2 Kings 24:13 (“all the vessels of gold”). From the circumstance, however, that only golden vessels are spoken of, we may conclude that the cream only was then removed, i.e. the most valuable. The golden vessels of low value as well as all the silver remained for the thorough evacuation made by Nebuzar-adan.—The words and twelve brazen bulls which were under are rightly wanting in 2 Kings 25:16. For they contain a double error: 1. the twelve bulls were not under the bases, but under the sea, according to 1 Kings 7:25; 2 Kings 16:17. 2 Kings 16:2. In 2 Kings 16:17 it is expressly related that Ahaz had already taken away the twelve bulls and replaced them by a substructure of stone. Whither they went is not indeed stated, but no more is it recorded that they were restored to their original position. I therefore, in opposition to Keil (Comm. on Kings), agree with those who regard the words in question as the arbitrary addition of some one, whose mind was not clear about the “bases,” and who had forgotten the passage in 2 Kings 16:17. [Comp. Wordsworth].

Jeremiah 52:21-23. And the pillars … a hundred. Supplementary and more particular description of the pillars.—And the pillars is wanting in 2 Ki. The height is also stated at eighteen cubits in 1 Kings 7:15. The description there given is in general the basis of this.—And a fillet, etc., to the end of the verse, is also wanting in 2 Ki.—If the pillars were twelve cubits in circumference, the diameter (comp. Winer, R.-W.-B. s. v. Jachin und Boas) was about four cubits, which gives a perfectly correct proportion. The thickness of the brass was four fingers. Thus the pillars were hollow, as indeed is remarked.—A chapiter. This is the capital, coronamentum of the pillar. Comp. 1 Kings 7:16; 2 Chronicles 4:12-13.—Instead of five cubits 2 Kings 25:17 has three. The number five in the correct one according to 1 Kings 7:16.—Of one is unnecessary, but not incorrect, since of course it is understood not of a second capital, but the capital of the second pillar. It is evidently based on 1 Kings 7:16.—The pomegranates were also an ornamentation on the hem of the priest’s ephod, or surplice (Exodus 28:33-34). A figure of it may be seen in Thenius, Comm. on Kings, Taf. III. Fig. 2 bb.

Jeremiah 52:23 is entirely wanting in 2 Kings. Ninety-six pomegranates on each pillar were placed רוּחָהi.e. towards the wind, towards the four winds or sides [Henderson after Hitzig, towards the air, the outside of the capitals]. The expression is found here only. Comp. Ezekiel 37:9. It is clear that this is the meaning from the statement that the entire number of the pomegranates attached to the network was a hundred. There must then have been also a pomegranate at each corner.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. “Docemur hoc capite, quod comminationes divinæ rum sint de pelvi fulgura, quodque Deus pro misericordia sua infinita calamitates a se immissas mitigare plerumque soleat, si seria interveniat pœnitentia.” Förster.

2. On Jeremiah 52:1-3. “From this we see why God sometimes places ungodly rulers over a country, who cast it to destruction. It is done on account of the rulers’ and the people’s sins, that they may draw down the well merited punishment, as Sirach says. On account of violence, injustice and avarice, a kingdom passes from one nation to another (Jeremiah 10:8). So also says king Solomon. Because of the sins of a nation occur many changes of rulers, but for the sake of the people who are intelligent and reasonable, the State is prolonged (Proverbs 28:2).” Wurtemb. Summarien.

3. On Jeremiah 52:4. “God allows many slight and mild punishments to come as warnings, till at last comes the finishing stroke. This is a witness to the divine long-suffering (Romans 2:4).” Cramer.

4. On Jeremiah 52:6. “The fact that in this siege compassionate women had to kill and eat their own children (Lamentations 4:10) is a reminder that by bodily hunger God would punish; 1. satiation and disgust towards His holy word and soul-food; 2. the terrible offering up of children to Moloch; 3. the loose discipline of children.” Cramer.

5. On Jeremiah 52:7. “No fortress can protect the ungodly, even though they had their nest in the clouds.” Cramer.

6. On Jeremiah 52:8. “An example of faithless, perjured men of war. But as Zedekiah broke his oath to the king at Babylon, he was paid back in the same coin.” Cramer. “His people forsook the poor king Zedekiah on his flight and he was captured, from which we see that great men cannot depend on their body-guard; these flee in time of need, and leave their masters in the lurch. The surest and best protection is when we have the holy angels for our guard … This angelic protection is, however, to be obtained and preserved by faith and godliness, but is lost by unbelief and ungodly conduct.” Wurtemb. Summ.

7. On Jeremiah 52:9-11. The punishment of perjury. “Ubi monemur, quod fides hosti, etiam barbaro, qualis hodie Turca, a Christianis data, mimine violanda.” Förster.

8. On Jeremiah 52:9. sqq. “God had shown Zedekiah by Jeremiah a way in which he could escape the calamity. But because he forsook the Lord and would not follow it, the others were only leaky cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13). For woe to the rebellious who take counsel without the Lord (Isaiah 30:1). This is useful for an instance against the holy by works, who reject God’s way of escaping the Devil; when they devise other ways for themselves they are caught by the Chaldeans of hell.” Cramer.

9. On Jeremiah 52:12 sqq. “Holy places, external ceremonies and opus operatum do not avail for hypocrites … If God punished His own institution so severely, how shall human institutions remain unpunished?” Cramer.

10. On Jeremiah 52:12. “Quale fatum, ne et nostris obtingat templis … caveamus, ne profanemus templa ulterius tum externa vel materialia, tum interna vel spiritualia in cordibus nostris, de quibus 1 Corinthians 3:16 sqq.; Jeremiah 6:19 sqq.” Förster.

11. On Jeremiah 52:15. “It is another work of mercy that some of Judah were preserved. For God’s grace is always to be found in His punishments.” Cramer.

12. On Jeremiah 52:15. “He who will not serve God and his neighbor at home and in quiet, must learn to do it in a strange land in affliction and distress.” Cramer.

13. On Jeremiah 52:24 sqq. “As teachers are often to blame for their behaviour that sin gets the upper hand in a community, it is exceedingly just when God brings such for an example into great punitive judgment (1 Samuel 2:27-34).” Starke.

14. On Jeremiah 52:24. “The priests are caught and slain; 1. because they could not believe the truth for themselves; 2. because they led others astray; 3. because they appealed to the temple of the Lord; 4. because they persecuted the true prophets; 5. because they troubled the whole church of God. But he who troubleth shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be (Galatians 5:10).” Cramer.

15. On Jeremiah 52:31 sqq. “Sane omnino verisimile videtur judicio Philippi Melanchthonis in Chron. part, I fol. 33 Evilmerodachum amplexum esse doctrinam Danielis de Vero Deo, quam et pater publico edic professus est, eamque ob causam clementiam exercuisse erga regem Jechoniam.” Förster.—“Narrant Hebræi hujusmodi fabulam: Evilmerodach, qui patre suo Nabuchodonosor vivente per septem annos inter bestias, ante regnaverat, postquam ille restitutus in regno est, usque ad mortem patris cum Joakim rege Judæ in vinculis fuit; quo mortuo, quum rursus in regnum succederet, et non susciperetur a principibus, qui metuebant, ne viveret qui dicebatur extinctus, ut fidem patris mortui faceret, aperuit sepulcrum et cadaver ejus unco et funibus traxit.” Jerome on Jeremiah 14:18-19. Josephus speaks of it as follows: “Ἀβιλαμαρώδαχος εὐθὺς τὸν ‘Ιεχωνίαν τῶν δεσμῶν … ‘Ο γὰρ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ τὴν πίστιν οὐκ ἐφύλαξε τῷ ’Ιεχωνία, παραδόντι μετὰ γυναικαῶν καὶ τέκνων καὶ τῆς συγγενείας ὅλης ἑκουσίως ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρἰδος, ὡς ἄν μὴ κατασκαφείη ληφθεῖσα τῇ πολιορκίᾳ.” (Antiqq., X. 11, 21.)

16. On Jeremiah 52:31 sqq. “Ceterum potest hoc exemplo, quod Jechonias rex dignitati suæ in exilio Babylonico restitutus, refutari exceptio Judæorum contra vaticinium Jacobi (Genesis 49:10) de Messia jamdudum exhibito, postquam per Romanos sceptrum de Juda ablatum, id quod τεκμήριον Messiæ jamjam nascituri esse debuit.” Förster.

17. On Jeremiah 52:31 sqq. “No one should despair in misfortune, for the right hand of the Highest can change all (Psalms 77:10) and Christ rules even in the midst of His enemies (Psalms 110:2). For His are the praise, the glory and the power from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.” Cramer.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

1. On Jeremiah 52:1-11. The truth of the word “What a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” exhibited in the example of the Jewish State under Zedekiah.1. The seed (Jeremiah 52:2); 2. The crop (a) the siege, (b) the famine, (c) the capture of the city and flight of the king, (d) the punishment of the king and his princes, (e) the fate of the people (Jeremiah 52:3).

2. On Jeremiah 52:12-20. The rejection of Judah appears at first sight a contradiction. For Jerusalem is the holy city (Matthew 4:5; Nehemiah 11:1; Nehemiah 11:18), the city of God (Psalms 46:5; Psalms 48:2; Psalms 48:9; Psalms 78:3); the temple is the house of Jehovah (Jeremiah 7:2. etc.); God’s service rests on divine authority (Ex. chh. 25–27, 30, 31). But God cannot contradict Himself. We have, therefore, to show “the unity of the divine thoughts in the choice and rejection of Jerusalem.” 1. The rejection was a conditional one (Jeremiah 7:3 sqq). Hence notwithstanding the election the rejection involved nothing contradictory, but was a necessary consequence of the unfulfilled condition.—2. The election remains (a) objectively notwithstanding the rejection; it is (b) subjectively brought to its realization by the rejection; the latter as a means of discipline operating to produce the disposition, from which alone thefulfillment of this condition can proceed. Comp. rems. on Jeremiah 32:41, p. 288.

3. On Jeremiah 52:24-27. “That great lords sometimes make an example of gross miscreants, promotes righteousness, only it must not be done on the innocent, or with such severity that there is no proportion between the crime and its punishment (Joshua 7:25).” Starke.

4. On Jeremiah 52:31-34. The deliverance of Jehoiachin. 1. It shows us that the Lord can help (a) out of great distress (grievous imprisonment of thirty-seven years), (b) in a glorious manner. 2. It admonishes us (a) to steadfast patience, (b) to believing hope, Psalms 13:0 [“It was a prelude and pledge of the liberation and exaltation of the Jewish Nation, when it had been humbled and purified by the discipline of suffering; and of its return to its own land; and a joyful pre-announcement of that far more glorious future restoration which the prophets in the Old Testament, and the Apostles in the New foretell—of Israel to God in Christ; to whom, with the Father and Holt Ghost, be ascribed all honor, glory, dominion, adoration and praise, now and forever. Amen.” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.].

Footnotes:

Jeremiah 52:17; Jeremiah 52:17—Instead of אְַשֶׁר לְבֵית we read in 2 Kings 25:13 אְַשֵׁר בֵּית. The latter=which were in the house of Jehovah, the former=which belonged to the house, etc.

Jeremiah 52:17; Jeremiah 52:17.—In 2 Ki. כֹּל is wanting before נְחֻשְׁתָּם as in Jeremiah 52:14 before חֹמוֹת.

Jeremiah 52:19; Jeremiah 52:19.—סִפִים (1Ki 7:50; 2 Kings 12:14, סִכּוֹת, 2 Samuel 17:28, סַפוֹת) from סַף, basin, bowl (Exodus 12:22; Zechariah 12:2) not to be confounded with סַף, threshhold (Jeremiah 52:24). סִפוֹת כֶסֶף are expressly mentioned in 2 Kings 12:14.

Jeremiah 52:19; Jeremiah 52:19.—מַחְתּוֹת (from חָתָה, to hold, seize, specially used of bringing fire, Isaiah 30:14; Proverbs 6:27) are vessels for carrying burning substances, whether coals (Leviticus 16:13) or lighted incense (Numbers 16:17 sqq.).

Jeremiah 52:19; Jeremiah 52:19.—מְנַקּיוֹתּ are mentioned besides only in Exodus 25:29; Exodus 37:16; Numbers 4:7, and in all these places among the utensils of the shew-bread-table (comp. rems. on כַּכּוֹת, Jeremiah 52:18) and as pertaining to libation, (אְַשֶׁר יֻסַךְ בַּהֵן). In Exodus 25:29 these vessels are expressly designated as to be made of gold.

Jeremiah 52:19; Jeremiah 52:19.—The double position of זָהָב and כֶּסֶף has the sense of “only” or “wholly” (massive). Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 22 b.—The words וְאֵת הַסִפִים and וְאֵת הַסִירוֹת to מְנַקּיוֹת are wanting in 2 Kings. It is noteworthy that thus (a) the repetition of סִירוֹת and כַּכּוֹת, and (b) the plural סִּפִּים, which occurs nowhere else in the sense of “basins” are avoided; (c) that the words following סִירוֹת and כַּפוֹת are also removed.

Jeremiah 52:20; Jeremiah 52:20.—With respect to the construction of Jeremiah 52:20 we are to regard the substantives set first absolutely as in the accusative; as to the pillars, etc., their brass was not to be weighed. The verse is to express that it was those large pieces which raised the weight of the brass to such a degree.

Jeremiah 52:20; Jeremiah 52:20.—Instead of הָאֶחָד the Keri would have read (not in 2 Ki.) merely אֶחָד, probably because both numbers stand before and afterwards without the article. Grammatically both are possible. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 73, 2 Anm.

Jeremiah 52:20; Jeremiah 52:20—The explanation of תַּחַת in the sense of “instead” is as forced as the assumption that the text originally read וְחֵמִּכֹנוֹת is arbitrary.

Jeremiah 52:20; Jeremiah 52:20.—Instead of לִנְחָשְׁתָּם (the suffix by anticipation, comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 77, 2; Jeremiah 51:56 and on Jeremiah 48:44) we find in 2 Kings 25:16 simply לּנְחשֶׁת.

Jeremiah 52:21; Jeremiah 52:21.—The Keri קוֹמַת, with which the Chethibh in 2 Kings 25:17 and 1 Kings 7:14 accords, is unnecessary, for קוֹמָה may be regarded as the accusative of measure (comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 70, g): eighteen cubits was a pillar as to height.

Jeremiah 52:21; Jeremiah 52:21.—On the construction comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 97, 2 a and Anm. 1.

[23]Ver 22.—שְבָכַה from שָבַךְ, nectere, plectere inus (comp. סָבַךְ Nahum 1:10; Job 8:13; סְבָךְ, thicket, Genesis 22:13, etc.), is opus reticulatum, network. Comp. 1 Kings 7:17 sqq.; 2 Kings 1:2; 2 Chronicles 4:12-13; Job 18:8.

Jeremiah 52:22; Jeremiah 52:22.—רִמֹנִים at the close of Jeremiah 52:22 is wanting in 2 Kings 25:17, and we find instead עַל־הַשְׂבָכָה. This makes the impression that this expression seemed unsuitable to the author of Jeremiah 52:0. (it must denote together with the network), both on account of the עַל and because the pomegranates were also named after the network, and that, in order besides the general וְכָאֵלֶּה to set forth a special part, he chose in preference the last mentioned, the רִמֹּנִים.