Jeremiah 21:1

The Taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. - Jer 21:1 and Jer 21:2. The heading specifying the occasion for the following prediction. "The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying: Inquire now of Jahveh for us, for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the Lord will deal with us according to all His wondrous works, that he may go up from us." The fighting of Nebuchadrezzar is in Jer 21:4 stated to be the besieging of the city. From this it appears that the siege had begun ere the king sent the two men to the prophet. Pashur the son of Malchiah is held by Hitz., Graf, Ng., etc., to be a distinguished priest of the class of Malchiah. But this is without sufficient reason; for he is not called a priest, as is the case with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and with Pashur the son of Immer (Jer 21:1). Nor is anything proved by the circumstance that Pashur and Malchiah occur in several places as the names of priests, e.g., Ch1 9:12; for both names are also used of persons not priests, e.g., Malchiah, Ezr 10:25, Ezr 10:31, and Pashur, Jer 38:1, where this son of Gedaliah is certainly a laic. From this passage, where Pashur ben Malchiah appears again, it is clear that the four men there named, who accused Jeremiah for his speech, were government authorities or court officials, since in Jer 38:4 they are called שׂרים. Ros. is therefore right in saying of the Pashur under consideration: videtur unus ex principibus sive aulicis fuisse, cf. Jer 38:4. Only Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah is called priest; and he, acc. to Jer 29:25; Jer 37:3; Jer 52:24, held a high position in the priesthood. Inquire for us of Jahveh, i.e., ask for a revelation for u…

Here is, I. A very humble decent message which king Zedekiah, when he was in distress, sent to Jeremiah the prophet. It is indeed charged upon this Zedekiah that he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet, speaking from the mouth of the Lord (Ch2 36:12); he did not always humble himself as he did sometimes; he never humbled himself till necessity forced him to it; he humbled himself so far as to desire the prophet's assistance, but not so far as to take his advice, or to be ruled by him. Observe, 1. The distress which king Zedekiah was now in: Nebuchadrezzar made war upon him, not only invaded the land, but besieged the city, and had now actually invested it. Note, Those that put the evil day far from them will be the more terrified when it comes upon them; and those who before slighted God's ministers may then perhaps be glad to court an acquaintance with them. 2. The messengers he sent - Pashur and Zephaniah, one belonging to the fifth course of the priests, the other to the twenty-fourth, Ch1 24:9, Ch1 24:18. It was well that he sent, and that he sent persons of rank; but it would have been better if he had desired a personal conference with the prophet, which no doubt he might easily have had if he would so far have humbled himself. Perhaps these priests were no better than the rest, and yet, when they were commanded by the king, they must carry a respectful message to the prophet, which was both a mortification to them and an honour to Jeremiah. he had rashly said (Jer 20:18), My days are consumed with shame; and yet here we find that he lived to see better days than those were when he made that complaint; now he appears in reputation. Note, It is folly to say, when things are bad with us, "They will always be so." It is possible that those who are despised…

21:1–28:17 From this point forward in the book of Jeremiah, there is specific information about the last several kings of Judah, particularly Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. The narratives are mostly written in prose and are not always in exact chronological sequence. 21:1-10 This section moves to the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588 BC (cp. 52:1-23; 2 Kgs 24:18–25:21; 2 Chr 36:11-21). The Lord communicated with Judah through his messenger Jeremiah. 21:1 The reign of King Zedekiah spanned 597–586 BC. • The Pashhur mentioned here is not the one mentioned in 20:1-6 because they had different fathers. He and Zephaniah bore the full authority of the king, yet when they met the prophet, they begged Jeremiah for the Lord’s help. Clearly, they regarded Jeremiah as a man of great authority. Zedekiah recognized Jeremiah’s prophetic authority, but he lacked the courage or the moral integrity to do what Jeremiah directed him to do in the Lord’s name.