29:1 Now these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the
prophet sent from Jerusalem to a the rest of the elders
who were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to
the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had
carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
(a) For some died in the way.
29:2 (After Jeconiah the king, and the b queen, and the
eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the
craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem;)
(b) Meaning Jeconiah's mother.
29:3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the
son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah c sent to
Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
(c) To entreat of some equal condition.
29:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all
that are carried away captives, whom I have d caused to
be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon;
(d) That is, the Lord whose work this was.
29:7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to
be carried away captives, and e pray to the LORD for it:
for in the peace of it ye shall have peace.
(e) The prophet does not speak this for the affection that
he bore to the tyrant, but that they should pray for
the common rest and quietness that their troubles might
not be increased, and that they might with more
patience and less grief wait for the time of their
deliverance, which God had appointed most certain: for
not only the Israelites but all the world yea and the
insensible creatures would rejoice when these tyrants
would be destroyed, as in (Isa 24:4).
29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find [me], when ye shall search
for me with all f your heart.
(f) When your oppression will be great, and your
afflictions cause you to repent your disobedience and
also when the seventy years of your captivity will be
expired, (2Ch 36:22, Ezr 1:1, Jer 25:12, Da 9:2).
29:15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised up for us g
prophets in Babylon;
(g) As Ahab, Zedekiah and Shemaiah.
29:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon
them the h sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and
will make them like vile i figs, that cannot be eaten,
they are so bad.
(h) By which he assures them that there will be no hope of
returning before the appointed time.
(i) According to the comparison, (Jer 24:1,2).
29:18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine,
and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be
removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be k a
curse, and an horror, and an hissing, and a reproach,
among all the nations where I have driven them:
29:19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the
LORD, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets,
l rising early and sending [them]; but ye would not
hear, saith the LORD.
29:22 And concerning them shall be taken up a curse by all the
captivity of Judah who [are] in Babylon, saying, The LORD
make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of
Babylon roasted m in the fire;
(m) Because they gave the people hope of speedy returning.
29:23 Because they have committed n villany in Israel, and
have committed adultery with their neighbour's wives, and
have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not
commanded them; even I know, and [am] a witness, saith the
LORD.
(n) Which was adultery and falsifying the word of God.
29:26 The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of o
Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the
house of the LORD, for every man [that is] mad, and maketh
himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison,
and in the stocks.
(o) Shemaiah the false prophet flatters Zephaniah the
chief priest as though God had given him the spirit
and zeal of Jehoiada to punish whoever trespassed
against the word of God, of that he would have made
Jeremiah one, calling him a raver and a false prophet.
29:32 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish
Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a
man p to dwell among this people; neither shall he
behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the
LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.
(p) He and his seed will be destroyed so that none of them
would see the blessing of this deliverance.
