Irijah

Biblical Account

Irijah appears only twice, both times in Jeremiah 37. The text introduces him as "the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah." The Korean Revised Version renders his title as "head of the gatekeepers" (KJV: "a captain of the ward"), a term understood to refer to the officer responsible for guarding a city gate.

During the reign of Zedekiah, the Babylonian (Chaldean) army besieged Jerusalem. When news came that the army of Egypt was advancing, the Babylonians temporarily withdrew (Jeremiah 37:11). During this lull, Jeremiah left the city to go into the land of Benjamin to receive his portion (a share allotted to him) (37:12). At the Benjamin Gate, Irijah seized him, saying, "Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans." Jeremiah denied the charge, but Irijah "hearkened not to him" and brought him to the princes (officials) (37:13–14). The princes beat Jeremiah and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the scribe (37:15). The biblical record of Irijah ends here.

Significance in Scripture

Irijah appears solely as the figure who set Jeremiah's sufferings in motion. Jeremiah had already proclaimed that whoever surrendered to the Chaldeans would live (Jeremiah 21:9; 38:2). The flow of the narrative thus suggests that his departure from the city could reasonably have been suspected as desertion. The episode is understood to illustrate how the leadership of his day regarded Jeremiah's message as treason. Irijah is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

• Some later Jewish commentators are reported to have identified Irijah's grandfather Hananiah with Hananiah the false prophet, who opposed Jeremiah (Jeremiah 28). This interpretation explains Irijah's arrest of Jeremiah as an act of personal vengeance. The text, however, does not state any relationship between the two men named Hananiah, and since the Hananiah of chapter 28 is introduced as "the son of Azur," there is no basis for identifying them as the same person.
• Nor does the text evaluate whether Irijah was faithfully carrying out his duty or acting out of hostility toward the prophet.

In the Korean Church

Irijah is rarely treated as a subject in his own right in sermons or Sunday school. He is mentioned mainly in expositions of Jeremiah 37 or in discussions of Jeremiah's sufferings.