Jeremiah 22

This chapter belongs to the section of the Book of Jeremiah that collects oracles addressed to the kings of Judah. It continues the message to "the house of the king of Judah" that begins in Jeremiah 21:11 and presents, in sequence, pronouncements concerning three kings who followed Josiah.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 Jeremiah goes down to the royal palace and declares that the king must execute justice and righteousness and must not oppress the vulnerable. If the king obeys, David's throne will continue; if he does not listen, the palace will become a desolation.
• Verses 6–9 The palace, once like Gilead and the summit of Lebanon, will become a wilderness. The nations passing by will conclude that this happened because the people forsook the covenant and served other gods.
• Verses 10–12 The people are told to weep not for the dead but for Shallum, who has been carried away. Shallum will die in the place of his captivity and never return.
• Verses 13–17 The king who builds his house by unrighteousness and withholds wages from his neighbor is rebuked. He is contrasted with his father, who defended the cause of the poor.
• Verses 18–19 Jehoiakim will have no one to lament him; he will be cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem and buried with the burial of a donkey.
• Verses 20–23 The people are told to cry out from Lebanon, Bashan, and Abarim. Their lovers will be destroyed, and their shepherds will be consumed by the wind.
• Verses 24–30 Even if Coniah were the signet ring on the LORD's right hand, he would be pulled off and handed over to Nebuchadnezzar. Coniah and his mother will die in a foreign land, and the prophet is told to record that none of his descendants will sit on the throne of David.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 22:3 "Execute ye judgment and righteousness … do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow" — presents just rule as the condition for the continuation of royal power.
• Jeremiah 22:16 "He judged the cause of the poor and needy … was not this to know me?" — frequently cited as a verse linking the knowledge of God with a life of caring for the vulnerable.
• Jeremiah 22:30 "No man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah" — declares that the royal line through Coniah will be cut off.

People and Places

• Josiah: King of Judah. He is referred to as "the dead" in verse 10 and as "thy father" in verse 15.
• Shallum: A son of Josiah. In 2 Kings 23 he appears under the name Jehoahaz; he was taken captive to Egypt.
• Jehoiakim: A son of Josiah who became king after Shallum. Verses 13–19 are addressed to him.
• Coniah: A son of Jehoiakim, also called Jeconiah and Jehoiachin.
• Nebuchadnezzar: King of Babylon, who appears as the one into whose hands Coniah will be delivered.
• Gilead, Bashan, and Abarim: Place names east of the Jordan River.
• Lebanon: A mountainous region to the north, associated with cedars and used as a symbol of loftiness.

Points for Reflection

• The death of Jehoiakim: The text does not explain how the burial prophecy of verse 19 corresponds to the statement in 2 Kings 24:6 that Jehoiakim "slept with his fathers." Several interpretations have been offered to harmonize the two accounts.
• The meaning of "childless": The command in verse 30, "Write ye this man childless," stands in contrast to 1 Chronicles 3:17–18, which records Coniah's sons. For this reason it is commonly read as meaning that he would have no son to ascend the throne.
• Relation to the genealogy of Jesus: In the genealogy of Matthew 1, Jechonias (Jeconiah) and Zerubbabel appear among the ancestors of Jesus. Interpretations differ on how this verse relates to the messianic line. One explanation holds that Matthew's genealogy traces the legal line through Joseph, while Luke 3 presents a different line. Some Jewish rabbinic literature also preserves the interpretation that Coniah repented during his exile and that the curse was lifted.
• The restoration of the signet: Haggai 2:23 says that God will make Zerubbabel "as a signet." This promise is read as a counterpart to the scene in verse 24 in which the signet ring is pulled off.