Jeremiah 27

Jeremiah 27 follows chapter 26, which recounts the temple sermon and Jeremiah's trial. Chapters 27 through 29 form a unit set in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in which Jeremiah confronts prophets who proclaim that Babylon will soon fall.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 God tells Jeremiah to make bonds and yokes and put them on his neck. He is to send the same yokes to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon by the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to meet Zedekiah.
• Verses 5–11 God, who made the earth, declares that He has given all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar, "my servant." The nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until Babylon's own time comes, when Babylon in turn will serve other nations. Any nation that refuses to serve Babylon will be punished with sword, famine, and pestilence. The nations are told not to listen to their prophets, diviners, dreamers, enchanters, or sorcerers, and any nation that bows its neck under the yoke will be allowed to remain in its own land.
• Verses 12–15 Jeremiah delivers the same message to Zedekiah. If he serves the king of Babylon, he will live; the prophets who tell him not to serve are false prophets whom God has not sent.
• Verses 16–22 Jeremiah tells the priests and the people that the prophecy that the temple vessels will soon be brought back from Babylon is false. The pillars, the bronze sea, the stands, and the other vessels left behind when Jeconiah was carried away will also be taken to Babylon. When the day comes that God visits them, He will restore them to this place.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 27:6 "And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant" — By calling a foreign king God's "servant," the verse shows that sovereignty over history belongs to God.
• Jeremiah 27:12 "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live" — This verse sums up the chapter's symbolic act and message in a single sentence.
• Jeremiah 27:22 "Then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place" — The verse promises restoration after judgment and is read in connection with the return of the temple vessels in Ezra 1.

People and Places

• Jeremiah: delivers the prophecy through the symbolic act of wearing a yoke.
• Zedekiah: the last king of Judah.
• Nebuchadnezzar: king of Babylon.
• Jeconiah: the son of Jehoiakim, also known as Jehoiachin, who had earlier been carried off to Babylon.
• Josiah: named in verse 1 as the father of Jehoiakim.
• Edom, Moab, and Ammon: nations neighboring Judah.
• Tyre and Sidon: Phoenician port cities on the Mediterranean coast.
• Jerusalem: the place where the envoys gathered and where the remaining temple vessels were kept.

Points for Reflection

• In the Hebrew text, verse 1 reads "Jehoiakim," yet verses 3 and 12 refer to the reign of Zedekiah. For this reason, some manuscripts and some ancient and modern translations read the king's name as Zedekiah. Many scholars believe the wording of 26:1 was carried over into this verse in the course of copying. The Septuagint version of Jeremiah has a different chapter order and is shorter overall; in this chapter it is known to lack verse 1 and to have a much shorter final section on the temple vessels.
• The command to serve Babylon was a word addressed to the specific situation Judah faced at the time. Interpreters differ on whether it should be extended into a general principle concerning political authority. This passage is sometimes discussed alongside 1 Peter 2:13–17.
• The yoke symbolism continues in the very next chapter, when Hananiah breaks the yoke. The reference to the time allotted to Babylon connects with the seventy-year prophecy in Jeremiah 29:4–14.
• In the New Testament, Matthew 11:29–30, where Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you," uses the image of the yoke in a different way.