Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 21:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 21:2. Inquire, I pray thee — See whether God intends to deliver us into or out of the hand of the Chaldeans.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

21:1-25:38 WARNINGS TO KINGS AND FALSE PROPHETS

A message for Zedekiah (21:1-10)

This message was given late in the reign of Judah’s last king, Zedekiah. Jerusalem was under its last great siege, which resulted in its fall and destruction in 587 BC. The king sent to Jeremiah and asked that he would pray to God to save Jerusalem from the Babylonians (21:1-2). Jeremiah replies that God will not save Jerusalem but will fight for the Babylonians (Chaldeans) against Jerusalem. Many of the people within the city will die, and those who survive will be taken captive to Babylon (3-7). Since this is God’s judgment, the people of Jerusalem have no chance of success against the invaders. Jeremiah tells them they would do better to surrender and so save their lives (8-10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

ZEDEKIAH’S DELEGATION TO JEREMIAH

“The word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of Jehovah for us; for Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon maketh war against us: peradventure Jehovah will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.”

Zedekiah evidently expected Jehovah to lift the siege against Jerusalem by some tremendous miracle similar to that in which God destroyed 185,000 soldiers of Sennacherib’s army and lifted the siege against Jerusalem in the days of Isaiah. The ancient Jews never learned the lesson that God’s promises are all conditional, even those of his everlasting love and blessing. They were the ancient practitioners of salvation by faith only. Sure, they believed all right; but they did not propose to do any of the things God commanded.

Notice how the status of Jeremiah has changed. Ten years earlier, those terrible warnings Jeremiah had been prophesying throughout his ministry had begun to be fulfilled; and now, he receives an honored delegation from the king himself requesting his prayers upon their behalf. Characteristically, they paid no attention whatever to his warning, his prophetic advice, and to his instruction as to how some life could be saved.

In the second siege and destruction of Jerusalem, not even the temple was spared; and even the sacred golden vessels were carried away to Babylon as booty.

“Pashhur the son of Malchijah” This was not the same as the Pashhur of the previous chapter. One was the son of Immer, and the other the son of Malchijah.

Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah” This man was the successor of Jehoida the priest (Jeremiah 29:25-26; Jeremiah 37:3 and Jeremiah 52:24). “He ranked second to the High Priest, was slain by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah; and both he and Pashhur opposed Jeremiah’s views.”Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 506. They were probably the ones who persuaded Zedekiah to go on with his resistance rather than surrender the city as Jeremiah had advocated.

It should be noted that there is a similar account of the warning that Jerusalem will fall in Jeremiah 37:3-10; but, “These are not a doublet. It deals with a temporary raising of the siege by the Egyptians, only to be resumed later on with greater intensity. Here we have the siege in its initial phases.”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 640.

These first two verses reveal Jeremiah in a new role. He now stands much higher in the opinion of the people. “The strong confirmation of his preaching by the captivity of 597 B.C. has made him a national figure whom the king now consults in the hour of crisis.”Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 115.

Many scholars make a big to-do about what they claim is the correct way to spell Nebuchadnezzar, most of them favoring Nebuchadrezzar. There is no doubt that the correct spelling from the Babylonian viewpoint is the latter method; but our viewpoint is by no means the Babylonian viewpoint; and, as the Dean of Canterbury put it, “The common method of spelling it, i.e., Nebuchadnezzar, became finally the current form among the Jews. Jeremiah used it in Jeremiah 34:1 and Jeremiah 39:5; and even Daniel used it.”Scribner’s Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1898), p. 433. Therefore, we shall stay with the common spelling, since our viewpoint is more that of the people of God than it is that of the ancient Babylonians. No well-informed person should find any difficulty with this. All of us are familiar with the variations in spelling as we move from one racial culture to another. Pablo and Paul; Juan and John, or Johannes; Matthew and Mateo; Mark and Marcos; James and Santiago; etc. are examples. Jeremiah himself used the spellings interchangeably. In Jeremiah’s writings, “The Jewish spelling is used ten times, and the Babylonian spelling is used twenty-six times.”E. Henderson, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (London: Hamilton, Adams, and Company, 1851), p. 120.

It is significant that in this petition for Jeremiah to pray for God’s intervention on behalf of Zedekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem, “There was no suggestion of repentance or humiliation for the gross sins of the whole nation that had brought upon them the horrible destruction then impending.”W. Harvey Jellie, Jeremiah, in Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company), p. 412. The message was simply, “Look God, we’re in trouble; save us!”

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Nebuchadrezzar - A more correct way of spelling the name than Nebuchadnezzar.

According to all his wondrous works - The king and his envoys expected some such answer as Isaiah had given on a former occasion Isaiah 37:6.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

He then adds, If Jehovah will deal with us according to all his wondrous works ⁽¹⁹⁾ We again see that Zedekiah had some sense of religion; but it was very evanescent; for he was not influenced by any real impression, being like hypocrites who wish, as it has been said, to have peace with God, provided it be on their own terms. But as they are unwilling wholly to surrender themselves to God, they take a circuituous course, and seek to allure God to themselves, at least they come not to him except through various windings, and not in a direct way. Hence Zedekiah refers here to God’s miraculous works which had been wrought in behalf of the Israelites in all ages; as though he had said, “God has hitherto dealt; in a wonderful manner with his chosen people, and whenever he brought help to our fathers, he manifested wonderful proofs of his power; will he not deal with us at this day in the same manner?” He assumes the principle, that God’s covenant remained inviolable; and this was quite true, but the application was false; for Zedekiah and the whole people ought to have kept faith with God. For if they wished God to be propitious to them, why did they not in return worship and serve him as their God? But as they were covenant-breakers, how foolishly and vainly did they allege God’s covenant, which they themselves had rendered void? But it is usual with hypocrites to apply to themselves every favor which God shews to his own children; for they falsely assume the name as a covering, and say, that they are members of the Church because God had adopted them. This was the reason why Zedekiah asked whether God would do according to his wonderful works, as though he had said, “Surely God is ever like himself, and we are his people; and as he has so often delivered his Church, and in such various ways, his power has always been wonderfully displayed; why, then, will he not deal with us in the same manner?”

He at last, adds, that he may ascend from us, ⁽²⁰⁾ that is, that the King Nebuchadnezzar may raise the siege and leave us free.

(19) The “if” may better be rendered “it may be,” אולי; it is so rendered by the Vulg., Syr., and the Targ. — Ed

(20) The Syr. Renders the verb “ascend” as a Hiphil; and more consistently with the passage, “and drive him away from us.” With the exception of the Arab., the Versions and the Targ. Render the first verb in the verse, not “inquire,” but “ask,” or “pray the Lord for us.” Then the verse would be as follows: —

2.Pray now for us to Jehovah; for Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, is warring against us: it may be that Jehovah will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, and make him to depart from us.

The verb דרש, transitively as here, means to seek: see Psalms 34:5. And to seek the favor of Jehovah, or to pray to him, seems most consistent with the latter part of the verse. Blayney’s rendering is, “Intreat, we pray thee, Jehovah for us;” and this is the meaning taken by Venema and Gataker. — Ed

Smith's Bible Commentary

Jeremiah chapter 21.

Now the book of Jeremiah is not written in a consecutive kind of an order. This particular prophecy Jeremiah dates. They're just the prophecies of Jeremiah at particular times in particular situations, but they don't necessarily follow in a sequential order or in a chronological order. So this particular prophecy in chapter 21 to king Zedekiah actually takes place about six years after the prophecy of chapter 24. So you see, they're not in a chronological order. They are just his prophecies at the various times and they're just thrown in, not in a chronological order, but just thrown in. Now I don't know what the order is, or if there is any, or if there's any reason for their not being in a chronological order. But he is careful to date for us the particular times of the prophecies. So he dates chapter 21, this particular prophecy to Zedekiah.

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us ( Jeremiah 21:1-2 );

Now Pashur last week was the priest that when Jeremiah was prophesying put him in stocks. Arrested him and put him in stocks and all. And, of course, it brought great discouragement to Jeremiah, for he decided to quit his prophetic ministry until God's word like a fire burned in him and he could not hold back from speaking forth God's truth. And this same Pashur now is sent by king Zedekiah to find out what's going to happen because Babylon is marching. The armies of Nebuchadnezzar are there. What's going to happen to us? And so they're sending to Jeremiah now to find the word of the Lord concerning their present dilemma. "Inquire, I pray thee, to the Lord for us."

for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon is making war against us; see if will so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all of his wondrous works, that he [Nebuchadnezzar] may go up from us ( Jeremiah 21:2 ).

And so he is asking Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord concerning what is going to be happening. Will the Lord turn back Nebuchadnezzar according to God's marvelous works? and so forth. Jeremiah does not have a good message for Zedekiah.

Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls ( Jeremiah 21:3-4 ),

They're already outside besieging them.

I will assemble them into the midst of this city ( Jeremiah 21:4 ).

They're outside of the walls now, but they're going to be assembling right in the middle of town.

And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: and they shall die of a great pestilence. And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; and he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy ( Jeremiah 21:5-7 ).

So the message that he has for Zedekiah is not at all a comforting message. Not only is God going to allow the Babylonian troops to assemble right here in the middle of the city, but God Himself is going to turn His hand against Israel, against Zedekiah, and against the armies, and God is going to destroy them. And there will not be a sparing of them, pity nor mercy.

And unto this people ( Jeremiah 21:8 )

Now that was the message to Zedekiah. Now to the people Jeremiah declares,

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death ( Jeremiah 21:8 ).

Isn't this true always? That God sets before man the way of life and the way of death. When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, God set before him the way of life and the way of death. There were two special trees in the garden. There was the tree of life; there was also the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil, which also was the tree of death. For God said, "Thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" ( Genesis 2:17 ). So it was the tree of death. Now I always marvel to myself that Adam would have eaten of the tree of death before he ate of the tree of life. But after he had eaten of the tree of death and the Lord drove him from the garden, you remember that the Lord put an angel there to guard the way into the garden lest he would come back and eat of the tree of life and live forever in that degenerated spiritual state.

Now that always amazes and surprises me that God gives to man a way of life, a way of death, and man so foolishly oftentimes takes the way of death. Now it is true of every one of us tonight. God has laid before each of us tonight the way of life, the way of death. The Bible says the mind of the flesh is death. The mind of the Spirit is life and joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. You have your choice. You can live after your flesh, that's the way of death. You can live after the Spirit, that is the way of life. So don't blame Adam for making a foolish choice, because so many people today are making the same foolish choices because God has laid before each man the way of life and the way of death. This is the perpetual story of God. "I've laid before you the way of life, the way of death." And now you must exercise your own capacity of choice to choose either life or death. "He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" ( 1 John 5:12 ). "The wrath of God is abiding upon him" ( John 3:36 ). God has given you the way of life, the way of death.

So in this particular case, he said,

If you abide [or stay] in this city you will surely die by the sword, or the famine, or the pestilence: but if you'll go out, and surrender to the Chaldeans that are besieging you, you will live, and your life will be for him a prey ( Jeremiah 21:9 ).

So he is saying now, "Look, if you'll just go out and surrender they'll spare your life. If you stay in here, you're going to be slain in one of three ways-either by the pestilence that God will bring against it, the famine, or the sword of the Babylonians."

Now you can see how that this kind of a message would be interpreted as a treasonable statement. And so Jeremiah was accused of treason and thrown into the dungeon because of this particular prophecy, because he is encouraging them to capitulate, to surrender to the enemy. And so he's accused of being a traitor and placed into prison when this message was delivered to the people, because he's encouraging them to surrender. But it's God saying, "Hey, you have the way of life, the way of death. If you want to live, go out and surrender to them. If you want to die, just stay here in this city and you're going to die either by the sword, the pestilence or famine."

For the Lord said,

For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire ( Jeremiah 21:10 ).

This city's going to be destroyed, burned with fire.

And touching the house of the king of Judah, say ( Jeremiah 21:11 ),

And so this is a third part of the message. This is now to the house of Zedekiah.

Hear ye the word of the LORD; O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like a fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it ( Jeremiah 21:11-14 ).

And so the message to Zedekiah in response to his request to find out how things are going to go. Not so good, buddy. It's looking tough, you know. You're in bad shape.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Zedekiah’s request and Jeremiah’s response 21:1-10

This passage probably dates from the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588-586 B.C. (Jeremiah 21:2; Jeremiah 21:4; cf. 2 Kings 25). King Zedekiah sought advice from Jeremiah more than once (cf. Jeremiah 37:3-10; Jeremiah 37:17-21; Jeremiah 38:14-28). This passage consists of two oracles (Jeremiah 21:1-10).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord whether He would give Judah deliverance from Nebuchadnezzar as He had delivered His people in the past. King Hezekiah had sent a similar group to Isaiah inquiring about the approaching Assyrian army (2 Kings 19:2; Isaiah 37:2). Nebuchadnezzar, sometimes referred to as Nebuchadrezzar (the spelling nearer to the Babylonian form of his name), ruled Babylon from 605 to 562 B.C. He succeeded his father, Nabopolassar, the first king of the Neo-Babylonian empire, who ruled from 626 to 605 B.C. This is the first reference to Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah.

Zedekiah may have been hoping for a miraculous deliverance such as Jehoshaphat experienced from the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites (2 Chronicles 20). Hezekiah had also experienced supernatural deliverance when Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem (2 Kings 19; Isaiah 37).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us,.... Or, "seek the Lord now for us" n; seek the Lord by prayer and supplication for me and my people, for this city and the inhabitants of it; entreat him that he would appear for us, and deliver us out of the hands of the enemy; for this they said in the name of the king that sent them, who knew that the prophet had an interest at the throne of grace, and was a favourite of heaven; and therefore desired him to be an intercessor for them:

for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; the same that is elsewhere called Nebuchadnezzar, commonly called by the Greeks Nebuchodonosor; he was now come up to Jerusalem, and was besieging it, as had been predicted:

if so be the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works; which he had done in times past for that nation; as by bringing them out of Egypt; driving out the Canaanites before them; delivering them out of the hands of their neighbours, time after time, when oppressed by them; and particularly by destroying the Assyrian army in Hezekiah's time, which was besieging the city of Jerusalem, and causing their king to depart and flee in haste; and their present case being similar to that, it is very likely that that was more especially in view:

that he may go up from us; namely, the king of Babylon; that he may rise up, and raise the siege, and depart into his own country, as Sennacherib did.

n דרש נא בעדנו "interroga nunc pro nobis", Vatablus: Pagninus; "inquire nunc", Montanus.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,   2 Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar 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.   3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:   4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.   5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.   6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.   7 And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

      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 (2 Chronicles 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, 1 Chronicles 24:9; 1 Chronicles 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 (Jeremiah 20:18; Jeremiah 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 may come to be respected; and it is promised that those who honour God he will honour, and that those who have afflicted his people shall bow to them,Isaiah 60:14.

      3. The message itself: Enquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us,Jeremiah 21:2; Jeremiah 21:2. Now that the Chaldean army had got into their borders, into their bowels, they were at length convinced that Jeremiah was a true prophet, though loth to own it and brought too late to it. Under this conviction they desire him to stand their friend with God, believing him to have that interest in heaven which none of their other prophets had, who had flattered them with hopes of peace. They now employ Jeremiah, (1.) To consult the mind of God for them: "Enquire of the Lord for us; ask him what course we shall take in our present strait, for the measures we have hitherto taken are all broken." Note, Those that will not take the direction of God's grace how to get clear of their sins would yet be glad of the directions of his providence how to get clear of their troubles. (2.) To seek the favour of God for them (so some read it): "Entreat the Lord for us; be an intercessor for us with God." Note, Those that slight the prayers of God's people and ministers when they are in prosperity may perhaps be glad of an interest in them when they come to be in distress. Give us of your oil. The benefit they promise themselves is, It may be the Lord will deal with us now according to the wondrous works he wrought for our fathers, that the enemy may raise the siege and go up from us. Observe, [1.] All their care is to get rid of their trouble, not to make their peace with God and be reconciled to him--"That our enemy may go up from us," not, "That our God may return to us." Thus Pharaoh (Exodus 10:17): Entreat the Lord that he may take away this death. [2.] All their hope is that God had done wondrous works formerly in the deliverance of Jerusalem when Sennacherib besieged it, at the prayer of Isaiah (so we are told, 2 Chronicles 32:20; 2 Chronicles 32:21), and who can tell but he may destroy these besiegers (as he did those) at the prayer of Jeremiah? But they did not consider how different the character of Zedekiah and his people was from that of Hezekiah and his people: those were days of general reformation and piety, these of general corruption and apostasy. Jerusalem is now the reverse of what it was then. Note, It is folly to think that God should do for us while we hold fast our iniquity as he did for those that held fast their integrity.

      II. A very startling cutting reply which God, by the prophet, sent to that message. If Jeremiah had been to have answered the message of himself we have reason to think that he would have returned a comfortable answer, in hope that their sending such a message was an indication of some good purposes in them, which he would be glad to make the best of, for he did not desire the woeful day. But God knows their hearts better than Jeremiah does, and sends them an answer which has scarcely one word of comfort in it. He sends it to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel (Jeremiah 21:3; Jeremiah 21:3), to intimate to them that though God allowed himself to be called the God of Israel, and had done great things for Israel formerly, and had still great things in store for Israel, pursuant to his covenants with them, yet this should stand the present generation in no stead, who were Israelites in name only, and not in deed, any more than God's dealings with them should cut off his relation to Israel as their God. It is here foretold,

      1. That God will render all their endeavours for their own security fruitless and ineffectual (Jeremiah 21:4; Jeremiah 21:4): "I will be so far from teaching your hands to war, and putting an edge upon your swords, that I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hand, when you sally out upon the besiegers to beat them off, so that they shall not give the stroke you design; nay, they shall recoil into your own faces, and be turned upon yourselves." Nothing can make for those who have God against them.

      2. That the besiegers shall in a little time make themselves masters of Jerusalem, and of all its wealth and strength: I will assemble those in the midst of this city who are now surrounding it. Note, If that place which should have been a centre of devotion be made a centre of wickedness, it is not strange if God make it a rendezvous of destroyers.

      3. That God himself will be their enemy; and then I know not who can befriend them, no, not Jeremiah himself (Jeremiah 21:5; Jeremiah 21:5): "I will be so far from protecting you, as I have done formerly in a like case, that I myself will fight against you." Note, Those who rebel against God may justly expect that he will make war upon them, and that, (1.) With the power of a God who is irresistibly victorious: I will fight against you with an outstretched hand, which will reach far, and with a strong arm, which will strike home and wound deeply. (2.) With the displeasure of a God who is indisputably righteous. It is not a correction in love, but an execution in anger, in fury, and in great wrath; it is upon a sentence sworn in wrath, against which there will lie no exception, and it will soon be found what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God.

      4. That those who, for their own safety, decline sallying out upon the besiegers, and so avoid their sword, shall yet not escape the sword of God's justice (Jeremiah 21:6; Jeremiah 21:6): I will smite those that abide in the city (so it may be read), both man and beast, both the beasts that are for food and those that are for service in war, foot and horse; they shall, die of a great pestilence, which shall rage within the walls, while the enemies are encamped about them. Though Jerusalem's gates and walls may for a time keep out the Chaldeans, they cannot keep out God's judgments. His arrows of pestilence can reach those that think themselves safe from other arrows.

      5. That the king himself, and people that escape the sword, famine, and pestilence, shall fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, who shall cut them off in cold blood (Jeremiah 21:7; Jeremiah 21:7): They shall not spare them, nor have pity on them. Let not those expect to find mercy with men who have forfeited God's compassions, and shut themselves out from his mercy. Thus had the decree gone forth; and then to what purpose was it for Jeremiah to enquire of the Lord for them?