Jeremiah 28 commentary

JEREMIAH 28 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The False Prophet Hananiah
1 In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth
year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah,
the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was
from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord
in the presence of the priests and all the people:
BARNES, "In the beginning ... Zedekiah - Probably a gloss put into the margin
to explain “the same year,” from where it has crept into the text.
Gibeon - A city of priests Jos_21:17. Hananiah was probably a priest as well as a
prophet. He chose either a Sabbath or a new moon, that he might confront Jeremiah not
only in the presence of the priests, but also of all the people. He used Jer_28:2 the
solemn formula which claims direct inspiration.
CLARKE, "And it came to pass the same year - the fifth month - Which
commenced with the first new moon of August, according to our calendar. This verse
gives the precise date of the prophecy in the preceding chapter; and proves that
Zedekiah, not Jehoiakim, is the name that should be read in the first verse of that
chapter.
Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet - One who called himself a prophet; who
pretended to be in commerce with the Lord, and to receive revelations from him. He was
probably a priest; for he was of Gibeon, a sacerdotal city in the tribe of Benjamin.
GILL, "And it came to pass the same year,.... That the prophet was bid to make
yokes and bonds, and send them to the neighbouring kings, whose ambassadors were in
Zedekiah's court; and when he spoke the things related in the preceding chapter to
Zedekiah, the priests, and people:
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in the beginning the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah; perhaps in the first year of
his reign:
in the fourth year, and in the fifth month; not in the fourth year of Zedekiah's
reign, though the Septuagint and A table versions so render it; since his reign was but
eleven years in all, and therefore the fourth could not be called with so much propriety
the beginning of his reign: though, according to Jarchi, it was the fourth of Zedekiah's
reign, the same year in which he paid a visit to the king of Babylon, Jer_51:59; and was
not only confirmed in his kingdom by him, but, according to the same writer, had it
enlarged, and was made king over five neighbouring kings; and so this, though the
fourth of his reign over Judah, was the first of his enlarged dominions: but rather this
was the fourth year of the sabbatical year, or the fourth after the seventh year's rest of
the land, as Kimchi observes; which was the first of Zedekiah's reign, who reigned eleven
years, and the temple was destroyed at the end of a sabbatical year; in which he is
followed by many, though there is nothing in the text or context that directs to it. Some
divide Zedekiah's reign into three parts, the beginning, and middle, and end; and so
what was done within the first four years of his reign might be said to be in the
beginning of it. Others think that here are two distinct dates; that the former respects
the things in the preceding chapter, which were in the beginning of his reign; and the
latter that affair of Hananiah, which was in the fourth year of it. But Noldius (m), after
Glassius (n), gets clear of the difficulties of this text, by rendering the words, "and it was
from that year, the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, unto the fourth
year of his reign"; that is, the prophet went on for the space of four years, signifying the
will of the Lord by words and types; when in the fifth month of the fourth year, which
was the month of Ab, answering to part of our July and of August,
Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet; the false prophet, as the Targum,
Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions call him,
which was of Gibeon; a city of the priests; so might be a priest, though not the high
priest, as some have thought:
spake unto me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests,
and of all the people; he came to the temple, where Jeremiah was, to confront him;
and he addressed himself to him, the priests and all the people being present, who were
come thither to minister and worship:
saying; as follows:
HENRY, "This struggle between a true prophet and a false one is said here to have
happened in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, and yet in the fourth year, for the
first four years of his reign might well be called the beginning, or former part, of it,
because during those years he reigned under the dominion of the king of Babylon and as
a tributary to him; whereas the rest of his reign, which might well be called the latter
part of it, in distinction from that former part, he reigned in rebellion against the king of
Babylon. In this fourth year of his reign he went in person to Babylon (as we find, Jer_
51:59), and it is probable that this gave the people some hope that his negotiation in
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person would put a good end to the war, in which hope the false prophets encouraged
them, this Hananiah particularly, who was of Gibeon, a priests' city, and therefore
probably himself a priest, as well as Jeremiah. Now here we have,
JAMISON, "Jer_28:1-17. Prophecies immediately following those in the twenty-
seventh chapter. Hananiah breaks the yokes to signify that Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke
shall be broken. Jeremiah foretells that yokes of iron are to succeed those of wood, and
that Hananiah shall die.
in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah — The Jews often divided any period
into two halves, the beginning and the end. As Zedekiah reigned eleven years, the fourth
year would be called the beginning of his reign, especially as during the first three years
affairs were in such a disturbed state that he had little power or dignity, being a
tributary; but in the fourth year he became strong in power.
Hananiah — Another of this name was one of the three godly youths who braved
Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath in the fear of God (Dan_1:6, Dan_1:7; Dan_3:12). Probably a
near relation, for Azariah is associated with him; as Azur with the Hananiah here. The
godly and ungodly are often in the same family (Eze_18:14-20).
Gibeon — one of the cities of the priests, to which order he must have belonged.
K&D 1-4, "Against the False Prophet Hananiah. - Jer_28:1-4. This man's prophecy.
At the same time, namely in the fourth year of Zedekiah (cf. rem. on Jer_27:1. The Chet.
‫ַת‬‫נ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫בּ‬ is supported by Jer_46:2 and Jer_51:59; the Keri ‫ָה‬‫נ‬ָ‫שּׁ‬ ַ‫בּ‬ is an unnecessary
alteration), in the fifth month, spake Hananiah the son of Azur, - a prophet not
otherwise known, belonging to Gibeon, a city of the priests (Jos_21:17; now Jib, a large
village two hours north-west of Jerusalem; see on Jos_9:3), possibly therefore himself a
priest - in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and people assembled
there, saying: Jer_28:2. "Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: I break the
yoke of the king of Babylon. Jer_28:3. Within two years I bring again into this place
the vessels of the house of Jahveh, which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took
away from this place and carried them to Babylon. Jer_28:4. And Jechoniah, the son of
Jehoiakim the king of Judah, and all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon,
bring I again to this place, saith Jahveh; for I will break the yoke of the king of
Babylon." - The false prophet endeavours to stamp on his prediction the impress of a
true, God-inspired prophecy, by copying the title of God, so often used by Jeremiah,
"Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel," and by giving the utmost definiteness to his
promise: "within two years" (in contrast to Jeremiah's seventy years). "Two years" is
made as definite as possible by the addition of ‫ים‬ ִ‫ָמ‬‫י‬: two years in days, i.e., in two full
years.See on Gen_41:1; 2Sa_13:23.
CALVIN, "The Prophet relates here with what haughtiness, and even fury, the false
prophet Hananiah came forward to deceive the people and to proclaim his
trumperies, when yet he must have been conscious of his own wickedness. (192) It
hence clearly appears how great must be the madness of those who, being blinded
by God, are carried away by a satanic impulse. The circumstances of the case
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especially shew how great a contempt of God was manifested by this impostor; for
he came into the Temple, the priests were present, the people were there, and there
before his eyes he had the sanctuary and the ark of the covenant; and we know that
the ark of the covenant is everywhere represented as having the presence of God;
for God was by that symbol in a manner visible, when he made evident the presence
of his power and favor in the Temple. As Hananiah then stood before God’s eyes,
how great must have been his stupidity to thrust himself forward and impudently to
announce falsehood in the name of God himself! He had yet no doubt but that he
falsely boasted that he was God’s prophet.
And he used the same words as Jeremiah did, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel Surely these words ought to have been like a thunderbolt to him, laying
prostrate his perverseness, even had he been harder than iron; for what does
Jehovah of hosts mean? This name expresses not only the eternal existence of God,
but also his power, which diffuses itself through heaven and earth. Ought not
Hananiah then to have trembled when any other had alleged God’s name? But now,
though he derided and laughed to scorn the prophetic office as well as God’s holy
name, he yet hesitated not to boast that God was the author of this prophecy, which
was yet nothing but an imposture. And he added, the God of Israel, so that he might
be in nothing inferior to Jeremiah. This was a grievous trial, calculated not only to
discourage the people, but also to break down the firmness of the holy Prophet. The
people saw that God’s name was become a subject of contest; there was a dreadful
conflict, “God has spoken to me;” “Nay, rather to me.” Jeremiah and Hananiah
were opposed, the one to the other; each of them claimed to be a Prophet. Such was
the conflict; the name of God seemed to have been assumed at pleasure, and flung
forth by the devil as in sport.
As to Jeremiah, his heart must have been grievously wounded, when he saw that
unprincipled man boldly profaning God’s name. But, as I have already said, God in
the meantime supported the minds of the godly, so that they were not wholly cast
down, though they must have been somewhat disturbed. For we know that God’s
children were not so destitute of feeling as not to be moved by such things; but yet
God sustained all those who were endued with true religion. It was indeed easy for
them to distinguish between Jeremiah and Hananiah; for they saw that the former
announced the commands of God, while the latter sought nothing else but the favor
and plaudits of men.
But with regard to Hananiah, he was to them an awful spectacle of blindness and of
madness, for he dreaded not the sight of God himself, but entered the Temple and
profaned it by his lies, and at the same time assumed in contempt the name of God,
and boasted that he was a prophet, while he was nothing of the kind. Let us not then
wonder if there be many mercenary brawlers at this day, who without shame and
fear fiercely pretend God’s name, and thus exult over us, as though God had given
them all that they vainly prattle, while yet it may be fully proved that they proclaim
nothing but falsehoods; for God has justly blinded them, as they thus profane his
holy name. We shall now come to the words:
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And it was in the same year, even in the fourth of Zedekiah’s reign, etc. The fourth
year seems to have been improperly called the beginning of his reign. We have said
elsewhere, that it may have been that God had laid up this prophecy with Jeremiah,
and did not design it to be immediately published. But there would be nothing
strange in this, were the confirmation of his reign called its beginning. Zedekiah was
made king by Nebuchadnezzar, because the people would not have been willing to
accept a foreigner. He might indeed have set one of his own governors over the
whole country; and he might also have made a king of one of the chief men of the
land, but he saw that anything of this kind would have been greatly disliked. He
therefore deemed it enough to take away Jeconiah, and to put in his place one who
had not much power nor much wealth, and who was to be his tributary, as the case
was with Zedekiah. But in course of time Zedekiah increased in power, so that he
was at peace in his own kingdom. We also know that he was set over neighboring
countries, as Nebuchadnezzar thought it advantageous to bind him to himself by
favors. This fourth year then might well be deemed the beginning of his reign, for
during three years things were so disturbed, that he possessed no authority, and
hardly dared to ascend the throne. This then is the most probable opinion. (193)
He says afterwards, that Hananiah spoke to him in the presence of the priests and of
the whole people (194) Hananiah ought at least to have been touched and moved
when he heard Jeremiah speaking, he himself had no proof of his own call; nay, he
was an impostor, and he knew that he did nothing but deceive the people, and yet he
audaciously persisted in his object, and, as it were, avowedly obtruded himself that
he might contend with the Prophet, as though he carried on war with God. He said,
Broken is the yoke of the king of Babylon, that is, the tyranny by which he has
oppressed the people shall be shortly broken. But he alluded to the yoke which
Jeremiah had put on, as we shall presently see. The commencement of his prophecy
was, that there was no reason for the Jews to dread the present power of the king of
Babylon, for God would soon overthrow him. They could not have entertained hope
of restoration, or of a better condition, until that monarchy was trodden under foot;
for as long as the king of Babylon bore rule, there was no hope that he would remit
the tribute, and restore to the Jews the vessels of the Temple. Hananiah then began
with this, that God would break the power of the king of Babylon, so that he would
be constrained, willing or unwilling, to let the people free, or that the people would
with impunity extricate themselves from the grasp of his power. He then adds, —
ELLICOTT, "(1) And it came to pass the same year . . .—The chapter stands in
immediate sequence with that which precedes and confirms the conclusion that the
name Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 27:1 is simply a transcriber’s mistake. Of the
Hananiah who appears as the most prominent of the prophet’s adversaries, we
know nothing beyond what is here recorded. He was clearly one of the leaders of the
party of resistance whom we have seen at work trying to form an alliance with the
neighbouring rations in Jeremiah 27, and whose hopes had been revived by the
accession of Pharaoh Hophra (Apries) to the throne of Egypt in B.C. 595. The
mention of Gibeon suggests two or three thoughts not without interest :—(1) It was,
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like Anathoth, within the tribe of Benjamin, about six or seven miles from
Jerusalem, and so the antagonism between the true prophet and the false in
Jerusalem may have been the revival of older local conflicts. (2) Gibeon, like
Anathoth, was one of the cities of priests (Joshua 21:17), and Hananiah was
probably, therefore, a priest as well as prophet. (3) As still retaining the venerable
relics of a worship that had passed away; it had also once been the sanctuary of
Jehovah (1 Chronicles 16:39). There the old tabernacle stood which had been with
the people in the wilderness—which had been removed from Shiloh when the sacred
ark was taken (2 Chronicles 1:3). There Solomon, at the beginning of his reign,
offered a stately sacrifice (1 Kings 3:4). Ought not the prophet who had grown up in
the midst of those surroundings to have learnt that no place, however sacred, could
count on being safe from the changes and chances of time, all fulfilling the righteous
purposes of God? The occasion on which he now appears was probably one of the
new moon, Sabbath, or other feast-days on which the courts of the Temple were
crowded.
WHEDON, " HANANIAH’S FALSE PROPHECY, Jeremiah 28:1-4.
1. Beginning… fourth year — From this it appears that the term “beginning” was
extended so as to include the “fourth.” There is no necessity for regarding this an
error in the text, as does Dean Smith. If, as would seem to be the case, Zedekiah did
not become fully established in his kingdom until his fourth year, such an extension
of the term “beginning” would be most natural.
Hananiah — Not otherwise known; but as he belonged to Gibeon, which was a city
of the priests, it has been conjectured that he, like Jeremiah, belonged to a priestly
family. Hence, there may be special significance in the statement that he confronted
Jeremiah in the presence of the priests.
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
JEREMIAH 28
JEREMIAH vs. HANANIAH
Having already tried to bring about the execution of Jeremiah under the reign of
Jehoiachim, the false priests and prophets elected to counteract Jeremiah's
teachings by a dramatic confrontation and denial of his prophecies publicly. Their
representative in this endeavor was Hananiah, son of Azur, a Gibeonite, probably a
priest, a self-called false prophet with the brazen face, the loud voice, and the
arrogant self-confidence that made him quite convincing with his smooth message of
peace, prosperity, restoration and glory for Judah, all to be within two years!
There are extensive differences between the Septuagint (LXX) and the text of ASV,
which is more complete than the LXX, which is certainly a mere abbreviation of the
American Standard Version. The details of the American Standard Version are
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confirmed by recent archaeological discoveries, thus confirming it as superior to the
LXX. False critics love to make those differences the basis of efforts to discredit
certain words in the true text.
Hananiah means "`The Lord is Gracious,' and there are no less than fourteen
characters in the Old Testament who bear this name."[1] Nothing is revealed in the
Bible regarding this man except what is written here. The very fact of his being a
Gibeonite should have suggested caution to the people. The citizens of this place
deceived Joshua and earned for themselves favored status in the conquest of
Canaan (Joshua 9:23); King Saul massacred large numbers of them (2 Samuel
21:1ff); and there Joab treacherously slew Amasa (2 Samuel 20:4ff).[2]
Jeremiah 28:1-4
THE FALSE PROPHECY
"And it came to pass in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah,
king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur,
the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of Jehovah, in the
presence of the priests and of all the people. Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the
God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full
years will I bring into this place all the vessels of Jehovah's house, that
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to
Babylon: and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiachim, king of
Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went to Babylon, saith Jehovah; for I will
break the yoke of the king of Babylon."
"In the beginning of the reign ... in the fourth year ..." (Jeremiah 28:1). The critics,
practically all of them, agree that these clauses "are self-contradictory."[3] Now we
do not deny that there are in the Bible examples of some copyist's error, or some
scribal note, here and there, that may have been accidentally and unconsciously
adopted into the traditional text of the scripture. However, we do not believe that
this is a blanket reason for explaining everything men do not understand as "a
gloss," or "a copyist's error."
Some of the wisest men who ever wrote commentaries on the Bible find no fault with
these clauses.
<SIZE=2>"These clauses accord with the common reckoning by dividing a reign
into two halves; and, as Zedekiah reigned eleven years, this date was in the first
half, therefore `in the beginning.'[4]
"Michaelis states that, "up to the fourth year, Zedekiah had the throne only upon
the basis of his yearly appointment by Nebuchadnezzar, but that he was vested with
the royal title and authority in the fourth year." (This would make the first year of
his full authority as indeed the fourth year). This opinion was also adopted by
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Scholz.[5] The first four years of Zedekiah's reign were indeed `the beginning of it,'
because in those years he was tributary to the king of Babylon; but afterward he
was truly "king" in rebellion against Babylon.[6]
"Some interpreters have been troubled by the fact of the fourth year of Zedekiah's
reign being here referred to as `the beginning'; but according to Jewish usage it was
indeed `the beginning' of his reign, for the Jews divided periods of time into two
halves, the beginning and the end. The simple meaning of the passages is, `In the
first half of his reign.'"[7]SIZE>
In the light of such observations as these, we are constrained to label the critical
claims of "an interpolation," or of "a gloss," or of "a copyist's error," as being far
more likely the inadequate efforts of scholars to explain their ignorance. After all,
where is there the slightest evidence of any kind of an error in the text?
"In the presence of the priests and of all the people ..." (Jeremiah 28:1). "He chose
either a sabbath or a new moon that he might confront Jeremiah not only in the
presence of the priests but also of all the people."[8] It is amazing that not merely
this comment, but practically the exegesis of this whole chapter appears almost
verbatim in the writings of Payne Smith. On this verse, Smith has this: "He seems to
have come to Jerusalem on purpose to confront Jeremiah, and to have chosen either
a sabbath or a new moon for the occasion, that his act might be done not only in the
presence of the priests, but also of all the people."[9]
"Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying ..." (Jeremiah 28:2). Hananiah
here presented himself as an authentic prophet of God, using all of the right
formula, and confronting Jeremiah with a contradiction of that true prophet's
word, which was as blunt, convincing, and evil as the claim of Satan himself in the
Garden, that "Ye shall not surely die!" How were the people to know who spoke the
truth? This chapter will shed light on that problem.
Cheyne commented that, "One has only to say a thing very firmly, and to repeat it
very often, and the very force of utterance will make way for it. A brazen face, a
loud voice, and a positive assertion are enough to convince many people of
assertions that are against all reason."[10] The recent Nazi, Adolph Hitler, exploited
this human weakness to the limit, adding the principle that, "the bigger the lie, the
more people will believe it!"
One thing that might have bolstered the confident arrogance of Hananiah was the
fact that, "Nebuchadnezzar at that very time was busy putting down a rebellion at
home, and probably Hananiah's friends had sent him word of this."[11]
Additionally, there was also the conspiracy of the kingdoms against Babylon
mentioned in the previous chapter. It all seemed very promising from the standpoint
of a "prophet" who was relying upon his own political shrewdness, instead of
relying upon what God had revealed to him.
8

"I will bring again to this place Jeconiah ..." (Jeremiah 28:4). For many years, one
of the favorite arguments against the authenticity of the prophecy of Ezekiel was the
fact that certain events were dated from the reign of Jehoiachin who reigned only
three months. "However, archaeology has turned the tables on the critics and has
revealed this feature of Ezekiel as an impregnable argument in favor of its
genuineness."[12] It also confirms the authenticity of this trust of the false prophet
Hananiah in the speedy return of Jeconiah to Jerusalem. "That Jeconiah was still
considered king of Judah, even by the Babylonians themselves, was proved in 1940
by the publication of tablets from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, enumerating the
recipients of royal bounty, and including `Yaukin (Jeconiah), king of the land of
Yahud (Judah).'"[13]
PETT, "Verses 1-17
Hananiah, A Cult Prophet, Declares That There Will Be Full Liberation Within
Two Years, And Breaks Jeremiah’s Yoke From Round His Neck. Jeremiah Replies
That His Own Word From YHWH Will Come True And That Hananiah Will Die
Within The Year As A False Prophet (Jeremiah 28:1-17).
We have already learned of the antagonism of the cult prophets in Jerusalem
towards Jeremiah and one named Hananiah now challenges him head on. Using
similar prophetic phraseology to Jeremiah he declares that within two years there
will be full restoration for Judah and Jerusalem, with the Temple vessels, along with
Jehoiachin and his courtiers, returning in triumph to Jerusalem. His antagonistic
attitude is emphasised by the fact that he breaks the yoke off Jeremiah’s shoulder,
considering by that means that he would break the power of Jeremiah’s prophecies.
It was a direct challenge to Jeremiah’s claims and would be seen by him, and by
many, as a prophetic working out of the coming deliverance and as a direct
confrontation with Jeremiah’s source of truth. His very action would have been seen
by many of the superstitious as contributing to the fulfilment of his prophecy. He
claimed to be doing it in the Name of YHWH, but did not realise (because he was
deceived) that he was in fact thereby directly opposing YHWH.
His visible action would have had a huge impact on the crowds, who would see it as
a real step towards deliverance, countering what Jeremiah had been prophesying,
and portraying by wearing the yoke. Jeremiah initially replies to him placatingly.
He hopes that he is right. But he points out that it would be to go against previous
prophecies of doom and destruction, and suggests that they let the future reveal the
truth.
However, he is then required by YHWH to inform the people more forcefully that
Hananiah is wrong, and that what Jeremiah has previously prophesied will come
about. Furthermore all should note that, as a consequence of Hananiah’s action,
instead of yokes of wood there would now be yokes of iron. They had made
submission even more certain. Then, as a sign that what he has stated will take
place, and that Hananiah is a false prophet, he informs them that Hananiah will die
9

within the year because he is a false prophet, an event which accordingly takes
place, thus vindicating Jeremiah and countering the impact caused by the breaking
of the yoke.
Jeremiah 28:1
‘And it came about the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of
Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the
prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of YHWH, in the presence of
the priests and of all the people, saying,’
As we have previously seen these heading are a deliberate means of carrying the
action forward from the commencement of Jehoiakim’s reign, when Jeremiah gave
his address warning of what would come on the city and the Temple, through his
wearing of a yoke as an indication of Judah’s servitude by the will of YHWH, which
also commenced in the days of Jehoiakim, to the time when duplicates of that yoke
were sent out to the surrounding nations who were contemplating rebellion against
Babylon in the days of Zedekiah. Now things come to a head. A rival prophet of
YHWH challenges him and his prophecies openly in the Temple in the presence of
the priests and the festal crowds. The prophet was named Hananiah, who was the
son of Azzur (otherwise unknown) and came from Gibeon. As will emerge, this was
intended to be a head on challenge and collision between the two prophets, carried
out with the people as witnesses, with the intention of settling mattes once and for
all. The breaking of the yoke which was a prophetic symbol of Jeremiah’s message
was intended to be a decisive step.
It is clear that ‘in the beginning’ included the fourth year of his reign. Rather than
arguing about contradiction we should recognise that Jeremiah knew the nuances of
Hebrew in his day better than we do. ‘In the beginning’ apparently therefore simply
meant ‘in the initial stages, the commencing years, of his reign’.
PULPIT, "Verses 1-17
EXPOSITION
Hananiah's false prophecy; his reprimand from Jeremiah; and his fate. The
preciseness of the date in verse 1 is to emphasize the supernatural character of
Jeremiah's prediction. The latter was uttered in the fifth month of the fourth year of
Zedekiah, and Hananiah died in the seventh month of the same year (verse 17).
Jeremiah 28:1
In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah. It seems strange that the fourth year of a
reign which only lasted eleven years in all should be called "the beginning. Is it not
probable that the clause was interpolated here by a later copyist on account of
Jeremiah 27:1, where at present a similar clause (see note) is found? Originally
10

placed in the margin as a gloss upon the words "the same year," it would very easily
find its way into the text. Hananiah … the prophet (see on Jeremiah 27:15). Gibeon.
This was a priestly city (Joshua 21:17), so that Hananiah was probably himself a
priest like Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1) and Pashur (Jeremiah 20:1). The modern El Jib,
on an isolated, rocky hill, doubtless represents the ancient Gibeon. In the presence
of the priests and of all the people. Apparently the event took place on either a new
moon or a Sabbath, when the people would throng to the temple.
2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of
Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of
Babylon.
CLARKE, "Thus speaketh the Lord - What awful impudence! when he knew in
his conscience that God had given him no such commission.
GILL, "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... Using the
language of the true prophets, and describing the Lord just in the same manner they do,
when coming from him, and speaking in his name: a bold and daring action, when he
knew the Lord had not sent him, nor had said any such thing to him: he next relates with
all assurance,
saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon; which he had put upon
the neck of the king of Judah; signifying that he should be no more subject to him; that
is, he had determined to do it, and would do it, in a very short time.
HENRY, "The prediction which Hananiah delivered publicly, solemnly, in the house
of the Lord, and in the name of the Lord, in an august assembly, in the presence of the
priests and of all the people, who probably were expecting to have some message from
heaven. In delivering this prophecy, he faced Jeremiah, he spoke it to him (Jer_28:1),
designing to confront and contradict him, as much as to say, “Jeremiah, thou liest.” Now
this prediction is that the king of Babylon's power, at least his power over Judah and
Jerusalem, should be speedily broken, that within two full years the vessels of the
temple should be brought back, and Jeremiah, and all the captives that were carried
away with him, should return; whereas Jeremiah had foretold that the yoke of the king
11

of Babylon should be bound on yet faster, and that the vessels and captives should not
return for 70 years, Jer_28:2-4. Now, upon the reading of this sham prophecy, and
comparing it with the messages that God sent by the true prophets, we may observe
what a vast difference there is between them. Here is nothing of the spirit and life, the
majesty of style and sublimity of expression, that appear in the discourses of God's
prophets, nothing of that divine flame and flatus. But that which is especially wanting
here is an air of piety; he speaks with a great deal of confidence of the return of their
prosperity, but here is not a word of good counsel given them to repent, and reform, and
return to God, to pray, and seek his face, that they may be prepared for the favours God
had in reserve for them. He promises them temporal mercies, in God's name, but makes
no mention of those spiritual mercies which God always promised should go along with
them, as Jer_24:7, I will give them a heart to know me. By all this it appears that,
whatever he pretended, he had only the spirit of the world, not the Spirit of God (1Co_
2:12), that he aimed to please, not to profit.
JAMISON, "broken the yoke — I have determined to break: referring to
Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jer_27:12).
ELLICOTT, "(2) I have broken the yoke . . .—The word is obviously used with
special reference to the symbol which Jeremiah had made so conspicuous (Jeremiah
27:2). With something, it may be, of ironical repetition, he reproduces the very
formula with which the true prophet had begun his message. He, too, can speak in
the name of “the Lord of Sabaoth, the God of Israel.”
PETT, "Jeremiah 28:2
“Thus speaks YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, ‘I have broken the yoke of
the king of Babylon’.”
Hananiah declares that he speaks in the Name of YHWH of host, the God of Israel,
and that His word is that He has ‘broken the yoke of the King of Babylon’. Note the
use of the same distinguished and significant title as that used by Jeremiah, and no
doubt by many prophets. He was claiming to speak on the same authority as
Jeremiah. And he gave a prophetic declaration claiming to present the very words
of YHWH. ‘Thus says YHWH --- “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon”.’
It was a declaration directly in the face of what Jeremiah was saying signifying that
God’s time was now. We can see why the crowds might have been confused. And
there could be no doubt whose message they would want to believe. Hananiah’s
message appealed to their sense of what YHWH owed to them as their God. They
were still unable to believe that God was not satisfied with them.
PULPIT, "Hananiah opens his prophecy with the usual formula, claiming Divine
inspiration in the fullest sense. His message is short and sweet: I have broken—i.e. I
have decreed to break (the perfect of prophetic certitude)—the yoke of the king of
Babylon. Had Hananiah stopped here, he might, perhaps, have escaped Jeremiah's
indignant rebuke. But with light-hearted arrogance he ventures to fix a time close at
12

hand for the event, which, no doubt, was destined to occur, but after a long interval.
Dr. Payne Smith suggests that he probably cherished the belief that the confederacy
then on foot (Jeremiah 27:3) would defeat Nebuchadnezzar.
3 Within two years I will bring back to this place
all the articles of the Lord’s house that
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from
here and took to Babylon.
BARNES, "Within two full years - literally, In yet two years even days. Hananiah
probably was induced to fix this date by the expectation that the confederacy then on
foot would defeat Nebuchadnezzar.
CLARKE, "Within two full years - Time sufficient for the Chaldeans to destroy
the city, and carry away the rest of the sacred vessels; but he did not live to see the end of
this short period.
GILL, "Within two full years,.... Or, "within two years of days" (o); when they are up
to a day. The Targum is,
"at the end of two years;''
what the false prophets before had said would be done in a very little time; this fixes the
precise time of doing it; a very short time, in comparison of the seventy years that
Jeremiah had spoken of, Jer_25:11;
will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place; the temple, where
he now was; namely, all such vessels as before this time had been taken by him, both in
Jehoiakim's reign, and at the captivity of Jeconiah:
and carried them to Babylon; where they still remained, and according to Jeremiah
still would; and were so far from being brought back in a short time, that what were left
13

would be carried thither also, Jer_27:19.
JAMISON, "two full years — literally, “years of days.” So “a month of days,” that is,
all its days complete (Gen_29:14, Margin; Gen_41:1). It was marvelous presumption to
speak so definitely without having any divine revelation.
CALVIN, "We now see that what Hananiah had in view was to promise impunity to
the people, and not only this, but also to soothe them with vain confidence, as
though the people would have their king soon restored, together with the spoils
which the enemy had taken away. But he began by referring to the power of the
king, lest that terrible sight should occupy the minds of the people so as to prevent
them to receive this joyful prophecy. He then says, Further, when two years shall
pass, (195) I will bring back to this place all the vessels which King Nebuchadnezzar
has taken away Jeremiah had assigned to the people’s exile seventy years, as it has
been stated before, and as we shall hereafter often see; but here the false prophet
says, that after two years the exile of the king and of the people would come to an
end, and that the vessels which had been taken away would be restored; he speaks
also of the king himself, —
ELLICOTT, "(3) Within two full years.—Literally, two years of days. Hananiah,
not deterred by the previous warnings of Jeremiah, becomes bolder in the
definiteness of his prediction. The conspiracy of Judah and the neighbouring states
against Nebuchadnezzar was clearly ripening, and he looked on its success as
certain. Prediction stood against prediction, and, as there were no signs or wonders
wrought, men had to judge from what they knew of the lives of the men who uttered
them which of them was most worthy of credit. The contest between the two
prophets reminds us of Deuteronomy 18:20-22.
“Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of YHWH’s
house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and
carried to Babylon,”
He further declared that YHWH’s promise was that within two full years (in
contrast with Jeremiah’s prophecy of seventy years of which fifty or so years
remained) all the vessels of the house of YHWH which had been taken away by
Nebuchadnezzar in the days of Jehoiakim, would be returned to Jerusalem and the
Temple (this place). It would be restored to its former glory.
‘Within two full years.’ Literally ‘within two years of days.’
14

4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin[a]
son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other
exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares
the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of
Babylon.’”
BARNES, "Jeconiah - Zedekiah not being popular, the people would have preferred
the young king, who had not reigned long enough to make enemies. Probably also
Zedekiah had started for Babylon Jer_51:59.
CLARKE, "And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of
Jehoiakim king of Judah,.... This he knew would please the people, who looked upon
Zedekiah only as a deputy of the king of Babylon, and not properly their king; but
Jeconiah, as he is here called; and he knew that Zedekiah dared not resent this, but was
obliged to feigned a desire of Jeconiah's return, though otherwise not agreeable to him:
with all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, saith the Lord; the
princes, officers, and others, that should be living at the time fixed:
for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon; weaken his power over other
nations, and particularly deliver the king of Judah from his bondage, and from
subjection to him.
GILL, "And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah,.... This he knew would please the people, who looked upon Zedekiah
only as a deputy of the king of Babylon, and not properly their king; but Jeconiah, as he
is here called; and he knew that Zedekiah dared not resent this, but was obliged to
feigned a desire of Jeconiah's return, though otherwise not agreeable to him:
with all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, saith the Lord; the
princes, officers, and others, that should be living at the time fixed:
for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon; weaken his power over other
nations, and particularly deliver the king of Judah from his bondage, and from
subjection to him.
15

JAMISON, "bring again ... Jeconiah — not necessarily implying that Hananiah
wished Zedekiah to be superseded by Jeconiah. The main point intended was that the
restoration from Babylon should be complete. But, doubtless, the false prophet foretold
Jeconiah’s return (2Ki_24:12-15), to ingratiate himself with the populace, with whom
Jeconiah was a favorite (see on Jer_22:24).
CALVIN, "Hananiah promised as to the king himself, what he had just predicted
respecting the vessels of the Temple and of the palace. But it may be asked, how did
he dare to give hope as to the restoration of Jeconiah, since that could not have been
acceptable to Zedekiah? for Jeconiah could not have again gained what he had lost
without the abdication of Zechariah; but he would have never submitted willingly to
lose his own dignity and to become a private man, and to allow him who had been
deprived of this high honor to return again. But there is no doubt but that he relied
on the favor of the people, and that he was fully persuaded that if Zedekiah could ill
bear to be thus degraded, he would yet be constrained to shew a different feeling;
for Zedekiah himself regarded his own reign as not honorable, as he sat not in
David’s throne by the right of succession. He had been set on the throne by a tyrant,
and he dared not to make any other pretense to the people than that he wished
Jeconiah to return and to possess the kingdom of which he had been deprived. As
then this impostor knew that the king dared not to shew any displeasure, but that
his prophecy would be gratifying and acceptable to the people, he boldly promised
what we here read respecting the return of Jeconiah.
He hence says in God’s name, Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah,
and all the captive people, who have been led away to Babylon, will I restore to this
place. We see that he was ever inflated with the same arrogance, and that he wholly
disregarded God, whose name he thus in sport profaned. But all this flowed from
this fountain, even because he had been blinded by the righteous judgment of God.
he then confirms his own prophecy, repeating its beginning, I have broken the yoke
of the king of Babylon (196) He had made open for himself an entrance, by saying
that the destruction of the Babylonian monarchy was at hand; and now, after
having given utterance to what seemed good to him on the whole affair, he refers
again to that event. As then he promised that the monarchy would not stand longer
than two years, the Jews might have supposed that they would become free, and
might thus have hoped for a happy state of things; and this was the design of the
impostor; but what was the answer of Jeremiah? His opposition to him was frank
and firm; but as he saw that he had incurred the ill-will of the people, he was
anxious to remove it; and before he repeated what he had said of their seventy years
in exile, he shewed that he had not eagerly received his commission, as though he
had been alienated from his people, or had disregarded their welfare, or had been
carried away by some morbid feeling to bring a sad and mournful message. He
therefore said, —
16

ELLICOTT, "(4) And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of
Jehoiakim . . .—We get here a new glimpse into the nature of the anti-Chaldæan
confederacy. Zedekiah was to be deposed as too submissive to Nebuchadnezzar, and
the young Jeconiah was to be brought back from his prison at Babylon, and re-
established in the kingdom as the representative of the policy of resistance, resting
on the support of Pharaoh-Hophra.
“And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon, the word of YHWH, for I will
break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”
And what was more their legitimate king, Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), who had been
chosen by the people (Zedekiah had been appointed by Nebuchadnezzar and ruled
by default) would again be brought to this place, along with the other exiles, and
would once again be their king present among them, and most importantly, the yoke
of the King of Babylon would be broken (a direct reference to the yoke that
Jeremiah was wearing). It was a cheering message for the people, and he
emphasised n good prophetic manner that it was by ‘the prophetic and sure word of
YHWH’. His message must have uplifted the crowds and raised their hopes, making
things difficult for Jeremiah, and seemingly exposing him as a false prophet. It was
an encouragement to the king and the people to partake in what would be a fatal
rebellion.
But it was probably not just a saying taken out of the air. We know from what is
called ‘the Babylonian chronicle’ (historical records which were regularly
maintained by the Babylonians although unfortunately we do not have all of them),
that around this time there was a serious rebellion in Babylon which
Nebuchadnezzar had to quell, and it may well be that hopes raised by that event, as
communicated back to Jerusalem, combined with the rise of a powerful Pharaoh in
Egypt (Pharaoh Hophra), were responsible for Hananiah’s confident prediction (the
rebels in Babylon may well have promised some of the exiles that in return for their
support they would be allowed to return home with the Temple vessels. See
Jeremiah 29:21 which could have been connected with such a situation). Hananiah
does genuinely appear to have believed that he was a prophet of YHWH, and the
priests clearly believed it too. But it is a reminder that it is not enough to have
confidence in one’s own spirituality, based on popular opinion. We can so easily
deceive ourselves, whilst others will admire us if we say what they want us to say. It
is a reminder to us that we need to beware of overstating our own inspiration by the
Holy Spirit. The widespread disagreement on certain doctrines among genuine
Christians is an indication that none of us are guided fully. And we are foolish to
think otherwise. I am always a little wary when someone says, ‘the Holy Spirit told
(showed) me’. Full inspiration was limited to the Apostles. We are vulnerable to
error.
17

PULPIT, "Jeremiah 28:4
And I will bring again … Jeconiah. Hananiah thus directly contradicts the
assurance of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 22:26, Jeremiah 22:27) that Jehoiachin would not
return, but would die in a foreign land. Has he a political object in his favorable
prognostication for the deposed king? Does he, in short, belong to a Jehoiachin
party opposed to the friends of Zedekiah? The view is possible, and may seem to be
confirmed by the emphatic repetition of the fall of Nebuchadnezzar, the liege lord of
Zedekiah. Still there is evidence enough in modern history that the return of an exile
is not necessarily tantamount to his reinstatement in his office.
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the
prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the
people who were standing in the house of the
Lord.
GILL, "Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah,.... The
false prophet, as he is called by the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic versions:
in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that
stood in the house of the Lord; waiting and worshipping in the temple; and said
boldly and before them all, in answer to Hananiah's prophecy, what follows.
HENRY 5-9, " Jeremiah's reply to this pretended prophecy. 1. He heartily wishes it
might prove true. Such an affection has he for his country, and so truly desirous is he of
the welfare of it, that he would be content to lie under the imputation of a false prophet,
so that their ruin might be prevented. He said, Amen; the Lord do so; the Lord perform
thy words, Jer_28:5, Jer_28:6. This was not the first time that Jeremiah had prayed for
his people, though he had prophesied against them, and deprecated the judgments
which yet he certainly knew would come; as Christ prayed, Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me, when yet he knew it must not pass from him. Though, as a
faithful prophet, he foresaw and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, yet, as a faithful
Israelite, he prayed earnestly for the preservation of it, in obedience to that command,
18

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Though the will of God's purpose is the rule of
prophecy and patience, the will of his precept is the rule of prayer and practice. God
himself, though he has determined, does not desire, the death of sinners, but would have
all men to be saved. Jeremiah often interceded for his people, Jer_18:20. The false
prophets thought to ingratiate themselves with the people by promising them peace;
now the prophet shows that he bore them as great a good-will as their prophets did,
whom they were so fond of; and, though he had no warrant from God to promise them
peace, yet he earnestly desired it and prayed for it. How strangely were those besotted
who caressed those who did them the greatest wrong imaginable by flattering them and
persecuted him who did them the greatest service imaginable by interceding for them!
See Jer_27:18. 2. He appeals to the event, to prove it false, Jer_28:7-9. The false
prophets reflected upon Jeremiah, as Ahab upon Micaiah, because he never prophesied
good concerning them, but evil. Now he pleads that this had been the purport of the
prophecies that other prophets had delivered, so that it ought not to be looked upon as a
strange thing, or as rendering his mission doubtful; for prophets of old prophesied
against many countries and great kingdoms, so bold were they in delivering the
messages which God sent by them, and so far from fearing men, or seeking to please
them, as Hananiah did. They made no difficulty, any more than Jeremiah did, of
threatening war, famine, and pestilence, and what they said was regarded as coming
from God; why then should Jeremiah be run down as a pestilent fellow, and a sower of
sedition, when he preached no otherwise than God's prophets had always done before
him? Other prophets had foretold destruction did not come, which yet did not disprove
their divine mission, as in the case of Jonah; for God is gracious, and ready to turn away
his wrath from those that turn away from their sins. But the prophet that prophesied of
peace and prosperity, especially as Hananiah did, absolutely and unconditionally,
without adding that necessary proviso, that they do not by wilful sin put a bar in their
own door and stop the current of God's favours, will be proved a true prophet only by the
accomplishment of his prediction; if it come to pass, then it shall be known that the Lord
has sent him, but, if not, he will appear to be a cheat and an impostor.
JAMISON, "the prophet Jeremiah — the epithet, “the prophet,” is prefixed to
“Jeremiah” throughout this chapter, to correspond to the same epithet before
“Hananiah”; except in Jer_28:12, where “the prophet” has been inserted in English
Version. The rival claims of the true and the false prophet are thus put in the more
prominent contrast.
K&D 5-9, "the prophet Jeremiah — the epithet, “the prophet,” is prefixed to
“Jeremiah” throughout this chapter, to correspond to the same epithet before
“Hananiah”; except in Jer_28:12, where “the prophet” has been inserted in English
Version. The rival claims of the true and the false prophet are thus put in the more
prominent contrast.
CALVIN, "I have shortly reminded you of the design of the Prophet; for it was to be
feared that the people would not hear him, or at least that they would not well
receive him, as he had threatened them and handled them roughly and severely. We
know that men ever seek to be flattered; hence adulations are ever delightfully
received. Such is the pride of men, that they cannot bear to be called to an account
for what they have done; and they become also indignant, when they see their
19

crimes and vices brought to light; besides, they are so delicate and tender, that they
avoid as much as they can all adverse rumors; and if any fear assails them, they
instantly resist.
Now Jeremiah had been furnished with a twofold message, to expose the vices of the
people, to shew that the Jews were unworthy to inherit the land, as they were
covenant-breakers and despisers of God and of his Law; and then, as they had been
so often refractory and perverse, he had another message, that they would not be
suffered to escape unpunished, as they had in so many ways, and for so long a time
continued to provoke God’s wrath; all this was very displeasing to the people. It was
therefore Jeremiah’s object to turn aside the false suspicion under which he
labored, and he testified that he desired nothing more than the well-being of the
people; “Amen,” he said, “may it thus happen, I wish I were a false prophet; I
would willingly retract, and that with shame, all that I have hitherto predicted, so
great is my care and anxiety for the safety of the public; for I would prefer the
welfare of the whole people to my own reputation.” But he afterwards added, as we
shall see, that the promise of Hananiah was wholly vain, and that nothing would
save the people from the calamity that was very near at hand.
WHEDON, "Verse 5-6
JEREMIAH’S MILD AND PEACEABLE ANSWER, Jeremiah 28:5-11.
5, 6. Jeremiah said — The answer of Jeremiah does high honour to his judgment
and his heart. He speaks with meekness and moderation, and yet without abating in
the smallest measure the rigour of his appeal to God and his immutable law. Amen,
etc. — This clause expresses the sympathy of the prophet. Could all this be true,
who, as Jeremiah, would rejoice? He preferred the welfare of his country to his own
honour. As Moses prayed to be “blotted out of the book” of God, or as Paul could
wish himself “accursed from Christ” for the sake of Israel, so Jeremiah would
joyfully offer up himself on the altar of his people and country.
COFFMAN, "JEREMIAH'S RESPONSE TO THE FALSE PROPHECY
"Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah, in the presence of the
priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of Jehovah, even
the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: Jehovah do so; Jehovah perform thy words
which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Jehovah's house, from
Babylon unto this place. Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in thine ears,
and in the ears of all the people: The prophets that have been sent before me and
before thee of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms,
of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when
the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that
Jehovah hath truly sent him. Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the
prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah spake in the presence of all
20

the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Even so will I break the yoke of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the
nations. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way."
"Jeremiah said, Amen: Jehovah do so ..." (Jeremiah 28:6). This was not sarcasm,
because Jeremiah truly desired that such wonderful things as the false prophet had
spoken might indeed be done by the Lord, only if it were possible. It was the same
kind of plea that Jesus made, when he said, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from
me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done."
However, this was in no sense whatever a statement that Jeremiah, even for a single
moment, believed the lying words of the evil prophet. Green missed this truth
altogether. He said, "Jeremiah revealed here his belief in the sincerity of Hananiah,
and that Jeremiah himself was possibly wrong."[14] Such a view cannot be
reconciled with what Jeremiah immediately said.
"Nevertheless, hear now this word that I speak in your ears ..." (Jeremiah 28:7).
The real answer to Hananiah's false prophecy was that it made liars out of every
prophet God had ever sent, including Jeremiah, all of whom had prophesied the
ruin and captivity of Judah. Jeremiah also pointed out that the prophets of "peace"
could be verified as true only by the conformity of subsequent events with the things
they had prophesied. With that announcement, Jeremiah terminated the argument.
Deuteronomy 18:22 had laid down the test for prophets that only those prophets
were true whose predictive prophecies were proved true by subsequent events; and
Jeremiah referred to this, but as the false prophets had allowed a margin of two
whole years for the fulfillment of his prediction, the truth of Hananiah's falsity was
not at once evident.
We should observe the meekness and mildness of Jeremiah's response. He engaged
in no loud and boisterous repetitions. He did not, upon his own unsupported
authority, at once declare Hananiah to be the false prophet which he knew him to
be. He simply waited for God to provide the answer, and turned away and left the
scene. Although Jeremiah had given his personal assent to the glorious words of the
false prophet, "He well knew that the truth was otherwise."[15]
"Hananiah took the bar ... and brake it ..." (Jeremiah 28:10). It might have
appeared to Hananiah and the crowd in the house of the Lord that Jeremiah had
been silenced. Jeremiah did not at once deny Hananiah's evil prophecy. Why? No
answer had then appeared from Jehovah; and Jeremiah did not give an answer that
God had not yet spoken.
"Encouraged by Jeremiah's patience and in the absence of any answer from God
that his prophecy was a lie, Hananiah resorted to violence, tore the yoke from the
prophet's neck, and broke it, probably to the great delight of the crowd who
considered the action as a symbol of deliverance."[16]
21

"And the prophet Jeremiah went his way ..." (Jeremiah 28:11). "There are men
with whom it is always useless to argue,"[17] and Jeremiah instantly recognized in
Hananiah just such a person. He had falsely claimed to have God's Word; Jeremiah
had already pointed out that his prophecy was contrary to what all previous
prophets had prophesied; and, since God had at that point in time not refuted
Hananiah with any dramatic additional revelation, there was nothing else for
Jeremiah to do, except to leave; and that he at once did.
NISBET, "THE FALSE PROPHET AND THE TRUE
‘The prophet Jeremiah … the prophet Hananiah.’
Jeremiah 28:5
I. The prophecy of Hananiah of the speedy return of the exiles and the break-up of
the power of the king of Babylon was evidently dictated by a desire to win
popularity with the people.—He spoke in the name of Jehovah, and may even have
supposed that his message was Divinely given, but his soul was filled with human
voices and reasonings, which made him unable to distinguish the still small voice of
inspiration. Jeremiah was quite as anxious as he was that his country should be
spared further suffering. He uttered a fervent Amen to Hananiah’s predictions.
Nothing could have given him deeper pleasure than their realisation; but, standing
as he did in the counsels of God, he knew it could not be.
So is it still. Men who follow simply their own thoughts, or are deeply dyed with the
spirit of society around, are apt to prophesy smooth things to such as live selfish and
worldly lives. ‘There is no such place as the outer darkness, no such experience as
the second death.’ So they speak. But we know it cannot be. Earnestly as we might
wish for it, and say Amen, we know that it cannot be immaterial how men live, and
that wickedness is destined to bring infinite anguish and pain. Ah! how terrible will
their position be at last, who cried Peace, Peace, when there was none, and
encouraged rebellion against the Lord. Let them be warned by the fate of this false
prophet!
Hananiah was, without doubt, very popular. It was not easy for Jeremiah to stand
alone, as we find him doing.
II. What a picture is presented, as these two prophets oppose each other in the
presence of priests and people in the house of God!—By his amen to the words of
Hananiah, the true prophet avowed his passionate desire that his hopes might be
realised, but he knew certainly that they could not be. Hananiah closed the
conference by breaking the yoke which Jeremiah carried on his neck, but the
prophet of God made no reply, he simply went his way. It is good not to hold
altercations with men who have set their hearts on opposing the truth. Better yield
quietly and go your way. Better say nothing than speak in temper. Hold your peace,
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even from good, until you know precisely what is the message from the Lord.
The word of the Lord did come to him afterwards: that iron would be substituted
for wood, that the land would be given up to the beasts of the field, that Hananiah
should die. And God vindicated his words by the false prophet’s sudden decease.
The man who can commit himself to Him that judgeth righteously cannot fail of
vindication.
Illustration
‘A false prophet, a miserable comforter disputes with him, brings good news and
appeals to an oracle, a voice which he had perhaps heard more lately than Jeremiah.
Jeremiah, without getting warm about it, says “I shall be heartily glad if it be so:
but take care that you have understood it correctly.” His opponent is encouraged
and goes further, he breaks off the prophetic yoke from Jeremiah’s neck. Jeremiah,
with the same indifference which he has shown from the beginning, goes his way.…
“I dare not speak of anything,” says Paul, “which Christ hath not wrought by me”’
(Romans 15:18).
PETT, "Jeremiah 28:5-6
‘Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the
priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of YHWH, even
the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen. YHWH do so. YHWH perform your words
which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of YHWH’s house, and all
those of the captivity, from Babylon to this place.”
Very wisely Jeremiah did not enflame the people gathered in the Temple (and thus
full at the time of religious zeal of a kind) by directly denying Hananiah’s prophecy.
Rather he responded sarcastically. What Hananiah prophesied was very good, but it
was to be noted that it went against the trend of past prophecy. So, yes, if YHWH
wanted to do this, so be it (amen). Let YHWH perform the words that Hananiah
had prophesied, bringing back from Babylon to Jerusalem the vessels of the Temple
and the people from exile. Nothing would please Jeremiah more. But it went against
all that the ancient prophets had spoken.
Alternately Jeremiah may have been wondering whether YHWH had indeed given a
new revelation to Hananiah without communicating it to him. It would explain why,
in spite of his doubts, he was willing to go along with it until he had further
information from YHWH.
PULPIT, "Jeremiah 28:5-9
Jeremiah's reply. He heartily wishes that Hananiah's prediction were capable of
fulfillment, but it runs directly counter to the declarations of all the older prophets.
"War, and evil, and pestilence" was their constant burden, for the people to whom
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they prophesied were unworthy of the golden age of felicity in which the prophets so
firmly believed. Only by a terrible judgment could the people of Israel be purified
for the Messianic age. This appears to be what Jeremiah means by verse 8. True, he
speaks of "countries" and "kingdoms" in the plural, but all the great prophets
include the nations best known to them within the range of their preaching, and
even of their Messianic preaching. Isaiah, for instance, threatens sore judgment
upon Egypt and Assyria, and yet he holds out the cheering prospect that Egypt and
Assyria will have a part in the Messianic felicity. Thus Hananiah's prediction has
probabilities very strongly against it He not only prophesies "peace,' but attaches no
condition to his promise, which, therefore, has double need of verification by the
event (comp. Deuteronomy 18:22).
6 He said, “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the
Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by
bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all
the exiles back to this place from Babylon.
BARNES, "Jeremiah’s own wishes concurred with Hananiah’s prediction, but asserts
that that prediction was at variance with the language of the older prophets.
CLARKE, "Amen; the Lord do so - O that it might be according to thy word! May
the people find this to be true!
GILL, "Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen,.... Or, "so be it"; he wished it
might be so as Hananiah had said, if it was the will of God; as a prophet he knew it could
not be; as an Israelite, out of respect to his country, he wished it might be; or, however,
he wished that they would repent of their sins, that the evil he had threatened them with
might not come upon them, and the good that Hananiah had prophesied might be
fulfilled:
the Lord do so: the Lord perform the words which thou hast prophesied;
such a hearty regard had he for his country, that, were it the Lord's pleasure to do this,
he could be content to be accounted a false prophet, and Hananiah the true one; it was
very desirable to him to have this prophecy confirmed and fulfilled by the Lord. The
Jews (p) have a saying, that whoever deals hypocritically with his friend, at last falls into
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his hand, or the hands of his son, or son's son; and so they suppose Jeremiah acted
hypocritically with Hananiah, and therefore fell into the hands of the son of his son's
son, Jer_37:13; but he rather spoke ironically, as some think:
to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all that is carried away
captive, to Babylon into this place; as a priest, this must be very desirable to
Jeremiah, the Jews observe, since he would be a gainer by it; being a priest, he should
eat of the holy things; when Hananiah, being a Gibeonite, would be a hewer of wood and
a drawer of water to hi
JAMISON, "Amen — Jeremiah prays for the people, though constrained to
prophesy against them (1Ki_1:36). The event was the appointed test between
contradictory predictions (Deu_18:21, Deu_18:22). “Would that what you say were
true!” I prefer the safety of my country even to my own estimation. The prophets had no
pleasure in announcing God’s judgment, but did so as a matter of stern duty, not thereby
divesting themselves of their natural feelings of sorrow for their country’s woe. Compare
Exo_32:32; Rom_9:3, as instances of how God’s servants, intent only on the glory of
God and the salvation of the country, forgot self and uttered wishes in a state of feeling
transported out of themselves. So Jeremiah wished not to diminish aught from the word
of God, though as a Jew he uttered the wish for his people [Calvin].
CALVIN, "We began in the last Lecture to explain the answer of Jeremiah, when he
said to Hananiah, “May God confirm thy words, and may the vessels of the Temple
be restored to this place and return together with the captive people.” We briefly
stated what is now necessary again to repeat, that there were two feelings in the
Prophets apparently contrary, and yet they were compatible with one another.
Whatever God had commanded them they boldly declared, and thus they forgot
their own nation when they announced anything of an adverse kind. Hence, when
the Prophets threatened the people, and said that war or famine was near at hand,
they doubtless were so endued with a heroic greatness of mind, that dismissing a
regard for the people, they proceeded in the performance of their office; they thus
strenuously executed whatever God had commanded them. But they did not wholly
put off every humane feeling, but condoled with the miseries of the people; and
though they denounced on them destruction, yet they could not but receive sorrow
from their own prophecies. There was, therefore, no inconsistency in Jeremiah in
wishing the restoration of the vessels of the Temple and the return of the exiles,
while yet he ever continued in the same mind, as we shall hereafter see.
If any one objects and says that this could not have been the case, for then Jeremiah
must have been a vain and false prophet; the answer to this is, that the prophets had
no recourse to refined reasoning, when they were carried away by a vehement zeal;
for we see that Moses wished to be blotted out of the book of life, and that Paul
expressed a similar wish, even that he might be an anathema from Christ for his
brethren. (Exodus 32:32; Romans 9:3.) Had any one distinctly asked Moses, Do you
wish to perish and to be cut off from the hope of salvation? his answer, no doubt,
would have been, that nothing was less in his mind than to cast away the immutable
25

favor of God; but when his mind was wholly fixed on God’s glory, which would
have been exposed to all kinds of reproaches, had the people been destroyed in the
Desert, and when he felt another thing, a solicitude for the salvation of his own
nation, he was at the time forgetful of himself, and being carried away as it were
beyond himself, he said, “Rather blot me out of the book of life,” and the ease of
Paul was similar. And the same view we ought to take of Jeremiah, when he, in
effect, said, I would I were a false prophet, and that thou hast predicted to the
people what by the event may be found to be true.” But Jeremiah did not intend to
take away even the least thing from God’s word; he only expressed a wish, and
surrendered to God the care for the other, the credit and the authority of his
prophecy, he did not, then, engage for this, as though he ought to have made it good,
if the event did not by chance correspond with his prophecy; but he left the care of
this with God, and thus, without any difficulty, he prayed for the liberation and
return of the people. But it now follows —
ELLICOTT, " (6) Amen, the Lord do so.—It is impossible to mistake the tone of
keen, incisive irony with which the words were spoken. The speaker could, without
falsehood, echo the wish as far as it was a wish, but he knew that it was a wish for
the impossible. The whole condition of things would have to be altered before there
could be the slightest prospect of its fulfilment. It was not wise to pray for that
which was obviously out of the lines of God’s normal methods of working in history,
and against His purpose, as uttered by His prophets.
COKE, "Jeremiah 28:6. Amen: The Lord do so— Jeremiah well knew the falsity of
Hananiah's prediction: he testified it by his answer: he would only shew, that if he
foretold melancholy things to his country, and if he opposed the false prophets, it
was not through malice or envy. "God grant that you may find this man a true
prophet, and that my predictions may not be verified: may the Lord deign to turn
from my country, and from the princes of my people, the miseries which I have
denounced!" See Calmet.
7 Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your
hearing and in the hearing of all the people:
GILL, "Nevertheless, hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears,....
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Though this would be very acceptable to me, and I should be glad to have it fulfilled; yet
carefully attend to what I am about to say, it being what greatly concerns thee to observe,
as well as all present to listen to: and therefore it is added,
and in the ears of all the people; that stood round to hear the conversation that
passed between the two prophets.
CALVIN, "Jeremiah, having testified that he did not wish for anything adverse to
his own people, but had a good will towards them, now adds that what he had
predicted was yet most true. Here is seen more fully what I have said of his twofold
feeling; for though the Prophet wished to consult the welfare of the people, he did
not yet cease to render full obedience to God, and to announce those messages which
were at the same time very grievous: thus Jeremiah did not keep silence, but became
an herald of God’s vengeance against the people. On the one hand, then, he showed
that he desired nothing more than the welfare and the safety of his people, and that
yet it was not in his power nor in that of any mortal to change the celestial decree
which he had pronounced. We hence see that God so influenced the minds and
hearts of his servants, that they were not cruel or barbarous; and yet they were not
made soft and pliable through the influence of humanity, but boldly declared what
God had commanded them.
For this reason he said, Nevertheless, hear thou this word which I pronounce in
thine ears, and in the ears of all the people By these words Jeremiah indirectly
condemned the vanity of Hananiah, who sought to flatter the people, and by his
adulations hunted for favor and applause, as it is usual with such impostors, he then
said that it availed him nothing to give the people the hope of a near deliverance, for
God had not changed his purpose. And Jeremiah now boldly and openly opposed
him, as he had sufficiently rebutted that ill-will with which he was unjustly loaded;
for impostors ever find out calumnies by which they assail the faithful servants of
God. He might at the beginning have objected to Jeremiah and said, “Thou art
alienated from thine own nation, thou art not touched by the many miseries by
which we have been hitherto distressed, nor carest thou for what may happen to us
in future.” Thus he might have kindled hatred against Jeremiah, had he not cleared
himself. But after he had testified that he felt kindly and was well affected towards
his own nation, he assailed the impostor himself, and hesitated not to assert what
seemed very grievous, that the people would become captives.
Yet Jeremiah seems here to have been smitten in some measure with fear; for he did
not confirm his own prophecy, but left that as it were in suspense; and yet he
doubtless exposed the false declaration of Hananiah. But we know that the whole of
what the Prophet said is not recited; for he only in a brief way records the heads or
the chief things; and further, as we shall presently see, Jeremiah could not act as he
wished in the midst of such a tumult, for he would have spoken to the deaf; and as
Hananiah had prejudiced the minds of almost all, the holy Prophet would not have
been listened to while there was such a confusion. He was therefore satisfied with
the brief assertion, that God would soon shew that Hananiah was a false witness in
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promising so quick a return to the captives and exiles.
8 From early times the prophets who preceded
you and me have prophesied war, disaster and
plague against many countries and great
kingdoms.
CLARKE, "The prophets that have been before me - Namely, Joel, Amos,
Hosea, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and others; all of whom denounced
similar evils against a corrupt people.
GILL, "The prophets that have been before me, and before thee of old,....
Such as Isaiah, Hoses, Joel, Amos, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and others:
these
prophesied both against many countries and against great kingdoms; as
Egypt, Babylon, Syria, Ethiopia, Moab, &c. as Isaiah particularly did:
of war, and of evil, and of pestilence; by evil some think is meant famine, because
that usually goes along with the other mentioned, and there being but one letter in which
the words for evil and famine differ; and now the prophets that prophesied of these were
sent of God, were the true prophets of the Lord; and therefore this ought not to be
objected to the prejudice of Jeremiah, that his prophecies were of this sort: yea, if they
should not come to pass, yet a man is not to be counted a false prophet, because such
things are threatened in case nations do not repent of their sins and reform, which they
may do; and then the evils threatened are prevented, as in the case of the Ninevites.
JAMISON, "prophets ... before me — Hosea, Joel, Amos, and others.
evil — a few manuscripts, read “famine,” which is more usually associated with the
specification of war and pestilence (Jer_15:2; Jer_18:21; Jer_27:8, Jer_27:13). But evil
here includes all the calamities flowing from war, not merely famine, but also
desolation, etc. Evil, being the more difficult reading, is less likely to be the interpolated
one than famine, which probably originated in copying the parallel passages.
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CALVIN, "But he makes here only a general statement, The Prophets who have
been before, me and thee, and prophesied against many (or great) lands, and against
great kingdoms, have prophesied of war, and of evil, and of pestilence The word
‫,רעה‬ roe, evil, is placed between two other kinds of evil; but it is to be taken here no
doubt for famine, as it is evident from many other passages. (197) Then he adds,
changing the number, “When any prophet spoke of peace, the event proved whether
or not he was a true prophet. (198) Now, experience itself will shortly prove thee to
be false, for after two years the people who are now in Babylon will be still there
under oppression, and the condition of the residue will be nothing better, for those
who now remain in the city and throughout all Judea shall be driven into exile as
well as their brethren.”
It is rather difficult to render this verse. Calvin here repeats the word “prophesied,”
which perhaps would be the best construction. There is a ‫ו‬ before “prophesied” in
the text, which connects it with “have been.” I would then render it as follows, —
8.The prophets, who have been before me and before thee from the beginning, and
have prophesied concerning many lands and against mighty kingdoms, have
prophesied of war, and of famine, and of pestilence.
There were prophets who did not prophesy “concerning many lands,” etc.; he refers
not to these, but to those who had done this. — Ed.
9.The prophet who shall prophesy (or who prophesies) of peace, when the word of
that prophet shall come, he will be known as the prophet whom Jehovah hath sent
in truth.
The first word, “the prophet,” is a nominative case absolute, many instances of
which are found in Hebrew. — Ed.
ELLICOTT, "(8) The prophets that have been before me and before thee . . .—The
appeal to the past is of the nature of an inductive argument. The older prophets
whose names were held in honour had not spoken smooth things. They had not
prophesied of peace; war, pestilence, and famine had been the burden of their
predictions. And there was, therefore, an antecedent probability in favour of one
who spoke in the same tone now, rather than of those who held out flattering hopes
of peace and victory. The onus probandi in such a conflict of claims lay with the
latter, not the former. Prophecies like those of Elijah (1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings
21:21-24), Micaiah (1 Kings 22:17), Elisha (2 Kings 8:1), Joel (Joel 1:1-20), Hosea
(Hosea 2:11-12), Amos (Amos 1-4), Micah (Micah 3:12), Isaiah (Isaiah 2-6), were
probably in Jeremiah’s thoughts.
COKE, "Jeremiah 28:8. The prophets that have been before me— Namely, Joel,
Amos, Hosea, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habbakuk, and others. Jeremiah offers
two reason's in defence of his own prophesies, and against those of Hananiah. First,
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That many other prophets agreed with him in prophesying evil against the Jews,
and other neighbouring people; whereas, Hananiah being single in his predictions,
nothing less than the perfect answering of the event could give him the authority of
a true prophet. Secondly, That, considering the corruption of the people's manners,
it was highly probable that God would punish their iniquities. This is one of the
principles laid down by Maimonides, whereby to judge a true prophet: "He is a true
prophet (says he) who is not deceived in foretelling things future:" and this
principle is deduced from Jeremiah 28:9. See Deuteronomy 18:22 and Chandler's
"Defence." Instead of prophesied, we may read, have prophesied; and instead of,
the word of the prophet, in the next verse, the word of that prophet.
“The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against
many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.”
And that word was that the ancient and revered prophets who had prophesied
before either of them were born, and whose words had been preserved because of
their accuracy, had prophesied of war, evil and pestilence which would strike at
many countries and even at great kingdoms. That was the trend of past prophecy.
9 But the prophet who prophesies peace will be
recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if
his prediction comes true.”
BARNES, "Jer_28:9
Then shall the prophet ... - Or, “shall be known as the prophet whom the Lord
hath truly sent.”
CLARKE, "When the word of the prophet shall come to pass - Here is the
criterion. He is a true prophet who specifies things that he says shall happen, and also
fixes the time of the event; and the things do happen, and in that time.
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You say that Nebuchadnezzar shall not overthrow this city; and that in two years from
this time, not only the sacred vessels already taken away shall be restored, but also that
Jeconiah and all the Jewish captives shall be restored, and the Babylonish yoke broken,
see Jer_28:2, Jer_28:3, Jer_28:4. Now I say that Nebuchadnezzar will come this year,
and destroy this city, and lead away the rest of the people into captivity, and the rest of
the sacred vessels; and that there will be no restoration of any kind till seventy years
from this time.
GILL, "The prophet which prophesieth of peace,.... Of prosperity, of good things,
as Hananiah did, and which are always acceptable to men; and such a prophet is
agreeable to them:
when the word of the Lord shall come to pass; when the prophecy of good things,
which he delivers in the name of the Lord, shall be filled:
then shall the prophet be known that the Lord hath truly sent him; and not till
then; it is the event that must make it manifest: in the other case it may be in a good
measure known before it comes to pass, and, whether it comes to pass or not, that a
prophet is a true prophet; because his prophecies are agreeable to the word and the
declared will of God; contain evils threatened on account of sin, and in order to bring
men to repentance, which must needs be right; and besides, they have no interest of
their own to serve, but run contrary to the stream of the people, and are exposed to their
rage and censure: whereas, a man that prophesies of peace, he is more to be suspected of
flattering the people, and of prophesying out of his own heart; and nothing but the event
can show him a true prophet; which if he delivers with a proviso, that the people do not
do that which is evil in the sight of God, to provoke him to deny them the promised
good, is always certainly fulfilled; and if it is not, then he appears manifestly a false
prophet.
JAMISON, "peace — Hananiah had given no warning as to the need of conversion,
but had foretold prosperity unconditionally. Jeremiah does not say that all are true
prophets who foretell truths in any instance (which Deu_13:1, Deu_13:2, disproves); but
asserts only the converse, namely, that whoever, as Hananiah, predicts what the event
does not confirm, is a false prophet. There are two tests of prophets: (1) The event, Deu_
18:22. (2) The word of God, Isa_8:20.
CALVIN, "Jeremiah seems here to conclude that those alone are to be deemed true
prophets who prove by the event that they have been sent from above; and it not
only appears that this may be gathered from his words, but it may also be shewn to
be the definition of a true prophet; for when the event corresponds with the
prophecy, there is no doubt but that he who predicted what comes to pass must have
been sent by God. But we must bear in mind what is said in Deuteronomy 13:1,
where God reminds the people that even when the event answers to the prophecy,
the prophets are not to be thoughtlessly and indiscriminately believed, as though
they predicted what was true;
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“for God,” he says, “tries thee,” that is, proves thy faith, whether thou wilt be easily
carried away by every wind of doctrine.”
But there are two passages, spoken by Moses himself, which at the first sight seem to
militate the one against the other. We have already quoted the first from
Deuteronomy 13:0; we have the other in the Deuteronomy 18:18,
“The prophet who has predicted what is found to be true,
I have sent him.”
God seems there to acknowledge as his faithful servants those who foretell what is
true. But Moses had before reminded the people that even impostors sometimes
speak the truth, but that they ought not on this account to be believed. But we must
remember what God often declares by Isaiah, when he claims to himself alone the
foreknowledge of things,
“Go,” he says, “and inquire whether the gods of the Gentiles will answer as to future
things.” (Isaiah 44:7)
We see that God ascribes to himself alone this peculiarity, that he foreknows future
events and testifies respecting them. And surely nothing can be more clear than that
God alone can speak of hidden things: men, indeed, can conjecture this or that, but
they are often mistaken.
With regard to the devil, I pass by those refined disquisitions with which Augustine
especially wearied himself; for above all other things he toiled on this point, how the
devils reveal future and hidden things? He speculated, as I have said, in too refined
a manner. But the solution of the difficulty, as to the subject now in hand, may be
easily given. We first conclude, that future events cannot be known but by God
alone, and that, therefore, prescience is his exclusive property, so that nothing that
is future or hidden can be predicted but by him alone. But, then, it does not follow
that God does not permit liberty to the devil and his ministers to foretell something
that is true. How? As the case was with Balaam, who was an impostor, ready to let
on hire or to sell his prophecies, as it is well known, and yet he was a prophet. But it
was a peculiar gift to foretell things: whence had he this? Not from the devil any
farther than it pleased God; and yet the truth had no other fountain than God
himself and his Spirit. When, therefore, the devil declares what is true, it is as it
were extraneous and adventitious.
Now, as we have said, that God is the source of truth, it follows that the prophets
sent by him cannot be mistaken; for they exceed not the limits of their call, and so
they do not speak falsely of hidden things; but when they declare this or that, they
have him as their teacher. But these terms, as they say, are not convertible — to
foretell what is true and to be a true prophet: for some, as I have said, predict what
is found afterwards by trial and experience to be true, and yet they are impostors;
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nor did God, in the eighteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, intend to give a certain
definition by which his own prophets are to be distinguished; but as he saw that the
Israelites would be too credulous, so as greedily to lay hold on anything that might
have been said, he intended to restrain that excess, and to correct that immoderate
ardor. Hence he commanded them to expect the event, as though he had said, “If
any arise among you who will promise this or that in my name, do not immediately
receive what they may announce; but the event will shew whether I have sent them.”
So also, in this place, Jeremiah says, that the true prophets of God had spoken
efficiently, as they had predicted nothing but what God had ratified and really
proved to have come from him.
Thus, then, we ought to think of most, that is, that those who predict what is true
are for the most part the prophets of God: this is to be taken as the general rule. But
we cannot hence conclude, that all those who apparently predict this or that, are
sent by God, so that the whole of what they teach is true: for one particular
prophecy would not be sufficient to prove the truth of all that is taught and
preached. It is enough that God condemns their vanity who speak from their own
hearts or from their own brains, when the event does not correspond. At the same
time he points out his own prophets by this evidence, — that he really shews that he
has sent them, when he fulfils what has been predicted by them. As to false prophets
there is a special reason why God permits to them so much liberty, for the world is
worthy of such reward, when it willingly offers itself to be deceived. Satan, the
father of lies, lays everywhere his snares for men, and they who run into them, and
wish to cast themselves on his tenterhooks, deserve to be given up to believe a lie, as
they will not, as Paul says, believe the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:10.)
We now then see what was the object of Jeremiah: his design was not to prove that
all were true prophets who predicted something that was true, for this was not, his
subject; but he took up another point, — that all who predicted this or that, which
was afterwards found to be vain, were thus convicted of falsehood. If then any one
predicted what was to be, and the thing itself came not to pass, it was a sufficient
proof of his presumption: it hence appeared, that he was not sent of God as he
boasted. This was the object of Jeremiah, nor did he go beyond it; for he did not
discuss the point, whether all who predicted true things were sent from above, and
whether all their doctrines were to be credited and they believed indiscriminately;
this was not the subject handled by Jeremiah; but he shewed that Hananiah was a
false prophet, for it would appear evident after two years that he had vainly spoken
of what he had not received from God’s Spirit. And the same thing Moses had in
view, as I have already explained.
As to the prophets, who had been in all ages and prophesied respecting many lands
and great kingdoms, they must be considered as exclusively the true prophets: for
though there had been some prophets among heathen nations, yet Jeremiah would
not have thought them worthy of so great an honor; and it would have been to blend
together sacred and profane things, had he placed these vain foretellers and the true
prophets in the same rank. But we know that all God’s servants had so directed
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their discourse to the elect people, as yet to speak of foreign kingdoms and of far
countries; and this has not been without reason distinctly expressed; for when they
spoke of any monarchy they could not of themselves conjecture what would be: it
was therefore necessary for them thus to speak by the impulse of the Holy Spirit.
Were I disposed to assume more than what is lawful, and to pretend that I possess
some special gift of prophesying, I could more easily lie and deceive, were I to speak
only of one city, and of the state of things open before my eyes, than if I extended my
predictions to distant countries: when therefore Jeremiah says that the prophets
had spoken of divers and large countries, and of most powerful kingdoms, he
intimates that their predictions could not have been ascribed to human conjectures;
for were any one possessed of the greatest acuteness, and were he to surpass angels
in intelligence, he yet could not predict what is hereafter to take place in lands
beyond the seas But whatever had been predicted by the prophets, God sanctioned
it by the events of time. It then follows that their call was at the same time
sanctioned; that is, when God as it were ratified from heaven what they had spoken
on earth. Whether therefore the prophets spoke of peace, that is, of prosperity, or of
war, famine, and pestilence, when experience proved that true which they had said,
their own authority was at the same time confirmed, as though God had shewed that
they had been sent by him.
We must also notice the word ‫באמת‬ , beamet, he says that God sent them in truth He
condemns here the boldness which impostors ever assume; for they surpass God’s
faithful servants in boasting that they have been sent. As then they were thus
insolent, and by a fallacious pretense of having been called to their office, deceived
unwary men, the Prophet adds here this clause, intimating that they were not all
sent in truth. He thus conceded some sort of a call to these unprincipled men, but yet
shewed how much they differed from God’s servants, whose call was sealed by God
himself. It follows —
ELLICOTT, "(9) The prophet which prophesieth of peace.—“Peace,” with its
Hebrew associations, includes all forms of national prosperity, and is therefore
contrasted with famine and pestilence, not less than with war. The obvious reference
to the test of a prophet’s work, as described in Deuteronomy 18:22, shows, as other
like references, the impression which that book had made on the prophet’s mind.
“The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come
about, then shall the prophet be known, that YHWH has truly sent him.”
Thus it was the prophet who prophesied peace and well-being whose prophecies
were to be seen as in doubt. Indeed they were to be seen as in such doubt that it was
only when they came into fulfilment that they could be looked on as prophecies
coming directly from YHWH. When the word actually came about, that was when
the people could know that it was YHWH who had sent such a prophet.
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It will be noted how cleverly Jeremiah had dealt with the situation He did it by
sowing doubts in the minds of the people rather than by a direct refutation which
could have raised their anger. He left them to ponder on the facts, demonstrating
thereby that he was not alone in his views whatever current prophets might be
saying, which incidentally demonstrates the high regard in which those past
prophets were held by many even at this time (as we have already seen in Jeremiah
26:18).
10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off
the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it,
BARNES, "The multitude would see in Hananiah’s act a symbol of deliverance.
CLARKE, "Then Hananiah - took the yoke - and brake it - He endeavored by
this symbolical act to persuade them of the truth of his prediction.
GILL, "Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet
Jeremiah's neck,.... Which he wore as a symbol of the subjection of Judea, and other
nations, to the king of Babylon: an impudent and insolent action this was, to take the
prophet's yoke from his neck; and the more so, as it was by the command of God that he
made it, and wore it:
and brake it; being made of wood, as it afterwards appears, and so might easily be
broken.
HENRY, "We have here an instance,
I. Of the insolence of the false prophet. To complete the affront he designed Jeremiah,
he took the yoke from off his neck which he carried as a memorial of what he had
prophesied concerning the enslaving of the nations to Nebuchadnezzar, and he broke it,
that he might give a sign of the accomplishment of this prophecy, as Jeremiah had given
of his, and might seem to have conquered him, and to have defeated the intention of his
prophecy. See how the lying spirit, in the mouth of this false prophet, mimics the
language of the Spirit of truth: Thus saith the Lord, So will I break the yoke of the king
of Babylon, not only from the neck of this nation, but from the neck of all nations,
within two full years. Whether by the force of a heated imagination Hananiah had
35

persuaded himself to believe this, or whether he knew it to be false, and only persuaded
them to believe it, does not appear; but it is plain that he speaks with abundance of
assurance. It is no new thing for lies to be fathered upon the God of truth.
II. Of the patience of the true prophet. Jeremiah quietly went his way, and when he
was reviled he reviled not again, and would not contend with one that was in the height
of his fury and in the midst of the priests and people that were violently set against him.
The reason why he went his way was not because he had nothing to answer, but because
he was willing to stay till God was pleased to furnish him with a direct and immediate
answer, which as yet he had not received. He expected that God would send a special
message to Hananiah, and he would say nothing till he had received that. I, as a deaf
man, heard not, for thou wilt hear, and thou shalt answer, Lord, for me. It may
sometimes be our wisdom rather to retreat than to contend. Currenti cede furori - Give
place unto wrath.
JAMISON, "the yoke — (Jer_27:2). Impious audacity to break what God had
appointed as a solemn pledge of the fulfillment of His word. Hence Jeremiah deigns no
reply (Jer_28:11; Mat_7:6).
K&D, "Had Hananiah been sent by the Lord, he might have been satisfied with
Jeremiah's opinion, and have contentedly awaited the issue. But instead of this, he seeks
by means of violence to secure credence for his prophesying. He takes the yoke from off
the neck of the prophet, and breaks it in pieces, as he repeats before the people his
former prediction: "Thus hath Jahveh said: Even so will I break the yoke of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within two years." -
Thereupon Jeremiah went his way without answering a word, calmly entrusting to the
Lord the vindication of the truth of His own word.
CALVIN, "It was not enough for the impostor to resist the holy servant of God to
his face, without laying sacrilegious hands on that visible symbol, by which it had
pleased God to testify that the Prophet’s message was true. For such was the
tardiness of the people, nay, their insensibility, that they could not be much moved
by words; therefore God added a symbol, for Jeremiah carried cords or bands
around his neck: and it was a sign of reproach before men, yet, in order to touch the
people, he refused not to undergo that reproach.
The band then on the neck of Jeremiah was like a sacrament; for it was a visible
sign to establish the credit of his message. And what did Hananiah do? After having
insolently inveighed against Jeremiah, and promised deliverance to the people after
two years, he violently broke and took off the cord or the band which Jeremiah had
around his neck.
We hence see how great and how impetuous is the fury of those whom the devil
impels: for when once they arrive at that degree of temerity as to dare to resist the
word of God, and, were it possible, to cast him from his own throne, they spare no
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Jeremiah 28 commentary

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Jeremiah 28 commentary