EARLY IN THE REIGN of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2This is what the LORD said to me: “Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. 3Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4Give them a message for their masters and say, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: 5With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. 6Now I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. 7All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him.
8“‘“If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I destroy it by his hand. 9So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. 11But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there, declares the LORD.”’”
12I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, “Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live. 13Why will you and your people die by the sword, famine and plague with which the LORD has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying lies to you. 15‘I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD. ‘They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.’”
16Then I said to the priests and all these people, “This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the LORD’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. 17Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18If they are prophets and have the word of the LORD, let them plead with the LORD Almighty that the furnishings remaining in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon. 19For this is what the LORD Almighty says about the pillars, the Sea, the movable stands and the other furnishings that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—21yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the LORD and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22‘They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,’ declares the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”
Original Meaning
THIS CHAPTER IS PART of a larger unit that includes chapters 28–29. It is influenced also by the narrative in chapter 26. It is particularly important to note the relationship between chapters 27 and 28 because text-critical problems in 27:1 and 28:1 have made interpretation more difficult. Chapters 27 and 28 are linked by the report of Jeremiah’s wearing a yoke (of thongs and wooden bars) as a prophetic sign that Nebuchadnezzar’s claim on Judah has been granted him by the Lord. In chapter 27 Jeremiah reports that the Lord commanded him to make a yoke and to wear it and that the Lord sent him to prophesy that Nebuchadnezzar has been granted sovereignty over nations (including Judah). Jeremiah also reports that the Lord has some sharp words for the various prophets and diviners who have prophesied differently concerning Babylonian rule (cf. ch. 13). The conflict with these prophets continues in chapters 28–29.
Readers should compare translations of 26:1; 27:1; and 28:1, along with any marginal explanations provided by the translators. Often English translations have small print or marginal notes that inform the reader that the translators have made a text-critical choice in the rendering; that is, they have chosen from different words or phrases preserved in the ancient manuscripts.
The problems for translation and interpretation of 27:1 lie in the variants preserved in Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.1 The majority of Hebrew manuscripts for 27:1 preserve the rendering “in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim … the word came to Jeremiah.” “Jehoiakim” is clearly wrong, perhaps mistakenly copied from 26:1, because Zedekiah is the Judean monarch addressed in the prophetic oracle (27:3, 12). The NIV translators have recognized the copy error and followed a “minority reading” in some Hebrew manuscripts, where the appropriate name Zedekiah is preserved.
Recognition that Zedekiah is the correct name in 27:1 solves only one of the problems for interpreting the chapter, however. Insofar as chapters 27 and 28 should be read together as a narrative witness to the work of Jeremiah in wearing a yoke, Jeremiah 28:1 also has a problem. In Hebrew this text begins, “and it happened in that year in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah …”; then the text continues, “in the fourth month of the fifth year.” The problem is that the fifth year of Zedekiah does not easily qualify as “the beginning of his reign,” nor is the “fifth month” the beginning of a year.2 Probably the phrase “beginning of the reign” (also used in 26:1) has the technical meaning of “accession year.” The phrase could perhaps fit the circumstances of 27:1–3, which narrate events in the accession or initial year of Zedekiah as monarch, but it fits poorly in 28:1.3 The more likely explanation is that the chronological headings for chapters 26–28 have become mixed during the process of transmitting the material to final written form.
A plausible solution to these difficulties is at hand if one takes the qualification of the fourth year of Zedekiah seriously in 28:1, as well as the proposal that the events of chapter 28 occur in the same year as those of chapter 27. The fourth year of Zedekiah (594/593 B.C.) coincides with a serious rebellion in the east against Babylon. If chapter 27 describes an event in the fourth year of Zedekiah, then the notation that Zedekiah and ambassadors from several neighboring states have assembled in Jerusalem (27:3) takes on significance. This conference included discussion about the possibility of a revolt against Babylon, using a political threat to Babylonian hegemony in the east as an occasion for some states west of Babylon to meet for talk. Apparently many priests, prophets, and diviners of various kinds lent their support to this anti-Babylonian movement (27:9, 16). Jeremiah’s encounter with Hananiah recorded in chapter 28, where he is still wearing the yoke mentioned in chapter 27, continues the debate among the prophets over the role Babylon will play in the Lord’s economy.
In chapter 29 one finds references to prophets among the Judean exiles in Babylon who are predicting a quick end to Babylonian hegemony. This chapter too presupposes a time after the initial Babylonian siege of Jerusalem and the taking of Jehoiachin and others into exile. In other words, a date in the fourth year of Zedekiah fits the historical context nicely for chapters 27–29.
Jeremiah’s message in chapter 27 is that God has given a limited historical sovereignty to Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. This applies to the Transjordanian states of Edom, Moab, and Ammon as well as the city-states of Tyre and Sidon, all of which are mentioned in 27:3. To oppose Babylon at this time is to oppose God’s will as Creator and Lord. In this style of presentation, Jeremiah shows himself to be a prophet to the nations (cf. 1:5).
In keeping with prophecies made elsewhere (25:13; 29:10), the end of Babylonian supremacy is also acknowledged. Babylon’s end is noted (27:7), as is God’s intent to restore the temple vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar and those of his people now in exile (27:22).4
The majority of chapter 27 concerns the work of other prophets who oppose the message of Jeremiah (27:9, 14–18). One wonders at the level of interchange between these various interpreter’s of God’s will. The events of 598/597 B.C., when Babylon came up against Judah and Jerusalem, did not quite fulfill the prophetic words of either Jeremiah or his opponents. Jeremiah’s years of proclaiming an assault on Jerusalem have proved true, but the city itself has survived. Those who prophesied “peace” have been proved wrong, but the Judean state and its capital are still intact.
Verse 9 provides an intriguing list of mediators and specialists for determining the will of the gods. Five specialists are mentioned: prophets, diviners, interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers.5 In times of threat and calamity, such people have plenty of customers. The text does not make any distinction between those practitioners who have sought the Lord’s will through their rituals and those who may have consulted another deity. All alike are rejected.
With all of the language of judgment in chapter 27, the concluding verses point to a time when God will bring back temple vessels from Babylon to Jerusalem (27:16–22). Babylon did not take them away because God was impotent—Nebuchadnezzar is God’s servant, not vanquisher. The vessels will be returned when God is ready. This concluding comment makes for a transition to the account of Jeremiah’s encounter with Hananiah in chapter 28. There too the concern is ostensibly about the temple vessels and related matters, but the deeper issue remains the same.
Bridging Contexts
WORD AND DEED. Chapter 27 records two of the favorite devices of the Old Testament prophets: a word from the Lord and a symbolic act to embody the message. Word and deed go together in prophetic ministry, whether the deed is a sign of a particular message (as here in chs. 27–28) or whether the life of the messenger more broadly speaking is congruent with the message. This is a pattern that both the leaders of God’s people and the people themselves should recognize. A consistency of word and deed do not guarantee the authenticity of a message, but it is a valuable indicator of commitment.
Jeremiah is in good company. Isaiah and Ezekiel combined word and deed on several occasions. Prophetic ministry requires a commitment of one’s whole life, for even personal details such as marriage, children, and grief over personal loss become vehicles for prophetic proclamation.6 This is true of Jeremiah’s prayers. His “confessions” in chapters 11–20 are vehicles for carrying out his commission as prophet to the nations, since their place in the prophetic book means they too are part of the instructional package. The symbolic acts of prophets are part of an incarnational style of ministry, much like that of Jesus, whose words and deeds embodied his message and served as signs of his true identity.
God’s sovereignty over the nations. Chapter 27 is set in the broad biblical context of God’s sovereignty over creation and history. The claim is not that people and places are puppets, but that in creation and through the historical process God is working out his purposes of judgment, refinement, transformation, and redemption. Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon are God’s servants, as were the Assyrians before and Cyrus and the Persians after. Rome too served God in various ways, as the New Testament writers make clear. None of these historical “servants” of God can boast of moral superiority or freedom from the judgment that the historical process will ultimately bring on them. Nebuchadnezzar will have his day; even the beasts of the field are his (27:5–6)! But God also has his day, when Nebuchadnezzar eats straw like an animal and when the great Babylon eventually falls (Dan. 4:28–33).
Contemporary Significance
GOD’S PRIMARY GOAL. People instinctively pull for underdogs. In political terms it is easy to be sympathetic towards those groups who have had little autonomy and whose voices are not often heard. Since the birth of the United States came about as political underdogs fought for more autonomy and religious freedom, it is easy for most North American Christians to sympathize with Zedekiah and the ambassadors from neighboring states. Indeed, most of the world’s peoples understand the yearning of the Judeans and the others as they rebel against foreign domination. No more tribute! No more humiliation! Surely God wants them to be free!
A close reading of chapter 27 (and 28) reveals that God did want his people free—but free from the enslavement to sin and not just free from Babylonian hegemony. The issue first was timing (27:7), but timing pointed to a larger issue: God’s relationship to a recalcitrant people. It is a process that the prophet underscores in his words. God intends to judge the people for their iniquities, to refine them through the process of political servitude, and then to use them as instructional examples to later generations of his people. This is a sobering thought, but Jeremiah’s yoke does not just represent Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon; it also represents God’s judgment on Judah and the neighboring states. Even more radically, the yoke represents the will of God himself to constrain his people.
A modern application of this message must be quick to deny that all peoples who languish under oppressive regimes or that all individuals who suffer emotional and physical exile are bound in these conditions by God’s judgment. Scripture gives no blanket warrant for such a claim. Some people (including some Christians) find unpalatable any thought of oppression and exile as God’s refining judgment. Scripture gives no warrant for that claim either. The issues with which Jeremiah 27 are concerned are those of God’s timing and the larger design of his historical purposes in forming a people for himself. It is simply true that God’s timing is often not “our” timing and God’s ways are not our ways (Isa. 55:8). What Jeremiah calls his contemporaries to believe is that their first impulse is wrong. They have yet to see the error of their ways, and until God has dealt with that, there will be no successful liberation from political oppression or anything else.
It is ironic that the prophets and priests who oppose Jeremiah are so concerned with the temple vessels. They are so concerned with God’s honor, yet they have not seen how Judah’s covenantal failures have offended God’s honor and spurned his love. They are convinced, furthermore, that God will act quickly to restore “his” vessels. “In good time,” is Jeremiah’s reply. Yes, God will restore the temple vessels, but God is more concerned with the fate of his people and the refining judgment they must undergo. Ultimately God will bring a merciful end to Babylonian supremacy and in the process will restore his people. His goal is (and remains!) to make his people fit vessels for his service, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9).
Over the course of centuries, any number of councils and high-level meetings have convened to influence the direction of God’s people. Some have been productive; others have not. Just as Jeremiah wandered about with his yoke, so various protesters and lobbyists, preachers and prophets stand to proclaim their message. It is not always easy to tell the genuine article from the counterfeit, when considering their causes. One motive, however, remains constant: God seeks a holy people who will trust him with their lives.