Jeremiah 22

The Kings of Judah

Jeremiah is sent to the palace with a choice for the house of David, then names three kings in turn, and sets beside them a father who judged the cause of the poor.

No date is given. Verses 1–9 follow the question King Zedekiah sent in chapter 21 (597–586 B.C. by the Bible Dictionary); verses 10–30 speak of Shallum (Jehoahaz), Jehoiakim (608–597), and Coniah (Jehoiachin), who reigned before him Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Jeremiah 22 is a run of short oracles for the royal house, and it gives no date.

Jeremiah 22 is a run of short oracles for the royal house, and it gives no date. Verses 1–9 are the last part of Jeremiah's answer to Zedekiah in chapter 21, the part spoken to the house of David: if the king and his people “would turn back to righteousness, the throne of David would be preserved,” but if not, it would “become a desolation.” Chapters 21–23 belong together as prophecies “on pastors or rulers of the people, with promise of the king Messiah (23:1–6).”

Verses 10–30 then name three kings, one after another: Shallum, who is Jehoahaz, taken to Egypt after three months; Jehoiakim; and Coniah, who is Jehoiachin, taken to Babylon. All three reigned before Zedekiah, so the chapter, like the book, is not in order of time.

The whole matter fits in a sentence: “David's throne stands or falls according to the obedience of the kings—The judgments of the Lord rest upon the kings of Judah.”

The thread through the chapter

Jeremiah 22 holds the house of David to one charge: judge the cause of the poor.

Jeremiah 22 holds the house of David to one charge: judge the cause of the poor.

The charge is set at the start, in the Lord's word to the king: “Execute ye judgment and righteousness… do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow” (verse 3). What follows is the Lord's judgment on the kings who held the throne. Shallum is gone and will not return (verses 10–12). Jehoiakim built a large house of cedar from unpaid labor and is set beside his father, who “judged the cause of the poor and needy” (verses 13–19). That is where the Lord defines knowing Him: “was not this to know me?” (verse 16). Coniah, though he were the Lord's signet, is pulled off, and none of his line will rule from David's throne (verses 24–30).

The chapter keeps returning to cedar: the cedars of Lebanon, the cedar paneling, the nest in the cedars. The threat of verse 7 undoes the display. The “choice cedars” are cut down and thrown into the fire, and a king who thought cedar made him a king (verse 15) is left with none.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–9

A choice for the house of David

In plain words

The Lord says: Go down to the king's house and say to the king of Judah, his servants, and his people, “Do what is just and right. Rescue the person who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor. Do not wrong or abuse the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood here. If you really do this, kings of David's line will keep coming through these gates in chariots and on horses. But if you will not listen, I swear by myself that this house will become a ruin.” The royal house was like Gilead and the top of Lebanon to the Lord, yet He will make it a wilderness and send destroyers to cut down its choice cedars. Many nations will pass by and ask why the Lord has done this to the great city, and the answer will be that they abandoned the covenant and served other gods.

1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

Context #

A promise with a condition

The promise that David's line would keep coming through the palace gates was conditional, and Jeremiah says so at the door of the palace.

The promise that David's line would keep coming through the palace gates was conditional, and Jeremiah says so at the door of the palace. The charge of verse 3, to judge rightly and protect the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and not to “shed innocent blood in this place,” is the same list the Lord gave the people at the gate of the temple (Jer. 7:2, Jer. 7:6), which the Church edition's footnote points out. The king is held to what the people are.

The condition needed saying because many in Jerusalem believed the opposite. What has been called Zion theology held that the Lord “covenanted with King David and his descendants that their royal line would last forever,” a promise “seen as an unconditional covenant.” The promise itself is in 2 Sam. 7:8–16. Some “may have used Zion theology as an excuse for not repenting.” Jeremiah's word is that “the Lord would only protect the Davidic monarchy and Jerusalem when they were righteous.” Verse 4 is the “if,” and verse 5 is the other half of it.

Sources: Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture Central, “How Can the Old Testament Covenants Help Us Understand the Book of Mormon?”, KnoWhy #363.

5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

Related Scriptures #

An oath sworn by the Lord Himself

When the Lord swears, He swears by Himself, because no one is greater: “when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself” (Heb. 6:13).

When the Lord swears, He swears by Himself, because no one is greater: “when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself” (Heb. 6:13). Here the oath carries a threat instead of a promise: if the king will not hear, “this house shall become a desolation.” Amos has the same oath of judgment: “The Lord God hath sworn by himself… I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces” (Amos 6:8).

The Church edition's footnotes connect “desolation” to the Lord's later words over the temple: “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:38), and to Jer. 12:7. The footnotes link the verses; they don't say Jesus is quoting this chapter.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.

Imagery #

Gilead and Lebanon

Gilead and Lebanon are the finest things Israel knew, and the Lord says the royal house is that to Him.

Gilead and Lebanon are the finest things Israel knew, and the Lord says the royal house is that to Him. “Gilead symbolized the richest soil Israel knew, and Lebanon the highest mountain and the finest trees.” The praise sets up the sentence that follows it: yet He will make it a wilderness.

The image comes back in verse 23, where those who “make” their “nest in the cedars” are the leaders of Judah. “Because of their loftiness and beauty, the cedars of Lebanon often were used as a symbol of pride. Here they are symbols of Judah's leaders,” and the verse is “somewhat caustic”: the Lord asks how gracious they will be when the pains of labor come on them.

Sources: Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).

7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.

8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?

9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

Related Scriptures #

The question every passer-by asks

The question in verses 8–9 and its answer are older than Jeremiah. Deuteronomy says that all the nations would ask, “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land?”

The question in verses 8–9 and its answer are older than Jeremiah. Deuteronomy says that all the nations would ask, “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land?” and would be told, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt” (Deut. 29:24–25). Kings has the same exchange about the temple: “Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house?” (1 Kgs. 9:8–9).

Jeremiah gives the answer in nearly the same words. The covenant the people have forsaken is the one the Lord “made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,” and the gods they served instead are the ones named in verse 9.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Verses 10–12

Do not weep for the dead

In plain words

Do not weep for the dead, and do not mourn him. Weep for the one who is taken away, because he will never come back or see his homeland. The Lord says of Shallum son of Josiah, who became king after his father and has left this place: he will never return. He will die in the place where they took him, and he will not see this land again.

10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

Context #

Weep not for the dead

The dead is Josiah and the one who goes away is his son Shallum, also called Jehoahaz.

The dead is Josiah and the one who goes away is his son Shallum, also called Jehoahaz. “Weep not for the dead” refers to Josiah, “who died of a wound received in the battle of Megiddo”; “weep sore for him that goeth away” refers to “Shallum, or Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah and successor to the throne, who was carried away to Egypt.”

Kings supplies the events. After Josiah's death the people of the land made Jehoahaz king; he reigned three months before Pharaoh-nechoh put him “in bands” and later “took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there” (2 Kgs. 23:30–34). Shallum is the name Chronicles lists among Josiah's sons (1 Chr. 3:15).

The command to weep for the exile, not the dead, is a point about the people: “The people were not to mourn for their lost kings. Rather, they should mourn the impending tragedy and turn aside from their evil ways.”

11 For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:

12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.

Verses 13–19

Woe to the builder of cedar houses

In plain words

Woe to the man who builds his house by injustice and its upper rooms by wrong, who makes his neighbor work for nothing and does not pay him. He says, “I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,” and he cuts windows in it, paneled in cedar and painted red. Does using more cedar than others make you a king? Your father ate and drank and did what was just and right, and it went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and then it went well. “Is that not what it means to know me?” But your eyes and heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, and on oppression and violence. So the Lord says of Jehoiakim son of Josiah: no one will mourn him. He will be given the burial of a donkey, dragged and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.

13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

Context #

A palace built on unpaid labor

Jehoiakim, Josiah's son, is accused of building his house with labor he did not pay for.

Jehoiakim, Josiah's son, is accused of building his house with labor he did not pay for. Pharaoh-nechoh had made him king in place of Jehoahaz, and he reigned “as an Egyptian vassal” who “exacted heavy taxes from his people for Egypt.” Kings says he “exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation” (2 Kgs. 23:35). Jeremiah's charge is a separate and further one: that he made his neighbors work and did not pay them. The chapter gives no figures, so the size of the building and the length of the labor are not known.

James brings the same charge: “the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth” (James 5:4), a verse the Church edition's footnote links to this one. Jeremiah's rebuke is of “his self-centered life and his injustices to his people,” which were “particularly evident when compared to the righteous deeds of his father, Josiah.”

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Enrichment G: Babylonia and the Conquest of Judah, Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).

14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

Language #

Competing in cedar

“Closest thyself in cedar” is a hard phrase in English, and the Hebrew verb behind it is about competing.

“Closest thyself in cedar” is a hard phrase in English, and the Hebrew verb behind it is about competing. The lexicon renders the verse, “because thou strivest eagerly (to excel) in cedar,” and lists the same verb in Jer. 12:5, “hotly contend (in a race) with the horses.” So the question is nearer to “Shalt thou reign because thou strivest to outdo others in cedar?” On this reading Jehoiakim thought that outdoing others in cedar made a king.

The Lord's answer sets his father beside him: Josiah “did eat and drink,” as any man does, and “do judgment and justice.” The contrast the verse draws is between doing justice and competing in building.

Sources: Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.

16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.

Latter-day Prophets #

To know the Lord

The Lord defines knowing Him by what Josiah did: “He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him.”

The Lord defines knowing Him by what Josiah did: “He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him.” The father is the one the Lord names, and 2 Kings says of him that “like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses” (2 Kgs. 23:25). In the verse, knowing the Lord is defined by how the poor were judged.

President S. Dilworth Young, of the First Council of the Seventy, spoke of the calling every member shares, the “same responsibility as a result of entering into the waters of baptism and making the covenant,” and quoted verses 3 and 16 among “some necessary obligations in the words of the prophets.” Later in the talk he adds that to care for the poor “is one of the first and early obligations.”

Sources: S. Dilworth Young, “By Love, Serve One Another”, general conference, Oct. 1971. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

Context #

The burial of an ass

“An ass's burial” means being left unburied in the open field. Jeremiah repeats the prophecy in Jer. 36:30: “his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the…

“An ass's burial” means being left unburied in the open field. Jeremiah repeats the prophecy in Jer. 36:30: “his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.”

How it came to pass is not recorded. Kings says only that “Jehoiakim slept with his fathers” (2 Kgs. 24:6), while Chronicles says Nebuchadnezzar “bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon” (2 Chr. 36:6). The prophecy “probably was fulfilled when Jehoiakim was taken captive during Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem.” One reading takes “slept with his fathers” as saying “merely departure from this life, without saying anything as to the manner of the death.”

Sources: Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.

Verses 20–23

Cry from Lebanon, Bashan, and the passes

In plain words

Go up to Lebanon and cry out; raise your voice in Bashan and cry from the mountain passes, for all your lovers have been crushed. I spoke to you when you were secure, and you said, “I will not listen.” That has been your way from your youth. The wind will shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated for all your evil. You who live in Lebanon, nested in the cedars, how you will groan when the pains come on you, like a woman in labor.

20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.

22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

Language #

The wind will shepherd the shepherds

In verse 22 “pastors” means shepherds, the people's rulers, and the verb is the same root: the wind will “shepherd” the shepherds.

In verse 22 “pastors” means shepherds, the people's rulers, and the verb is the same root: the wind will “shepherd” the shepherds. One reading takes the word-play to describe a dry east wind that grazes the field bare, so that the storm about to break on Judah will “sweep away the shepherds.” The verb means to “pasture, tend, graze”; its participle, “shepherd,” is used figuratively “of ruler”; and with the wind as its subject here it means “drive them away.” The verse turns the word on those who ruled.

The shepherds are not only the kings, “but all its leaders, the authorities generally,” and the “lovers” are Judah's political allies who “go into captivity” with them. Chapter 23 opens with the same figure: “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” (Jer. 23:1).

Sources: Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.

23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

Verses 24–30

Coniah, the signet pulled off

In plain words

“As I live,” says the Lord, “even if Coniah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off. I will give you to those who want your life, to those you fear, to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and you will die there. You will never return to the land you long for.” Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot, a vessel no one wants? Why are he and his children hurled out into a land they do not know? O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord! The Lord says: record this man as childless, a man who will not succeed in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will succeed in sitting on David's throne or ruling in Judah again.

24 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

Context #

Coniah and the signet

Coniah is Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim's son. The Bible Dictionary says he is “also known as Jeconiah, Joachin, Coniah,” and Jeremiah uses the short form here.

Coniah is Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim's son. The Bible Dictionary says he is “also known as Jeconiah, Joachin, Coniah,” and Jeremiah uses the short form here. His uncle took the throne after him under the name Zedekiah.

The fate in verses 25–27 came true. Nebuchadnezzar carried Jehoiachin to Babylon “and the king's mother” with him (2 Kgs. 24:15), the pair of verse 26. He did not return; he was released from prison there and ate at the Babylonian king's table “all the days of his life” (Jer. 52:31–34).

Sources: “Jehoiachin”, Bible Dictionary. Enrichment G: Babylonia and the Conquest of Judah, Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Imagery #

The signet

A signet is a seal or ring, “valued both as a symbol of power and as a jewel.”

A signet is a seal or ring, “valued both as a symbol of power and as a jewel.” Pressed into wax or clay, it left its owner's mark, and signets were used “to signify authority.” To be the signet on the Lord's right hand is to be the one who carries His authority. The verse says that even if Coniah were that, He would pull him off, as one would remove a ring.

So the verse speaks of the authority of the Davidic king as the Lord's to give and take back. The image does not end here: Hag. 2:23 takes it up again for Coniah's grandson (Matt. 1:12 and the note on verse 30).

Sources: Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). Haggai 1–2; Zechariah 1–4; 7–14, Scripture Helps: Old Testament. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.

28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

Context #

Childless, but not without sons

“Childless” is explained by the verse's own second half: “no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David.”

“Childless” is explained by the verse's own second half: “no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David.” Coniah had sons (1 Chr. 3:17). One reading takes “write” as an entry in the family registers and observes that the phrase “does not exclude the possibility of his having sons; it merely implies that none of them should obtain the throne.” The throne did not pass to a son: his uncle succeeded him.

The summons just before it, “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD” (verse 29), has a threefold repetition that “marks the following sentence as of high importance.” The judgment of a king is announced to the whole land. The Church edition's footnote connects it to D&C 1:2, “the voice of the Lord is unto all men.”

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub. Enrichment G: Babylonia and the Conquest of Judah, Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).

Witness of Christ #

From Jechonias to Jesus

Jeremiah closes David's throne to Coniah's descendants, yet Matthew's genealogy of Jesus passes through him: “Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel” (Matt. 1:12).

Jeremiah closes David's throne to Coniah's descendants, yet Matthew's genealogy of Jesus passes through him: “Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel” (Matt. 1:12). The signet of verse 24 returns in a later oracle. Hag. 2:23 says to Zerubbabel, “will I take thee… and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee.” Zerubbabel was Jehoiachin's grandson and a descendant of David, so the signet imagery Jeremiah used against Coniah returns for his grandson. The Haggai verse “was likely a message that Zerubbabel had regained the Lord's favor that his grandfather lost. This restored Zerubbabel's connection to David's royal line.”

The angel's word to Mary is that “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32). The sources read here do not explain how Jesus' line relates to the words of verse 30, and this note does not try to.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Haggai 1–2; Zechariah 1–4; 7–14, Scripture Helps: Old Testament.

Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 22

Jeremiah 22 describes the kind of king David's throne was meant to have, and it shows three who fell short. Chapters 21–23 belong together, “on pastors or rulers of the people, with promise of the king Messiah (23:1–6).” In chapter 23 the Lord says, “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jer. 23:5). The same two words are in verse 15, where Josiah did “judgment and justice.” The Branch is named “The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jer. 23:6). The chapter's question, whether a king did “judgment and justice,” is answered in chapter 23 by a King who will “execute” them.

Worth exploring next

Jer. 21 and Jer. 23:1–8, the question put to Jeremiah and the promise of the righteous Branch that follows.
2 Kgs. 23–24 and 2 Chr. 36:1–10, the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin.
Hag. 2:20–23 and Matt. 1:1–17, the signet restored to Zerubbabel and the genealogy of Jesus.
The Church's student manual chapter on the Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52), for the history of these kings.

Sources & further reading

Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
Enrichment G: Babylonia and the Conquest of Judah, Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
“Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
“Jehoiachin”, Bible Dictionary.
The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.
Scripture Central, “How Can the Old Testament Covenants Help Us Understand the Book of Mormon?”, KnoWhy #363.
S. Dilworth Young, “By Love, Serve One Another”, general conference, Oct. 1971.
Haggai 1–2; Zechariah 1–4; 7–14, Scripture Helps: Old Testament.

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