Jeremiah 26

Thou Shalt Surely Die

Jeremiah repeats his warning in the temple court, is seized and tried for it, and is acquitted when the elders remember Micah; the death of the prophet Urijah shows how near it came.

The beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (608–597 B.C. by the Bible Dictionary), verses 1–19; the account of Urijah (verses 20–23) has no date Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

This chapter is a trial: the prophet “is arraigned, tried, and then acquitted.”

This chapter is a trial: the prophet “is arraigned, tried, and then acquitted.” It opens in the “beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim” (verse 1), so it comes before the events of chapter 25 even though it follows them; the book of Jeremiah “is not arranged chronologically,” and chapter 25 dates itself to Jehoiakim's fourth year.

Jeremiah is told to stand in the temple court, where worshippers from all Judah had gathered, and repeat the Lord's warning in full. The warning is conditional (turn, and the Lord will relent), but its alternative is that the temple will become “like Shiloh” (verse 6). The priests, the prophets, and the people seize him and demand his death. The princes come from the palace to judge the case, Jeremiah answers, and the elders cite an earlier prophet, Micah, who said the same and lived.

The chapter then adds a second case that ended differently: Urijah, who prophesied as Jeremiah did, was hunted down and killed by the king. That fact “helps explain why the judgment was so certain in chapter 25.” Later, in the first year of King Zedekiah, Lehi preached in the same city and the people “sought his life” (1 Ne. 1:4, 1 Ne. 1:20).

The thread through the chapter

The chapter asks what happens when a people is told the truth about itself.

The chapter asks what happens when a people is told the truth about itself. The answer is given twice, and the two cases are set side by side. In the temple court, Jeremiah is arrested, but the princes and the people reason their way to the right verdict: he “hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God” (verse 16). Then, as if to say that this was not the only possible outcome, the chapter tells of Urijah, whom the king killed for the same words (verses 20–23). Jeremiah escapes in the end only because “the hand of Ahikam” was with him (verse 24).

Under both cases lies the same offer. The Lord says He will turn away the evil “if so be they will hearken” (verse 3), and Jeremiah repeats it before his judges (verse 13). Elders in Jerusalem remembered that a king once listened to a warning and the city was spared (verses 18–19). The chapter shows a city deciding, in front of its own temple, whether to treat a warning as a crime or as mercy.

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

Verses 1–6

The word in the temple court

In plain words

At the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign the Lord told Jeremiah to stand in the temple court and speak to everyone who came from the cities of Judah to worship, giving every word and leaving nothing out. Perhaps they will listen and each turn from his evil way, and then the Lord will change His mind about the disaster He plans. Jeremiah is to say: if you will not listen to my law, or to the prophets I keep sending early and often, I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse for all the nations.

1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,

Context #

Early in Jehoiakim's reign

The chapter is dated to the start of Jehoiakim's reign (608–597 B.C.), though it gives no year more exact than “the beginning.”

The chapter is dated to the start of Jehoiakim's reign (608–597 B.C.), though it gives no year more exact than “the beginning.” That wording means only that the speech belongs to “the earlier period” of the reign. The book is not in time order: chapter 25 is dated to the fourth year of the same king, so this scene, though placed after it, happened first.

The speech repeats the threat of Jer. 7:12–14, where the Lord likewise points to Shiloh. Some have held that chapter 26 is the story behind the speech given in chapter 7. Another view is that Jeremiah “frequently held discourses in the temple” and may have used the warning of Shiloh more than once. The text does not say, and nothing in this chapter depends on the answer.

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

2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:

Language #

Diminish not a word

“Diminish not a word” means that Jeremiah must deliver the whole message, including its threat, even though it is dangerous.

“Diminish not a word” means that Jeremiah must deliver the whole message, including its threat, even though it is dangerous. On one reading, the Lord does not want the warning softened or shortened: Jeremiah is “to proclaim the word of the Lord in its full unconditional severity, to move the people, if possible, to repentance.” The command is the same one given at his call: “whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak” (Jer. 1:7).

Before the princes, Jeremiah stands by “all the words that ye have heard” (verse 12).

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.

3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.

Language #

The Lord relents when people repent

The Lord's “repent” in verses 3, 13, and 19 means that He will change the decreed outcome when the people change, not that He regrets a mistake.

The Lord's “repent” in verses 3, 13, and 19 means that He will change the decreed outcome when the people change, not that He regrets a mistake. The Church edition's footnote glosses the Hebrew “repent” in verse 3 as “relent; i.e., change the decreed punishment because of their changed behavior.”

The Joseph Smith Translation makes the point in the text itself. Verse 13 becomes “obey the voice of the Lord your God, and repent, and the Lord will turn away the evil that he hath pronounced against you,” and the appendix summarizes it: “The Lord does not repent; men repent.” The JST reading of verse 19 follows: “beseech the Lord and repent? and the Lord turned away the evil.” So the offer in this chapter is real: the judgment is conditional, and what it depends on is the people's turning.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith Translation, Jeremiah 26, Gospel Library.

4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,

5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;

6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

Context #

Like Shiloh

Shiloh was the earlier home of the Lord's tabernacle, and the threat is that the temple will share its fate.

Shiloh was the earlier home of the Lord's tabernacle, and the threat is that the temple will share its fate. Shiloh lay in Ephraim; “the tabernacle was here during the greater part of the period of the Judges, and the place continued to be the religious center of the nation” until the Ark was lost in battle. The Lord's meaning is that “just as He allowed the tabernacle to be desecrated by the Philistines, so would He allow the temple to be desecrated by the Babylonians. And just as Shiloh was leveled for its wickedness, so would Jerusalem be destroyed.”

The temple's name did not protect it. In Jer. 7:14 the Lord says He will treat “this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust,” as He treated Shiloh. It is this line that the accusers throw back at Jeremiah (verse 9).

Sources: “Shiloh”, Bible Dictionary. 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.

Verses 7–11

Arrest and accusation

In plain words

The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah say this in the temple. As soon as he finished, they seized him and said, “You will die for this! Why did you prophesy in the Lord's name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city empty?” A crowd gathered around him. When the officials of Judah heard, they came up from the palace and sat at the New Gate of the temple. The priests and prophets told them and the people, “This man deserves to die. You heard him prophesy against this city.”

7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.

8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house.

Context #

A trial at the new gate

The scene is a trial, with accusers, judges, and a defendant: Jeremiah is “arraigned, tried, and then acquitted.”

The scene is a trial, with accusers, judges, and a defendant: Jeremiah is “arraigned, tried, and then acquitted.” The priests and prophets seize him (verse 8) and accuse him (verse 11), and the people gather round. The princes of Judah come up from the king's house and take their seats in the entry of the new gate of the temple, where the case is heard. The new gate is also where Baruch will later read Jeremiah's scroll (Jer. 36:10).

The irony is that leaders sought his death although his message “still left some hope for deliverance through repentance.”

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeremiah 25–26: Rejecting Prophets Leads to Captivity, Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide.

11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.

Verses 12–15

Jeremiah's defense

In plain words

Jeremiah said to the officials and the people, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and city everything you have heard. Now change your ways and listen to the Lord your God, and He will turn away the disaster He has announced. As for me, I am in your hands. Do what seems good and right to you. But know this: if you kill me, you bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on all who live in it, because the Lord truly sent me to say all this to you.”

12 Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.

14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.

15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

Related Scriptures #

Innocent blood

Jeremiah answers his accusers as Abinadi answers King Noah. The message of verses 14–15, like Abinadi's, is “Do what you will, my word stands.

Jeremiah answers his accusers as Abinadi answers King Noah. The message of verses 14–15, like Abinadi's, is “Do what you will, my word stands. If you choose to kill me, you will shed innocent blood, but you will not do away with my words.” Compare Abinadi: “I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimony against you. And if ye slay me ye will shed innocent blood” (Mosiah 17:10).

Jeremiah's reply has two parts, and the first is not about himself. He tells the court again to “amend your ways” (verse 13), and only then, “I am in your hand” (verse 14). He does not defend himself by arguing that he is right; he restates that the Lord sent him (verse 15), and leaves the verdict to 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). The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Verses 16–19

Acquittal

In plain words

The officials and all the people said to the priests and prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” Some of the elders of the land stood and reminded the assembly that Micah of Moresheth had prophesied under Hezekiah that Zion would be plowed like a field. Did Hezekiah and Judah put him to death? Did Hezekiah not fear the Lord and seek His favor, and the Lord turned away the disaster? “We are about to bring a great disaster on ourselves.”

16 Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.

17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,

18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

Context #

Micah and Hezekiah

Micah of Moresheth is the earlier prophet whose case the elders recall, and the quotation in verse 18 is from Micah 3:12, where the same words are written: “Zion shall be plowed…

Micah of Moresheth is the earlier prophet whose case the elders recall, and the quotation in verse 18 is from Micah 3:12, where the same words are written: “Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.” He was “a native of Moresheth Gath” who “prophesied under Hezekiah.”

The elders' argument is that a king once heard the same warning and answered it with fear and prayer: “did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil.” In the JST he “beseech[es] the Lord and repent[s]” (verse 19). On one reading, Micah and the books of Kings and Chronicles do not themselves say that Hezekiah prayed because of Micah's words; the elders “combined” the two. Either way, their conclusion is plain, and the JST spells it out: “Thus by putting Jeremiah to death we might procure great evil against our souls.”

Sources: “Micah”, Bible Dictionary. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith Translation, Jeremiah 26, Gospel Library. 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.

19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.

Verses 20–24

Urijah, and Ahikam's protection

In plain words

Another man, Urijah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim, also prophesied in the Lord's name against the city and land, in the same words as Jeremiah. When King Jehoiakim, with his officers and officials, heard what he said, the king sought to kill him. Urijah heard, was afraid, and fled to Egypt. Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some men to Egypt. They brought Urijah back to the king, who had him killed with a sword and his body thrown into the common graveyard. But Ahikam son of Shaphan stood with Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

20 And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:

Context #

Urijah

Urijah is a prophet known only from this passage: “That this is the only account there is of Urijah and his ministry suggests that there were probably many prophets of whom we know nothing.”

Urijah is a prophet known only from this passage: “That this is the only account there is of Urijah and his ministry suggests that there were probably many prophets of whom we know nothing.” He came from Kirjath-jearim and prophesied “according to all the words of Jeremiah” (verse 20).

His case shows what kind of king Jehoiakim was. Urijah “fled, and went into Egypt,” but Egypt “offered him no asylum”: Jehoiakim's men brought him back and the king killed him himself. Elnathan, who led the party (verse 22), appears again among the princes when Jeremiah's scroll is read; there he and others plead with the king not to burn it, “but he would not hear them” (Jer. 36:25).

21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;

Related Scriptures #

Lehi's Jerusalem

Urijah's death shows that the threat to Lehi was real. Nephi writes that the people “sought his life, that they might take it away” (1 Ne. 1:20); Urijah “had earlier been executed…

Urijah's death shows that the threat to Lehi was real. Nephi writes that the people “sought his life, that they might take it away” (1 Ne. 1:20); Urijah “had earlier been executed by King Jehoiakim for the same teachings,” while Lehi “was spared.” Nephi dates his father's call to the first year of Zedekiah, and says that “many prophets” were “prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Ne. 1:4). Urijah and Jeremiah belong to that generation of prophets, who “warned the people about the impending destruction of Jerusalem if they would not repent.”

Nephi also says that the people of Jerusalem had cast Jeremiah “into prison” (1 Ne. 7:14). This chapter is not that occasion: here Jeremiah “was not imprisoned,” though he “was taken, tried, and narrowly escaped punishment.” When the imprisonment Nephi knew of took place is an open question.

Sources: Scripture Central, “How Did Jeremiah’s and Lehi’s Ministries Reflect One Another?”, KnoWhy #650. Scripture Central, “How Could Nephi Have Known about Jeremiah’s Imprisonment?”, KnoWhy #463. Scripture Central, “Who Were the “Many Prophets” in Jerusalem During Lehi’s Time?”, KnoWhy #441. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

22 And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.

23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

Context #

Ahikam

Ahikam was a protector in the court, and without him Jeremiah would probably have died.

Ahikam was a protector in the court, and without him Jeremiah would probably have died. “Verse 24 implies that Jeremiah, although acquitted, would likely have suffered Urijah's fate at the hands of the populace had it not been for Ahikam, who protected him.” The acquittal by the princes did not make the crowd safe.

Ahikam is one of the men King Josiah sent to inquire about the book found in the temple (2 Kgs. 22:12). His family's friendship runs on in the book: after Jerusalem falls, the Babylonians commit Jeremiah to “Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan” (Jer. 39:14).

Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 26

The Lord Jesus names what this chapter shows happening to Urijah and nearly to Jeremiah: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee” (Matt. 23:37). He tells the city that its house “is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). Jeremiah's warning came with an offer: if the people “repent,” the Lord “will turn away the evil” (JST Jer. 26:13). Centuries later Nephi the son of Helaman appeals to Jeremiah, “that same prophet who testified of the destruction of Jerusalem,” as a witness that the Son of God will come “according to his prophecy” (Hel. 8:20).

Worth exploring next

Jer. 7:1–15 is the temple sermon with the same threat of Shiloh; Jer. 36 is the next time Jeremiah's words are carried to the king and the princes.
Mosiah 17:1–10 tells how Abinadi answers his judges; 1 Ne. 1:18–20 tells the threats against Lehi.
Micah 3:9–12 is the prophecy the elders quote.

This chapter elsewhere in scripture

Mosiah 17:9–10 — Abinadi's words to King Noah's priests match Jeremiah's answer to his judges in verses 14–15.
1 Ne. 1:18–20 — Lehi's preaching in Jerusalem brings threats on his life, as Urijah's preaching had cost him his.

Sources & further reading

“Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
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.
The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Joseph Smith Translation, Jeremiah 26, Gospel Library.
“Shiloh”, Bible Dictionary.
Jeremiah 25–26: Rejecting Prophets Leads to Captivity, Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide.
“Micah”, Bible Dictionary.
Scripture Central, “Who Were the “Many Prophets” in Jerusalem During Lehi’s Time?”, KnoWhy #441.
Scripture Central, “How Could Nephi Have Known about Jeremiah’s Imprisonment?”, KnoWhy #463.
Scripture Central, “How Did Jeremiah’s and Lehi’s Ministries Reflect One Another?”, KnoWhy #650.

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