Jeremiah 26:1-3
1The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ▼ at the beginning of the reign ▼▼ It is often thought that the term here is equivalent to a technical term in Akkadian (reshsharruti) which refers to the part of the year remaining from the death or deposing of the previous king until the beginning of the calendar year when the new king officially ascended the throne. In this case it would refer to the part of the year between September, 609 b.c. when Jehoiakim was placed on the throne as a puppet king by Pharaoh Necho (2 Kgs 23:34–35) and April, 608 b.c. when he would have been officially celebrated as king. However, it will be suggested below in conjunction with the textual problems in 27:1 and 28:1 that the term does not necessarily refer to this period.
of Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah. 2The Lord said, “Go stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. ▼ Speak out to all the people who are coming from the towns of Judah to worship in the Lord’s temple. Tell them everything I command you to tell them. Do not leave out a single word! 3Maybe they will pay attention and each of them will stop living the evil way they do. ▼▼ Heb “will turn from his wicked way.”
If they do that, then I will forgo destroying them ▼ ▼▼ The Lord is being consistent in the application of the principle laid down in Jer 18:7–8 that reformation of character will result in the withdrawal of the punishment of “uprooting, tearing down, destroying.” His prophecies of doom are conditional threats, open to change with change in behavior.
as I had intended to do because of the wicked things they have been doing. ▼▼ Heb “because of the wickedness of their deeds.”
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