Jeremiah 22:19

Jer 22:19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

Ver. 19. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass.] His corpse shall be cast out, like carrion, into some bycorner. A just hand of God upon this wicked one, that he who had made so many to weep, should have none to weep over him; he who had such a stately house in Jerusalem, should not have a grave to house his carcase in: sed insepulta sepultura elatus, {a} as Cicero phraseth it; but without the ordinary honour of burial, should be cast out, or thrown into a ditch or a dunghill, to be devoured by the beasts of the earth and fowls of heaven. Our Richard II, for his exactions to maintain a great court and favourites, lost his kingdom, was starved to death at Pomfret Castle, and scarcely afforded common burial. King Stephen was interred in Faversham monastery; but since, his body, for the value of the lead wherein it was coffined, was cast into river. Let great ones so live, as that they meet not in the end with the death of a dog, the burial of an ass, and the epitaph of an ox; such as Aristotle calleth that of Sardanapalus -

“ταυτ εχω, Eφαγον και εφυβρισα, ”& c.

Or that of Pope Alexander VI and his Lucrece -

“ Hospes abi: iacet hic et scelus et vitium. ”

{a} Philippic i.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22:19 Jehoiakim died in disgrace (see study note on 2 Kgs 24:6).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Not honorably among his fathers, but as carrions are cast in a hole, because their stink should not infect, read 2 Kings 24:9. Josephus Antiquities 10:8, writeth that the enemy slew him in the city and commanded him to be cast before the walls unburied, see Jer. 36:30.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

burial of an ass--that is, he shall have the same burial as an ass would get, namely, he shall be left a prey for beasts and birds [JEROME]. This is not formally narrated. But Ch2 36:6 states that "Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon"; his treatment there is nowhere mentioned. The prophecy here, and in Jer 36:30, harmonizes these two facts. He was slain by Nebuchadnezzar, who changed his purpose of taking him to Babylon, on the way thither, and left him unburied outside Jerusalem. Kg2 24:6, "Jehoiakim slept with his fathers," does not contradict this; it simply expresses his being gathered to his fathers by death, not his being buried with his fathers (Psa 49:19). The two phrases are found together, as expressing two distinct ideas (Kg2 15:38; Kg2 16:20).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. With the burial of an ass] Cast out, and left unburied, or buried without any funeral solemnities, and without such lamentations as the above.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hence, the Prophet says now, He shall be buried with the burial of an ass He mentions the ass because it is a mean animal; he might have named a horse or an ox, but as the ass is a meaner and more contemptible animal, it is the same thing as though he had said, “Jehoiakim shall be cast away with the dogs.” This prophecy no doubt grievously wounded not only the mind of the king himself, but also that of the whole people; for as yet his throne stood, and all highly regarded the family of David, and thought the kingdom sacred, as it was under the guardianship and protection of God. But the Prophet hesitated not to denounce what was afterwards confirmed by the event; for Jehoiakim was buried with the burial of an ass, as he was cast forth far beyond the gates of Jerusalem. Here the Prophet amplifies the disgrace by which the King Jehoiakim would be branded, for he might have been left dead in a journey; but he expresses what is more grievous than the casting forth; Drawn out, he says, and cast forth, etc.; that is, Jehoiakim shall not only be cast forth, but also drawn as an ass or a dog, lest his foetor should infect the city; as though he was unworthy not only of a grave, but also of being seen by men.

And this is to be especially noticed, for we hence conclude how great his perverseness was in despising the threatenings of God, since the Prophet could not otherwise storm the mind of the king, and terrify the people, than by exaggerating the indignity that was to happen to him. For if there had been any teachable spirit in the king and the people, the Prophet would have been content with making a simple statement, “Jehoiakim shall not be buried;” that is, God will punish him even when dead; the curse of God will not only be upon him while living, but he will also take vengeance on him after his death. He was not content with this kind of statement; but he shall be buried, he says, as an ass, and shall be cast far off; and further still, his carcass shall be drawn or dragged; so that it was to be an eternal mark of infamy and disgrace.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(19) He shall be buried with the burial of an ass.—The same prediction appears in another form in Jer_36:30. The body of the king was “to be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.” We have no direct record of its fulfilment, but its reproduction shows that the prophet’s word had not failed. The king was dragged in chains with the other captives, who were being carried off to Babylon (2Ch_36:6), and probably died on the journey, his corpse left behind unburied as the army marched. The phrase “he slept with his fathers” in 2Ki_24:6 cannot be pressed as meaning more than the mere fact of death. So Ahab, who died in battle, “slept with his fathers” (1Ki_22:40).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. buried with the burial of an ass] i.e. as the succeeding words explain, cast forth dishonoured.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He shall be buried with the burial of an ass,.... Have no burial at all, or no other than what any brute creature has; which, when it dies, is cast into a ditch, and becomes the food of dogs, and the fowls of the air. The "ass" is mentioned, as being a sordid stupid creature; and such an one was this king;

drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem; as the carcass of a beast is dragged about by dogs; or as a malefactor, when executed, is dragged and cast into a ditch: this perhaps was done by the Chaldeans, who, when he was slain, dragged him along, and cast him beyond the gates of Jerusalem. So Josephus (w) says, that when Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem, he slew the most robust and beautiful with Jehoiakim their king, and ordered him to be cast without the walls unburied; and so, though he is said to "sleep with his fathers", yet not to be buried with them, Kg2 24:6. Kimchi says that he died without Jerusalem, as they were carrying him into captivity a second time; and the Chaldeans would not suffer him to be buried. Jerom reports, from the Hebrew history, that he was killed by the robbers and thieves of the Chaldeans, Syrians, Ammonites, and Moabites. Some think, that as he was bound in chains, in order to be carried to Babylon, that he was had there, and there died, and after his death used in this ignominious manner: and the words will bear to be rendered, "cast forth far beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (x); even as far as Babylon; see Ch2 36:6.

(w) Antiqu. l. 10. c. 6. sect. 3. (x) "et projiciendo procul ultra portas Hierosolymae", Schmidt. So Grotius and Gataker.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The burial of an ass - i. e., he shall merely be dragged out of the way, and left to decay unheeded. Nothing is known of the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jerusalem. Chap. xxxvi. 30. He died indeed with or like his fathers, 4 Kings xxiv. 6. But it is not said that he was buried. (St. Jerome) --- The Chaldeans designed to send him to Babylon, (2 Paralipomenon xxxvi. 6.) but slew him on the road, (Usher, the year of the world 3405) or treated his corpse ignominiously after his arrival. (Grotius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He shall be buried with the burial of an ass; that is, he shall not be buried at all, or he shall be buried in an indecent and contemptible manner, none attending him to his grave, none mourning for him. The last words of this verse incline some to think that Jehoiakim was buried near to Jerusalem; but the Scripture, which mentioneth his being carried into Babylon, saith nothing of his being brought back; nor is that very probable which some say, that the king of Babylon thought to have carried him to Babylon, but upon second thoughts altered his purposes, and caused him to be slain at Jerusalem, and his body to be ignominiously dragged out of the gates. The Scripture saith expressly he was carried to Babylon, 2Ki 24:15; and if he died there, yet this text remaineth true, the scope of which seemeth to be to show the vanity of this prince in his great and stately buildings, which he was not like long to enjoy, nor to be buried nigh to them, nor in any degree of honour proportionate to the splendour of them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jehoiakim"s miserable death, without even the honor of burial. The prediction is repeated in Jer_36:30, where the statement is made in plain language. At first sight it appears to conflict with 2Ki_24:6, "So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead;" but it is only appearance, and when we remember that the complete formula for describing the natural death of a king of Judah is, "slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David", (1Ki_14:31 1Ki_15:24 1Ki_22:50 2Ki_8:24 2Ki_15:7, 38 16:20) and that the phrase, "slept with his fathers," is used of Ahab, who fell on the field of battle, (1Ki_22:40) we are naturally led to the conjecture that Jehoiakim did not die a natural death, but fell in battle in some sally made by the besieged. Buried with the burial of an ass; i.e. cast out unburied. Beyond the gates; rather, far from the gates.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of an ass - None attending him to his grave, none mourning for him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

A donkey’s burial As they drag the carcass of a donkey, so will they drag his carcass. The word יְֹשַגְּרוּן used by Targum Jonathan means, they will drag.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.