Jeremiah 22:30

Jer 22:30 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.

Ver. 30. Write ye this man childless] {a} As to succession in the royal dignity, as well as to success in his reign. The Septuagint render it, A man abdicated or proscribed. This God would have to be written - that is, to be put upon public record for the use of posterity. Our chronicles tell us of John Dudley, that great Duke of Northumberland, in King Edward VI’s days - who endeavoured by all means to engrand his posterity, reaching at the crown also, which cost him his head - that though he had six sons, all men, all married, yet none of them left any issue behind them. "Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; serve the Lord with fear."

{a} Ariri - i.e., orbus vel solus, sicut in deserto myrica. - Fuller.

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.

22:30 Although Jehoiachin had seven sons (see 1 Chr 3:17), he was called childless because none of them ever sat on the throne of Judah. His uncle Zedekiah later reigned as king of Judah, but many Israelites regarded Jehoiachin as the last legitimate king of David’s dynasty (see study note on Ezek 1:2).

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

Not that he had no children (for after that he begat Shealtiel in the captivity, Matt. 1:12) but that none should reign after him as King.

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

Verse 30. Write ye this man childless] Though he had seven sons, 1Ch 3:17, yet having no successor, he is to be entered on the genealogical tables as one without children, for none of his posterity ever sat on the throne of David.

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

Then he adds, Thus saith Jehovah, Write ye this man solitary, or childless. Some think that these words were addressed to angels or to prophets; but I regard not such a notion as well founded: this mode of speaking seems rather to me to have been taken from common practice, for decrees which were to continue in force for a long time were usually written. When an edict was proclaimed, and was to be in force only for a few days, it was not commonly recorded in the public monuments; but when a law was enacted, which was to be binding on posterity, it was written in the public tablets. Then the Prophet intimates that this judgment of God could not be rendered void, nor would be momentary like decrees which in a few days are disregarded and soon forgotten, but that it would be certain and permanent. Write ye, then, this man childless This bereavement is set in opposition to the promise of God, that there would be perpetual successors to David on his throne as long as the sun and moon were in the heavens. (Psalm 89:37.) And the Prophet shews here that this promise as to Jeconiah would not be fulfilled.

And he adds, Write ye this man as one who will not prosper in his days; nay, (for כי, seems to me to be emphatic here,) no one of his seed shall prosper; and then he adds an explanation, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

Now, it is no wonder that the Jews regarded this judgment of God with abhorrence, as though it was something monstrous, for God seemed to them to be inconsistent with himself, for he had testified that his covenant would never be rendered void, and had appealed to the sun and moon as witnesses. Hence, when the posterity of David failed, at least when his throne was subverted, and no one appeared as his successor, the truth of the promise seemed to have failed, which was very strange. But it was possible for God, who doeth wonders, to execute such punishment on Jeconiah and on such as were like him, and yet in a secret and incomprehensible manner to bring things about, so that the covenant which he had made should not wholly fail. The grace of God, then, was hidden for a time, but never extinguished; for at length a rod did grow up from the stem of Jesse, as it is said by Isaiah.

However, the words seem to imply otherwise, for Jeconiah is said to be solitary, and then unprosperous; and lastly, the Prophet declares that no one of his seed would sit on the royal throne. But we must bear in mind that these words are to be confined to a temporary punishment, and extend only to the coming of Christ, though the posterity of David, as we shall hereafter see, did begin to arise in Zerubbabel, but this was only an obscure and a small prelude. We must, therefore, come to the time of Christ if we would reconcile these two things which seem repugnant, — that Jeconiah became childless, and that a successor from the seed of David never failed; it was so, because this childlessness was only for a time; and this interruption of God’s grace was something like death; but in course of time it appeared that God was mindful of his covenant, even at a time when he seemed to have forgotten it. And this prophecy, therefore, ought; to be connected with that of Ezekiel,

“Remove ye, remove, remove the crown until he comes whose it is.” (Ezekiel 21:26, 27.)

There, also, Ezekiel repeats the word “remove” three times, as though he had said that there would be no kingdom of David, not only for a few months or years, but through a series of many ages.

There is no wonder, then, that the Prophet declares here that Jeconiah would be childless, for such a sad calamity for so many ages, as the throne of David trodden under foot with scorn and contempt, might have overwhelmed the faithful with despair. This, then, was the reason why he said that he would be childless, and also that his whole posterity would be under a curse. But we must bear in mind that exception, which is expressed by another Prophet,

“until he comes whose the crown is.” (Ezekiel 21:27)

For it was reserved for the head of Christ, though for a long time it had been exposed to dishonor and to the reproaches of all nations.

Now it is useful to know this, for we are taught that God is ever so consistent with himself, that his covenant, which he has made with Christ and with all his members, never fails, and that yet he punishes hypocrites even unto death. If any one, during a long period, had sought for the Church in the world, there was none in appearance; yet God shewed that he was faithful to his promises, for suddenly there arose a people regenerated by the Gospel, so that his covenant was not dead, but as it were for a time buried. The truth of God, then, was proved by the event; and yet he took a dreadful vengeance on the ingratitude of men when he thus blinded the whole world, now follows —

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.

(30) Write ye this man childless.—The meaning of the prediction, as explained by the latter clause of the verse, was fulfilled in Jeconiah’s being the last kingly representative of the house of David, his uncle Zedekiah, who succeeded him, perishing before him (Jer_52:31). In him the sceptre departed, and not even Zerubbabel sat upon the throne of Judah. Whether he died actually childless is less certain. In 1Ch_3:17 Assir (possibly, however, the name should be translated “Jeconiah the prisoner”) appears as his son, and as the father of Salathiel, or Shealtiel; and in Mat_1:12 we find “Jechonias begat Salathiel.” In these genealogies, however, adoption or succession, or a Levirate marriage so constantly takes the place of parentage, that nothing certain can be inferred from these data, and St. Luke (Luk_3:27) places Salathiel among the descendants of Nathan, as though the line of Solomon became extinct in Jeconiah, and was replaced by the collateral branch of the house of David (see Note on Luk_3:23). The command, “write ye this man childless,” is apparently addressed to the “scribes who kept the register of the royal genealogies (Eze_13:9; Psa_69:28-29). They were told how, without waiting for his death, they were to enter Coniah’s name in that register.

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

30. Write ye] For the word in the sense of enter in a register of citizens cp. Isa_4:3; Psa_87:6.

childless] In 1Ch_3:17, etc. he appears to have had children, and Shealtiel (Mat_1:12) is reckoned as his son. Shealtiel was, however, descended from David through his son Nathan (Luk_3:27-31) and not through the line of the kings (Solomon, Rehoboam, etc.), and thus was only counted to Jehoiachin (“Jechoniah” of Mat_1:12) according to the legal not the natural line. It was thus at any rate true that no child of Jehoiachin succeeded to the throne.

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.

Thus saith the Lord, write ye this man childless,.... That is, Coniah, or Jeconiah; who though he had children in the captivity, yet they died in it, or however never succeeded him in the throne. This, to show the certainty of the thing, the Lord would have written. The speech is directed, as some think, to the angels, or to the prophets; though the words may be rendered impersonally, "let this man be written childless", it may be set down, and taken for a sure and certain thing, as though it was written with a pen of iron, that he shall be alone, and die without children, and have none to reign after him;

a man that shall not prosper in his days; he sat but three months and ten days upon the throne, and all the rest of his days he lived in captivity, Ch2 36:9; so that he was a very unfortunate prince;

for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David,

and ruling any more in Judah; none of them were so prosperous and happy as to arrive to the royal dignity, or to sit on the throne of David, and be kings of Judah. Here ended the race of kings of the house of David, until the King Messiah came; for though there were of his line that were governors of Judah, as Zerubbabel, yet not kings. Moreover, Jeconiah was the last of the house of David in the line of Solomon. Salathiel, of whom was Zerubbabel governor of Judah, was the son of Neri, who descended from Nathan the son of David; see Luk 3:29, compared with Mat 1:12; and See Gill on Luk 3:29 and See Gill on Luk 3:31 and See Gill on Mat 1:12.

Next: Jeremiah Chapter 23

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

Childless - No child to sit on David’s throne. See 1Ch 3:17 note.

Jeconiah was the last king of David’s line. His uncle indeed actually reigned after him, but perished with his sons long before Jeconiah’s death (literally 10): and yet from so dead a trunk, from a family so utterly fallen, that spiritual King came forth whose name is “Yahweh our righteousness” Jer 23:5-6.

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

Write this man barren. That is childless: not that he had no children, but that his children should never sit on the throne of Juda, (Challoner) ver. 28., Matthew i. 12., and Ezechiel xvii. 24. Zorobabel was of his seed, yet he never obtained the title or sovereign power of a king. The Machabees were of a different family. (St. Jerome) --- Joachin, or Jechonias, was restored indeed to some favour, (4 Kings xxv. 27.) but not to the kingdom, no more than any of his posterity, till Christ. (Worthington)

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).

The word translated

childless is but thrice read in holy writ, and by various interpreters translated barren, not increasing, empty, full of sorrow, wanting children, &c. It is thought to be interpreted by the next words,

no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah; for there are seven of his sons named 1Ch 3:17,18. So that he is said to be childless, either because all hies children died before their father, or (which is most probable) because he had no child that sat upon the throne, or ever had any ruler’s place in Judah, but only some that lived in a mean condition in captivity, amongst whom Salathiel is named, Mat 1:12, as a progenitor of Christ.

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

30. Childless — As one with whom his stock becomes extinct — who has no posterity. This may be as a man, or as a king; but the latter sense seems most strictly relevant. This would not preclude the fact of children, and they would seem to be implied by Jer_22:28, “his seed.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Write ye this man childless; i.e. enter him in the register of the citizens (comp. Isa_4:3) as one who has no heirs. He may have children, but none of them shall succeed to his place in the community. This is all that the passage means; there is no discrepancy with history: how should there be, when Jeremiah himself has mentioned the posterity of Jehoiachin (ver. 28 and the latter part of this verse)? Yet the Septuagint thought it necessary to avoid the appearance of such a discrepancy by rendering, not "childless," but "one proscribed" (ekkhrukton ).

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

Childless - He is said to be childless, either because all his children died before their father; or because he had no child that sat upon the throne, or ever had any ruler's place in Judah.

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

a man who will not prosper in his days Inscribe him.

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.