Jeremiah 27:2

Jer 27:2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,

Ver. 2. Make thee bonds and yokes,] i.e., Yokes with bonds, such as they are wont to be fastened with.

And put them upon thy neck.] This was to the prophet, saith the Jesuit, molesta et probrosa poenitentia, {a} a troublesome and disgraceful penance. But this was no will worship, say we; and much handsomer than the penances they put the people to in Italy, where you may see them go along the streets, saith mine author, {b} with a great rope about their necks, as if they were dropped down from the gallows. And sometimes they wear a sausage or a swine’s pudding in place of a silver or gold chain, for a sign of their mortification, and that they may merit.

{a} A Lapide.

{b} Bee Hive of Rome.

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.

Jer 27:2-3. Make thee bonds and yokes, &c. — The prophets were frequently ordered to foreshow future events by actions as well as by words. Thus Isaiah was commanded to go naked and barefoot, Isa 20:3. Ezekiel, in like manner, was ordered to prophesy by signs, Eze 4:1; Eze 12:3; and Eze 24:17-19. In making these yokes, putting them upon his neck, and fastening them on with bands, Jeremiah was intended to be a type both to his own people, and also to the people afterward mentioned, that they should be brought under subjection to the king of Babylon. And send them to the king of Edom, &c. — These nations were near to the Jews, and their princes had their ambassadors resident at Jerusalem. They were also some of those countries which God had declared that he had given into the hand of the king of Babylon: see Jer 25:21; Jer 25:24. By the hand of the messengers, &c. — The business of these messengers seems to have been, to engage Zedekiah to join in a league with the nations from which they came, against the king of Babylon.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The yoke of the king of Babylon upon the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. - Jer 27:2. "Thus said Jahveh to me: Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, Jer 27:3. And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers that are come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. Jer 27:4. And command them to say unto their masters, Thus hath Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, said: Thus shall ye say unto your masters: Jer 27:5. I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched hand, and give it to whom it seemeth meet unto me. Jer 27:6. And how have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. Jer 27:7. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his land come, and many nations and great kings serve themselves of him. Jer 27:8. And the people and the kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword, with famine, and with pestilence I will visit that people, until I have made an end of them by his hand. Jer 27:9. And ye, hearken not to your prophets, and your soothsayers, and to your dreams, to your enchanters and your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon. Jer 27:10. For they prophesy a lie unto you, that I should remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out and ye should perish. Jer 27:11. But the people that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and will serve him, that will I let remain in its land, saith Jahveh, to till it and to dwell therein."

The yoke Jeremiah is to make and lay on his neck is a plain emblem of the Babylonian yoke the nations are to bear. The words "bonds and yokes" denote together one yoke. מטות are the two wooden beams or poles of the yoke, which were fastened together by means of the מוסרות, bonds, ropes, so that the yoke might be laid on the beast's neck; cf. Lev 26:13. That Jeremiah really put such a yoke on his neck and wore it, we see from Jer 28:10, Jer 28:12, where a false prophet breaks it for him. He is to send the yoke to the kings of Edom, Moab, etc., by means of envoys of those kings, who were come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah. And since Jeremiah laid a yoke on his own neck, and so carried out the commanded symbolical action in objective reality, there is no reason to doubt that he made yokes for the five kings named and gave them to their respective envoys. Chr. B. Mich., Hitz., Graf, hold this to be improbable, and suppose that Jeremiah only made a yoke for himself and put it on his neck; but by appearing abroad with it, he set before the eyes of the ambassadors, the yoke that was to be laid on their kings, and, in a certain sense, emblematically gave it to them. But even though this might have sufficed to accomplish the aim of the prophecy, it is difficulty to reconcile it with the wording of the text; hence Hitz. seeks arbitrarily to change שׁלּחתּם into שׁלּחתּה. And it is a worthless argument that Jeremiah cannot possibly have believed that the envoys would carry the yokes with them and deliver them to their masters. Why should not he have believed they would do so? And if they did not, it was their concern. The plur. "bands and yokes" may indeed mean a single yoke, but it may also mean many; and the verbs נתתּם and שׁלּחתּם, both with plural suffixes, indicate clearly that he was to make not merely one yoke for himself, but yokes for himself and the kings. In Jer 28:10 and Jer 28:12, where one yoke is spoken of, the singular המּוטה is used; while, Jer 28:13, "yokes of wood hast thou broken," does not prove that this plural has the same force as the singular.

We are not told for what purpose ambassadors from the kings named had come to Jerusalem; but we can discover what it was from the message Jeremiah gives them for their lords. From this it appears, without a doubt, that they were come to take counsel as to a coalition with the view of throwing off the Chaldean supremacy. By God's command Jeremiah opposes this design with the announcement, that the God of Israel, the Creator of the world and of all creatures, has given all these lands (those of the kings named in Jer 27:3) into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar; that men, and even beasts, should serve him, i.e., that he might exercise unbounded dominion over these lands and all that belonged to them, cf. Jer 28:14. "My servant," as in Jer 25:9. All nations are to serve him, his son and his grandson. These words simply express the long duration of the king of Babylon's power over them, without warranting us in concluding that he was succeeded on the throne by his son and his grandson, cf. Deu 6:2; Deu 4:25. For, as we know, Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach; then came his brother-in-law Neriglissar, who murdered Evil-Merodach, who was followed by his son Laborosoarchod, a child, murdered after a nine months' reign by conspirators. Of these latter, Neboned ascended the throne of Babylon; and it was under his reign that the time for his land came that it should be made subject by many nations and great kings, cf. Jer 25:14. גּם הוּא serves to strengthen the suffix on ארצו; and the suffix, like בּו, refers to Nebuchadnezzar.

(Note: Jer 27:7 is wanting in the lxx, and therefore Mov. and Hitz. pronounce it spurious. But, as Graf remarked, they have no sufficient reason for this, since, reference being had to Jer 27:16 and to Jer 28:3, Jer 28:11, this verse is very much in place here. It is not a vaticinium ex eventu, as Hitz. asserts, but was rather omitted by the lxx, simply because its contents, taken literally, were not in keeping with the historical facts. The lxx omit also the clause from "that will not serve" to "king of Babylon and," which is accordingly, and for other subjective reasons of taste, pronounced spurious by Hitz.; but Graf justly opposes this.)

What is said in Jer 27:6 and Jer 27:7 is made sterner by the threatening of Jer 27:8, that the Lord will punish with sword, famine, and pestilence the people and kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar. ואת introduces a second relative clause, the את being here quite in place, since "the people and the kingdom" are accusatives made to precede absolutely, and resumed again by the 'על הגּוי ה, which belongs directly to the verb "visit." With עד־תּמּי, cf. Jer 24:10 and אתם עד־כּלּותי, corresponding in meaning, in Jer 9:15.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

By such signs the Prophets used sometimes to confirm their prophecies which notwithstanding they could not do of themselves, but in as much as they had a revelation for the same, Isa. 20:2, and therefore the false Prophets to get more credit, did use also such visible signs, but they had no revelation, 1 Kings 22:12.

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

bonds--by which the yoke is made fast to the neck (Jer 5:5).

yokes--literally, the carved piece of wood attached at both ends to the two yokes on the necks of a pair of oxen, so as to connect them. Here the yoke itself. The plural is used, as he was to wear one himself, and give the others to the ambassadors; (Jer 27:3; Jer 28:10, Jer 28:12) proves that the symbolical act was in this instance (though not in others, Jer 25:15) actually done (compare Isa 20:2, &c.; Eze 12:3, Eze 12:11, Eze 12:18).

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 2. Make thee bonds and yokes] Probably yokes with straps, by which they were attached to the neck. This was a symbolical action, to show that the several kings mentioned below should be brought under the dominion of the Chaldeans.

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

(2) Make thee bonds and yokes.—This method of vivid symbolic prediction had a precedent in the conduct of Isaiah when he walked “naked and barefoot” (Isa_20:2). We have to realise the infinitely more vivid impression which the appearance of the prophet in this strange guise, as though he were at once a captive slave and a beast of burden, would make on the minds of men, as compared with simply warning them of a coming subjugation. The principle on which the prophet acted was that of Horace (Ep. ad Pis. 180):—

“Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures,

Quam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et quæ

Ipse sibi tradit spectator.”

“Things that we hear less stir the inmost soul,

Than what the eye sees dramatised in act.”

So Agabus bound himself with Paul’s girdle (Act_21:11). So Ezekiel dug through the wall of his house and carried out his stuff (Eze_12:5-7). We find from Jer_28:10 that the prophet obeyed the command quite literally.

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

2. bands and bars] The former were to fasten the bars together, thus forming a yoke. For the symbolic action cp. 1Ki_22:11.

2–11. Certain kings having sent to invite Zedekiah to join them in an attempt to overthrow the power of Babylon, Jeremiah warns them to desist as the attempt would be futile. Du. points out that Zedekiah’s visit to Babylon (Jer_51:59) about this time, whether voluntary or at the requisition of Nebuchadnezzar, may have had for one purpose the clearing himself from suspicion of being implicated in the proposed revolt, an unrest that may well have received a stimulus from the change of ruler in Egypt, Psammetichus II. succeeding his father Pharaoh-necoh in b.c. 594.

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 to me, make thee bonds and yokes,.... The yokes were made of wood, as appears from Jer 28:13; and the bonds were strings or thongs, which bound the yoke together, that it might not slip off the neck, on which it was put:

and put them upon thy neck; not all of them together, but one after another, at different times; and this was very significant; for the prophet being seen abroad with a yoke upon his neck, it would be natural to inquire the meaning of it; when they would be told it was to signify the subjection of Judah, and so of other nations, to the king of Babylon; and that he did wear at times such a yoke, even fifteen years after, in the fourth of Zedekiah's reign, appears from Jer 28:1.

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

Yokes - Two curved pieces of wood, the one put over the neck of the ox, the other under, and then fastened together by bonds or cords (compare Psa 2:3). Compare the marginal references.

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

Chains. Hebrew, "a yoke and pole," (Calmet) or piece of wood for the necks of slaves. (St. Jerome) --- Thus would the servitude of these nations be clearly represented. (Haydock) --- Bands and chains were proper signs, as they were used to bind captives. (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).

God commandeth the prophet to procure, either by his own labour, or with his money, some yokes, with bonds to make them more fast; and to put some one of them upon his own neck, that therein he might be a type both to his own people, and also the people afterward mentioned, that they should be in bondage to the king of Babylon, and their yoke should be so fastened with bonds, that they should not be able to slip them, or get them from off their necks.

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

2. Bonds and yokes — The yoke was made of two curved pieces of wood, placed the one over and the other under the neck of the animal, and fastened together with cords. See Psa_2:3.

Put them upon thy neck — In the manner in which they were worn by animals when used to draw a load. The “yoke,” as here employed, was the appropriate symbol of bondage. This command was literally obeyed. See Jer_28:10. Some hold that Jeremiah obeyed these literally as to himself, but not for the different kings mentioned. But this does great violence to the text, which is as explicit for one as the other.

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

Make thee bends and yokes; rather, bands and poles; i.e. the bands which secured the two pieces of wood placed respectively above and beneath the neck of the ox, so forming a yoke. Hence, in Lev_26:13, we find the phrase, "the poles Authorized Version wrongly, "the bands of your yoke." It is clear from Jer_28:10 that this account is to be taken literally.

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

Thus saith - God commands the prophet to procure some yokes with bonds to make them more fast; and to put one of them upon his own neck, that therein he might be a type both to his own people, and also the people afterward mentioned, that they should be in bondage to the king of Babylon.

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

thongs They are the thongs of the yoke that are called kongoijli (cojongles).

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.