Jeremiah 28:4

28:4 The false prophet’s message claimed that Jehoiachin would return, which implied that Zedekiah held a lower status as ruler over the kingdom of Judah (see study note on Ezek 1:2). • I, the Lord, have spoken: Hananiah closed with the same strong appeal to divine authority that Jeremiah often used.

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

bring again . . . Jeconiah--not necessarily implying that Hananiah wished Zedekiah to be superseded by Jeconiah. The main point intended was that the restoration from Babylon should be complete. But, doubtless, the false prophet foretold Jeconiah's return (Kg2 24:12-15), to ingratiate himself with the populace, with whom Jeconiah was a favorite (see on Jer 22:24).

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

Hananiah promised as to the king himself, what he had just predicted respecting the vessels of the Temple and of the palace. But it may be asked, how did he dare to give hope as to the restoration of Jeconiah, since that could not have been acceptable to Zedekiah? for Jeconiah could not have again gained what he had lost without the abdication of Zechariah; but he would have never submitted willingly to lose his own dignity and to become a private man, and to allow him who had been deprived of this high honor to return again. But there is no doubt but that he relied on the favor of the people, and that he was fully persuaded that if Zedekiah could ill bear to be thus degraded, he would yet be constrained to shew a different feeling; for Zedekiah himself regarded his own reign as not honorable, as he sat not in David’s throne by the right of succession. He had been set on the throne by a tyrant, and he dared not to make any other pretense to the people than that he wished Jeconiah to return and to possess the kingdom of which he had been deprived. As then this impostor knew that the king dared not to shew any displeasure, but that his prophecy would be gratifying and acceptable to the people, he boldly promised what we here read respecting the return of Jeconiah.

He hence says in God’s name, Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and all the captive people, who have been led away to Babylon, will I restore to this place. We see that he was ever inflated with the same arrogance, and that he wholly disregarded God, whose name he thus in sport profaned. But all this flowed from this fountain, even because he had been blinded by the righteous judgment of God.

he then confirms his own prophecy, repeating its beginning, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon He had made open for himself an entrance, by saying that the destruction of the Babylonian monarchy was at hand; and now, after having given utterance to what seemed good to him on the whole affair, he refers again to that event. As then he promised that the monarchy would not stand longer than two years, the Jews might have supposed that they would become free, and might thus have hoped for a happy state of things; and this was the design of the impostor; but what was the answer of Jeremiah? His opposition to him was frank and firm; but as he saw that he had incurred the ill-will of the people, he was anxious to remove it; and before he repeated what he had said of their seventy years in exile, he shewed that he had not eagerly received his commission, as though he had been alienated from his people, or had disregarded their welfare, or had been carried away by some morbid feeling to bring a sad and mournful message. He therefore said, —

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.

(4) And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim . . .—We get here a new glimpse into the nature of the anti-Chaldæan confederacy. Zedekiah was to be deposed as too submissive to Nebuchadnezzar, and the young Jeconiah was to be brought back from his prison at Babylon, and re-established in the kingdom as the representative of the policy of resistance, resting on the support of Pharaoh-Hophra.

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

4. Jeconiah] It shews that the exiled king must still have had a substantial following in Jerusalem, when Hananiah ventured upon this forecast in the face of the de facto ruler.

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.

And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah,.... This he knew would please the people, who looked upon Zedekiah only as a deputy of the king of Babylon, and not properly their king; but Jeconiah, as he is here called; and he knew that Zedekiah dared not resent this, but was obliged to feigned a desire of Jeconiah's return, though otherwise not agreeable to him:

with all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, saith the Lord; the princes, officers, and others, that should be living at the time fixed:

for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon; weaken his power over other nations, and particularly deliver the king of Judah from his bondage, and from subjection to him.

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

Jeconiah - Zedekiah not being popular, the people would have preferred the young king, who had not reigned long enough to make enemies. Probably also Zedekiah had started for Babylon Jer 51:59.

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

Only it is admirable, that being so nigh the king’s court he should mention the return of Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, which, had it been true, must have been to the prejudice of Zedekiah, for Jeconiah was the right heir to the crown, being the son of Jehoiakim. Zedekiah his uncle was put in by the conqueror, but it is probable he saw Jehoiachin was more acceptable to the people, and that the faction for the nephew was greater than for the uncle. False teachers are always on the greatest side, either for number or for power.

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

4. The mention of Jeconiah suggests the probability that there were many to whom his return would be specially grateful — that there was an influential party identified with the exiled king.

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

And I will bring again... Jeconiah. Hananiah thus directly contradicts the assurance of Jeremiah (Jer_22:26, Jer_22:27) that Jehoiachin would not return, but would die in a foreign land. Has he a political object in his favorable prognostication for the deposed king? Does he, in short, belong to a Jehoiachin party opposed to the friends of Zedekiah? The view is possible, and may seem to be confirmed by the emphatic repetition of the fall of Nebuchadnezzar, the liege lord of Zedekiah. Still there is evidence enough in modern history that the return of an exile is not necessarily tantamount to his reinstatement in his office.

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