Jeremiah 29:22

Jer 29:22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which [are] in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

Ver. 22. And of them shall be taken up a curse.] They had blessed themselves, though the Lord abhorred them, and sought to set up themselves in the hearts of the people, being gloriae animalia, popularis aurae vilissima mancipia, as Jerome saith of Crates the philosopher; they shall therefore "leave their names for a curse." {as Isa 65:15}

Whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.] Burnt them with a soft slow fire, as the Papists did John Huss, Bishop Ridley, and many other innocent martyrs; but should do rather these filthy Gergesites, their monks and friars, of whom it went for a proverb in Germany, as Luther witnesseth, Whosoever seeth any one of them, seeth the seven deadly sins.

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.

Because they gave the people hope of speedy returning.

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

shall be taken . . . a curse--that is, a formula of imprecation.

Lord make thee like Zedekiah--(Compare Gen 48:20; Isa 65:15).

roasted in the fire--a Chaldean punishment (Dan 3:6).

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

Here we are to notice the circumstances; for if Jeremiah had only spoken of their death, the Jews might still have been doubtful whether he had delivered a prophecy; but when now is added what kind of punishment was inflicted on them, Jeremiah points out as by the finger what was as yet unknown, and even incredible. It might indeed have happened to the captives that the king should order them to be slain, but it could not have occurred to any man to suppose what Jeremiah declares, that they would be roasted in the fire We hence see that God here obviates the evasions of perverse minds, so that there would be no room for evading, when he specifies the very kind of death which they were to undergo.

But he says first, Taken from them shall be a curse, that is, the form of cursing. Mentioned yesterday was אלה, ale, an oath; he puts down now קללה, kolle; and קלל, koll, is to curse. The meaning then is, that they would become an exemplar of a curse to all the captives, who would say, May God make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted The cause of their death is again repeated; and the Prophet did not without reason dwell on this, that he might turn away the eyes of the people from the immediate cause, which was commonly known, that is, that Nebuchadnezzar would not endure any tumults to be raised in his dominions; that they might therefore acknowledge God to be the author of this punishment, he says, —

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.

(22) Of them shall be taken up a curse . . .—We note the characteristic tendency of Hebrew thought to fix on individual cases of highest blessedness, as in Rth_4:11, or of deepest shame, as here, and to bring them into formulae of blessing and of cursing.

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

And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon,.... A form of cursing; when they cursed anyone, or wished him ill, it should be in such like manner as follows; so odious and detestable would these men be afterwards to them, whom they, at least some of them, took to be the prophets of the Lord:

saying, the Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; or "burnt them" (d); not at once, but with a slow fire; so the Maccabees were roasted,

"Then the king, being in a rage, commanded pans and caldrons to be made hot: '' (2 Maccabees. 7:3)

Burning persons with fire, and casting them into a fiery furnace, were ways used by the Chaldeans in putting persons to death, Dan 3:6; and roasting men at a fire was used by the Chinese (e).

(d) "combussit", Pagninus; "ustulavit", Munster; so Ben Melech says the word signifies "burning". (e) Martin Hist. Sinic. p. 257.

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

A curse - There is a play here of words. which probably was the cause why the death of these men passed into a proverb. One of them was named ben-Kolaiah; and they are to be made a curse (קללה qelâlâh), because Nebuchadnezzar had roasted (קלה qâlâh) them. Compare the marginal reference note.

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

Curse. Ver. 18. The malediction which has befallen the Jews, "overtake thee." (Worthington) --- Fire, in frying-pans, (see 2 Machabees vii. 5.) or cauldrons of boiling oil. This death shews that these were not the infamous judges who tempted Susanna, (Calmet) as the Jews quoted by (Haydock) St. Jerome, Salien, &c., would infer from ver. 23., and Daniel xiii. 57. They were stoned to death by the people, ibid. lxii.[Daniel xiii. 62.] (Calmet)

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).

As false teachers are of the highest sort of transgressors, speaking lies in the name and under pretence of the authority of the God of truth; so God in his providence ordinarily makes them the greatest examples of his vengeance. God threateneth to bring them to an end that should turn into a proverb, that when men had a mind to curse others, wishing them the greatest evils, they should pray to God to make them like Ahab and Zedekiah, whom the king of Babylon burnt, or roasted in the fire; the word קָלָם signifieth both, Lev 2:14; and roasting signifieth only to burn by degrees, which probably was the specifical punishment of these two false prophets, for we learn from the instance of the three children, Dan 3:19, that the consuming of persons slowly in a fiery furnace was a kind of punishment in use amongst the Chaldeans.

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

A curse; i.e. a formula of cursing. (comp. Isa_65:15) There is here a play upon words, such as the Biblical writers delighted in, partly with the view of assisting the memory. "A curse" is in Hebrew kelalah, and "to roast" is kalah. Roasted in the fire. "Casting into the midst of a burning fiery furnace" was a common punishment both among the Assyrians and the Babylonians, see e.g. "Records of the Past," vol. 9. p. 56; and comp. Da 3.

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

a curse will be spoken about these persons by all the captives of Judah in Babylon

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the captives of Judah in Babylon will say a curse about these persons" (See: Active or Passive)

roasted

This word usually refers to cooking food over an open fire or in a pan, not to burning completely. Possible meanings are 1) this is a euphemism. AT: "burned to death" or 2) the king's men attached them to poles over the fire close enough that the fire would slowly kill them but far enough away that it would not totally consume their bodies. (See: Euphemism)

I am the one who knows; I am the witness

These two clauses mean the same thing, and Yahweh repeats them for emphasis. (See: Parallelism)

this is Yahweh's declaration

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

translationWords

curse

fire

kingdom of Israel

adultery

neighbor

command

know

testimony

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

whom...burnt an expression of “roasted with fire” (Lev. 2:14).

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.