Jeremiah 35:4

Jer 35:4 And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which [was] by the chamber of the princes, which [was] above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

Ver. 4. And I brought them into the house of the Lord.] That it might be made a public business, and so the better work upon all that should hear of it.

The son of Igdaliah, a man of God.] A priest and prophet or teacher of the people. So in the New Testament others are called God’s children, his servants, and his people, but ministers only are called God’s men. {1Ti 6:11 2Ti 3:17}

Which was by the chamber of the princes.] Or, Of the prefects of the temple, that were next under the high priests.

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.

35:4 Jeremiah the prophet carefully described the location of the room in the Temple, taking note that Hanan, the man in charge, was a man of God. During this idolatrous time in Judah’s history, the prophet had some friends in high places who remained believers in the one true God.

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

Or, door.

That is, a Prophet.

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

man of God--a prophet (Deu 33:1; Sa1 2:27; Kg1 12:22; Kg2 4:7), also "a servant of God" in general (Ti1 6:11), one not his own, but God's; one who has parted with all right in himself to give himself wholly to God (Ti2 3:17). He was so reverenced that none would call in question what was transacted in his chamber.

keeper of the door--Hebrew, "of the vessel." Probably the office meant is that of the priest who kept in charge the capitation money paid for the use of the temple and the votive offerings, such as silver vessels, &c. There were seven such keepers [GROTIUS]. Compare Kg2 12:9; Kg2 25:18; Ch1 9:18-19, which support English Version.

I said . . . Drink--Jeremiah does not say, The Lord saith, Drink: for then they would have been bound to obey. Contrast the case in 1Ki. 13:7-26.

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 4. Igdaliah, a man of God] A prophet or holy man, having some office in the temple.

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

(4) I brought them into the house of the Lord . . .—The Temple of Solomon appears from 1Ki_6:5 to have had, like a cathedral, apartments constructed in its precincts which were assigned, by special favour, for the residence of conspicuous priests or prophets. Huldah the prophetess seems to have dwelt in some such apartments known as “the college” (see 2Ki_22:14). In this case the chamber was occupied by the sons of Hanan. He, or Igdaliah (the Hebrew punctuation is decisive in favour of Hanan), is described as “a man of God—i.e., as a prophet—and therefore sympathising, we may believe, with Jeremiah’s work (Deu_33:1; 1Sa_2:27; 1Ki_13:1; 1Ki_20:28; 2Ki_4:7; 2Ki_4:9; 1Ch_23:14; 2Ch_11:2). It would seem, from the narrative, that Jeremiah had no chamber of his own. Here also “the sons of Hanan” are probably a company of scholars under the training of the prophet, Jeremiah introducing as it were the two religious orders to each other. The “princes,” as in Jer_26:10; Jer_36:12, were probably official persons who, though not priests, were entitled to residence in the precincts, as we see in the case of Gemariah in Jer_36:10. The “keeper of the door,” as in Jer_52:24, was probably one of the higher section of the priesthood. The stress laid on all these details was probably intended to show that the memorable dramatic scene that followed, daring as it seemed, was acted in the presence of representatives of the priestly, prophetic, and official orders. The name of Maaseiah has, however, a special interest attached to it. Shallum, the name of his father, is found in 2Ki_22:14 as that of the husband of Huldah the prophetess of the reign of Josiah, and he is described as the “keeper of the wardrobe,” i.e., probably of the vestments of the priests, and as dwelling in the “college” (literally, the “second” part, or annexe of some other building). It is hardly possible to resist the inference that in the Maaseiah who now appears as receiving Jeremiah and the Rechabites, we have the son of the prophetess who had taken so active a part in the work of reformation in the reign of Josiah, whose influence had coloured the whole of the prophet’s life, who had brought up her son within the precincts of the Temple. We are brought as it were into the innermost circle of the prophetic company of Jerusalem, and are reminded of Simeon and Anna, and those who waited for the consolation, for the redemption of Israel (Luk_2:25; Luk_2:38). The influence of Shallum may, perhaps, be traced in the fact that the king who appears in history as Jehoahaz had probably been named by Josiah after him (2Ki_23:30; 1Ch_3:15), as David named one of his sons after Nathan (2Sa_5:14). It is, perhaps, from this point of view, characteristic of Jeremiah that he adheres in Jer_22:1 to the old name given on his birth, and not to that which he had apparently adopted upon his accession to the throne. The name Shallum, it may be noted, means “retribution,” whether for good or for evil.

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

4. The particularity in description points to the narrative being contemporary with the events it describes.

and I brought them into the house of the Lord] that so what was to follow might be made most prominent and be most widely known.

Maaseiah] probably father of the Zephaniah (Jer_21:1, Jer_29:25, Jer_37:3) who is mentioned as “second priest” in Jer_52:24.

keeper of the door] lit. threshold. There were three of these officers (Jer_52:24; 2Ki_25:18). They seem to have stood next in rank after the high-priest and his deputy (ib.), and were charged with the care of the money contributed for the restoration of the Temple (2Ki_12:9).

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 brought them into the house of the Lord,.... Into the temple, as he was ordered; that is, he invited them thither, and they came along with him, having, no doubt, a respect for him as a prophet; and the rather, as it is highly probable he came in the name of the Lord to them:

into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God; a prophet, as the Targum and Syriac version; and so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it. This must be understood of Hanan, and not Igdaliah, as the accents show: he is thought by some to be the same with Hanani the seer, in the times of Asa, Ch2 16:7;

which was by the chamber of the princes; these were not the princes of the blood, the sons of Jehoiachim; their chambers or apartments were not in the temple, but in the royal palace; but these were the princes or rulers of the people, as they are called, Act 4:8; the sanhedrim, whose this chamber was, as Dr. Lightfoot (d) has observed:

which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: a porter, whose chamber or lodge was under that in which the sanhedrim sat. The Targum calls him a treasurer; one of the seven "amarcalim", who had the keys of several chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary and other things were put; and Kimchi observes, the word we render door comprehends the vessels of the sanctuary, and the vessels of wine, and other things.

(d) Temple-Service, c. 9. p. 1063.

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

The title man of God, i. e., prophet, belongs to Hanan, identified by many with Hanani 2Ch 16:7. The sons of Hanan were probably his disciples. If so, we find a religious school or sect, regularly established in the precincts of the temple, of whose views and modes of interpretation we know nothing. Plainly however, the Hananites were friendly to Jeremiah, and lent him their hall for his purpose.

The chamber of the princes - Probably the council-chamber in which the great officers of state met for the despatch of business.

The keeper of the door - There were three of these keepers, answering to the outer and inner courts of the temple, and the entrance to the temple itself. They were officers of high rank, having precedence next to the high priest and his deputy.

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

Of God. Prophets are generally thus designated, 4 Kings iv. 7. We know nothing more of this holy man. --- Princes of the priests; or where princes made their offerings, or assembled to judge, chap. xxvi. 10. --- Entry. He was not removeable like the other Levites, 1 Paralipomenon ix. 19, 34. (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).

This term,

the man of God, doth in Scripture signify a prophet sometimes; but whether it so signifieth here, and if it doth, whether it relateth to Igdaliah or Hanan, is a question. Probably by the

chamber of the princes is meant some chamber where the princes were wont to meet in a court, or for counsel. Thither Jeremiah brings these Rechabites, and sets vessels of wine before them, not commanding them to drink it, but only inviting them.

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

4. The sons of Hanan were probably not his children, but his followers, and so we seem to have suggested a religious sect, though of their principles and history we know nothing.

A man of God — This appellation belongs probably to Hanan, and not to Igdaliah, this being the usual mode of construing this Hebrew idiom.

Chamber of the princes — Probably an office or council-room where public business was attended to. Jer_26:10, seems to belong with this verse.

Keeper of the door — Literally, of the threshold; as Keil suggests, “overseer of the watchmen of the temple gates,” of which, according to Jer_52:24, and 2Ki_25:18, there were three, who are there mentioned along with the high priest and his substitute. Maaseiah is probably the same whose son Zephaniah was “priest of the repetition,” or second priest. Jer_52:24.

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

A man of God. The title, according to Hebrew usage, belongs to Hanan, not to his father, and means "prophet"; (see e.g. Jer_12:2) comp. Plumptre"There the chamber stands Where Hanan"s followers gather up the words Their master speaks.

The chamber of the princes; i.e. the room "where the princes," i.e. the most distinguished laymen, especially the "elders of the people," assembled before the temple services. Maaseiah the son of Shallum. Probably the father of Zephaniah, "the second or, "deputy priest", (Jer_52:24) himself a functionary of high rank, as he is called a keeper of the door (or rather, threshold). There were three of these "keepers," corresponding to the number of the gates of the temple, and they ranked immediately after the high priest and his deputy; (Jer_52:24) comp." I had rather be a doorkeeper," etc., in one of the Korahite psalms. (Psa_84:10)

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

Igdaliah - A prophet. The princes - The chamber were the princes were wont to meet.

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

the man of God The prophet of the Lord.

the keeper of the vessels Heb. שמר הסף. Jonathan renders: אמרכּלא (tresorier in French,) a treasurer.

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.