Jeremiah 34:5

But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) And with the burnings of thy fathers . . .—Spices and perfumes were burnt as a mark of honour at the burial of kings and persons of high rank, and this is the burning here referred to (2Chronicles 16:14; 2Chronicles 21:19). The Hebrews never adopted the practice of burial by cremation, and for the most part embalmed their dead after the manner of Egypt (comp. Genesis 50:2; John 19:39-40).

They will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! . . .—The words derive their full effect from their contrast with the prediction which the prophet had uttered (Jeremiah 22:18) as to the burial of Jehoiakim without any of the usual honours of the funeral dirges of the mourners. Here he comforts Zedekiah with the thought that no such shameful end was in store for him, leaving the place where he was to die uncertain.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

34:1-7 Zedekiah is told that the city shall be taken, and that he shall die a captive, but he shall die a natural death. It is better to live and die penitent in a prison, than to live and die impenitent in a palace.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In peace - See Jeremiah 12:12 note.

Burn odors - "Make a burning." The burning was probably that of piles of wood, and spices were added only as an special honor. It was not a Jewish custom to burn the dead. As these burnings depended upon the estimation in which the dead king was held, the verse implies a prosperous reign, such as Zedekiah might have had as an obedient vassal to BabyIon.

I have pronounced the word - I have spoken the word.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. the burnings of thy fathers—Thy funeral shall be honored with the same burning of aromatic spices as there was at the funerals of thy fathers (2Ch 16:14; 21:19). The honors here mentioned were denied to Jehoiakim (Jer 22:18).

Ah, lord!—The Hebrews in their chronology (Seder Olam) mention the wailing used over him, "Alas! King Zedekiah is dead, drinking the dregs (that is, paying the penalty for the sins) of former ages."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This only place informeth us concerning the manner of Zedekiah’s death, and that both negatively and positively. Negatively, that he did not die by the sword, the king of Babylon took him, killed his sons before his eyes, then put out his eyes, and bound him in chains, Jeremiah 39:7, but killed him not, as we learn from this text; but he died a natural death, which is here meant by dying in peace; and had an honourable burial, which the king of Babylon would not allow Jehoiakim, as we read, Jeremiah 22:18,19; he was buried with the burial of an ass, and his body was cast out of the gates of Jerusalem, and no man lamented for him; but as to Zedekiah, they burned sweet odours for him, (after the manner of the burial of kings, 2 Chronicles 16:14) and made solemn lamentation for him. The Jews, in their chronology, called by them Seder Olam, give us the form of their lamentation, thus: Alas! Zedekiah is dead, who drank the dregs of all ages; that is, who was punished for the sins of all former ages.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But thou shall die in peace,.... Upon his bed, a natural death, and in good friendship with the king of Babylon; and, it may be, in peace with God; for before his death, some time in his captivity, he might be brought to true repentance for his sins:

and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee: so shall they burn odours for thee. The sense is, that he should have an honourable burial; and that sweet odours and spices should be burned for him, as were for the kings of Judah his predecessors, particularly Asa, 2 Chronicles 16:14. Josephus says (b), that Nebuchadnezzar buried him in a royal manner; though this seems to refer to what the people of the Jews in Babylon would do in honour of him, by burning for him. The Rabbins say, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe, that they burned their beds and ministering vessels, or household goods (c), as was usual on such occasions. The Talmudist (d) a say, all this honour was done him for that single act of ordering Jeremiah to be taken out of the dungeon; for this was done honour to persons: so, when Gamaliel the elder died, Onkelos the proselyte burned for him seventy Tyrian pounds (e); not such a quantity of money, but goods that were worth so much; and this was a custom with the Heathens, who used to burn the bodies of the dead, to burn their garments with them, and their armour, and whatever were valuable and esteemed of by them life; and particularly odoriferous things, as frankincense, saffron, myrrh, spikenard, cassia, and cinnamon (f); and which seem to be meant here, by comparing the passage with the case of Asa before mentioned; for though the word "odours" is not in the text, it seems rightly enough supplied by us, as it is by other interpreters (g). The Vulgate Latin version very wrongly translates it, "and shall burn thee"; for it was not the manner of the Jews to burn the bodies of the dead, but to inter them in the earth; and so Tacitus (h) observes, it was the custom of the Jews not to burn, but after the manner of the Egyptians to bury in the earth nor does it appear to have been the custom of the Babylonians or Chaldeans, as should seem from the account that is given of the death and burial of the Babylonian monarch in Isaiah 14:4;

and they will lament, saying, Ah lord! alas! our lord the king is dead. The form of lamentation said over him, as the Jews record (i), was,

"alas! King Zedekiah, who is dead, drank the dregs of all ages;''

was punished for the sins of men in all generations past:

for I have pronounced the word, saith the Lord; both that which respects his captivity, and that which refers to his death; the manner of it, and his honourable interment, which shall be accomplished.

(b) Antiqu. Jud. l. 10. c. 8. sect. 7. (c) Vid. T. Avoda Zara, fol. 11. 1.((d) T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 28. 2.((e) T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 11. 1.((f) Vid. Kirehman. de Fuuer. Roman. l. 3. c. 5. (g) "Sub. myropolae", Munster; "aromata odorata, sive res odoriferas", Vatablus; "ustiones odorum", Junius & Tremellius. (h) Histor. l. 5. c. 5. (i) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 28. p. 81.

Geneva Study Bible

But thou shalt die in {b} peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings who were before thee, so shall they burn incense for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah {c} lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.

(b) Not of any violent death.

(c) The Jews will lament for you their lord and king.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. shall they make a burning] Apparently some honorific burning of spices as an accompaniment of burial. See 2 Chronicles 16:14; 2 Chronicles 21:19.

Ah lord!] See on Jeremiah 22:18.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - With the burnings of thy fathers. It was customary to burn spices at royal funerals (2 Chronicles 16:14; 2 Chronicles 21:19). Saying, Ah lord! (see on Jeremiah 22:18). The second of the group of prophecies in Jeremiah 34, 35. is composed of vers. 8-22. It contains a denunciation of the Jews who, at the beginning of the siege, had emancipated their Hebrew slaves (according to Exodus 21:1-4; Deuteronomy 15:12), but after the withdrawal of the Chaldeans had resumed possession of them. Ver. 21 is couched in a form which indicates the precise date of the prophecy, viz. before the Chaldeans returned to renew the siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 34:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Thus saith Jahveh: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, that he may burn it with fire. Jeremiah 34:3. And thou shalt not escape from his hand, but shalt certainly be seized and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. Jeremiah 34:4. But hear the word of Jahveh, O Zedekiah, king of Judah. Thus saith Jahveh concerning thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword. Jeremiah 34:5. In peace shalt thou die; and as with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings who were before thee, so shall they make a burning for thee, and they shall wail for thee, [crying,] 'Alas, lord!' for I have spoken the word, saith Jahveh. - On Jeremiah 34:2, Jeremiah 34:3, cf. Jeremiah 32:3-5. "But hear," Jeremiah 34:4, introduces an exception to what has been said before; but the meaning of Jeremiah 34:4, Jeremiah 34:5 is disputed. They are usually understood in this say: Zedekiah shall be carried into exile to Babylon, but shall not be killed with the sword, or executed, but shall die a peaceful death, and be buried with royal honours. But C. B. Michaelis, Venema, Hitzig, and Graf take the words as an exception that will occur, should Zedekiah follow the advice given him to deliver himself up to the king of Babylon, instead of continuing the struggle. Then what is denounced in Jeremiah 34:3 will not happen; Zedekiah shall not be carried away to Babylon, but shall die as king in Jerusalem. This view rests on the hypothesis that the divine message has for its object to induce the king to submit and give up himself (cf. Jeremiah 38:17.). But this supposition has no foundation; and what must be inserted, as the condition laid before Zedekiah, "if thou dost willingly submit to the king of Babylon," is quite arbitrary, and incompatible with the spirit of the word, "But hear the word of Jahveh," for in this case Jeremiah 34:4 at least would require to run, "Obey the word of Jahveh" (שׁמע בּדבר ), as Jeremiah 38:20. To take the words שׁמע דברin the sense, "Give ear to the word, obey the word of Jahveh," is not merely inadmissible grammatically, but also against the context; for the word of Jahveh which Zedekiah is to hear, gives no directions as to how he is to act, but is simply an intimation as to what the end of his life shall be: to change or avert this does not stand in his power, so that we cannot here think of obedience or disobedience. The message in Jeremiah 34:4, Jeremiah 34:5 states more in detail what that was which lay before Zedekiah: he shall fall into the hands of the king of Babylon, be carried into exile in Babylon, yet shall not die a violent death through the sword, but die peacefully, and be buried with honour - not, like Jehoiakim, fall in battle, and be left unmourned and unburied (Jeremiah 22:18.). This intimation accords with the notices given elsewhere as to the end of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 32:5; Jeremiah 39:5-7). Although Zedekiah died a prisoner in Babylon (Jeremiah 52:11), yet his imprisonment would not necessarily be an obstacle in the way of an honourable burial after the fashion of his fathers. When Jehoiachin, after an imprisonment of thirty-seven years, was raised again to royal honours, then also might there be accorded not merely a tolerably comfortable imprisonment to Zedekiah himself, but to the Jews also, at his death, the permission to bury their king according to their national custom. Nor is anything to be found elsewhere contrary to this view of the words. The supposition that Zedekiah caused the prophet to be imprisoned on account of this message to him, which Ngelsbach has laboured hard to reconcile with the common acceptation of the passage, is wholly devoid of foundation in fact, and does not suit the time into which this message falls; for Jeremiah was not imprisoned till after the time when the Chaldeans were obliged for a season to raise the siege, on the approach of the Egyptians, and that, too, not at the command of the king, but by the watchman at the gate, on pretence that he was a deserter. "Thou shalt die in peace," in contrast with "thou shalt die by the sword," marks a peaceful death on a bed of sickness in contrast with execution, but not (what Graf introduces into the words) in addition, his being deposited in the sepulchre of his fathers. "With the burnings of thy fathers," etc., is to be understood, according to 2 Chronicles 16:14; 2 Chronicles 21:19, of the burning of aromatic spices in honour of the dead; for the burning of corpses was not customary among the Hebrews: see on 2 Chronicles 16:14. On "alas, lord!" see Jeremiah 22:18. This promise is strengthened by the addition, "for I have spoken the word," where the emphasis lies on the אני: I the Lord have spoken the word, which therefore shall certainly be fulfilled. - In Jeremiah 34:6, Jeremiah 34:7 it is further remarked in conclusion, that Jeremiah addressed these words to the king during the siege of Jerusalem, when all the cities of Judah except Lachish and Azekah were already in the power of the Chaldeans. ערי is not in apposition to ערי יהוּדה, but belongs to נשׁארוּ: "they were left among the towns of Judah as strong cities;" i.e., of the strong cities of Judah, they alone had not yet been conquered.