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precise circumstances which led up to his attempt at independence cannot be fully
ascertained. Still there are sufficient indications to show the progress of what ultimately
ended in open revolt.*
- See generally Kleinert's Summary (in Riehm's H. W. B. ii.:pp. 1791, 1792), to which
we are indebted.
The first care of the new king must have been to gather around him counselors and
people. As all the most prominent and able men of Judah were in captivity, the task
would in any circumstances have been one of extreme difficulty. In the present instance
the measures taken seem to have been disastrous. The capital and the Temple were the
scene of every idolatry (Ezekiel 8), while the administration of justice would appear to
have been of the worst kind (Jeremiah 21:11, 12). It was not long before political
intrigues began. Soon ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon,
appeared at the court of Zedekiah - no doubt to deliberate about a combined movement
against Babylonia (Jeremiah 27).* Perhaps the contemplated rising was connected with
troubles which Nebuchadrezzar had at that time to encounter in Elam (comp. Jeremiah
49:34-39).** But all such hopes were doomed to speedy disappointment.
- As throughout the chapter the reference is to Zedekiah, the mention of Jehoiakim in
ver. I. must be a clerical error. And some Codd. as well as the Syrian version, read there
also: "Zedekiah."
** A very interesting point here is that in the LXX. the mention of "the book" written by
Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:13) is immediately followed by the prophecies against the various
nations - contrary to the order of the chapters in our Hebrew Bible. And first of these
stands the prophecy against Elam - in the Hebrew, Jeremiah 49:34-39, but in the LXX.
Jeremiah 25:14-18. This is immediately followed in the LXX. by this sentence in 26:1:
"In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah came this word about Elam," the opening
words corresponding to Hebrew Jeremiah 27:1, after which come the various prophecies
against the nations.
Zedekiah now deemed it prudent to send ambassadors to Babylon to assure his suzerain
of his fidelity. The messengers also carried with them letters from Jeremiah to the exiles,
who seem to have been in a state of restless expectation, probably due to the plans of
Zedekiah (Jeremiah 29:1 and follow.). This was in the fourth year of Zedekiah (Jeremiah
28:1). How such hopes were fostered by false prophets appears from Jeremiah 28, which
records the predictions of one Hananiah, and the Divine punishment which overtook him.
The embassy to Babylon seems not to have appeased the suspicions of Nebuchadrezzar,
and Zedekiah had to appear personally in Babylon (Jeremiah 51:59). This closes the first
scene in the drama.
(^)