The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex.[10] Jeremiah 22 is a part of the Eighth prophecy (Jeremiah 21-24) in the section of Prophecies of Destruction (Jeremiah 1-25). {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.
Thus says the Lord: "Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word"[11]
Verse 6
Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a wasteland, like towns not inhabited.[12]
The overthrow of the monarchy is foretold. Biblical commentator A. W. Streane suggests that verses 6–7, on the downfall of Jerusalem, are written "in Ḳinah metre".[13]
Message to the sons of Josiah (22:11–23)
Verse 11
For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, who went from this place: "He shall not return here anymore"[14]
Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
"They shall not lament for him,
Saying, 'Alas, my brother!' or 'Alas, my sister!'
They shall not lament for him,
Saying, 'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, his glory!'"[16]
"Jehoiakim the son of Josiah": is the second son of king Josiah (1 Chronicles 3:15), also called Eliakim before he was made king of Judah by Pharaoh Necho to replace Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:34; 2 Chronicles 36:4) in 609/608 BC,[15] reigning eleven years, until 598 BCE.[17][18] Rabbinical literature describes Jehoiakim as a godless tyrant who committed atrocious sins and crimes. He is portrayed as living in incestuous relations with his mother, daughter-in-law, and stepmother, and was in the habit of murdering men, whose wives he then violated and whose property he seized. He also had tattooed his body.[17]Jeremiah criticised the king's policies, insisting on repentance and strict adherence to the law.[19] Another prophet, Uriah ben Shemaiah, proclaimed a similar message and Jehoiakim ordered his execution (Jeremiah 26:20–23).[20] His despicable character earned him no respect from the people, as in 598 BC to end the siege of Jerusalem, the priests of Sanhedrin delivered him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon[17] who "bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon."[21] and he died without proper funeral, described by Jeremiah that "he shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:19) "and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night" (Jeremiah 36:30).[22]
Verse 19
He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey,
Dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.[23]
Josephus wrote that Nebuchadnezzar slew Jehoiakim along with high-ranking officers and then commanded Jehoiakim's body "to be thrown before the walls, without any burial."[24]
Message to Coniah (22:24–30)
Verse 24
"As I live," says the Lord, "though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off"[25]
Jeconiah has seven sons according to 1 Chronicles 3:17–18, but the Davidic lineage of kingship did not extend to his heirs. This prophecy starts with the "threefold address" of "earth" (Hebrew: ארץ ’e-rets) in Jeremiah 22:29 (similar to the use with "holy" in Isaiah 6:3 and "overthrown" in Ezekiel 21:27) to place a strong emphasis that "no descendant of Jeconiah shall rule Judah."[15]
^"The Evolution of a Theory of the Local Texts" in Cross, F.M.; Talmon, S. (eds) (1975) Qumran and the History of Biblical Text (Cambridge, MA - London). p.308 n. 8
^Tov, Emanuel (1989). "The Jeremiah Scrolls from Qumran". Revue de Qumrân. 14 (2 (54)). Editions Gabalda: 189–206. ISSN0035-1725. JSTOR24608791.
^ abcdThe New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, Editors. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2007. p. 1112-1114 Hebrew Bible. ISBN978-0195288810