Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations Volume 2 John Calvin
JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS
them to Babylon:
3. Adhuc (in adhuc, ad verbum) anni duo dierum (hoc est, cum transierint anni dierum duo,) ego reducam ad locum hunc omnia vasa domus Jehovae (id est, Templi,) quae abstulit Nebuchadnezer, rex Babylonis, a loco hoc et transportavit Babylonem.
We now see that what Hananiah had in view was to promise impunity to the people, and not only this, but also to soothe them with vain confidence, as though the people would have their king soon restored, together with the spoils which the enemy had taken away. But he began by referring to the power of the king, lest that terrible sight should occupy the minds of the people so as to prevent them to receive this joyful prophecy. He then says, Further, when two years shall pass, 195 I will bring back to this place all the vessels which King Nebuchadnezzar has taken away Jeremiah had assigned to the people's exile seventy years, as it has been stated before, and as we shall hereafter often see; but here the false prophet says, that after two years the exile of the king and of the people would come to an end, and that the vessels which had been taken away would be restored; he speaks also of the king himself, Jeremiah 28:4
4. And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim King of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
4. Et Jechaniam, filium Jehoiakim, regem Jehudah, et totam captivatatem (hoc est, totam turbam captivam; est enim {}גלותnomen collectivum, ut alibi diximus, totam ergo turbam captivam) Jehudah, quae profecta est Babylonem (hoc est, qui abducti fuerunt, vel, qui profecti sunt; sed violonter tracti tamen) ego reducam ad hunt locum, dicit Jehova; quia contrivi jugurn regis Babylonis.
Hananiah promised as to the king himself, what he had just predicted respecting the vessels of the Temple and of the palace. But it may be asked, how did he dare to give hope as to the restoration of Jeconiah, since that could not have been acceptable to Zedekiah? for Jeconiah could not have again gained what he had lost without the abdication of Zechariah; but he would have never submitted willingly to lose his own dignity and to become a private man, and to allow him who had been deprived of this high honor to return again. But there is no doubt but that he relied on the favor of the people, and that he was fully persuaded that if Zedekiah could ill bear to be thus degraded, he would yet be constrained to shew a different feeling; for Zedekiah himself regarded his own reign as not honorable, as he sat not in David's throne by the right of succession. He had been set on the throne by a tyrant, and he dared not to make any other pretense to the people than that he wished Jeconiah to return and to possess the kingdom of which he had been deprived. As then this impostor knew that the king dared not to shew any displeasure, but that his prophecy would be gratifying and acceptable to the people, he boldly promised what we here read respecting the return of Jeconiah.
He hence says in God's name, Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, 195It is better rendered in our version, "Within two full years;" literally, "in during (that is, in the space of) two full years:" not at the end, but within two years. He took the range of two years, without specifying any particular time — Ed.