Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of Jehovah, that thou die not by our hand,
The LORD names the men who want Jeremiah dead and order him to stop prophesying: his own neighbours in Anathoth. What does a servant of God do when the threat comes from home?
Jeremiah had no idea that men were hunting him. God told him, and only then could he respond.
In the last part of the chapter (vv. 18-23) the prophet tells how the Lord made everything known to him. He had been as unaware of their murderous plots against him as an animal led to slaughter. So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people, and very soon on the men of Anathoth in particular. Jeremiah's nearness to them had given them the opportunity to prove how deep their wickedness went.
Anathoth was where Jeremiah's own relatives lived.
At first Jeremiah was not aware of his family's hostility. But then God warns him: "For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you… do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you." Along with the people of Anathoth, they were seeking the prophet's life and wanting to put an end to his preaching.
The town itself sharpens the offence.
A city assigned to the priests in the territory of Benjamin. Abiathar the high priest had his own "fields" there, and Jeremiah was born there. Its people persecuted the prophet.
The threat targeted the name Jeremiah spoke in. God's reply reaches that town's own children.
The men of Anathoth had intimidated him by saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand." The Lord answers him. Their young men will die by the sword, and their sons and daughters by famine. No remnant of them will be left.
Commentators see the prophet here as a picture of his Lord. They also mark where the picture stops.
The prophet stands among all their sinful doings and knows them fully. Yet he suffers like his Lord, of whom he is a type. He is brought "like a lamb" to the slaughter. They had devised wicked schemes against him, to "cut him off from the land of the living" (vv. 18-19). All this is very like what Isaiah 53 says about our blessed Lord. But in the next verse the prophet's prayer is very unlike His, for Jeremiah asks for vengeance on his persecutors. For a Jew, with earthly promises and hopes, it was a perfectly righteous prayer, and it would be answered (vv. 21-23). But the Lord Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
Jeremiah is not speaking as a private man nursing a grudge. He stands where the faithful few stand when the nation has gone wrong.
At the end of the chapter Jeremiah takes the place of the faithful remnant who have the testimony of God… His faithfulness and his testimony left him open to the schemes of the wicked. The LORD reveals these things to him. He then calls for the vengeance of God, in keeping with the righteousness that marks the condition of the remnant. This will be the means of deliverance for the remnant. He announces the judgment of these wicked men by the word of the LORD.
The threat left its mark on Jeremiah's life, but not on his message.
In loneliness the prophet goes away, forsaking his heritage and his hopes — yet despite everything, standing firm in his purpose to proclaim the word of the Lord.
- Word revealed — Jeremiah was as unaware of the plot as an animal led to slaughter. God told him, so it never took him by surprise.
- Word resisted at home — the men who wanted him dead were his own neighbours and relatives, from a town set apart for priests. Nearness only exposed how deep their wickedness ran.
- Word forbidden — they banned the name he spoke in. God answered with judgment on the town's sons and daughters.
- Word foreshadowing — he suffers "like a lamb," a picture of his Lord. Yet his prayer differs: he calls for vengeance, while Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
- Word still spoken — leaving his heritage and his hopes behind, Jeremiah went on alone, set on proclaiming the word of the Lord.
-- therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts Behold, I punish them the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;
The people of Anathoth, Jeremiah's home town, had told him to stop preaching or die at their hands. This verse is God's reply, and it raises a hard question: how can a prophet call down such a sentence on his own neighbours?
The threat came from Jeremiah's own family and his home town. He was the last person to learn of it.
At first Jeremiah was not aware of his family's hostility. But then God warns him, "For even your brothers, the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you … Do not believe them, even though they speak smooth words to you." Along with the people of Anathoth, they were trying to take the prophet's life and stop his preaching. Jeremiah knew nothing of these plots until God told him.
Jeremiah's home town is singled out. Living close to him gave these men their chance to show how far their wickedness went.
In the last part of the chapter (verses 18-23) the prophet tells how the Lord had made everything known to him. He had been as unaware of their murderous plots against him as an animal on its way to slaughter. So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people, and above all, very soon, on the men of Anathoth. Living close to Jeremiah had given them the chance to prove how great their wickedness was.
They had chosen death by the sword as their weapon against him. The reply uses their own words back against them, and leaves nothing of the family line standing.
The men of Anathoth had intimidated him by saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand." The Lord answers him that their young men would die by the sword, and their sons and daughters by famine. None of them would be left.
A call for vengeance is not a failure of love. It belongs to a way of God's working that is not the way He works today.
Righteousness marks the saint just as much as love does. It has its place where there are enemies of that love and of the blessing of the people God loves. This is the Spirit of prophecy, not the gospel. No doubt that is because prophecy belongs to the government of God, not to His present dealings in sovereign grace.
The punishment announced here is not only the end of Jeremiah's enemies. It is how the small group who held on to God's word come out safe.
Jeremiah's faithfulness and his testimony left him open to the schemes of the wicked. Jehovah reveals these things to him. In keeping with the righteousness that marks the condition of the remnant, he calls for the vengeance of God. This will be the means of deliverance for the remnant. He announces the judgment of these wicked men by the word of Jehovah.
Writers see the sufferings of Christ foreshadowed in this passage. They also mark where the likeness stops, and the differences are as instructive as the resemblance.
The Spirit of Christ was in Jeremiah (1 Peter 1:11). We are therefore justified in seeing some clear foreshadowing of our blessed Lord in him. No doubt there is also much about Jeremiah that stands in striking contrast to Him. For instance, like his Lord he is led as "a lamb" by his persecutors "to the slaughter" (Jer. 11:19). But the likeness went no further here, for Christ "opened not His mouth." Again, they said of the prophet, "Let us cut him off from the land of the living." They did not do this to Jeremiah. But they did do it to our blessed Saviour.
- Threat. Jeremiah's own relatives and the people of his home town told him to stop preaching or die by their hand.
- Revealed. He knew nothing of the plot until God told him. He was as unaware as an animal on its way to slaughter.
- Answered. The sentence turns their threat back on them: sword for the young men, famine for their children, no survivors left.
- Government. A prayer for vengeance belongs to prophecy and God's rule of the earth. It does not belong to the gospel and His grace today.
- Deliverance. The same judgment that falls on the wicked is what rescues the faithful few.
and there shall be no remnant of them; for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, in the year of their visitation.
Jeremiah's hometown had tried to silence him, and this verse is God's answer to the plotters. It raises hard questions: why judgment falls on one small village, why the prophet prays for vengeance, and what hope is left when God says none will remain.
The men under sentence were not strangers. They were neighbours from the village where Jeremiah grew up, a place set apart for priests:
A city assigned to the priests in the territory of Benjamin. Abiathar the high priest had his own "fields" there, and Jeremiah was born there. Its people persecuted the prophet.
The plot was not only in the town. It reached his own relatives, and he knew nothing of it until God told him:
At first Jeremiah was not aware of his family's hostility. But then God warns him, "For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you … do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you" (12:6). Along with the inhabitants of Anathoth, they were seeking the life of the prophet and wanting to put an end to his preaching (11:26). Jeremiah was ignorant of these plots (11:19) until he was informed of them by God.
The whole nation was guilty, yet this verse names one village. Their nearness to Jeremiah is what gave their wickedness the chance to show itself:
In the latter part of the chapter (verses 18-23) the prophet states how the Lord had made known everything to him. He was as unaware of their murderous plots against himself as an animal set aside for slaughter. So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people. He calls for it above all, and very soon, on the men of Anathoth. Their nearness to Jeremiah had given them the opportunity of proving their excessive wickedness.
Their threat had been simple: stop prophesying or die by our hand. The reply matched threat for threat, and left nothing standing:
The men of Anathoth had tried to frighten him. They said, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand." The Lord answers him that their young men should die by the sword, and their sons and daughters by famine. No remnant of them should be left.
Older translations read "the year of their visitation." God's visits are not all of one kind:
The visitation in mercy goes before the visitation in judgment — and the interval may be long or short. We see this in the moral history of different nations — such as Egypt, Israel, and the world itself.
Anathoth had its visit in mercy first — a prophet living in their streets. The year named here is what came after they tried to kill him.
Jeremiah here is a picture of Christ, and the picture breaks at one point:
In the presence of all their sinful doings, and with full knowledge of it, the prophet suffers like his Lord, of whom he is a type. He is brought "like a lamb" to the slaughter. They had devised wicked schemes against him, to "cut him off from the land of the living" (verses 18-19). How like this is to what Isaiah 53 says of our blessed Lord! But how unlike His prayer is the prophet's prayer in the next verse, where he asks for vengeance on his persecutors. It was a perfectly righteous prayer for a Jew to make, with earthly promises and hopes, and it would be answered (verses 21-23). But the Lord Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
The call for vengeance is not treated as a personal grudge. It belongs to a man standing where the faithful few stand, and its answer is their rescue:
At the end of the chapter Jeremiah takes the place of the faithful remnant who have the testimony of God… His faithfulness and his testimony exposed Jeremiah to the plots of the wicked. Jehovah reveals these things to him. The remnant's condition is marked by righteousness, and in keeping with that he calls for the vengeance of God. This will be the means of deliverance for the remnant. He announces the judgment of these wicked men by the word of Jehovah.
- Home. The men sentenced here were Jeremiah's own neighbours. Anathoth was a priests' city, and the place where he was born.
- Hidden. He knew nothing of the plot, not even his own brothers' part in it, until God revealed it.
- Weighed. Nearness to the prophet is what made Anathoth's guilt stand out. The nation was guilty; this village proved how deep the guilt ran.
- Dated. Visitation in mercy came first — a prophet in their streets. "The year of their punishment" is the fixed time that follows mercy refused, and the interval may be long or short.
- Answered. Jeremiah's cry for vengeance was a righteous prayer under earthly promises, and God granted it — judgment on the plotters means deliverance for the faithful few. The Lord Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies instead.