Is this man Coniah a despised broken vase? a vessel wherein is no delight? Wherefore are they thrown out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
Jeremiah has just announced the end of the royal line: God tears the young king Jehoiachin off His hand like a signet ring and throws him into Babylon. Verse 28 turns that tragedy into a question — is the heir of David nothing more than a smashed pot nobody wants, hurled with his children into a land they have never seen?
Older translations word the two images differently: "a despised broken idol" and "a vessel wherein is no pleasure." The writers quoted below use that wording.
Jeremiah does not use this king's full name. The change carries the message — an insult, and a hope hidden behind it:
Jehoiachin means "The Lord will establish." Jeremiah called him Jeconiah, which means "The Lord establishes." This surely shows that it will be done, not in Jehoiachin, but in our Lord Jesus Christ, as he explains in Jeremiah 23:5-6. Just before this, Jeremiah had called him Coniah in scorn: "A despised broken idol; a vessel wherein is no pleasure." In Christ alone, raised from among the dead, of the seed of David, can the Kingdom be established for ever.
The two halves of the question are not saying the same thing. The first sounds like the crowd's outrage; the second is God's own estimate:
Like his father, "he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord." Yet Jehoiachin appears to have been a favourite with the people. "Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol?" (or, "vase") the prophet asked ironically. But he at once adds, "Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure?" — which is really what he was in God's eyes.
Coniah is not singled out as the worst of the kings. This chapter gathers several of them out of their historical order, and that arrangement explains the sentence:
The kings named are out of their chronological order. The purpose is to bring the separate prophecies against the separate kings of Judah into one cluster, to show that in effect there was no difference between them. Some might be a little more pronounced in their violence and gross wickedness, but they were all faithless and godless. So the Lord spoke the solemn sentence... The implication is not that the line of David would fail, but that this man's line would.
Just before this question stands another picture: a signet ring — the seal that stamps a king's authority — pulled off God's right hand. A later prophet, Haggai, turns that picture around:
Haggai 2:20-23 is still another message from God. It points to the time when God will take the true seed of David and make Him as a signet. In that passage He is still called "Zerubbabel my servant," a picture of Christ as "the prince of the house of David." Coniah, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, was faithless, and was plucked off God's right hand like a signet (compare Jeremiah 22:24). Christ is the opposite: He is the signet on God's right hand, to seal all His purposes for the nations and for His chosen people Israel.
Coniah appears again in the New Testament, in the family list that opens Matthew. That raises a problem about who the father of Jesus could be:
An interesting point is that Matthew brings in Jechonias (1:11), the Jehoiachin of the Old Testament, called Coniah in Jeremiah 22:28-30. As those verses show, no man of Coniah's seed was to prosper, sitting on the throne of David. So Joseph could not be the father of our blessed Lord. The virgin birth was necessary, so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
Jeremiah's book does not end with the sentence. It ends with this same man:
At this time, when Evil-merodach became king, Daniel does not appear to have been prominent. But Jehoiachin, the Coniah of Jeremiah 22:28, a despised broken idol, an outcast of the Lord, is raised up. Evil-merodach, the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, brought him out of prison, gave him a place above the other royal captives at the palace, and provided him a daily allowance until the day of his death.
This kindness does not cancel the sentence. He never rules again. But it shows who was in control:
In Jehoiachin's case God was showing that He holds the hearts of all men under His control. Long years of wasting away may be changed at His will to a peaceful end of life, though not a prosperous one, in keeping with His word (Jeremiah 22:30). But this does not hinder His pity and tender mercy.
- Name — Jeremiah drops "Jehoiachin" ("the Lord will establish") for the shortened "Coniah." What that name promised comes true in Christ, not in this king.
- Verdict — the first question sounds like public outrage at a favourite king. The second states what he was before God: a vessel no one cares for.
- Cause — his prophecy stands in a cluster with the other kings' to show there was no real difference between them. All were faithless. His line ends, not David's.
- Substitute — the signet ring torn off God's hand here goes back on in Haggai. There the true Seed of David becomes the seal of all God's purposes.
- Mercy — the sentence stood, yet the same book closes with this broken vessel brought out of prison. God keeps His word and His pity together.
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah!
Jeremiah 22 moves from king to king — Shallum, Jehoiakim, Coniah — and God judges each one in turn. Now the call goes wider. The whole earth must hear what God has decided about the royal house of David.
A note on wording: the ESV reads "O land, land, land." The writers quoted below use older translations, which read "O earth, earth, earth."
God passes sentence on one man, but the audience He calls reaches far past Judah.
The chapter deals with each of these kings of David's line in turn. It ends by stressing the ruin of this royal family — the family the world's peace and prosperity depended on. God calls the whole earth to listen to what He says to Coniah (Jehoiachin).
This cry also carries a message for everyone who holds power over others.
When speaking of these evil men on Israel's throne, the Holy Spirit said, "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD." He wants the rulers of every nation and every age to understand one thing. They rule over people as God's responsible stewards, and their unrighteous ways are hateful to Him.
Why does this chapter list the kings out of the order in which they reigned?
The kings are named out of the order in which they reigned. The purpose is to gather the separate prophecies against the separate kings of Judah into one cluster. The moral aim is to show that in reality there was no difference between them. Some were more openly violent and wicked than others, but they were all faithless and godless.
The next verse says to write this man down as childless. Yet the same sentence still speaks of his offspring.
This verse does not mean he would have no family, since it speaks of his offspring, and Matthew 1:11-12 shows his descendants. What we are told is that God had decreed him childless as far as the throne of David was concerned. None of his offspring would rule in Judah any more. God had determined the end of this sinful line.
Yet the ruin has a limit, and that limit is everything.
The meaning is not that David's line would fail, but that this man's line would.
Centuries later this sentence shaped how the Messiah had to come. Matthew's record of Jesus' family line runs straight through Coniah.
One interesting point is that Matthew brings in Jechonias (1:11). He is the Jehoiachin of the Old Testament, called Coniah in Jeremiah 22:28-30. As those verses show, no descendant of Coniah was to prosper sitting on the throne of David. So Joseph could not be the father of our blessed Lord. The virgin birth was therefore necessary for Scripture to be fulfilled.
How then did the legal right to David's throne reach Jesus?
Writers have pressed this point as far back as Irenaeus. Here the direct line of descent is struck with a curse, yet it did not lose the legal title. So it could hand on to another what could be of no use to itself. In the wisdom of God, the marriage of Joseph and Mary was the means of doing this. The Lord's birth from Mary made Him the real Son of David (Luke 1:32), while His mother's marriage made Him David's legal heir.
The next chapter does not leave David's throne empty. After all these failed kings, God speaks of a King of His own.
However, He would raise up a capable Ruler and Shepherd-King for His sheep. "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. A King shall reign and prosper, and shall do what is just and right in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall live in safety. And this is the name He shall be called by: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer. 23:5-6).
- Earth listens — the call reaches far past Judah, because the world's peace and prosperity hung on this royal line.
- Rulers warned — God means every ruler in every age to hear how much He hates unrighteous government.
- Line cut — "childless" means no heir on David's throne, not no descendants; Matthew 1 lists his family.
- Promise kept — this man's line failed, David's line did not; the sentence had a limit set by God.
- King given — God answers the empty throne with the righteous Branch, born of a virgin, so the curse on Coniah's line could not touch Him.
Thus saith Jehovah Write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
These words fall on Coniah — also called Jehoiachin or Jeconiah — the young king of Judah taken away to Babylon. If none of his descendants could ever rule again, how could the Messiah, the Son of David, ever take the throne?
The word sounds like a prediction that he would have no family. But the same sentence speaks of his offspring.
The point of this verse is not that he would have no family. It speaks of his offspring, and Matthew 1:11-12 shows his descendants. What we are told is this: as far as the throne of David was concerned, God had decreed that he was to be written childless. None of his offspring would rule in Judah again. God had determined the end of this sinful stock.
Commentators differ on how the sentence worked out in his own family. One points to the king who followed him.
The prophecy probably refers to his uncle taking the throne instead of his son Assir, who seems to have been his firstborn. Or it may have been a prophecy of Assir's early death. Anyway, God made no mistake. He speaks, and it is done; He commands, and it stands fast.
Jeremiah has just passed judgment on one king of Judah after another. This sentence lands on all of them at once.
The kings named are out of chronological order. The purpose is to gather the separate prophecies against the separate kings of Judah into one cluster. It shows that there was no real difference between them. Some were more open in their violence and gross sin, but they were all faithless and godless. ... The meaning is not that David's line would fail, but that this man's line would.
A signet is the ring a king uses to stamp his seal on his orders. God pulled Coniah off His hand like that ring. Later prophecy turns the picture around.
Another word from God looks ahead to the future, when all nations will be shaken. Then God will take the true seed of David and make Him as a signet. Coniah, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, was faithless, a signet plucked from God's right hand. Christ is the opposite. He is the signet on God's right hand, to seal all His purposes for the nations and for His chosen people Israel.
Joseph, the husband of Mary, came from this cursed line. That looks like a fatal blow to Jesus' right to the throne. Writers have long seen it as the place where God's wisdom shows.
As far back as Irenaeus, writers pressed the consequence. Here the direct line of descent is struck with a curse, yet it was not stripped of the legal title. So it could hand on to another what could be of no use to itself. The marriage of Joseph and Mary was, in the wisdom of God, the means of accomplishing this. The Lord's birth from Mary made Him the real Son of David, while the marriage of His mother made Him David's legal heir.
David had other sons besides Solomon, and the sentence here touched only one branch of the family.
So God pronounced a curse on the house of David in the line of Solomon. But there was still the line of Nathan, the son of David. The Messiah, the Son of David, could not come from the line of Solomon. He had to come from the line of Nathan. Joseph came from David through the line of Solomon, the disinherited line; but Mary was a daughter of David through the line of Nathan.
The verse says he will not succeed in his days, and that stayed true to the end of his life. Yet his last years show something else about God too.
The last event in the story is the compassion that the king of Babylon showed to Jehoiachin in the thirty-seventh year of his captivity. He brought the captive king of Judah out of prison with kind words and gave him bread at his own table for the rest of his life. The prophets had given solemn warnings, and one king of Judah was now proving them true in his own misery. Yet in Jehoiachin's case God was showing that He holds the hearts of all men under His control. At His will, long years of suffering may turn into a peaceful end of life — though not a prosperous one, in keeping with His word. But this does not hinder His pity and tender mercy.
- Sentence. "Childless" is a throne word, not a family word: he had sons, but none of them would ever rule.
- Scope. The line cut off is Coniah's, not David's — God ended one sinful branch, He did not cancel His promise.
- Signet. God tore one ring off His hand in judgment. Prophecy shows another: Christ, the signet God uses to seal His purposes.
- Succession. The cursed branch kept a title it could not use. Through Joseph it passed to a Son born of Mary from David's other branch.
- Mercy. God brought even the disinherited king out of prison to a peaceful end. The sentence stood, and His pity still reached him.