And it came to pass in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Sedecias king of Juda, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananias the son of Azur, a prophet of Gabaon spoke to me, in the house of the Lord before the priests, and all the people, saying:

“And it came to pass in that year When that time arrived that Nebuchadnezzar gave Zedekiah dominion over the five kings to whom Jeremiah stated his message and sent the thongs and the bars to the kings by the hand of their ambassadors. in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah In the beginning of his dominion over the five kings. But it is impossible to say that it means at the beginning of his reign, since it says, “in the fourth year.” In that year, he went down to greet Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, and Seraiah the receptionist was with him, as is stated at the end of the Book (51:59), and he gave him dominion over the kings. said to me Our Sages state: Who misled Hananiah? He heard Jeremiah prophesying in the upper street, “Behold I am breaking the bow of Elam” (49:35). And this prophecy was said in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, as is explained there, and since Elam is adjacent to Babylon, he stood in the lower street, and expounded. And he derived a major case from a minor one. If Elam, who came only to aid the Chaldeans, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Behold I am breaking the bow of Elam,” how much more is this so with the Chaldeans themselves? He came into the lower street and said: So said the Lord: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon, as it is in Sanhedrin (89a).”

“Here he descends specifically to certain false prophets: and first to a certain one who was foretelling to those left in Jerusalem; second to certain ones who were prophesying to the captives in Babylon, chapter 29: "and these are the words of the book which Jeremiah the prophet sent." Concerning the first, two things. First the false consolation of the false prophet is set forth; second the refutation of the falsehood through Jeremiah, at "and the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah." Concerning the first, two things. First is set forth the false consolation which the false prophet made by word; second that which he made by deed, at "and Hananiah the prophet took the chain from the neck of Jeremiah." Concerning the first, two things. First the false consolation is set forth; second Jeremiah's response, at "and Jeremiah said," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down the title of the false prophecy, in which is designated the time: "in the fourth year"; the prophet: "Hananiah the prophet," by repute; the place: "in the house of the Lord." Above, 23: "in my house I have found their evil, says the Lord." Second he sets down the false word of consolation: "thus says the Lord": and first he promises liberty: "I have broken, I have destroyed": on account of the certainty it is said in the past tense: the dominion, which indeed was to be broken, but not then. Isaiah 10: "the yoke shall rot away because of the oil." Second he foretells the nearness of the fulfillment: "yet two years of days," lest they be believed to be years of years, as that word of Ezekiel 4: "a day for a year, a day, I say, for a year I have given you." And first as to the bringing back of the vessels: "and I will cause to be brought back to this place all the vessels of the Lord," concerning whose capture, Lamentations 1: "the enemy has put out his hand upon all her desirable things," etc. Second as to the liberation of its princes, and of Jechoniah, against what was said above in the preceding chapter. Above, 22: "land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord."”

“This struggle between a true prophet and a false one is said here to have happened in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, and yet in the fourth year, for the first four years of his reign might well be called the beginning, or former part, of it, because during those years he reigned under the dominion of the king of Babylon and as a tributary to him; whereas the rest of his reign, which might well be called the latter part of it, in distinction from that former part, he reigned in rebellion against the king of Babylon. In this fourth year of his reign he went in person to Babylon (as we find, Jer 51:59), and it is probable that this gave the people some hope that his negotiation in person would put a good end to the war, in which hope the false prophets encouraged them, this Hananiah particularly, who was of Gibeon, a priests' city, and therefore probably himself a priest, as well as Jeremiah. Now here we have, I. The prediction which Hananiah delivered publicly, solemnly, in the house of the Lord, and in the name of the Lord, in an august assembly, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, who probably were expecting to have some message from heaven. In delivering this prophecy, he faced Jeremiah, he spoke it to him (Jer 28:1), designing to confront and contradict him, as much as to say, "Jeremiah, thou liest." Now this prediction is that the king of Babylon's power, at least his power over Judah and Jerusalem, should be speedily broken, that within two full years the vessels of the temple should be brought back, and Jeremiah, and all the captives that were carried away with him, should return; whereas Jeremiah had foretold that the yoke of the king of Babylon should be bound on yet faster, and that the vessels and captives should not return for 70 years, Jer 28:2-4. Now, upon the reading of this sham prophecy, and comparing it with the messages that God sent by the true prophets, we may observe what a vast difference there is between them. Here is nothing of the spirit and life, the majesty of style and sublimity of expression, that appear in the discourses of God's prophets, nothing of that divine flame and flatus. But that which is especially wanting here is an air of piety; he speaks with a great deal of confidence of the return of their prosperity, but here is not a word of good counsel given them to repent, and reform, and return to God, to pray, and seek his face, that they may be prepared for the favours God had in reserve for them. He promises them temporal mercies, in God's name, but makes no mention of those spiritual mercies which God always promised should go along with them, as Jer 24:7, I will give them a heart to know me. By all this it appears that, whatever he pretended, he had only the spirit of the world, not the Spirit of God (Co1 2:12), that he aimed to please, not to profit. II. Jeremiah's reply to this pretended prophecy. 1. He heartily wishes it might prove true. Such an affection has he for his country, and so truly desirous is he of the welfare of it, that he would be content to lie under the imputation of a false prophet, so that their ruin might be prevented. He said, Amen; the Lord do so; the Lord perform thy words, Jer 28:5, Jer 28:6. This was not the first time that Jeremiah had prayed for his people, though he had prophesied against them, and deprecated the judgments which yet he certainly knew would come; as Christ prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, when yet he knew it must not pass from him. Though, as a faithful prophet, he foresaw and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, yet, as a faithful Israelite, he prayed earnestly for the preservation of it, in obedience to that command, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Though the will of God's purpose is the rule of prophecy and patience, the will of his precept is the rule of prayer and practice. God himself, though he has determined, does not desire, the death of sinners, but would have all men to be saved. Jeremiah often interceded for his people, Jer 18:20. The false prophets thought to ingratiate themselves with the people by promising them peace; now the prophet shows that he bore them as great a good-will as their prophets did, whom they were so fond of; and, though he had no warrant from God to promise them peace, yet he earnestly desired it and prayed for it. How strangely were those besotted who caressed those who did them the greatest wrong imaginable by flattering them and persecuted him who did them the greatest service imaginable by interceding for them! See Jer 27:18. 2. He appeals to the event, to prove it false, Jer 28:7-9. The false prophets reflected upon Jeremiah, as Ahab upon Micaiah, because he never prophesied good concerning them, but evil. Now he pleads that this had been the purport of the prophecies that other prophets had delivered, so that it ought not to be looked upon as a strange thing, or as rendering his mission doubtful; for prophets of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms, so bold were they in delivering the messages which God sent by them, and so far from fearing men, or seeking to please them, as Hananiah did. They made no difficulty, any more than Jeremiah did, of threatening war, famine, and pestilence, and what they said was regarded as coming from God; why then should Jeremiah be run down as a pestilent fellow, and a sower of sedition, when he preached no otherwise than God's prophets had always done before him? Other prophets had foretold destruction did not come, which yet did not disprove their divine mission, as in the case of Jonah; for God is gracious, and ready to turn away his wrath from those that turn away from their sins. But the prophet that prophesied of peace and prosperity, especially as Hananiah did, absolutely and unconditionally, without adding that necessary proviso, that they do not by wilful sin put a bar in their own door and stop the current of God's favours, will be proved a true prophet only by the accomplishment of his prediction; if it come to pass, then it shall be known that the Lord has sent him, but, if not, he will appear to be a cheat and an impostor.”

“And it came to pass the same year,.... That the prophet was bid to make yokes and bonds, and send them to the neighbouring kings, whose ambassadors were in Zedekiah's court; and when he spoke the things related in the preceding chapter to Zedekiah, the priests, and people: in the beginning the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah; perhaps in the first year of his reign: in the fourth year, and in the fifth month; not in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign, though the Septuagint and A table versions so render it; since his reign was but eleven years in all, and therefore the fourth could not be called with so much propriety the beginning of his reign: though, according to Jarchi, it was the fourth of Zedekiah's reign, the same year in which he paid a visit to the king of Babylon, Jer 51:59; and was not only confirmed in his kingdom by him, but, according to the same writer, had it enlarged, and was made king over five neighbouring kings; and so this, though the fourth of his reign over Judah, was the first of his enlarged dominions: but rather this was the fourth year of the sabbatical year, or the fourth after the seventh year's rest of the land, as Kimchi observes; which was the first of Zedekiah's reign, who reigned eleven years, and the temple was destroyed at the end of a sabbatical year; in which he is followed by many, though there is nothing in the text or context that directs to it. Some divide Zedekiah's reign into three parts, the beginning, and middle, and end; and so what was done within the first four years of his reign might be said to be in the beginning of it. Others think that here are two distinct dates; that the former respects the things in the preceding chapter, which were in the beginning of his reign; and the latter that affair of Hananiah, which was in the fourth year of it. But Noldius (m), after Glassius (n), gets clear of the difficulties of this text, by rendering the words, "and it was from that year, the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, unto the fourth year of his reign"; that is, the prophet went on for the space of four years, signifying the will of the Lord by words and types; when in the fifth month of the fourth year, which was the month of Ab, answering to part of our July and of August, Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet; the false prophet, as the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions call him, which was of Gibeon; a city of the priests; so might be a priest, though not the high priest, as some have thought: spake unto me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests, and of all the people; he came to the temple, where Jeremiah was, to confront him; and he addressed himself to him, the priests and all the people being present, who were come thither to minister and worship: saying; as follows: (m) Concord. Ebr. Partic. p. 143. No. 677. (n) Philolog. Sacr. l. 4. p. 625.”