Thus saith the Lord of the men that seek thy life That are combined to kill thee; saying, Prophesy not in the name of the Lord
The meaning is, that those men of Anathoth threatened that they would kill him if he did not cease to prophesy such things as he did in the name of the Lord, namely, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the desolation of Judea, and the carrying away of the people into captivity. For if he had spoken falsely in the name of the Lord, and promised them peace and prosperity, they would have heard him prophesy gladly: they were thus exasperated at him, and opposed his prophesying, because he told them those truths which they had no mind to hear. This passage sufficiently shows that Jeremiah is to be understood in the literal sense here, which, however, does not by any means forbid our considering him in this instance as a type of Christ, and prefiguring, by his sufferings, those of the Redeemer of mankind. It manifests also the usage which the prophets generally met with from their own countrymen, who became their enemies because they told them the truth. The people of their own towns, even their friends and relations, could not bear to hear the solemn warnings which they gave them, and the prediction of those judgments which were coming upon them for their sins.