Hear all ye of the captivity whom I have sent, &c. These phrases, I have sent, I have driven, &c., should be well observed by us. There is no evil or punishment in cities or nations, but, whoever be the instruments in bringing it on, God is the author of it. Thus saith the Lord of Ahab and of Zedekiah Of these two persons we read no more in holy writ. That they pretended to be prophets, and to reveal God's will, although he had not called them to any such office, nor had made known his will to them, and that therefore they had abused God's name, we learn in this verse, and that they came to a miserable end we find in Jeremiah 29:22. He shall slay them before your eyes As persons that disturbed the minds of the Jews, his subjects, and made them unwilling to submit to his government, by giving them hopes of a speedy deliverance from under it: see Jeremiah 29:7-8. And of them shall be taken up a curse That is, an imprecation shall be used, namely, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah, &c., or, May thou meet with punishment similar to that which these persons met with. Whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire Casting persons into the fire was a punishment used in that country, as appears from the history of Shadrach and his companions, Daniel 3. There was likewise in use a way of roasting persons by a gentle fire, to make them die by a more lingering death, such as Antiochus practised upon the seven brethren, 2Ma 7:5. The word here properly denotes this sort of punishment. Because they have committed villany in Israel, &c. The Jewish rabbins, as Grotius here observes, have a traditionary notion, that these were the two elders who attempted the chastity of Susannah; the story of which they think to be true in part, though not altogether such as it is represented in the Greek. Some translate the words, Because they HAD committed villany, or, evil in Israel, and HAD committed adultery, &c., understanding them as assigning the cause why Nebuchadnezzar had roasted these persons alive, namely, because they had committed adultery, it being a custom among some of the eastern nations, and they suppose also among the Babylonians, to punish that crime in the most severe manner.
Jeremiah 29:20-23
20 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.