XIII.
The prophecies of Jeremiah are arranged, it must be remembered, in an order which is not chronological, and that which we have now reached belongs to a later date than many that follow. Comparing the notes of time in the writings of the prophet with those in the history, we get the following as the probable sequence of events. In the early years of Jehoiakim the prophet’s preaching so provoked the priests and nobles that they sought his life (Jeremiah 26:15). Then came the burning of the roll (Jeremiah 36:23), which Jeremiah had not ventured to read in person. This was in the fourth year of that king’s reign (Jeremiah 36:1). During the seven years that followed we hear little or nothing of the prophet’s work. Then came the short three months’ reign of Jehoiachin, and he re-appears on the scene with the prophecy in this chapter. The date is fixed by the reference, in Jeremiah 13:18, to the queen (i.e., as the Hebrew word implies, the queen-mother) Nehushta (2 Kings 24:8), who seems to have exercised sovereign power in conjunction with her son. During this interval, probably towards its close, we must place the journey to the Euphrates now recorded. There are absolutely no grounds whatever for looking upon it as a vision or a parable, any more than there are for so looking on the symbolic use of the “potter’s earthen bottle” (Jeremiah 19:1) or the “bonds and yokes” (Jeremiah 27:2), or on Isaiah’s walking “naked and barefoot” (Isaiah 20:2). It may be added that the special command given by Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah’s favour (Jeremiah 39:11) implies some previous knowledge which may reasonably be connected with this visit.