And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward [was] there, whose name [was] Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.
Ver. 13. Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah.] Of that Hananiah, say the Rabbis whose death Jeremiah foretold. Jer 28:16-17 This Hierias ferox adogescens, as Josephus calleth him, a fierce young man, bearing Jeremiah a grudge, layeth hold on him in the gate, and layeth treachery to his charge; unicum crimen eorum qui crimine vacabant. a
Saying, Thou fullest away to the Chaldeans.] Jeremiah had spoken much of the Chaldeans' power, and foretold their victory. Hence he is here falsely accused of falling away to them, and being false to his country. Indeed, if the Chaldees could have fetched off Jeremiah, as the French King Louis did Philip de Comines from the Duke of Burgundy - whose affairs thereupon declined immediately - they might have made very good advantage of him; but he was far enough from any such compliance with them, and could better have said than ever Cicero did, Ne immortalitatem contra temp. aceiperem, I would not be false to my country for more than all this world's good.
a Tacitus.