As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
As I live - God's most solemn formula of oath (Jeremiah 46:18; Jeremiah 4:2; Deuteronomy 32:40).
Coniah - Jeceoniah or Jehoiachim. The contraction of the name is meant in contempt.
Though Coniah ... were the signet upon my right hand - such ring-seals were often of the greatest value (Song of Solomon 8:6; Haggai 2:23) Jehoiachin's popularity is probably here preferred to.
Right hand - the hand most valued.
I would pluck thee thence - (cf. Obadiah 1:4.) On account of thy father's sins, as well as thine own (2 Chronicles 36:9). There is a change here, as often in Hebrew poetry, from the third to the second person, to being the threat more directly home to him. After a three months and ten days' reign, the Chaldees deposed him. In Babylon, however, by God's favour, he was ultimately treated more kindly than other royal captives (Jeremiah 52:31-34). But none of his direct posterity ever came to the throne.