(4) I brought them into the house of the Lord . . .--The Temple of Solomon appears from 1 Kings 6:5 to have had, like a cathedral, apartments constructed in its precincts which were assigned, by special favour, for the residence of conspicuous priests or prophets. Huldah the prophetess seems to have dwelt in some such apartments known as "the college" (see 2 Kings 22:14). In this case the chamber was occupied by the sons of Hanan. He, or Igdaliah (the Hebrew punctuation is decisive in favour of Hanan), is described as "a man of God--i.e., as a prophet--and therefore sympathising, we may believe, with Jeremiah's work (Deuteronomy 33:1; 1 Samuel 2:27; 1 Kings 13:1; 1 Kings 20:28; 2 Kings 4:7; 2 Kings 4:9; 1 Chronicles 23:14; 2 Chronicles 11:2). It would seem, from the narrative, that Jeremiah had no chamber of his own. Here also "the sons of Hanan" are probably a company of scholars under the training of the prophet, Jeremiah introducing as it were the two religious orders to each other. The "princes," as in Jeremiah 26:10; Jeremiah 36:12, were probably official persons who, though not priests, were entitled to residence in the precincts, as we see in the case of Gemariah in Jeremiah 36:10. The "keeper of the door," as in Jeremiah 52:24, was probably one of the higher section of the priesthood. The stress laid on all these details was probably intended to show that the memorable dramatic scene that followed, daring as it seemed, was acted in the presence of representatives of the priestly, prophetic, and official orders. The name of Maaseiah has, however, a special interest attached to it. Shallum, the name of his father, is found in 2 Kings 22:14 as that of the husband of Huldah the prophetess of the reign of Josiah, and he is described as the "keeper of the wardrobe," i.e., probably of the vestments of the priests, and as dwelling in the "college" (literally, the "second" part, or annexe of some other building). It is hardly possible to resist the inference that in the Maaseiah who now appears as receiving Jeremiah and the Rechabites, we have the son of the prophetess who had taken so active a part in the work of reformation in the reign of Josiah, whose influence had coloured the whole of the prophet's life, who had brought up her son within the precincts of the Temple. We are brought as it were into the innermost circle of the prophetic company of Jerusalem, and are reminded of Simeon and Anna, and those who waited for the consolation, for the redemption of Israel (Luke 2:25; Luke 2:38). The influence of Shallum may, perhaps, be traced in the fact that the king who appears in history as Jehoahaz had probably been named by Josiah after him (2 Kings 23:30; 1 Chronicles 3:15), as David named one of his sons after Nathan (2 Samuel 5:14). It is, perhaps, from this point of view, characteristic of Jeremiah that he adheres in Jeremiah 22:1 to the old name given on his birth, and not to that which he had apparently adopted upon his accession to the throne. The name Shallum, it may be noted, means "retribution," whether for good or for evil.
Verse 4. - A man of God. The title, according to Hebrew usage, belongs to Hanan, not to his father, and means "prophet" (see e.g.1 Kings 12:22); comp. Plumptre -
"There the chamber stands Where Hanan's followers gather up the words Their master speaks."The chamber of the princes;i.e. the room "where the princes," i.e. the most distinguished laymen, especially the "elders of the people," assembled before the temple services. Maaseiah the son of Shallum. Probably the father of Zephaniah, "the second [or, 'deputy'] priest" (Jeremiah 52:24), himself a functionary of high rank, as he is called a keeper of the door (or rather, threshold). There were three of these "keepers," corresponding to the number of the gates of the temple, and they ranked immediately after the high priest and his deputy (Jeremiah 52:24); comp." I had rather be a doorkeeper," etc., in one of the Korahite psalms (Psalm 84:10).
35:1-11 Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, 2Ki 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this world. To keep low, would be the way to continue long in the land where they were strangers. Humility and contentment are always the best policy, and men's surest protection. Also, that they might not run into unlawful pleasures, they were to deny themselves even lawful delights. The consideration that we are strangers and pilgrims should oblige us to abstain from all fleshly lusts. Let them have little to lose, and then losing times would be the less dreadful: let them sit loose to what they had, and then they might with less pain be stript of it. Those are in the best frame to meet sufferings who live a life of self-denial, and who despise the vanities of the world. Jonadab's posterity observed these rules strictly, only using proper means for their safety in a time of general suffering.
And I brought them into the house of the Lord,.... Into the temple, as he was ordered; that is, he invited them thither, and they came along with him, having, no doubt, a respect for him as a prophet; and the rather, as it is highly probable he came in the name of the Lord to them:
into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God; a prophet, as the Targum and Syriac version; and so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it. This must be understood of Hanan, and not Igdaliah, as the accents show: he is thought by some to be the same with Hanani the seer, in the times of Asa, 2 Chronicles 16:7;
which was by the chamber of the princes; these were not the princes of the blood, the sons of Jehoiachim; their chambers or apartments were not in the temple, but in the royal palace; but these were the princes or rulers of the people, as they are called, Acts 4:8; the sanhedrim, whose this chamber was, as Dr. Lightfoot (d) has observed:
which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: a porter, whose chamber or lodge was under that in which the sanhedrim sat. The Targum calls him a treasurer; one of the seven "amarcalim", who had the keys of several chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary and other things were put; and Kimchi observes, the word we render door comprehends the vessels of the sanctuary, and the vessels of wine, and other things.
"There the chamber stands
Where Hanan's followers gather up the words
Their master speaks." The chamber of the princes; i.e. the room "where the princes," i.e. the most distinguished laymen, especially the "elders of the people," assembled before the temple services. Maaseiah the son of Shallum. Probably the father of Zephaniah, "the second [or, 'deputy'] priest" (Jeremiah 52:24), himself a functionary of high rank, as he is called a keeper of the door (or rather, threshold). There were three of these "keepers," corresponding to the number of the gates of the temple, and they ranked immediately after the high priest and his deputy (Jeremiah 52:24); comp." I had rather be a doorkeeper," etc., in one of the Korahite psalms (Psalm 84:10).
into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God; a prophet, as the Targum and Syriac version; and so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it. This must be understood of Hanan, and not Igdaliah, as the accents show: he is thought by some to be the same with Hanani the seer, in the times of Asa, 2 Chronicles 16:7;
which was by the chamber of the princes; these were not the princes of the blood, the sons of Jehoiachim; their chambers or apartments were not in the temple, but in the royal palace; but these were the princes or rulers of the people, as they are called, Acts 4:8; the sanhedrim, whose this chamber was, as Dr. Lightfoot (d) has observed:
which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: a porter, whose chamber or lodge was under that in which the sanhedrim sat. The Targum calls him a treasurer; one of the seven "amarcalim", who had the keys of several chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary and other things were put; and Kimchi observes, the word we render door comprehends the vessels of the sanctuary, and the vessels of wine, and other things.
(d) Temple-Service, c. 9. p. 1063.