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From: Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24
Jeremiah arraigned (continued)
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[11] Then the priests and the prophets said to the princes and to all the people, "This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears."
[12] Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying, "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. [13] Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent of the evil which he has pronounced against you. [14] But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. [15] Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."
[16] Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God."
[24] But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.
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Commentary:
26:1-24. This chapter deals with the same incident in the temple that was narrated in 7:1-8:3 (see note), and which occurred in 608 BC. It contains a summary of what the prophet said on that occasion, and people's reactions to it (vv. 7-24). The religious life of the nation hinged on the temple, whose importance had increased further as a result of Josiah's recent reforms; but Jeremiah proclaims that the temple will be destroyed; it will he reduced to rubble, like the old shrine at Shiloh (vv. 2-6). This prophecy so angered people, priests and prophets that they called for Jeremiah's death (vv. 7-9), but the authorities managed to calm them down and Jeremiah escaped with his life (vv. 10-19), probably because his sincerity impressed the rulers: he was a man ready to risk his life in order to be faithful to his prophetic mission. Although one cannot he sure where the New Gate (v. 10) was, the rulers' intervention clearly had a judicial character to it, since legal proceedings took place at the city gates. The New Testament contains clear echoes of this account -- in the deliberations of the Sanhedrin on what to do with Jesus after he was arrested (cf. Mt 26:5-68 and par.), in the sentence handed down by Pilate (cf. Lk 23:22), and also in the account of the martyrdom of St Stephen (cf. Acts 6: 12-14).
This episode dramatically illustrates the sort of clashes that Jeremiah became involved in when carrying out his mission from the Lord. He has harsh things to say, and meets resistance from the people, who have even begun to think that nothing that offends their sensibilities or contradicts their desires can come from God. Even so, Jeremiah does not back down, for the Lord gives him the strength to stay true to his calling (cf. 1:7-10).
26:18-24. In the course of these exchanges, some of the elders bring up the case of the prophet Micah (quoting words from Micah 3:12), in order to save Jeremiah's life. However, the sacred writer recalls what happened in the case of Uriah, who was put to death (vv. 17-24). These two prophets preached a message that was very similar to Jeremiah's. Because Hezekiah, the king, was very interested in religious reform, he listened to the prophet Micah. Jehoiakim, however, had a very different outlook: just as he killed Uriah, so he could kill Jeremiah. In other words, it could have gone either way for Jeremiah; fortunately, he was defended by a senior official of the late King Josiah, Ahikam, the father of Gedaliah, who would be governor of Judah after the last deportation (cf. 39:14; 2 Kings 25:22-26).
The Death of John the Baptist
[1] At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus; [2] and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist, he has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him." [3] For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; [4] because John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." [5] And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. [6] But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and pleased Herod, [7] so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. [8] Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter." [9] And the king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given; [10] he sent and had John beheaded in the prison, [11] and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. [12] And his disciples came and took the body and buried it; and they went and told Jesus.
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Commentary:
1. Herod the tetrarch, Herod Antipas (see the note on Mt 2:1), is the same Herod as appears later in the account of the Passion (cf. Lk 23:7ff). A son of Herod the Great, Antipas governed Galilee and Perea in the name of the Roman emperor; according to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian ("Jewish Antiquities", XVIII, 5, 4), he was married to a daughter of an Arabian king, but in spite of this he lived in concubinage with Herodias, his brother's wife. St. John the Baptist, and Jesus himself, often criticized the tetrarch's immoral life, which was in conflict with the sexual morality laid down in the Law (Lev 18:16;20:21) and was a cause of scandal.
[Note on Mt 2:1: "King Herod": four different Herods are mentioned in the New Testament. The first is Herod the Great, referred to in this passage and in the next; the second, his son, Herod Antipas, who had St. John the Baptist beheaded (Matthew 14:1-12) and who abused our Lord during His passion (Luke 23:7-11); the third, Herod Agrippa I, a nephew of Herod the Great, who executed the Apostle St. James the Greater (Acts 12:1-3), imprisoned St. Peter (Acts 12:4-7), and died suddenly and mysteriously (Acts 12:20-23). The fourth, Herod Agrippa II, was Herod Agrippa's son. It was before him that St. Paul answered Jewish accusations when he was a prisoner in Caesarea (Acts 25:23).] 3-12. Towards the end of the first century Flavius Josephus wrote of these same events. He gives additional information--specifying that it was in the fortress of Makeronte that John was imprisoned (this fortress was on the eastern bank of the Dead Sea, and was the scene of the banquet in question) and that Herodias' daughter was called Salome.
9. St Augustine comments: "Amid the excesses and sensuality of the guests, oaths are rashly made, which then are unjustly kept" ("Sermon 10"). It is a sin against the second commandment of God's Law to make an oath to do something unjust; any such oath has no binding force. In fact, if one keeps it--as Herod did--one commits an additional sin. The Catechism also teaches that one offends against this precept if one swears something untrue, or swears needlessly (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", III, 3, 24). Cf. note on Mt 5:33-37.