to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
certain
אֲנָשִׁ֔ים'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
elders
מִזִּקְנֵ֖יmi.zik.Nei
H2205
old · preposition + adjective, masculine plural construct
land
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
spake
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּvai.Yo.me.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
assembly
קְהַ֥לke.Hal
H6951
assemblage (usually concretely) · noun, common masculine singular construct
people
הָעָ֖םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
saying
לֵאמֹֽרle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 5:34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and command…
Micah 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Sa…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 26:16–end
Here is, I. The acquitting of Jeremiah from the charge exhibited against him. He had indeed spoken the words as they were laid in the indictment, but they are not looked upon to be seditious or treasonable, ill-intended or of any bad tendency, and therefore the court and country agree to find him not guilty. The priests and prophets, notwithstanding his rational plea for himself, continued to demand judgment against him; but the princes, and all the people, are clear in it that this man is not worthy to die (Jer 26:16); for (say they) he hath spoken to us, not of himself, but in the name of the Lord our God. And are they willing to own that he did indeed speak to them in the name of the Lord…
Compare Gamaliel's interposition (Act 5:34, &c.).
elders--some of the "princes" mentioned (Jer 26:16) those whose age, as well as dignity, would give weight to the precedents of past times which they adduce.
John Gill on Jeremiah 26:17
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land,.... The same with the princes; some of the court, who rose up as advocates for the prophet:
and spake to all the assembly of the people: to justify the vote of the court, and to confirm the people in a good opinion of it, by giving them examples and instances of the like kind:
saying; as follows:
John Calvin on Jeremiah 26:17-19
Jeremiah 26:17-19
17. Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
17. Et surrexerunt viri ex senioribus terrae, (ex senibus terrae,) ac dixerunt ad totum coetum populi (vel, locuuti sunt dicendo; est quidem semper verbum, 'mr, loquuti sunt erqo ad totum coetum) dicendo,
18. Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
18. Micha Morasthites fuit prophetans diebus Ezechiae regis Jehudah, et dixit ad totum…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 17 onwards) And the men of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to the whole assembly of the people, saying: Micaiah of Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the house like the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did they not fear the Lord and pray to the face of the Lord? And the Lord repented of the evil that he had spoken against them. Therefore, we are doing great evil against our own souls. The leaders of the city and the people understand the truth of judgment. However, the elders, whose duty it was to know the ancient things, recount the history - and the prophecy of Micah from Moresheth, who prophesied during the reign of King Hezekiah, they compare it with the prophecies of Jeremiah, for which he is being threatened with death; and they show that he said more serious things, and yet suffered nothing from the righteous king Hezekiah: but that those who turned to repentance, the sentence of the Lord turned into a good one. For Micah said: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height (Micah 3:12). And Jeremiah further said: I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth (Jeremiah 26:9). And they devised a plan, thinking that what Micah had prophesied would not come to pass, because a long time had passed without it happening due to the people's repentance. And this also, that Jeremiah spoke, it will by no means happen if they follow his counsel in their good ways and pursuits, and listen to the voice of the Lord their God, so that the Lord does not bring upon them the evil that he had threatened. At the same time, they break the fury of the accusers and join with them saying: Therefore, we commit great evil against our own souls: not that they should do so, but because if they do, they will not harm the accused, but their own souls, which they can free through a change of sentence.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Baruch — Blessed. (1.) The secretary of the prophet Jeremiah (32:12; 36:4). He was of the tribe of Judah (51:59). To him Jeremiah dictated his prophecies regarding the invasion of the Babylonians and the…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Indictments · . — .
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Accusation and Acquittal of Jeremiah. - Jer 26:1-7. His prophecy that temple and city would be destroyed gave occasion to the accusation of the prophet. - Jer 26:1. "In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word from Jahveh, saying: Jer 26:2. Thus said Jahveh: Stand in the court of the house of Jahveh, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in Jahveh's house, all the words that I have commanded thee to speak to them; take not a word therefrom. Jer 26:3. Perchance they will hearken and turn each from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them for the evil of their doings. Jer 26:4. And say un…
Societies in the ancient Near East greatly revered wise old men. Few people survived to old age, and those who did had a valuable store of memory. • Micah of Moresheth had lived during the reign of King Hezekiah (728–686 BC), more than 100 years earlier. Micah had written a small collection of his prophecies, from which the elders quoted a verse (Mic 3:12) that predicted the destruction of Mount Zion and Jerusalem. These elders counseled the people to do as Hezekiah had done when he turned from his sins and worshiped the Lord. Although the people of Judah relinquished their plan to harm Jeremiah, they did not heed the second part of the old men’s counsel.
Rashi on Jeremiah 26:10
And the princes of Judah heard that the false prophets and the priests had seized Jeremiah.
at the entrance of the new gate of the Lord Others annotated: When Jehoiachin went in exile and some of the vessels of the house of our God went with him, Nebuchadnezzar’s army breached the eastern gate, and Zedekiah subsequently repaired it and renewed it. It is therefore called ‘new.’