Jeremiah 27 opens with God commanding the prophet to fashion a yoke of straps and bars and place it on his own neck — a sign-act dramatizing subjection to Babylon. Through envoys visiting Jerusalem, Jeremiah sends word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon: submit to Nebuchadnezzar, the servant God has appointed over the nations, or face sword, famine, and plague. Jeremiah then turns to Zedekiah and the priests of Judah with the same message, directly countering the false prophets who promise that the Temple vessels seized by Babylon will be returned shortly. The chapter closes with Jeremiah's challenge: if these prophets truly speak for God, let them intercede that the remaining vessels not be carried away.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
This chapter presents one of Jeremiah's most provocative sign-acts: the prophet wearing an ox yoke through the streets and diplomatic corridors of Jerusalem. The political audacity is staggering — Jeremiah is telling allied foreign kings, through their own ambassadors, to surrender to Babylon. He calls Nebuchadnezzar 'my servant' (avdi, v. 6), applying a term of covenant honor to a pagan emperor. The verb avad ('to serve') creates a theological wordplay throughout: the nations must 'serve' Nebuchadnezzar because God has designated him as 'my servant.' The false prophets' claim that the Temple vessels will return 'soon' (v. 16) directly contradicts Jeremiah's insistence that more vessels will be taken. The stakes are not merely theological but geopolitical — Jeremiah is accused of treason precisely because his prophecy aligns with Babylonian interests.
Translation Friction
The chapter superscription (v. 1) reads 'Jehoiakim' in the Masoretic Text but the context clearly describes Zedekiah's reign (v. 3, 12). Most scholars regard this as a scribal error or redactional artifact; we rendered the text as it stands and noted the discrepancy. The term moseroth ('straps, bonds') in verse 2 is debated — it could refer to leather thongs binding the yoke-bars together or to the yoke apparatus as a whole. We rendered it as 'straps and crossbars' to convey both components. The phrase 'until I have consumed them by his hand' (v. 8) uses the verb tamam in a way that could mean 'complete' or 'consume/destroy,' and we chose 'destroyed' to match the threatening context. The false prophets' promise in verse 16 uses the word meherah ('quickly, soon'), which we rendered as 'soon' to preserve the temporal contrast with Jeremiah's longer timeline.
Connections
The yoke sign-act connects directly to chapter 28, where Hananiah breaks the yoke and Jeremiah responds with the iron-yoke oracle. Nebuchadnezzar as God's 'servant' (avdi) echoes 25:9 and 43:10 — a title otherwise reserved for patriarchs, Moses, David, and the prophets. The false prophets' message about the Temple vessels connects to 2 Kings 24:13 and 25:13-17, where the full removal is documented historically. The command to 'serve the king of Babylon and live' anticipates Jeremiah's counsel to Zedekiah in 38:17-18. The theological claim that God gives sovereignty to whomever he wills (v. 5) parallels Daniel 2:21 and 4:17.
At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
KJV In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Masoretic Text reads 'Jehoiakim' (yehoyaqim), but the events described in this chapter clearly occur during Zedekiah's reign (v. 3, 12). Several Hebrew manuscripts and the Syriac Peshitta read 'Zedekiah' here. Most scholars consider this a scribal error, possibly caused by confusion with the superscription of chapter 26. We render the Masoretic Text as it stands and note the discrepancy.
Le'mor ('saying') is rendered as a colon introducing the direct divine speech that follows.
This is what the LORD said to me: Make yourself straps and crossbars, and place them on your neck.
KJV Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
Notes & Key Terms
2 terms
Key Terms
מוֹסֵרוֹתmoseroth
"straps"—bonds, straps, fetters, restraints
The leather bindings that hold a yoke in place. The word can also mean 'fetters' or 'chains' in other contexts, reinforcing the imagery of subjugation.
מֹטוֹתmototh
"crossbars"—bars, poles, yoke-bars, carrying poles
The rigid wooden bars of the yoke apparatus. The same word appears in 28:10, 12-13 when Hananiah breaks the yoke.
Translator Notes
The nouns moseroth ('straps, bonds') and mototh ('bars, poles') describe the components of an ox yoke — leather straps binding wooden crossbars to the animal's neck. God commands Jeremiah to construct and wear this apparatus as a prophetic sign-act, a physical dramatization of the subjection he is about to proclaim. The plural forms may indicate multiple yokes, one for each nation addressed in the following verses.
Then send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon — through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
KJV And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The five nations listed were neighboring kingdoms considering an anti-Babylonian coalition. The envoys (mal'akhim, 'messengers') had come to Jerusalem for diplomatic consultations with Zedekiah — Jeremiah intercepted the political gathering with a prophetic counter-message. This verse confirms that the events take place under Zedekiah, not Jehoiakim as the superscription states.
Charge them with a message for their masters: This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says — this is what you are to say to your masters:
KJV And command them to say unto their masters, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The double formula — 'This is what the LORD says' followed by 'this is what you are to say' — creates a chain of prophetic authority: God speaks to Jeremiah, Jeremiah speaks to the envoys, the envoys speak to their kings. The title 'LORD of Hosts' (YHWH tseva'ot) emphasizes God's sovereignty over all armies, both heavenly and earthly — a pointed claim when addressing military allies.
I made the earth, the people and the animals on the face of the earth, by my great power and my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever I see fit.
KJV I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
God's claim to universal sovereignty grounds the entire chapter: the one who created everything has the authority to assign political dominion. The phrase 'outstretched arm' (zero'i ha-netuyah) is Exodus language — the same arm that struck Egypt now assigns Babylon as sovereign. The expression yashar be'einai ('right in my eyes') asserts unilateral divine discretion over international affairs.
Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant. Even the wild animals I have given him to serve him.
KJV And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
עַבְדִּיavdi
"my servant"—my servant, my slave, my agent, my vassal
Applied to Nebuchadnezzar three times in Jeremiah (25:9, 27:6, 43:10). The term normally carries covenant honor — its application to a foreign conqueror is deliberately provocative.
Translator Notes
Calling Nebuchadnezzar avdi ('my servant') is theologically explosive. This is covenant-honor vocabulary — the same title given to Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets. God is declaring that a pagan emperor serves as his chosen instrument. The extension to 'wild animals' (chayyat hasadeh) echoes the creation mandate of Genesis 1:28 and the sovereignty language of Daniel 2:38, signaling total dominion over the created order.
All nations will serve him, and his son, and his grandson, until the appointed time for his own land arrives. Then many nations and great kings will make him serve them.
KJV And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The three-generation dynasty (Nebuchadnezzar, his son, his grandson) roughly corresponds to the Neo-Babylonian succession, though the historical details are compressed. The phrase 'the appointed time for his own land' (et artso) indicates that Babylon's dominion is not permanent but divinely bounded — Babylon too will be subjected. The reversal ('make him serve them') points to Babylon's eventual fall to Persia in 539 BCE.
Any nation or kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon — that will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon — I will punish that nation with sword, famine, and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed them by his hand.
KJV And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The triad 'sword, famine, and plague' (cherev, ra'av, dever) is Jeremiah's signature judgment formula, recurring over a dozen times in the book (14:12, 21:7, 21:9, 24:10, 29:17-18, 32:24, 32:36, 34:17, 38:2, 42:17, 42:22, 44:13). The yoke metaphor in verse 2 is now made explicit — refusing the literal yoke means refusing divine assignment. The verb tamam ('to complete, to finish off') here carries the sense of total destruction.
So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dream interpreters, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who say to you, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.'
KJV Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The five-fold list — prophets (nevi'im), diviners (qosemim), dream interpreters (chalomot), soothsayers (onenim), and sorcerers (kashshefim) — catalogs the entire spectrum of ancient Near Eastern religious consultation. By grouping nevi'im ('prophets') with practitioners of divination and sorcery, Jeremiah strips the false prophets of legitimacy, equating them with pagan practitioners forbidden by Deuteronomy 18:10-14.
For they are prophesying falsehood to you, with the result that you will be driven far from your land — I will banish you, and you will perish.
KJV For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The word sheqer ('falsehood, lie') is one of Jeremiah's most frequent terms for false prophecy (see 5:31, 14:14, 20:6, 23:25-26, 29:9). The irony is devastating: the false prophets promise that resistance will prevent exile, but their deceptive counsel is precisely what will cause the exile they claim to prevent.
But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him — I will let it remain on its own soil, declares the LORD, and it will farm it and dwell on it.
KJV But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The reward for submission is strikingly simple: remaining on ancestral land, farming, and dwelling in peace. The verb avadah ('work it, farm it') creates a wordplay with avad ('serve') — the nation that 'serves' Babylon will 'work' its own land. The promise of land retention echoes the Deuteronomic land theology where possession of the land is contingent on obedience.
To Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke this same message: Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon — serve him and his people, and you will live.
KJV I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The same message delivered to foreign kings is now directed at Zedekiah — Judah receives no special exemption. The blunt imperative vichyu ('and live') reduces the choice to its starkest terms: submission means survival, resistance means death. The plural 'your necks' (tsavvareikhem) addresses the king and his court collectively.
Why should you and your people die by sword, famine, and plague, as the LORD has declared against any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
KJV Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The rhetorical question lammah tamutu ('why should you die?') recurs in Jeremiah's appeals to Zedekiah (cf. 38:17-18). It presents the choice as self-evidently absurd — death by stubbornness when survival is available through submission. The recurring triad of sword, famine, and plague reappears from verse 8.
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying falsehood to you.
KJV Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This is the second explicit warning against false prophets in the chapter (cf. v. 9). Here the warning is directed specifically to Zedekiah and the Judean court, not to the foreign envoys. The accusation sheqer hem nibbe'im ('falsehood they are prophesying') uses the emphatic word order, placing 'falsehood' first for rhetorical force.
For I did not send them, declares the LORD, yet they prophesy in my name with falsehood — so that I will banish you, and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.
KJV For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The claim lo shelachtim ('I did not send them') is the definitive test of prophetic authenticity in the Deuteronomic tradition (Deuteronomy 18:20). The dark irony is that the false prophets will share the fate of those they deceived — both the deceivers and the deceived will perish together. Prophesying 'in my name' (bishmi) while unsent constitutes the gravest possible prophetic offense.
To the priests and to all this people I spoke, saying: This is what the LORD says — do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, 'Look, the vessels of the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon soon.' For they are prophesying falsehood to you.
KJV Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The false prophets' specific claim concerns the Temple vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE (2 Kings 24:13). Their promise of imminent return ('soon,' meherah) contradicts Jeremiah's message that the exile will be long (cf. 25:11-12, 29:10). The address shifts to the priests, who had a particular interest in the Temple vessels — their liturgical function depended on this sacred equipment.
Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a ruin?
KJV Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be made desolate?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The appeal shifts from national survival to urban survival — 'this city' (ha'ir hazzot) is Jerusalem itself. The word chorbah ('ruin, desolation') anticipates what will happen in 586 BCE when the city is indeed destroyed. The question format implies the choice is still open, though the rhetorical pressure is immense.
But if they are truly prophets and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them intercede with the LORD of Hosts so that the vessels still remaining in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem are not taken to Babylon.
KJV But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jeremiah issues a devastating challenge: if these prophets genuinely carry God's word, they should use their prophetic authority to prevent further loss, not promise the return of what is already gone. The verb yifge'u ('let them intercede, press upon') implies urgent, persistent petition. The mention of 'vessels still remaining' reveals that a first deportation of Temple equipment has already occurred (597 BCE) and more remain at risk.
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels remaining in this city —
KJV For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The specific Temple furnishings named — the bronze pillars (ha'ammudim, cf. 1 Kings 7:15-22), the bronze sea (ha-yam, the massive basin described in 1 Kings 7:23-26), and the bronze stands (ha-mekhonot, 1 Kings 7:27-39) — are the monumental pieces too large to have been taken in the first deportation. Their eventual removal is documented in 2 Kings 25:13-17 and Jeremiah 52:17-23.
which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he deported Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem —
KJV Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jeconiah (yekhanyah, also called Jehoiachin and Coniah) was deported in 597 BCE after a three-month reign (2 Kings 24:8-16). The word chorei ('nobles, freeborn') designates the aristocratic and administrative class taken in the first deportation. The verse establishes the historical timeline: a first deportation has already occurred, and the items left behind are now at stake.
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels remaining in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:
KJV Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The full divine title 'LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel' lends maximum authority to the pronouncement that follows. The triple location — Temple, royal palace, city — indicates that sacred vessels were distributed across multiple sites, not confined to the sanctuary alone.
To Babylon they will be taken, and there they will remain until the day I attend to them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.
KJV They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The chapter closes with an unexpected note of hope. The verb paqad ('attend to, visit, take account of') here carries its positive sense — divine visitation for restoration rather than punishment. The promise that the vessels will eventually return presupposes a long exile (contra the false prophets' 'soon') but affirms that Babylon is not the final destination. The historical fulfillment came under Cyrus (Ezra 1:7-11), though Jeremiah does not name the agent. This verse simultaneously contradicts the false prophets (the vessels will go to Babylon, not return now) and offers hope (they will eventually return).