There has been no mention of Yirmiyahu since his meeting with Nevuzar'adan; we do not know how he reacted to the assassination and the events that preceded it. The text, as it were, has made Yirmiyahu disappear. On the other hand, in contrast to the period that preceded the destruction when the people bluntly and repeatedly rejected the words of Yirmiyahu, here they seek the word of God from his mouth. It seems that now they are finally ready to listen to him and receive the word of God from his mouth.

Yirmiyahu decided to join Gedalya out of religious-prophetic motives, since he saw in his appointment God's desire to rebuild the nation. The military personal decided to join him for political motives, relying on Gedalya's official status vis-à-vis the Babylonian kingdom, which they feared. And the Diaspora Jews joined Gedalya out of nationalistic-popular motives and a desire to return to their own country.

The chapter opens with a difficult prophecy of Yirmiyahu to the people, which is delivered in the presence of the princes of Yehuda. Yirmiyahu holds fast to his prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, but he now goes even further and preaches to the people that they should go out to the Babylonians and surrender. Delivering this prophecy in public is a justification for killing Yirmiyahu for weakening the spirit of the fighters and lowering the people's morale in a time of crisis.

King Tzidkiyahu requests of Yirmiyahu to pray on behalf of the city, which is under siege, and Yirmiyahu refuses to do so. This scenario is reminiscent of Hizkiyahu’s request of Yishyahu to pray when the city is facing an Assyrian siege.  While Yishyahu answers Hizkiyahu’s request affirmatively, Yirmiyahu refuses Tzidkiyahu’s request.

The fourth year of the reign of Yehoyakim is a pivotal one for the prophecies of Yirmiyahu. Babylonia’s victory over Egypt made Babylonia the most powerful empire in the region. This victory was a clear proof of the validity of Yirmiyahu's prophecies over the course of twenty three years. Now it became clear to all that Babylonia was the primary enemy threatening the kingdom of Yehuda. Yirmiyahu is commanded to summarize all of the prophecies that he delivered until that time and to record them in a scroll. This scroll is read in Beit Hamikdash and ultimately in the ears of King Yehoyakim.

The descendants of Rekhav, who abstain from drinking wine and do not settle down permanently, symbolize absolute adherence to the ancient ancestral command. This is a lesson for Israel, that they must keep God's commands. But why does this adherence deserve an extreme Divine promise?

The prohibition against settling down might not stem from a nomadic perception, but rather from experience that teaches that settling down leads by necessity to forgetting God and ultimately to idol worship, as the book of Devarim warns many times in anticipation of Israel's entry into the land.

During the time of the Babylonian siege, the king and princes of Jerusalem decided to free all the slaves in a sweeping manner in order to alleviate the situation of the city under siege. During a time of siege, slave ownership can be a great burden on their masters, who must support both their own families and their slaves. During a siege, many slaves became useless, as they generally engaged in field work outside the city.

לפניכם קטע מתוך דף הלימוד של "מתן על הפרק" בו תמצאו שאלות מנחות והרחבות לעיון והעמקה בפרק:

God commands Yirmiyahu to buy the land of his cousin, Hanamel, despite the fact that the destruction is imminent. At the beginning of the story, Yirmiyahu acts as a prophet – a messenger of God who fulfills His word without hesitation. But after the fulfillment of the words of the prophecy in the presence of all the people, Yirmiyahu turns to God as a person with a turbulent prayer and challenges God.

המודיעין ידע, התרעה אישית ניתנה, אך גדליה סירב להאמין ונפל בתמימותו. כך הצליח קנאי אחד לנפץ את התקווה האחרונה.