Introduction: Yirmiyahu's Prophecy in the Courtyard of the House of Hashem and His Trial
Chapter 26 in the Book of Yirmiyahu depicts one of the most dramatic moments in the prophet's life: Yirmiyahu is sent to stand in the courtyard of the House of Hashem and proclaim the prophecy of impending doom in the ears of all who come to prostrate themselves, and following his words he is seized and put on trial for his life. The entire chapter is a story of struggle between those who maintain he must be put to death according to the law, those who want to execute him simply because his words are intolerable to their ears, and those who stood in the breach and saved him. The Malbim explains the chapter with remarkable systematic clarity, resolving a series of profound difficulties in the process.
בְּרֵאשִׁית מַמְלְכוּת יְהוֹיָקִים בֶּן־יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה הָיָה הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה מֵאֵת יְהֹוָה לֵאמֹר׃ - In the beginning of the reign of Yehoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Yehudah, came this word from Hashem, saying:
Rashi makes an important chronological observation here: "In the beginning of the reign of Yehoyakim" - this section preceded the previous section by four years. In other words, this is not a chronological continuation of what we read in the previous chapter, but rather a step back in time.
The Mission: "Do Not Diminish a Word"
כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה עֲמֹד בַּחֲצַר בֵּית־יְהֹוָה וְדִבַּרְתָּ עַל־כׇּל־עָרֵי יְהוּדָה הַבָּאִים לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֺת בֵּית־יְהֹוָה אֵת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִיךָ לְדַבֵּר אֲלֵיהֶם אַל־תִּגְרַע דָּבָר׃ - Thus says Hashem: Stand in the courtyard of the House of Hashem, and speak to all the cities of Yehudah who come to prostrate themselves in the House of Hashem all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them; do not diminish a word.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, commands Yirmiyahu to stand in the courtyard of the House of Hashem, in the place where the people would gather, and speak to the entire public arriving from the cities of Yehudah to worship Hashem in the Beis HaMikdash. "All the words that I have commanded you" - these are the prophecies of calamity, the prophecies in which he calls upon them to repent. And let him not omit a single thing, but declare everything word for word.
אוּלַי יִשְׁמְעוּ וְיָשֻׁבוּ אִישׁ מִדַּרְכּוֹ הָרָעָה וְנִחַמְתִּי אֶל־הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי חֹשֵׁב לַעֲשׂוֹת לָהֶם מִפְּנֵי רֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיהֶם׃ - Perhaps they will listen and turn each man from his evil way, and I will relent of the calamity that I devise to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.
Herein lies the entire purpose of prophecy: "Perhaps they will listen and turn each man from his evil way." The calamity I am contemplating bringing upon them is coming on account of the evil of their deeds, and if they regret and turn back from their evil deeds - says the Holy One, Blessed be He - I too will relent from the calamity, and that trouble will not befall them at all.
The Condition: Torah and Prophets
וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה אִם־לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ אֵלַי לָלֶכֶת בְּתוֹרָתִי אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לִפְנֵיכֶם׃ לִשְׁמֹעַ עַל־דִּבְרֵי עֲבָדַי הַנְּבִאִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ אֲלֵיכֶם וְהַשְׁכֵּם וְשָׁלֹחַ וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתֶּם׃ - And you shall say to them, Thus says Hashem: If you do not listen to Me, to walk in My Torah which I have set before you, to listen to the words of My servants the prophets whom I send to you, rising early and sending them, though you have not listened.
The condition is twofold: that they heed the words of the Torah and that they heed the words of the prophets. "To listen to the words of My servants the prophets" is equivalent to "and to listen" - it is all spoken in a single breath: to walk in My Torah and to listen to the prophets whom I have sent to you persistently, rising early and sending, that is, anew every time, and despite all this you did not listen. And if you nevertheless intend to persist along that corrupt path - your punishment lies directly before you.
וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה כְּשִׁלֹה וְאֶת־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת אֶתֵּן לִקְלָלָה לְכֹל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ׃ - "Then I will make this House like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth."
"Like Shiloh" - Shiloh was captured by the Philistines in battle, and then the Mishkan of Shiloh was destroyed; so too will happen to this House. And what is meant by "and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth"? That when the nations of the earth wish to curse a city, they will say: "May your city become like Jerusalem!" This city will become a standard byword for a curse in everyone's mouth. This idiom recurs in many other instances, even regarding people's names, where a person becomes an archetype of a curse from which all the peoples of the earth draw an epithet. This is the exact opposite of "By you shall Israel bless" - where when they wish to bless, they will say, "May God make you like Ephraim and Menashe," and when they wish to curse, they invoke the names of the false prophets and their like. That is, it refers to a calamity so devastating, or something that acquired such infamy, that anyone wishing to express ruin invokes it.
The Seizure of Yirmiyahu: "You Shall Surely Die"
וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַנְּבִאִים וְכׇל־הָעָם אֶת־יִרְמְיָהוּ מְדַבֵּר אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה בְּבֵית יְהֹוָה׃ - "And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Yirmiyahu speaking these words in the House of Hashem."
The priests here are the priests of Baal, and the prophets are the false prophets. They hear Yirmiyahu speaking these words in the House of Hashem, and his words provoke an immediate reaction.
וַיְהִי כְּכַלּוֹת יִרְמְיָהוּ לְדַבֵּר אֵת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה יְהֹוָה לְדַבֵּר אֶל־כׇּל־הָעָם וַיִּתְפְּשׂוּ אֹתוֹ הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַנְּבִיאִים וְכׇל־הָעָם לֵאמֹר מוֹת תָּמוּת׃ - "And it came to pass, when Yirmiyahu had finished speaking all that Hashem had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying: 'You shall surely die!'"
The moment he finished speaking, they seized him forcefully and said to him: We will put you to death.
The Malbim's Questions on the Chapter
The Malbim raises a series of questions here, and although it is difficult to grasp them fully before examining the entire chapter, we will mention them briefly, and the matter will become clear as we proceed: First, it is written initially that all the people say, "You shall surely die," and assemble against him; yet later, these very same people say, "This man is not worthy of death" - do you wish to put him to death, or does he not deserve death? Furthermore, at first the people seized him to kill him, but later, once the princes arrived, the people joined the princes as judges, as it says, "Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people." Moreover, after the princes and the people had already ruled that he was not worthy of death, what further need was there for the elders of the land to speak? Furthermore, the elders cite the precedent of Micah the Morashtite after Yirmiyahu had already been acquitted, and immediately afterward the narrative of Uriyahu, who was executed, is recorded - why recount an incident that seems to contradict what they just argued? And finally, the chapter concludes with, "Nevertheless, the hand of Achikam son of Shafan was with Yirmiyahu, so that they did not hand him over to the people to put him to death," implying that the people still sought to kill him, whereas earlier it stated that the people spoke in his defense!
Two Different Motives for the Same Demand
The Malbim explains: "The priests and the prophets and all the people seized him" - initially, the people indeed joined with the priests in seeking to put Yirmiyahu to death, but their intentions and reasons were entirely different. The people did not consider Yirmiyahu a false prophet; they knew full well that Yirmiyahu was prophesying the truth, but his words were unpleasant to them. As such, by the strict letter of the law he was not liable to the death penalty as a false prophet, since they acknowledged that his words were true. Nevertheless, they felt he should be killed because at that moment Yirmiyahu constituted a public nuisance and a detriment to them: he was standing there uttering harsh, unsettling words that they did not want to hear. This was not based on the formal law of the Torah, but was an effort to eliminate someone speaking words that grated on their ears.
מַדּוּעַ נִבֵּיתָ בְשֵׁם־יְהֹוָה לֵאמֹר כְּשִׁלוֹ יִהְיֶה הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה וְהָעִיר הַזֹּאת תֶּחֱרַב מֵאֵין יוֹשֵׁב וַיִּקָּהֵל כׇּל־הָעָם אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ בְּבֵית יְהֹוָה׃ - "'Why have you prophesied in the Name of Hashem, saying: This House shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant?' And all the people gathered against Yirmiyahu in the House of Hashem."
Notice the phrasing: "Why have you prophesied in the name of Hashem?" There is no claim here that the prophecy is false and that Hashem did not say it; the claim is that even though the prophecy is true, you must not prophesy against our wishes. We do not want such a prophecy, even if it comes from Hashem.
The Officers Arrive to Judge
וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ שָׂרֵי יְהוּדָה אֵת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַיַּעֲלוּ מִבֵּית־הַמֶּלֶךְ בֵּית יְהֹוָה וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בְּפֶתַח שַׁעַר־יְהֹוָה הֶחָדָשׁ׃ - And the officers of Judah heard these things, and they went up from the king's palace to the House of Hashem and sat at the entrance of the New Gate of Hashem.
The officers of Judah are the rulers, and they are the ones who must determine whether there is a legal death penalty here. The officers cannot put someone to death without cause. The people might say he is a public nuisance and want to kill him, but the officers who would execute someone require documents, evidence, and proof showing why he must be executed; they need a trial and formal law. Precisely here, therefore, the people take a step back: since they believe Yirmiyahu is a true prophet, they know there is no law to execute him. A true prophet cannot legally be killed; only a false prophet can be put to death. Therefore, the people remain silent here, because according to their view, there is no legal ground to execute Yirmiyahu.
What is the "New Gate of Hashem"? In Rashi, it is cited in the name of "others emended" - meaning there are glosses in Rashi that are not from Rashi himself but additions incorporated over the years, as found in several places - that when Yechonyah went into exile with some of the vessels of the House of our G-d, Nevuchadnezzar's soldiers broke the eastern gate, and Tzidkiyahu rebuilt it, and it was therefore called "the New Gate of Hashem," the gate that Tzidkiyahu renewed. Radak likewise explains that the New Gate of Hashem is the eastern gate, as the Targum translates "Madan'cha'ah," and explains based on Chazal that it was called "the New" because the Scribes innovated halachah there - meaning "new" does not refer to the gate itself being new, but to the novel halachic rulings formulated there. He also cites the second explanation, that they renovated the gate itself, as stated by the "others" in Rashi.
The Claim of the Kohanim and False Prophets
וַיֹּאמְרוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַנְּבִאִים אֶל־הַשָּׂרִים וְאֶל־כׇּל־הָעָם לֵאמֹר מִשְׁפַּט־מָוֶת לָאִישׁ הַזֶּה כִּי נִבָּא אֶל־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת כַּאֲשֶׁר שְׁמַעְתֶּם בְּאׇזְנֵיכֶם׃ - And the priests and the prophets said to the officers and to all the people, saying, "A sentence of death is due this man, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears."
The kohanim and the prophets, as explained, did not believe in the prophecy at all; they were convinced that Yirmiyahu was lying and fabricating things from his own heart. Therefore, when the officers arrive to judge, they argue that according to the law he deserves death, for there is a halachah regarding a false prophet, and his punishment is death. The people, by contrast, remain silent, because they hold that he is a true prophet and know there is no basis to judge him as a false prophet.
And who were these prophets? The false prophets. It did not suit them at all that a true prophet arose and spoke the unvarnished truth. The false prophets, as mentioned several times, loved to flatter the people, tell them pleasant things, and encourage them to believe that they would remain in their land, that there would be no exile, no troubles, and that the Temple would not be destroyed. And here comes someone who ruins the entire celebration. That is how it always goes: the "religious folks" like to spoil the party, speaking of the wars of Gog and Magog and impending tribulations, and why? Everything seems so wonderful, and we had already succeeded in convincing the people, and suddenly this one arrives and ruins everything. Therefore, they seek to execute him as a false prophet, for in their view, they are the true prophets. And this is the difference between them and the people: the people wanted him killed because his words did not suit them, whereas the false prophets and kohanim argued he must be put to death because the law demands it. Thus, as the Malbim notes, on this point the kohanim and prophets did not see eye to eye with the people, for the people did not believe he should be executed according to the law; yet both sides agreed that he should be killed, each for their own reason.
Yirmiyahu's Response to Both Sides
וַיֹּאמֶר יִרְמְיָהוּ אֶל־כׇּל־הַשָּׂרִים וְאֶל־כׇּל־הָעָם לֵאמֹר יְהֹוָה שְׁלָחַנִי לְהִנָּבֵא אֶל־הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה וְאֶל־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת אֵת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר שְׁמַעְתֶּם׃ - And Yirmiyahu spoke to all the officers and to all the people, saying, "Hashem sent me to prophesy against this House and against this city all the words that you have heard."
Yirmiyahu said to them: I did not fabricate these words from my own heart. Here he addresses both factions simultaneously. To those seeking to execute him under the law, he replies: Know that I am not a false prophet. The Torah commanded to put a false prophet to death, but my prophecy is true - Hashem sent me to prophesy against this House.
וְעַתָּה הֵיטִיבוּ דַרְכֵיכֶם וּמַעַלְלֵיכֶם וְשִׁמְעוּ בְּקוֹל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְיִנָּחֵם יְהֹוָה אֶל־הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר עֲלֵיכֶם׃ - "And now, amend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of Hashem your God; then Hashem will relent concerning the disaster that He has decreed against you."
And this was his response to the people who sought to kill him merely to eliminate the unpleasantness: Are you troubled that disaster will come? If so, there is a very simple way to avert the disaster. By killing me, you will not remove the calamity at all; at most, you will eliminate the flashing warning light that signals that the car engine is about to burn out. You have saved neither the car nor the engine; you have only ensured that no one bothers you, but the trouble will surely come. The true way to rectify the situation is to "amend your ways and your deeds." On the contrary, the mission upon which I was sent to you is not to tell you bad and unpleasant things, but to reform you, so that things will go well with you from now on. My prophecy is not harmful; my prophecy is beneficial.
וַאֲנִי הִנְנִי בְיֶדְכֶם עֲשׂוּ־לִי כַּטּוֹב וְכַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינֵיכֶם׃ - "As for me, behold, I am in your hands; do to me as seems good and right in your eyes."
And what is the meaning of the double phrasing "as is good and right"? It corresponds to the two factions: To those who maintain that I deserve the death penalty, this is "good in your eyes" - you are convinced that you are performing a good deed, since the Torah commands that a false prophet be executed. In contrast, for the common people who wish to kill me merely because my words are unpleasant to their ears, this is not "good" at all, but at least it is "right in your eyes" - that is, it is what you desire and what pleases you, so that there will be no one left to tell you unpleasant things.
אַךְ יָדֹעַ תֵּדְעוּ כִּי אִם־מְמִתִים אַתֶּם אֹתִי כִּי־דָם נָקִי אַתֶּם נֹתְנִים עֲלֵיכֶם וְאֶל־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת וְאֶל־יֹשְׁבֶיהָ כִּי בֶאֱמֶת שְׁלָחַנִי יְהֹוָה עֲלֵיכֶם לְדַבֵּר בְּאׇזְנֵיכֶם אֵת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה׃ - "Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its inhabitants; for in truth Hashem has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing."
Yirmiyahu says to them: If you think that by doing so you will eliminate the harm, you are mistaken. Not only will you not remove the harm, but you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city, and you will add divine wrath upon what was already resting upon you. For in truth Hashem sent me to speak all these words in your hearing, and His wrath will flare up over your killing His prophet.
"This Man Does Not Deserve a Sentence of Death"
וַיֹּאמְרוּ הַשָּׂרִים וְכׇל־הָעָם אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִים וְאֶל־הַנְּבִיאִים אֵין־לָאִישׁ הַזֶּה מִשְׁפַּט־מָוֶת כִּי בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ דִּבֶּר אֵלֵינוּ׃ - "Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets: 'This man does not deserve a sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of Hashem our God.'"
This is astonishing, and it is the question the Malbim raised earlier: Previously we saw that the people demanded that the prophet be put to death, so how is it that they suddenly say, "This man does not deserve a sentence of death"? The Malbim's explanation is profound: The people did not change their minds here at all. They always held that he did not legally deserve death - under the law he was not liable to execution; rather, we, the people, simply do not want to hear him and therefore wanted to kill him. And now, when they address the priests and the prophets who argue that he is legally liable to death, they reply: This man does not deserve a sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of Hashem our God, and a prophet who delivers his words in the name of Hashem cannot be executed through due process of law. They still wanted to kill him, because he was disturbing them, but if you, the princes, come to issue a legal ruling - according to the law, there is no verdict of death.
The Testimony of the Elders: Michah the Morashti
וַיָּקֻמוּ אֲנָשִׁים מִזִּקְנֵי הָאָרֶץ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל־כׇּל־קְהַל הָעָם לֵאמֹר׃ מִיכָה הַמּוֹרַשְׁתִּי הָיָה נִבָּא בִּימֵי חִזְקִיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־כׇּל־עַם יְהוּדָה לֵאמֹר כֹּה־אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת צִיּוֹן שָׂדֶה תֵחָרֵשׁ וִירוּשָׁלַיִם עִיִּים תִּהְיֶה וְהַר הַבַּיִת לְבָמוֹת יָעַר׃ - "Then men from the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: 'Michah the Morashti prophesied in the days of Chizkiyahu king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying: Thus said Hashem of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest.'"
The elders come and say to the people: Come and see, remember history. Michah the Morashti - a man who came from the city of Moreshah, which is why he is called Morashti - prophesied in the days of Chizkiyahu precisely such things, the very same things that Yirmiyahu is now prophesying to us and which are unpleasant to our ears. And his prophecy was extremely harsh: "Zion shall be plowed like a field" - Jerusalem will be plowed like a field ready for sowing, meaning not a single building will remain standing; "Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins" - iyim means heaps of rubble; "and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest" - the Temple Mount will become full of stone mounds, resembling the elevated clearings found in a forest, that is, the high ridges of the woodland.
הֶהָמֵת הֱמִתֻהוּ חִזְקִיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה וְכׇל־יְהוּדָה הֲלֹא יָרֵא אֶת־יְהֹוָה וַיְחַל אֶת־פְּנֵי יְהֹוָה וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהֹוָה אֶל־הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר עֲלֵיהֶם וַאֲנַחְנוּ עֹשִׂים רָעָה גְדוֹלָה עַל־נַפְשׁוֹתֵינוּ׃ - Did Chizkiyahu king of Judah and all Judah put him to death at all? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the face of the Lord, and the Lord relented concerning the evil that He had spoken against them? Yet we are bringing great evil upon our own souls!
"Did they put him to death at all?" - Surely they did not put him to death at all, nor did they harm him! And how did they avert the calamity? By entreating the Lord: "And he entreated the face of the Lord, and the Lord relented concerning the evil." If so, regarding what we now think, that by killing the prophet we will rid ourselves of the calamity, the elders say: "Yet we are bringing great evil upon our own souls" - by doing this, we will bring upon ourselves an even greater evil than before.
The Episode of Uriyahu ben Shemayahu
וְגַם־אִישׁ הָיָה מִתְנַבֵּא בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה אוּרִיָּהוּ בֶּן־שְׁמַעְיָהוּ מִקִּרְיַת הַיְּעָרִים וַיִּנָּבֵא עַל־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת וְעַל־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת כְּכֹל דִּבְרֵי יִרְמְיָהוּ׃ - And there was also a man prophesying in the Name of the Lord, Uriyahu son of Shemayahu of Kiryat Yearim, and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Yirmiyahu.
וַיִּשְׁמַע הַמֶּלֶךְ־יְהוֹיָקִים וְכׇל־גִּבּוֹרָיו וְכׇל־הַשָּׂרִים אֶת־דְּבָרָיו וַיְבַקֵּשׁ הַמֶּלֶךְ הֲמִיתוֹ וַיִּשְׁמַע אוּרִיָּהוּ וַיִּרָא וַיִּבְרַח וַיָּבֹא מִצְרָיִם׃ - And King Yehoyakim, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death; and Uriyahu heard and was afraid, and he fled and went to Egypt.
וַיִּשְׁלַח הַמֶּלֶךְ יְהוֹיָקִים אֲנָשִׁים מִצְרָיִם אֵת אֶלְנָתָן בֶּן־עַכְבּוֹר וַאֲנָשִׁים אִתּוֹ אֶל־מִצְרָיִם׃ וַיּוֹצִיאוּ אֶת־אוּרִיָּהוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם וַיְבִאֻהוּ אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ יְהוֹיָקִים וַיַּכֵּהוּ בֶּחָרֶב וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ אֶת־נִבְלָתוֹ אֶל־קִבְרֵי בְּנֵי הָעָם׃ - And King Yehoyakim sent men to Egypt, Elnatan son of Achbor and men with him, to Egypt. And they brought Uriyahu out of Egypt and brought him to King Yehoyakim, who struck him down with the sword and cast his corpse into the graves of the common people.
Here arises the difficulty raised by the Malbim in his opening questions: How can the text relate one story after another when the two contradict each other? In the first account, they argued: Look, the prophet prophesied these very things and they did nothing to harm him; they repented, and on the contrary, were saved from calamity. Yet immediately afterward, a similar story is brought - the first regarding Michah the Morashtite, and the second regarding Uriyahu ben Shemayahu - who delivered a harsh prophecy, fled to Egypt, and ultimately was killed and his corpse thrown into the graves of the common people. Is this merely a historical review? What are you trying to say: should he be put to death or not? First you bring a story whose conclusion is that the prophet should not be executed, and then a story where Yehoyakim indeed executed a prophet, suggesting that he should be killed!
Two Resolutions: The Words of Chazal and the Explanation of the Malbim
Rashi cites the words of Chazal: the one who said this did not say that. The first part represents the words of the righteous, for the reference is to the elders of the land, and among the people there were righteous elders and there were corrupt, foolish elders (ziknei ashmay) - elders whose years brought no wisdom, who as they aged grew more foolish. The wise elders were the ones who argued that he should not be killed, pointing to history where a prophet came and spoke similarly harsh words, yet they repented and the calamity was averted. In contrast, other elders arose, wicked elders, and argued: Behold, there was a man who prophesied harsh words and they killed him; Yirmiyahu too should be put to death! This is how the Sifrei explains it.
The Malbim, on the other hand, explains that the plea of the elders of the land was not enough to save Yirmiyahu from death, because at that very same time Uriyahu was prophesying in the same vein as Yirmiyahu, also prophesying in the Name of the Lord, and yet he was executed by the king. According to the Malbim, "And there was also a man prophesying in the Name of the Lord, Uriyahu son of Shemayahu" is not a continuation of the elders' words at all, but the words of the author of the Book: the elders argued that he should not be executed, but now Scripture recounts that during that same era there was another prophet who prophesied harsh things and was put to death, and this fueled the agitation to kill Yirmiyahu as well.
And do not say that this was done impulsively and without deliberation - for Uriyahu had fled to Egypt, and the king dispatched Elnatan son of Achbor along with men to Egypt, where they searched for him, extradited him from Egypt, and brought him before King Yehoyakim, who struck him down with the sword. Thus you see that there was ample time to deliberate on the matter; it was not a momentary fit of rage.
And do not say that they executed him through a Beit Din on the grounds that they deemed him a false prophet - for see how they struck him: with the sword. Yet the execution mandated for a false prophet is strangulation (chenek); why, then, did they execute him by the sword? Furthermore, notice that he cast his corpse into the graves of the common people, whereas someone executed by a Beit Din is buried, according to Halachah, in a special cemetery designated for those executed by the court. Chazal have already taught that there were two separate burial grounds: one for those executed by decapitation and strangulation, and another for those executed by stoning and burning. Here, however, he was not buried in such a cemetery at all. From this we learn that his execution was not conducted according to Torah law and due process, but out of the sheer whim of Yehoyakim, who refused to hear his rebukes. And such a fate awaited Yirmiyahu as well, for this was during that very same period, and it stood to reason that they would do the same to him.
The Hand of Achikam son of Shafan
אַךְ יַד אֲחִיקָם בֶּן־שָׁפָן הָיְתָה אֶת־יִרְמְיָהוּ לְבִלְתִּי תֵּת־אֹתוֹ בְיַד־הָעָם לַהֲמִיתוֹ׃ - But the hand of Achikam son of Shafan was with Yirmiyahu, so that they did not deliver him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
What ultimately altered the course of events and prevented them from executing Yirmiyahu as they had done to Uriyahu son of Shemayahu? To this, Scripture tells us: the hand of Achikam son of Shafan was with Yirmiyahu. He was the one who rescued him from the hand of the people, from the fury of the mob. For as we have already seen, under the formal law he was not liable to the death penalty; the only remaining threat was a lynching, driven by the people's unwillingness to hear his words. Had Achikam not stood as a shield for him, the people in their wrath would have killed him - especially since they had already received precedent and legitimacy from Yehoyakim, who had killed Uriyahu son of Shemayahu, leaving them with no inhibition. And "hand" signifies exertion, akin to the idiom "he gave his hand," which denotes making a great effort: it was the determined exertion of Achikam son of Shafan, and the strength of his hand prevailing over all, that delivered Yirmiyahu from the hand of the people.
In Summary:
The chapter opens with the command to Yirmiyahu to stand in the courtyard of the House of Hashem and speak all the words of prophecy to the people without withholding a single word, in the hope that "perhaps they will listen and repent." For his severe proclamation - that the Temple would become like Shiloh and the city an object of curse - Yirmiyahu was seized and his execution was demanded. The Malbim reveals that two distinct motives lay behind this demand: the kohanim and the false prophets demanded a formal "sentence of death" under judicial law, arguing that he was a false prophet; whereas the people, who actually believed he was a true prophet, sought to kill him simply to silence someone who uttered words distressing to their ears. Yirmiyahu answered both groups at once: to the former - "In truth Hashem has sent me"; to the latter - mend your ways and remove the evil itself rather than silencing its herald, for if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves. When the ministers arrived to adjudicate, they and the people ruled that he was not liable to death, and the elders of the land stepped forward, recalling Michah the Morashti who was not put to death, whose warning prompted Chizkiyahu's repentance and overturned the decree. And even though during that very same period Uriyahu son of Shemayahu was executed by Yehoyakim - lawlessly and extrajudicially, as shown by the use of the sword and burial in the common graves - Yirmiyahu was spared through the resolute intervention of Achikam son of Shafan, who stood as a shield for him against the wrath of the mob.