Chapter 28 of Yirmiyahu is a direct continuation of the preceding chapter. Yirmiyahu walks about with bars and straps upon his neck, illustrating the word of Hashem that the people and the nations must place their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Against him arises Chananyah ben Azzur, a false prophet, who prophesies the exact opposite. The entire chapter is a public confrontation between the two in the House of Hashem, before the eyes of the kohanim and all the people, culminating in Chananyah's death that very year.
וַיְהִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַהִיא בְּרֵאשִׁית מַמְלֶכֶת צִדְקִיָּה מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה בַּשָּׁנָה הָרְבִעִית בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַחֲמִישִׁי אָמַר אֵלַי חֲנַנְיָה בֶן עַזּוּר הַנָּבִיא אֲשֶׁר מִגִּבְעוֹן בְּבֵית יְהוָה לְעֵינֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים וְכָל הָעָם לֵאמֹר - And it was in that year, at the beginning of the reign of Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Chananyah son of Azzur, the prophet who was from Giv'on, spoke to me in the House of Hashem in the presence of the kohanim and of all the people, saying:
"In that year" - at that very time when Nevuchadnezzar appointed Tzidkiyahu over the five kings, at the beginning of his reign, as explained in the previous chapter. It was then that Chananyah ben Azzur, a false prophet, arrived and proclaimed a prophecy publicly in the Beis HaMikdash.
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר שָׁבַרְתִּי אֶת עֹל מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל - Thus said Hashem, Master of Legions, the God of Israel, saying: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Meaning: You, Yirmiyahu, make a yoke and straps and say, "Bring your necks and your heads under the yoke of the king of Babylon," whereas I declare the opposite prophecy - the yoke has already been broken! And not only from upon us, but the yoke has also been broken from upon those who were already exiled to Babylon, and they too shall return.
בְּעוֹד שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים אֲנִי מֵשִׁיב אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֶת כָּל כְּלֵי בֵּית יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר לָקַח נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל מִן הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וַיְבִיאֵם בָּבֶל - Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the House of Hashem that Nevuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and brought to Babylon.
וְאֶת יְכָנְיָה בֶן יְהוֹיָקִים מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה וְאֶת כָּל גָּלוּת יְהוּדָה הַבָּאִים בָּבֶלָה אֲנִי מֵשִׁיב אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה נְאֻם יְהוָה כִּי אֶשְׁבֹּר אֶת עֹל מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל - And Yechanyah son of Yehoyakim, king of Yehudah, and all the exiles of Yehudah who went to Babylon, I will bring back to this place, says Hashem, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two years, he announces, all the vessels taken by Nevuchadnezzar will return, and all the exiles will return to their land and be free people, because the yoke of the king of Babylon will be broken.
Chazal ask: Where did Chananyah get the basis to say these things; what led him astray? They answer: Chananyah heard Yirmiyahu prophesying in the upper marketplace, "Behold, I will break the bow of Eilam" - a prophecy that was likewise spoken at the beginning of Tzidkiyahu's reign, recorded later in the book in Chapter 49. Now, Eilam bordered Babylon. Chananyah made a kal vachomer (an a fortiori deduction) for himself: If Eilam, who came merely to assist the Chaldeans, has its yoke broken by Hashem, then all the more so the Chaldeans themselves, the Babylonians themselves! This Chananyah was a sharp scholar. On the basis of that very kal vachomer, he went to the lower marketplace and proclaimed his "prophecy" there. The entire authority of this prophecy was nothing other than a deduction he had drawn from Yirmiyahu's words.
וַיֹּאמֶר יִרְמְיָה הַנָּבִיא אֶל חֲנַנְיָה הַנָּבִיא לְעֵינֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים וּלְעֵינֵי כָל הָעָם הָעֹמְדִים בְּבֵית יְהוָה - Then Yirmiyahu the prophet spoke to Chananyah the prophet in the presence of the kohanim and in the presence of all the people who were standing in the House of Hashem.
וַיֹּאמֶר יִרְמְיָה הַנָּבִיא אָמֵן כֵּן יַעֲשֶׂה יְהוָה יָקֵם יְהוָה אֶת דְּבָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נִבֵּאתָ לְהָשִׁיב כְּלֵי בֵית יְהוָה וְכָל הַגּוֹלָה מִבָּבֶל אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה - And Yirmiyahu the prophet said: Amen, so may Hashem do! May Hashem fulfill your words that you have prophesied, to return the vessels of the House of Hashem and all the exile from Babylon to this place.
The simple meaning of the matter is that Yirmiyahu said to him: Do you think that I do not want the vessels to return? That I seek the detriment of the Jewish people? That if I deliver a harsh prophecy concerning them, it means I am looking for negative things about them? If only it were as you say! If only the vessels would return, if only this entire ordeal would end! But I am speaking the truth, and the truth is painful to hear - and this is indeed what is destined to happen.
In the Midrash, Chazal noted: Yirmiyahu said to him, if things materialize according to your words, on the contrary, I stand to gain while you stand to lose. I am a kohen, and I partake of the holy offerings of Heaven; if the Temple remains standing on its mound, there are sacrifices, there are terumos and ma'asros, so it is in my interest. But take into account that you will lose, for you are a Gibeonite, and the Gibeonites were decreed to be woodchoppers and water drawers for the Temple. The Radak does write that according to the plain sense, Chananyah was a Jew who lived in the city of Givon rather than a descendant of the Gibeonites, but this is how Chazal expounded it by way of derash.
From here Chazal derived that whoever flatters the wicked will ultimately fall into his hand, or into the hand of his son, or into the hand of his grandson. And there is a divine critique against Yirmiyahu here: When Yirmiyahu left Jerusalem to go inspect the field of his cousin Chanamel, Yiriyahu ben Shelemyah ben Chananyah seized him, claiming, "He is defecting to the Chaldeans" - that he was going to make contact with the enemy. They threw him into prison and confined him in the court of the guard, where Yirmiyahu suffered greatly. And why? Because he flattered the wicked, and thus fell into the hand of his grandson. And who was that Yiriyahu's grandfather? Chananyah ben Azur. And where did he flatter him? Right here, when he said, "Amen, so may Hashem do" - as though confirming his words. He ought to have said explicitly: This is a complete falsehood, I oppose what you say, this is not the word of Hashem.
The Malbim explains the matter differently: "Amen" stems from the root of emes (truth). Yirmiyahu was telling him: What you say is true, for I, too, prophesy that the vessels will return - except that I say it will be in seventy years, whereas you say in two years. It turns out that this was a statement with a double meaning: on the one hand, it sounded as if he were answering amen to his words and hoping they would come to pass; on the other hand, it implied that he was saying to him: It is true, Hashem will fulfill your words that the vessels will return, but not in two years, rather in seventy years. A distant truth.
However, the kohanim and the people understood it according to the first interpretation. Yirmiyahu intended to mock him, but they heard it as though he were agreeing with him and endorsing his words. Therefore, Scripture is precise and repeats itself: "Then Yirmiyahu the prophet spoke to Chananyah the prophet in the presence of the kohanim and in the presence of all the people," and then again, "And Yirmiyahu the prophet said." What is the reason for this repetition? The Malbim explains: The first statement is what the kohanim and the people heard, understanding from it that he supposedly agreed. Therefore, Yirmiyahu needed to make an additional statement, a separate utterance, to refute his words and set the record straight: Do not take it at face value as though "if only it were so," but rather know that his words are a complete lie, for the vessels are not destined to return in two years.
אַךְ שְׁמַע נָא הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי דֹּבֵר בְּאָזְנֶיךָ וּבְאָזְנֵי כָּל הָעָם - Nevertheless, please hear this word that I speak in your ears and in the ears of all the people.
הַנְּבִיאִים אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ לְפָנַי וּלְפָנֶיךָ מִן הָעוֹלָם וַיִּנָּבְאוּ אֶל אֲרָצוֹת רַבּוֹת וְעַל מַמְלָכוֹת גְּדֹלוֹת לְמִלְחָמָה וּלְרָעָה וּלְדָבֶר - The prophets who came before me and before you from of old prophesied concerning many lands and concerning great kingdoms, of war, of disaster, and of pestilence.
הַנָּבִיא אֲשֶׁר יִנָּבֵא לְשָׁלוֹם בְּבֹא דְּבַר הַנָּבִיא יִוָּדַע הַנָּבִיא אֲשֶׁר שְׁלָחוֹ יְהוָה בֶּאֱמֶת - As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then it shall be known that Hashem has truly sent the prophet.
Here Yirmiyahu establishes a fundamental rule in prophecy: a prophet is tested only by a prophecy of good. If he prophesied good and his words were not fulfilled - he is a false prophet, for the Holy One, Blessed be He, never retracts a prophecy of good. But if he prophesied evil and his words did not come to pass, this is no proof at all that he is a liar, since it is very possible that Hashem relented concerning the evil and decided not to bring it.
And what is Yirmiyahu essentially telling him? Your words will be tested by their fulfillment. If my prophecy is not fulfilled - there is still no proof that I am not a true prophet, for I prophesied evil and it is possible that Hashem relented. But if your prophecy does not come to pass - that is conclusive proof that you are a false prophet. Thus, the test rests specifically on your words. And we only need to wait - two years.
The Malbim adds a wonderful explanation: Most of the prophecies in our hands are prophecies of calamity, and not by chance. The prophet's role is not to stroke the people's ego, but to bring them to repentance and rectify them. What purpose is there in informing a person that in a year or two things will be good? When the good arrives, he will see it anyway. (Future prophecies regarding the Messianic era, such as "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb," are an entirely different matter.) But informing a person that calamity will arrive in a year or two - this is vital, for he has the power to prevent it: let him repent, let him mend his ways, and thereby the calamity will be averted.
If so, asks the Malbim in the name of Yirmiyahu, why does Hashem ever send a prophet to herald something good? The answer: primarily to establish the person in the presumptive status of a prophet. How will we know if you are a prophet? Speak a prophecy of good, for a prophet is tested only by a prophecy of good. As it is written in the Torah: "And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word that Hashem has not spoken?'" - "When a prophet speaks in the name of Hashem, if the thing does not happen..." that is the thing which Hashem has not spoken. And as explained, this refers specifically to positive promises, not prophecies of calamity.
Therefore Yirmiyahu tells him: The prophets who came before me and before you prophesied concerning many lands and great kingdoms "of war, and of evil, and of pestilence" - calamities alone, for the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not send a prophet merely to predict good things. "As for the prophet who prophesies of peace" - if there is a prophecy of good, its sole purpose is that "when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that Hashem has truly sent him." If so, you who have come to herald good tidings - if Hashem indeed sent you, it is only so that when the words are fulfilled, we will know you are a true prophet. Let us then wait for the test: you said two years, we will wait two years. In the meantime, there is nothing of substance to your prophecy, and one cannot rely on it at all. Grades are checked after the test, not before it.
וַיִּקַּח חֲנַנְיָה הַנָּבִיא אֶת הַמּוֹטָה מֵעַל צַוַּאר יִרְמְיָה הַנָּבִיא וַיִּשְׁבְּרֵהוּ - Then Chananyah the prophet took the yoke-bar from off the neck of Yirmiyahu the prophet, and broke it.
These words did not please Chananyah, and especially the statement that his words required testing and had no substance until they passed the test. (Do not be surprised that Scripture calls him "Chananyah the prophet" - Scripture frequently calls even false prophets "prophet.") Chananyah takes the yoke-bar from Yirmiyahu's neck - a bar that had accompanied him for fifteen years, as explained in the previous chapter - and breaks it.
One might ask: Why does a prophet perform a physical action at all beyond stating the prophecy? You spoke - you spoke, and that should suffice. Yet we find this again and again: take a scroll, write such-and-such on it, and cast it into the Euphrates River; take a new flask and do such-and-such with it; Elisha tells the king fighting Aram - take arrows and shoot them toward Aram, and then strike the ground with the arrows.
The Ramban explains: The tangible demonstration brings the matter from potential into actuality. When there is a physical deed, the words cease to be abstract and take on an actual presence in the realm of action. You shot the arrows in that direction - it is as though the matter has already occurred. And notice: a prophecy accompanied by a physical enactment can no longer be annulled, but must be fulfilled. That is why when the king struck the ground only three times, Elisha said to him: Why only three? Had you struck more, you would have struck down Aram to completion. A tangible demonstration always gives the prophecy a more vivid and concrete reality.
Similar to this is the story related in the Gemara about a woman who cursed a sage, saying to him, "May your chair be overturned" - meaning that he should fall from his greatness or die. Immediately, the sage told his servants: Take the chair and overturn it. They took the chair and overturned it. Why? In order to give the curse a physical fulfillment and reality; once the chair was overturned - the matter was finished, the words had already come to pass.
From here also comes good advice recorded in the sefer Bemishnat Hachalomot: A person who dreamed that the door of his house fell off - it is explained in the sefarim that this is an omen, Heaven forbid, that his wife will die. What should he do? The Chatam Sofer writes: He should dismantle the door of his house and let it fall, so that the dream receives fulfillment in some reality, and no longer needs to be fulfilled in its symbolic sense. Of course, this is not always possible: if one saw the beams of his house collapse, he should not go and bring half a ton of dynamite. Rather, when it is possible - let him do so.
And so it was here: the yoke-bars on Yirmiyahu's neck came to express that this prophecy would be fulfilled under any circumstance, for a prophecy accompanied by a symbolic physical action must inevitably be realized. Chananyah therefore had no choice: in order to nullify such a prophecy, he required an opposing physical action. Therefore, he took the bars and broke them, as if to say: Behold, I have performed an action opposing yours. The bars represent the yoke of the king of Babylon, and breaking them represents breaking that yoke.
וַיֹּאמֶר חֲנַנְיָה לְעֵינֵי כָל הָעָם לֵאמֹר כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה כָּכָה אֶשְׁבֹּר אֶת עֹל נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל בְּעוֹד שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים מֵעַל צַוַּאר כָּל הַגּוֹיִם וַיֵּלֶךְ יִרְמְיָה הַנָּבִיא לְדַרְכּוֹ - And Chananyah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, 'Thus said Hashem: So will I break the yoke of Nevuchadnetzar king of Babylon within two years of days from off the neck of all the nations.' And Yirmiyahu the prophet went on his way.
And Yirmiyahu went on his way: he hesitated to reply anything on his own initiative that had not been told to him from the mouth of Hashem, and there was no point in confronting him, since he had already delivered what Hashem commanded him. Therefore, he left and went on his way.
וַיְהִי דְבַר יְהוָה אֶל יִרְמְיָה אַחֲרֵי שְׁבוֹר חֲנַנְיָה הַנָּבִיא אֶת הַמּוֹטָה מֵעַל צַוַּאר יִרְמְיָה הַנָּבִיא לֵאמֹר - And the word of Hashem came to Yirmiyahu after Chananyah the prophet had broken the yoke-bar from off the neck of Yirmiyahu the prophet, saying:
הָלוֹךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ אֶל חֲנַנְיָה לֵאמֹר כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה מוֹטֹת עֵץ שָׁבָרְתָּ וְעָשִׂיתָ תַחְתֵּיהֶן מֹטוֹת בַּרְזֶל - Go and say to Chananyah, saying: Thus said Hashem: You have broken bars of wood, but you have made bars of iron in their place.
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Go and tell him - you broke bars of wood, but know that in their place will now come bars of iron. Did you imagine you annulled these words? Not only did you not annul them, but you have worsened and intensified the decree, and the punishment will be far more terrible. For if I warn you and you accept the warning and change your ways, there is a chance that something may be revoked. But if I warn you, and not only do you refuse to listen, but you even try to nullify My words, deny them, and silence the prophecy - it is a sign that you require a harsher punishment. Rebelling against Nevuchadnetzar will bring an iron yoke upon you: right now there is a wooden yoke, and undoubtedly it is a yoke as well, but through rebellion he will subjugate you far more severely.
כִּי כֹה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עֹל בַּרְזֶל נָתַתִּי עַל צַוַּאר כָּל הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה לַעֲבֹד אֶת נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל וַעֲבָדֻהוּ וְגַם אֶת חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה נָתַתִּי לוֹ - For thus said Hashem of Hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, to serve Nevuchadnetzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him; and I have also given him the beasts of the field.
"And I have also given him the beasts of the field" - as previously explained, that he rode upon a lion and tied a serpent to its head.
וַיֹּאמֶר יִרְמְיָה הַנָּבִיא אֶל חֲנַנְיָה הַנָּבִיא שְׁמַע נָא חֲנַנְיָה לֹא שְׁלָחֲךָ יְהוָה וְאַתָּה הִבְטַחְתָּ אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה עַל שָׁקֶר - And Yirmiyahu the prophet said to Chananyah the prophet: Hear now, Chananyah: Hashem did not send you, and you have caused this people to trust in a lie.
You are making false promises to them, deceitful promises, and you are not a messenger sent by Divine Providence at all.
לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הִנְנִי מְשַׁלֵּחֲךָ מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה הַשָּׁנָה אַתָּה מֵת כִּי סָרָה דִבַּרְתָּ אֶל יְהוָה - "Therefore thus said the Lord: Behold, I am casting you off from the face of the earth; this year you shall die, because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord."
"Behold, I am casting you off from the face of the earth" - and where will He send him? Into the earth. This is the meaning: casting you off from upon it into it. And he told him, "this year you shall die," but when he would be buried - that he did not tell him.
וַיָּמָת חֲנַנְיָה הַנָּבִיא בַּשָּׁנָה הַהִיא בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי - "So Chananyah the prophet died in that same year, in the seventh month."
The seventh month is Tishrei, which is already a new year. Chazal ask: If so, was Yirmiyahu's prophecy not fulfilled?! Rather, he died on Erev Rosh Hashanah, and commanded his sons before his death: "I know that it was decreed that I would die this year, and behold, I am about to die; I command you - delay the burial and the announcement of my death until after Rosh Hashanah." And why? To make it appear that Yirmiyahu lied.
Notice what is taking place here. A person stands at his final moments, with one foot already in the grave, and what matters to him? That the impression remain that Yirmiyahu lied and that he himself was right - to emerge justified in the eyes of the people, even from beyond the grave. He sees that he lived a lie, he sees that the prophet's words were fulfilled after all, and yet he obstinately persists in his crooked way. There is a chilling revelation here about human nature. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, in Sichos Mussar, devoted an entire discourse to this very matter: a person's drive to remain "right" to the bitter end, even when the truth smacks him in the face; he persists in his stubbornness, dies, and still clings to his stance.
The Radak writes that according to the simple meaning (peshat), there is no difficulty here at all. The question stems from the assumption that he said, "in this [calendar] year you shall die," which would mean he had to die by the end of Elul; hence Chazal explained that he died at the end of Elul and was buried after Rosh Hashanah. In truth, however, that is not how it was phrased, but rather "within the year you shall die" - within one year's time. Count twelve months, 365 days from the moment of the prophecy, and within that span you will die. It does not refer to the Jewish calendar year, and the first of Tishrei is not the deciding factor; rather, it means the corresponding date exactly one year from the time of the prophecy, day for day. According to this, it is very possible that the prophecy was delivered on the first or second of Tishrei of the previous year, which means he died precisely within a year, and there is no need to maintain that they concealed his death. Nevertheless, we rely on the words of Chazal; what the Radak explains is merely a way to harmonize the verses according to their plain sense, but Chazal taught that he explicitly ordered his death to be concealed.
Chapter 28 presents the confrontation between Yirmiyahu and Chananyah ben Azur, who constructed a false prophecy upon a kal vachomer deduced from Yirmiyahu's words regarding Elam, promising the return of the Temple vessels and the exiles within two years. Yirmiyahu responds, "Amen, so may the Lord do" - a statement carrying a double meaning: "If only it were so," and at the same time, "What you say is true, but in seventy years, not two." Because the people understood him literally, "and he said" is repeated so that he could explicitly contradict Chananyah's claim. Yirmiyahu teaches the fundamental rule of prophecy: a prophet is verified only through prophecies of good; therefore, Chananyah's words are put to the test and cannot be relied upon until they materialize. Chananyah breaks the yoke-bar to perform an act countering an act, since a prophecy accompanied by a physical demonstration must inevitably come to pass. Hashem's response follows: you have broken wooden bars, but in their place will come bars of iron, for rebellion only intensifies the yoke. Ultimately it was decreed upon him, "this year you shall die," and he died that very year. According to Chazal, he commanded that his death be concealed so that he would appear justified - a chilling testament to human obstinacy, which refuses to surrender falsehood even on the threshold of the grave.