The northerner Babylon has come. Jeremiah has preached repentance (25:5). Now he “meddles” in foreign policy and urges submission to Babylon rather than resistance or revolt. This unusual counsel, given not as a politician but as a prophet, is pressed on the visiting envoys, on Zedekiah himself, and on the priests and people. Each group is instructed to submit to Babylon; each is warned not to heed false prophets.

The sign act of carrying a wooden yoke makes the message memorable: surrender to Nebuchadnezzar (27:1–11). It comes early in Zedekiah’s reign, likely 593. In 597 Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah to rule (2 Kings 24:15–20). The plot by a coalition of surrounding small states, who like Judah are in Nebuchadnezzar’s grip, is to revolt. The time for revolt seems auspicious since N…