Jeremiah and King Jehoiakim never have a face-to-face encounter in the book of Jeremiah. The king is absent from Jeremiah’s trial in Jeremiah 26:10–19 and even when Jehoiakim reads and burns Jeremiah’s scroll in Jeremiah 36:1–32, the prophet is not present. The king is unable to arrest Jeremiah because the LORD hid him
(Jeremiah 36:26).1 And yet, the final sentence of Jeremiah 26:1–24 makes the king’s influence very clear. Despite the fact that the court had declared Jeremiah not guilty the people still seek his death. Jeremiah is only spared because Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah.
Shaphan had been a scribe during Josiah’s reforms and was involved in reading the law scroll that was found in the temple to the king. Ahikam's son Gedaliah was appointed governor of the cities of Judah by King Nebuchadrezzar in 586 B.C. (Jeremiah 40:5).2 This influential family seems to have been supporters of Jeremiah and came to his aid at crucial moments.
The execution of Uriah described in Jeremiah 26:20–23 and the intervention of Ahikam to spare Jeremiah’s life in Jeremiah 26:24 are not directly connected to Jeremiah’s trial in Jeremiah 26:10–19. Both events probably took place long after the trial. But the trial, Uriah’s death and Ahikam’s intervention have been brought together here to demonstrate the danger Jeremiah faced under Jehoiakim and to highlight the failure of both king and people to respond to the Lord’s word with repentance.3
24 Cependant la main d'Achikam, fils de Schaphan, fut avec Jérémie, et empêcha qu'il ne soit livré au peuple pour être mis à mort.