Commentaire sur Jérémie 28:1

And it came to pass in that year When that time arrived that Nebuchadnezzar gave Zedekiah dominion over the five kings to whom Jeremiah stated his message and sent the thongs and the bars to the kings by the hand of their ambassadors.

in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah In the beginning of his dominion over the five kings. But it is impossible to say that it means at the beginning of his reign, since it says, “in the fourth year.” In that year, he went down to greet Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, and Seraiah the receptionist was with him, as is stated at the end of the Book (51:59), and he gave him dominion over the kings.

said to me Our Sages state: Who misled Hananiah? He heard Jeremiah prophesying in the upper street, “Behold I am breaking the bow of Elam” (49:35). And this prophecy was said in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, as is explained there, and since Elam is adjacent to Babylon, he stood in the lower street, and expounded. And he derived a major case from a minor one. If Elam, who came only to aid the Chaldeans, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Behold I am breaking the bow of Elam,” how much more is this so with the Chaldeans themselves? He came into the lower street and said: So said the Lord: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon, as it is in Sanhedrin (89a).