3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
(Verse 3, 4.) And you shall put them on your shoulder, and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of messengers who came to Jerusalem to King Zedekiah of Judah. And you shall command them to speak to their masters: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. You shall say this to your masters. The past vision was given at the beginning to the prophet of the reign of Joachim, son of Josiah, king of Judah. But these things happened under Zedekiah, who was the last ruler of Jerusalem, and under whom the city was captured and destroyed. And Jeremiah was commanded to put chains, or wooden yokes called "Mutoth" in Hebrew, around his neck and send them to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, through the messengers who had come to Zedekiah. And he was to instruct his messengers to announce that they should serve King Nebuchadnezzar and listen to what the following prophecy says. And so that perhaps the ambassadors and kings of those nations would respond, why do you not command this to your people? It also speaks similar things to King Zedekiah, and to the priests and prophets. This passage is always understood allegorically (by Origen), and fleeing from the truth, it interprets the heavenly Jerusalem, that its inhabitants should willingly take on bodies and descend into Babylon, that is, the confusion of this world which is placed in evil, and serve the Babylonian king, undoubtedly the devil. But if they refuse to do this, they will by no means bear heavy burdens; instead, they will perish by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence; and they will not become men, but demons. He said this so that his defenders do not accuse us of slander. However, let us follow a simple and true history, so that we are not entangled in certain clouds and deceptions.
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 27:3-4