22:30 this man childless. “This man” was Coniah (Jeremiah 22:24,28), and he did have children. His descendants are listed in Matthew 1:11-16. The last of these was Joseph, the legal father (but not the biological father) of Jesus. Although Joseph was legally entitled to the throne, neither he nor any other among the seed of Jeconiah ever occupied the throne, just as this prophecy indicated.

22:30 throne of David. This curse seems at first to contradict Jacob’s prophecy that the sceptre would not depart from Judah “until Shiloh come” (Genesis 49:10), and even more the promise to David that “I will set up thy seed after thee,…and I will establish his kingdom.…and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (II Samuel 7:12-13). In fact, the latter promise was even renewed through Jeremiah himself (Jeremiah 33:17). The apparent contradiction is resolved in Christ, who inherited the legal right to the throne through his legal father David (Luke 1:32-33), but was not descended biologically from Jeconiah. His mother, Mary, however, was descended from David through Nathan (Luke 3:23-31), and Christ was her Seed, uniquely. Thus Jesus, and He only, held both the legal and genetic right to David’s throne and, as the promised “Shiloh,” was the last one who did. He shall, indeed, reign over the house of David forever.