The Hidden Connection Between Shlomo HaMelech, Yirmiyahu HaNavi, and Nebuchadnezzar
Yirmiyahu HaNavi
Yirmiyahu HaNavi was born on the 9th of Av. Before he was born, while still in his mother's womb, the future prophet began to speak:
— “Father, what will you name me?”
His father replied, “Avraham.” “No, I do not want that name.”
“Then Yitzchak.” “No, I do not want that name either.”
“Then Yaakov.” “No, I do not want that one either.”
It happened that Eliyahu HaNavi was passing by that place and said, “Your name will be Yirmiyahu,” because “beyamecha yarim yado be-Yerushalayim”—“in your days, one will raise his hand against Jerusalem.” Then the child's voice said, “Good, I agree, because both your name and mine end with the same syllable, ‘yahu.’”
The name Yirmiyahu אירמיהו is derived from the words ירים ידו על ירושליים, “yarim yado al Yerushalayim”—“will raise his hand against Jerusalem.”
According to the Sifrei, Rachav and Yehoshua bin Nun had eight prophets and eight kohanim among their descendants; one of them was Yirmiyahu HaNavi.
Chazal say that, when the prophet Yirmiyahu was young, he once played with Nebuchadnezzar, who said to him, “Mi yiten vecha iti oleh le-Yerushalayim veha'iti soref et Beit HaMikdash”—“If it comes to pass, I will ascend to Jerusalem and burn the Temple.” Nebuchadnezzar was prophesying his own future.
With ruach hakodesh, the boy Yirmiyahu already understood that he had not heard this by chance. Perhaps this was a “sha'at ratzon,” an auspicious moment, and he could influence the future.
So he asked Nebuchadnezzar, “Suppose you ascend to Jerusalem. Give Jerusalem to me—do not harm it.”
“No,” said Nebuchadnezzar. “I will ascend and burn this city.”
“Then give me the Beit HaMikdash,” Yirmiyahu pleaded.
“No,” he said. “I will not give it to you.”
“Give me the tinokot (children),” Yirmiyahu begged.
“I will not,” Nebuchadnezzar replied.
“Then what will you give me?”
The wicked youth answered him, “Whatever you are able to save from noon until evening will be yours.”
Yirmiyahu agreed, as he had no other choice. And then, years later, forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the prophecy came true. Yirmiyahu tried to admonish the people, but no one listened to him.
Why was Yirmiyahu specifically chosen for the role of prophet during the days of the Temple's destruction?
Shlomo HaMelech
Shlomo HaMelech was born in the month of Aryeh—Chodesh Av—and lived for 52 years, like Shmuel HaNavi. On the day Shlomo HaMelech married Pharaoh's daughter, the angel Gavriel descended from Heaven, “planted a reed in the sea, and the water rose around it, and upon it they built great Rome,” meaning the prototype of the city of Rome, which later destroyed the Temple. (Zohar, Parashat Pinchas, R. Shimon Fatah)
It was specifically the angel Gavriel who did this because he had been given “fiery coals” with which to burn Jerusalem. (Yoma, p. 12)
David HaMelech writes in Tehillim 68:31
גְּעַ֨ר חַיַּ֪ת קָנֶ֡ה עֲדַ֤ת אַבִּירִ֨ים ׀ בְּעֶגְלֵ֬י עַמִּ֗ים מִתְרַפֵּ֥ס בְּרַצֵּי־כָ֑סֶףּ
— “G'ar chayat kaneh adat abirim be-eglei amim mitrapes be-ratzei chesef bizar”—
(“Rebuke the beast in the reeds, the assembly of mighty bulls among the calves of the nations, who delight in bars of silver.”) David himself associated the reed with the Roman royal family, because the Romans were compared to a “shager ben hakaneh” (a wild boar). Therefore David prayed, “Rebuke the beast in the reeds”—that is, that G-d should curse this nation, which dwelled where the reeds grew. (Maharsha on Sanhedrin)
Rama mi-Pano says that the prophet Yirmiyahu was a gilgul of King Shlomo, and that he himself was the cause of the Temple's destruction, brought about by the klipah of קנה “kaneh” (reed).
The gematria of the word קנה “kaneh” is 155.
Therefore, the prophet Yirmiyahu composed Megillat Eicha with 155 pesukim, including the verse repeated at the end: “Return us to You, O G-d, and we shall return; renew our days as of old.” (Eicha 5:21)
When King Shlomo saw through ruach hakodesh that the future Temple would be destroyed and that Israel would suffer at the hands of the nations because of his marriage to Pharaoh's daughter, he decided to prescribe a remedy for Am Yisrael and wrote Shir HaShirim, whose refrain is a plea for mercy upon Israel.
Nebuchadnezzar
Rabbeinu Chida says that Nebuchadnezzar—the Babylonian king who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple—was the grandson of King Shlomo, the son of the Queen of Sheba's daughter.That is why the prophet Daniel called him “King of kings,” as it is written: “Ant Malka Melchaya di Elah Shmaya malchuta chasna ve-taka ve-yakira yahav lak” (Daniel 2:37)—meaning that he was the descendant of the great King (Shlomo), who sat upon the throne of G-d.
This is also why Daniel gave Nebuchadnezzar good counsel, advising him to atone for his transgression through righteousness, as it is written: “Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: redeem your sins through righteousness.” (Daniel 4:24)
But the Queen of Sheba's descendant was physically connected to King Shlomo only; spiritually, he was like his grandmother. After conquering Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar took all its gold, claiming that it rightfully belonged to him because it had been given to King Shlomo by his grandmother, the Queen of Sheba.
When the time came for the destruction of the Temple, G-d sent Yirmiyahu to the city of Anatot, because while he was in Jerusalem, the enemies could not enter it. As soon as he left, the enemies entered and burned the city and the Temple. When Yirmiyahu returned to Jerusalem, he climbed a mountain near Jerusalem and saw smoke rising from the city. He immediately tore his clothing, covered his head with ashes, and went on his way weeping and crying out. Although he hurried to reach Jerusalem, he arrived only in the evening and therefore could not save anyone.
And this is what is written: “Woe to us, for the day has turned, for the evening shadows have lengthened.” (Yirmiyahu 6:4)
The prophet Yirmiyahu hints at his reincarnation in the words: “Ani hagever ra'ah oni”—“I am the man who has seen affliction.” (Eicha 3:1)
אני הגבר “Ani hagever” (“I am the man”) has the gematria 271, equal to the gematria of the name אירמיהו Yirmiyahu (with the kolel).
And the phrase אני הגבר ראה “Ani hagever ra'ah” (“I am the man who saw”) has the gematria 470, equal to the gematria of שלמה המלך “Shlomo HaMelech”—477 with a kolel for each letter—hinting that, while incarnated as Shlomo HaMelech, he had already foreseen the calamity.
Ben Ish Chai teaches that Yirmiyahu's patronymic, “Chilkiyah”, hints at his gilgul in Shlomo HaMelech—for one of King Shlomo's names was Yedidyah, and these names share the same spiritual root.
(Based on a lecture by Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen, a student of “Matok MiDvash”)