Jeremiah 29:1-32. Jeremiah's letter of warning to the exiles. The case of Shemaiah The section may be subdivided as follows. (i) Jeremiah 29:1. Heading. (ii) Jeremiah 29:4. The exiles are bidden to settle down in Babylon and give no heed to the false prophets. (iii) Jeremiah 29:10. Not till after s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now these are the words of the letter_ The exiles in Babylon were subjected to the same danger from false prophets predicting a speedy return (cp. Ezekiel 13), as were their fellow countrymen who remained at home. Jeremiah earnestly deprecates such a belief, and insists that the punishment would la... [ Continue Reading ]
The letter appears to have been later than ch. 24, to which it plainly alludes more than once. Cp. Jeremiah 29:17 with Jeremiah 24:2; Jeremiah 24:8, and Jeremiah 29:18 with Jeremiah 24:9. _the queen-mother_ Nehushta. See on ch. Jeremiah 13:18. _the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Elasah_ As the son of Shaphan he was probably brother of Ahikam (Jeremiah 26:24) who, taking Jeremiah's side in political matters, would be well received at Babylon. _Gemariah_ Perhaps his father was identical with the chief priest (2 Kings 22:4).... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. note to section. Instead of looking for an immediate return to Palestine, which would cause the exiles to sit loose to the country where they found themselves, they were to be interested in its welfare and to make homes for themselves. Otherwise they would not only fail to obtain any inf... [ Continue Reading ]
_seek the peace of the city_ probably referring not to Babylon only, but to any city in which a body of exiles might be planted. LXX have _the land_, as in Jeremiah 4:29 (see note), perhaps reading here, as they probably did there, the equivalent Hebrew.... [ Continue Reading ]
_cause to be dreamed_ mg. _dream_. The MT., as it stands, gives the sense as in the text, but its form is Aramaic rather than Hebrew and the causative sense is not wanted. The apparent error has arisen from the accidental repetition of one letter in the original. Co., however, would read _they dream... [ Continue Reading ]
_After seventy years_ See on Jeremiah 25:11. _for Babylon_ The announcement has respect to the duration of the empire of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and only secondarily to the consequent limitation of the captivity. _my good word_ My gracious promise. See Jeremiah 24:4-7.... [ Continue Reading ]
Not till after seventy years shall they return.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I know_ an assurance on Jehovah's part that He forgets them not, even though they be far from their proper land. _the thoughts that I think_ i.e. My purposes. _hope in your latter end_ For mg. _a latter end and hope_cp. Proverbs 23:18; Proverbs 24:14; Proverbs 24:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
The MT. is awkward, as it stands. The LXX have merely "and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.... [ Continue Reading ]
The LXX have only "And I will be found of you" (lit. "I will appear to you"). The remaining words are evidently a later addition, relating to a _general_dispersion, and thus unsuitable to the present context. _turn again your captivity_ The Hebrew expression here and elsewhere probably means simply... [ Continue Reading ]
This _v_. naturally links with Jeremiah 29:21 ff., while the intervening _vv_. make an apparent severance in the logical connexion, and are absent from LXX, except in a certain recension (Lucianic), where, however, they _precede Jeremiah 29:15_. With this transposition, as at least modifying the obj... [ Continue Reading ]
The impending fate of Zedekiah and his people. Cp. Jeremiah 24:8-10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the king_ Zedekiah. See Jeremiah 28:1. See note on Jeremiah 29:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
_vile figs_ Cp. Jeremiah 24:2-8.... [ Continue Reading ]
For the general sense and language of the _v_. cp. Jeremiah 19:8; Jeremiah 24:9; Jeremiah 25:18; Jeremiah 42:18. _tossed to and fro_ mg. _a terror unto_. See on Jeremiah 15:4, where the Heb. verb is the same.... [ Continue Reading ]
This _v_. is an insertion, to connect the preceding interpolation with what follows.... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophets in Babylonia, of whom the exiles speak in Jeremiah 29:15, shall perish by a cruel death.... [ Continue Reading ]
Of these two prophets nothing further is known. The LXX omit the fathers" names, and the words "which prophesy … name." Co. denies, while Du. and Gi. admit, the historical accuracy of the story, Du. pointing out that, had the prediction not been fulfilled, the passage would not have appeared in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_folly_ The Hebrew denotes more than this, viz. "a state of mind or an action, marked by utter disregard of moral or spiritual feeling." Dr. who illustrates the kind of immorality here referred to in the word by its use in Genesis 34:7; 2 Samuel 13:12. See further in his _Parallel Psalter,_p. 457. T... [ Continue Reading ]
_concerning_ mg. _unto_. Cp. Jeremiah 29:31. _the Nehelamite_ The place or family referred to is not otherwise known.... [ Continue Reading ]
Shemaiah the Nehelamite rebuked and threatened. On the arrival at Babylon of Jeremiah's letter, which ends with Jeremiah 29:23, there is much indignation on the part of the false prophets, and one of them, Shemaiah by name, writes to Zephaniah the acting high-priest, urging upon him that he should... [ Continue Reading ]
_in thine own name_ not, as Jeremiah spoke, in the name of the Lord. _unto all the people that are at Jerusalem_ LXX rightly omit. _Zephaniah_ See on Jeremiah 21:1 (which however belongs to a somewhat later time than this). In ch. Jeremiah 52:24 = 2 Kings 25:18 he is called "second priest," i.e. n... [ Continue Reading ]
This and the two following verses give us the words of Shemaiah's letter to Zephaniah, as quoted in Jeremiah's reply. _thee_ Zephaniah. _in the stead of Jehoiada_ See on Jeremiah 20:1. The title "officers" here is the same in the original as the one given there to Pashhur. It is possible that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_maketh himself a prophet_ plays the part of a prophet, acts excitedly, like the dervishes of the present day. Cp. 1 Samuel 10:10; 1 Samuel 10:12 f., 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 19:20 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
_read this letter, etc_.] shewing thereby that he was in sympathy with the prophet.... [ Continue Reading ]
_hath prophesied_ the first explicit statement that Shemaiah was a prophet.... [ Continue Reading ]
_therefore thus saith the Lord_ For the construction see note on Jeremiah 29:24. _he shall not … the good_ But Shemaiah could no more than Jeremiah himself hope to see the far distant day of return. Thus the LXX reading is to be preferred, "there shall not be a man of them" (i.e. of his descendants... [ Continue Reading ]