Difference between revisions of "Jeremiah" - New World Encyclopedia

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For other uses, see Jeremiah (disambiguation).

Jeremiah or Yirmiyáhu (יִרְמְיָהוּ, Standard Hebrew Yirməyáhu, was one of the "greater prophets" of the Old Testament, and the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth.

The name Jeremiah means "Raised-up/Appointed of the Lord. According to the Book of Jeremiah, he prophesied in Jerusalem from the thirteenth year of King Josiah of Judah through the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, a period of roughly 40 years from roughly 626-586 B.C.E. or beyond. The Book of Jeremiah identifies his pupil Baruch, the son of Neriah, as the scribe who transcribed much of work and probably provided many of the biographical details of his life, which is better documented than any other Hebrew prophet. Jeremiah lived in a time when the Kingdom of Judah not only faced military challenges from foreign invaders and spiritual challenges from Canaanite religion, but also bitter internal divisions in which prophets of Yahweh denounced each other and kings received conflicting advice from those who spoke in God's name. Fearless in the face of both political and religious authority, Jeremiah did not hesitate to confront Temple authorities and royal personages alike. He was the epitome of the prophet who, regardless of consequences, declared the truth to power.

Speaking truth to power: Jeremiah confronts the King.

Jeremiah's prophecies contain some of the most inspiring and troubling passages in the Bible. In one breath he tells his listeners of God's compassion, his forgiveness, and his promise of a New Covenant in which the laws of God will be written on men's hearts rather than tablets of stone. In the next, he becomes a channel for God's fierce hatred, conveyed in poetic lines that portray God as a vengeful husband whose anger at his wayward wife will not be slacked until she is literally stripped naked and stoned.

The only Hebrew prophet specifically known never to have married, Jeremiah was a controversial figure in his own day, supporting the surpising policy of accommodation with pagan Babylonian invaders rather than resistance in God's name. His prediction that Judah was doomed to suffer in exile for several generations, however, proved true, while rival prophets who urged a policy of resistence eventually failed. His understanding of the divine providence in history became the prevailing Jewish viewpoint in the exilic and post-exilic period. This, coupled with his sublime oracles promising that God would eventually temper his wrath and form a New Covenant with his people, made Jeremiah one of most enduring and important figures to Jews and Christians alike

Jeremiah's Life

Under Josiah

"Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem" by Rembrandt van Rijn

According to the biblical account, Jeremiah, was called to the prophetical office when still relatively young, in the thirteenth year of Josiah around 628 B.C.E. His calling promised him practically unequalled authority, together with powerful earthly opposition and divine protection:

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant... Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land -— against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you" (1:9-10)

He left his native home and priestly family in Anathoth and went to reside in Jerusalem, where he seems to have supported the young Josiah in his work of reformation. He declared an end to the "divorce" between God and the northern kingdom of Israel, which had been destroyed by the Assyrian Empire, and called for the people of Judah and Israel alike to return to the Lord.

From the outset, Jeremiah's message went beyond the mere religious formalism. Although he supported the centrality of Jerusalem and the newly promulgated — or rediscovered — Law of Moses, he rejected the importance of external religious trappings. Neither the tablets of the Law nor the the Ark of the Covenant itself were essential to God's relationship to his people:

"Return, faithless people," declares the Lord, "for I am your husband. I will choose you -— one from a town and two from a clan -— and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding... Men will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem the Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel. (3:14-16)

Few details are given regarding Jeremiah's career during the reign of Josiah. His prophecies call Judah and the remnant of Israel to repentance and foresee an impending doom from a northern power otherwise. Some have suggested that he may have continued to dwell in his native Anathoth during this period as was not much invloved in Jerusalem's affairs. Others believe he strongly supported Josiah's program of reformation and that he traveled throughout Judah to promote belief in the Yawheh alone and to put an end to the worship of Canaanite deities. Thus he condemned the practice of worshiping "every high hill and under every spreading tree" (3:6) and proclaimed "in the towns of Judah" that the people must "listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them." (11:6) Another possibility, however, is that Jeremiah's relations with Josiah became strained. Some scholars have suggested that Jeremiah may have opposed certain aspects of Josiah's reforms, such has his centralization of the priesthood in Jerusalem, his fatal military campaign against Pharoah Neco II of Egypt, or his stress on religious formalism. Since Josiah is regarded by the Bible as the most righteous of the Kings of Judah after David, editors may have excised those portions of Jeremiah's writings that were critical of Josiah.

Under Jehoaikim

After Josiah's death in battle (date), one of his sons, Jehoahaz, reigned for three years. From this period we find no reference to Jeremiah, but in the beginning of the reign of Jehoahaz' brother Jehoiakim, Jeremiah is clearly present and active in Jerusalem. His preaching was upsetting to the king, Temple authorities, and the people alike. To the king he declared:

Jehoiachim destroys Jeremiah's prophecies

"This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.'"

To the Temple authorities and general populace he warned:

'This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh [a desolation] and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.' (26:4-6)

This speech resulted in Jeremiah's being officially threatened with capital punishment,(26:16) and resstricted from preaching in the Temple confines (36:5). Not to be deterred, Jeremiah subsequently dictated his prophecies to Baruch and instructed him to read them in the Temple courtyard. The prophecies was later delivered and read to the King Jehoiachim himself. They were disturbing enough to the king that he cut the scroll into pieces, burned it, and ordered both Jeremiah and Baruch arrested. (36:23-26) The two outlaws went into hiding, where Jeremiah dictated an even longer collection of prophecy.

File:Jeremiah-Baruch.jpg

Jeremiah dictates to Baruch

Exactly which of Jeremiah's oracles offended Jehoichim is not specified. However, one policy on which king and prophet were certain to disagree was the that of Babylon. Jehoichim had been a vassal of Egypt, Babylon's enemy, while Jeremiah believed that the Babylonians were the instrument of God's wrath against Judah on account of her sin. Babylon had defeated Egypt at the battle of Carchemish in 605, and Jeremiah urged accommodation with the Babylonians. Jehoiachim, however, decided to resist and withheld the payment of required tribute to the new regional power. It may well be that Jeremiah's warnings against resisting Babylon provoked Jehoiakim to view him as a political liability or even a Babylonian agent. In any case, his policy of resistence proved unfortunate, as Jerusalem now faced a Babylonian invasion and siege, during which time Jehoiachim died.

Under Jehoiachin

To Jehoiachim's son Jechoiachin, Jeremiah's words were particularly harsh:

"As surely as I live," declares the Lord, "even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to." (22:24-17)

Jeremiah's words must have seemed unpatriotic or even treasonous, but it must be remembered that for him, the Babylonians were God's agent, sent to punish Judah for her sins. Jehoichin's decision to continue his father's policy of resistance against Babylon constituted, for Jeremiah, rebellion against God. Even the fact that the invaders had plundered Jerusalem's Temple did not cause him to waver in his belief that Nebuchadnezzar was acting on behalf of God. Standing at the gate to the Temple, Jeremiah had warned:

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!" If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. (7:3-8)

Jehoichin did not hold out long against the power of Babylon's armies. He surrendered after only three months in power, and was taken in chains to Babylon, together with many of Jerusalem's leading citizens. Nebuchadnezzer found a suitable replacement for him on the throne in his uncle, Zedekiah.

Under Zedekiah

The most dramatic events of Jeremiah's minstry came during the reign of Judah's last king. In Zedekiah's fourth year as monarch, ambassadors from the surrounding nations came to discuss an alliance to gain their common independence from Babylon. The prophet Hananiah quickly endorsed this seemingly patriotic plan, declaring in the Temple:

Jeremiah confronts Hananiah

"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin [a] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,' declares the Lord, 'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'" (28:2-4)

Jeremiah countered this prophecy by appearing in the marketplace with a wooden yoke around his neck publicly counseling a policy of submission to the Babylonian power. When Jeremiah later appeared at the Temple, Hananiah dramatically took the yoke from Jeremiah's shoulders and broke it, declaring that God would do likewise to the yoke of Babylon within two years. Jeremiah retreated to consider, and then countered with a prophecy of his own declaring that Hananiah himself would die within the same period. (28) In the next chapter is recorded the text of a remarkable letter from Jeremiah to the exiles in Babylon counseling them not to listen to other prophets, but to settle down, buy property, raise families, and pray for the Babylonian king. (29)

File:Jeremiah-Dungeon.jpg

Jeremiah imprisoned

Jeremiah's predictions would eventually prove correct, but in the short term both he and the nation faced serioius trouble. Zedekiah decided to join the rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, and the Babylonians soon marched against Judah. Jeremiah warned the king directly that resistance would bring disaster, but this was understandably difficult advice to accept to the independence-minded king. When the Babylonians temporarily lifted their seige to cope with the threat of a resurgent Egypt, Jeremiah left Jerusalem on business in the territory of Benjamin and was arrested as a deserter. He was beaten and placed in a dungeon, although he was soon released at Zedekiah's command. Confined in the palace court, he refused to keep quiet concerning the final downfall of Judah, and the king's officers silenced him by imprisoning him in an empty cistern. He was saved from death by starvation only by the intervention of the king's Ethiopian eunuch, remaining in the captivity of the court prison until his liberation by the Babylonians after they captured Jerusalem. Zedekiah, for his part, was forced into exile and blinded.

The Babylonians allowed Jeremiah to choose the place of his residence, and he decided to settle in the new capital of Mizpah with Gedaliah the Babylonian-appointed governor of Judea.

Gedaliah was soon assassinated by an Amorite agent "for working with the Babylonians." He was succeeded by a certain Johanan, who rejected Jeremiah's counsels and fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with him. (43:6) There, the prophet probably spent the remainder of his life. We have no authentic record of his death; he may have died at Tahpanes, or, according to a tradition, may have gone to Babylon with the army of Nebuchadnezzar.

Themes of Jeremiah's Preaching

Michelangelo's Jeremiah on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Jeremiah, like all true biblical prophets, strongly condemned idolatry and warned of doom for God's people if they did not repent. Because of his belief that Judah's sins had made God's punishment virtually inevitable his prophecies betray a tortured soul who must stand for God to the people and for the people to God: "Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them and to turn away thy wrath from them" (ib. xviii. 20) Jeremiah says to God. He even determines to abandon his office: "I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay"—i.e., "I struggled to keep it within me and I could not" (ib. xx. 9).

Jeremiah reticence to represent God is understandable when one considers the character of God's communication to him: "Then the Lord said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague." (14:11-12) Yet Jeremiah was of two minds about how strongly God was determined to punish Judah, for in another prophecy he conveyed the very opposite of the above words: "If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned." (18:7-8)

Jeremiah's most enduring theme, however, was the idea of New Covenant. "The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt... This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (31:31-33)

So confident was he in God's promise of renwed spiritual and physical blessing to the land of Judah and Israel that in the midest of the Babylonian seige during Zedekiah's reign, Jeremiah invested in land in his native Anathoth, declaring:

"This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, 'It is a desolate waste, without men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians.' Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed...beause I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord." (32:42-44)

Jeremiah emphasized that religion must be practiced first and foremost in the heart of the individual. Like Hosea, Isaiah, and other prophets before him, he stressed the need for personal sincerity and social justice over the external forms of the Temple ritual. Circumcision of the heart was more important even than the circumcision of the flesh (4:4) He demanded that the wealthy citizens of Judah liberated their slaves of Hebrew birth (43). He insisted that the Sabbath day of rest be scrupulously observed. (17:19-27)

Jeremiah in the New Testament

While Jeremiah is seldom mentioned directly in the New Testament, his influence on Jesus and the New Testament writers is evident. Jesus quoted Jeremiah 7:11 in his words to the moneychangers in the Temple courtyard, saying: "Is it not written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Like Jeremiah he predicted that the Temple would be made desolate if the rulers, priests, and people did not respond to God's call.

The title given to the biblicalon of canonical Christian writings itself is taken from Jeremiah's preaching of the New Covenant, of which New Testament is simply an alternate translation.

Jeremiah in legend and midrash

The Christian legend (pseudo-Epiphanius, "De Vitis Prophetarum"; Basset, "Apocryphen Ethiopiens," i. 25-29), according to which Jeremiah was stoned by his compatriots in Egypt because he reproached them with their evil deeds, became known to the Jews through Ibn Yaḥya ("Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah," ed. princeps, p. 99b.)

This account of Jeremiah's martyrdom, however, may have come originally from Jewish sources. Another Christian legend narrates that Jeremiah by prayer freed Egypt from a plague of crocodiles and mice; for which reason his name was for a long time honored by the Egyptians (pseudo-Epiphanius and Yaḥya, l.c.).

In Jewish rabbinic literature, especially the aggadah, Jeremiah and Moses are often mentioned together; their life and works being presented in parallel lines. The following ancient midrash is especially interesting, in connection with Deut. xviii. 18, in which "a prophet like Moses" is promised: "As Moses was a prophet for forty years, so was Jeremiah; as Moses prophesied concerning Judah and Benjamin, so did Jeremiah; as Moses' own tribe [the Levites under Korah] rose up against him, so did Jeremiah's tribe revolt against him; Moses was cast into the water, Jeremiah into a pit; as Moses was saved by a female slave (the slave of Pharaoh's daughter); so, Jeremiah was rescued by a male slave [Ebed-melech]; Moses reprimanded the people in discourses; so did Jeremiah" (Pesik., ed. Buber, xiii. 112a; comp. Matt. xvi. 14).

Jeremiah was a popular name in the 1970's, as well as among the early Puritans, who often took the Biblical names of the prophets and apostles for themselves, and for their children.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Friedman, Richard E. Who Wrote The Bible?, Harper and Row, NY, USA, 1987.

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