Jeremiah
- 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. He prophecied 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 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. He 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 in God's name and kings received conflicting advice from prophets and priests alike. Utterley 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, declares the truth to power.
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 others who urged resistance eventually proved false. 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, he 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, he looked to a time when even the Ark of the Covenant itself would be forgotten.
- "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. 1 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. 17 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. 18 In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel. (3:14-16)
Few additional details are given regarding Jeremiah's career during the reign of Josiah. Some have suggested that he may have continued to dwell in Anathoth during this period. Another possibility is that Jeremiah's relations with Josiah may edited out of his writings. Some scholars have suggested that Jeremiah may have opposed certain aspects of Josiah's reforms, such has his centralization of the priesthood in Jerusalem and his fatal military campaign against Pharoah Neco II of Egypt. Since Josiah is regarded by the Bible as the most righteous of the Kings of Judah after David, editors may have excised those portion 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:
- "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 threatened with capital punishment, briefly imprisoned, and banished from the Temple confines (36:5). Not to be deterred, Jeremiah later dictated his prophecies to Baruch and instructed him to read it in the Temple courtyard. The prophecies was later delivered and read to the King Jehoiachim himself. They were disturbing enough to Jehoiachim that he reportedly ordered scroll on which they were written cut into pieces and burned. (36)
Exactly which of Jeremiah's oracles offended Jehoichim is not specified. Question of chronology are also rendered difficult because the Book of Jeremiah does not present Jeremiah's prophecies in a particular order. However, one policy on which king and prophet were certain to disagree was the question of Babylon. Jehoichim was 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, and Jeremiah urged accommodation with the Babylonians. Jehoiachim, however, decided to resist. This decision proved tragic, as Jerusalem fell, and the king himself was taken in chains into exile (2 Chronicles 36:6).
Under Jehoiachin and Zekekiah
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. 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)
However, this siege was raised only for a short time. The prophet, in answer to his prayer, received a message from God, stating that "the Babylonians would come again, and take the city, and burn it with fire" (37:7, 8). The princes, in their anger at such a message by Jeremiah, cast him into prison (37:15-38:13). He was still in confinement when the city was taken (588 B.C.E.). The Babylonians released him, and showed him great kindness; allowing Jeremiah to choose the place of his residence, according to a Babylonian edict. Jeremiah accordingly went to Mizpah with Gedaliah, who had been made governor of Judea.
Johanan succeeded Gedaliah, who had been assassinated by an Amorite spy, "for working with the Babylonians". Refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsels, Johanan fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch (Jeremiah's faithful scribe and servant) with him (Jer. 43:6). There, the prophet probably spent the remainder of his life, still seeking in vain to turn the people to the Lord; from whom they had so long revolted (44). He lived into the reign of Evil-merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and may have been about ninety years of age at his death. 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.
His writings are collected in the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations. Jeremiah is considered by some modern scholars (as well as some ancient Rabbis) to have written, or redacted much of the Old Testament, as we have it today. His language in "Jeremiah" and "Lamentations" is quite similar to that in Deuteronomy and the "Deuteronomic history" of Joshua, Judges, the Books of Samuel, and the Books of Kings. Jeremiah is also famous as "the broken-hearted prophet" (who wrote or dictated a "broken book", which has been difficult for scholars to put into chronological order), whose heart-rending life, and true prophecies of dire warning went largely-unheeded by the people of Judah. YHWH told Jeremiah, "You will go to them; but for their part, they will not listen to you".
Key Word Summary
Key words in the book of Jeremiah. All word counts are approximate:
- YHWH (The Lord) ~710 occurrences
- aw-mar (to say) ~478 times
- erets (land) ~271 times
- melek (king) ~267 times
- ben (son, children) ~229 times
- bow (come, go) ~213 times
- dabar (word) ~203 times
- shamah (hear, listen, obey) ~184 times
- Yehoodah (Judah) ~182 times
- Babel (Babylon) ~169 times
Summary based on the above key words:
- YHWH is trying to get Judah and her kings to hear and obey Him for some reason that is not known. Jeremiah speaks on behalf of YHWH the words of YHWH to Judah and her kings. YHWH is warning Judah and her kings that the king of Babylon will destroy them for the wickedness that Judah has been doing in the land. The Judah will go into captivity into the land of Babylon.
Attitude Toward Jerusalem Priesthood
The opposition in which Jeremiah seems to have stood to the priesthood of the central sanctuary at Jerusalem may have been a continuation of the opposition which had existed from former times between that priesthood and his family; this would be traceable to Zadok, the successful opponent of Abiathar.
Jeremiah's attitude may also have been influenced by the fact that he considered Josiah's measures too superficial for the moral reformation which he declared to be necessary if the same fate were not to befall the Temple of Zion, as had in days gone by, befallen the Temple of Shiloh (I Sam. iv.), which had by then become "desolate".
An inward opposition of Jeremiah to the Deuteronomic law is not to be thought of. This may be seen from the exhortation (ib. xi. 1-8) in which Jeremiah calls upon his people to hear "the words of this covenant" (ib. v. 3), which God had given to their fathers "when He brought them up out of Egypt". In this passage, there is a plain reference to the newly-rediscovered torah (law) or "teaching".
Just as little-justifiable is the theory, which has recently been suggested, that Jeremiah in his later years departed from the Deuteronomic law. "The false [lying] pen of the scribe," which, as Jeremiah says, "makes the Torah of God into falsehood" (Jer. viii. 8, Hebr.), could not have referred to the Deuteronomic law, nor to its falsification by copyists. Rather, Jeremiah is thinking here of another compilation of laws which was then in progress under the direction of his opponents; the priests of the central sanctuary at Jerusalem. Jeremiah probably expected from them no other conception of law than the Levitical one, which may be seen in the legal portions of the so-called "Priestly" writings, and results from the Priestly point of view. Another possible interpretation is that Jeremiah's prophecies, which included many, repeated dire warnings against "false prophets", is that the hearts of the priests and prophets were wrong. This was followed by Jeremiah's prophecies by way of reminder about "the good things" that YHWH has in store for "his people", Israel, including the "New Covenant"; in which God would "remove the heart of stone of His people, and would give them a new heart: one of flesh, and a new spirit (the Holy Spirit)".
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.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Friedman, Richard E. Who Wrote The Bible?, Harper and Row, NY, USA, 1987.
See also
- History of ancient Israel and Judah
- Documentary hypothesis.
This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. cs:Jeremjáš de:Jeremia (Prophet) es:Jeremías fr:Jérémie no:Jeremia pl:Jeremiasz (Biblia) pt:Jeremias fi:Jeremia
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