Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, (after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem), by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon). It said:
Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t be diminished. Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 Here the Prophet begins a new discourse, even that…
Here the Prophet begins a new discourse, even that he not only cried out constantly at Jerusalem, that the Jews who still remained there should repent, but that he also mitigated the grief of the exiles, and exhorted them to entertain the hope of returning, provided they patiently endured the chastisement allotted to them. The design of the Prophet was at the same time twofold; for he not only intended to mitigate by comfort the sorrow of the exiles, but designed also to break down the obstinacy of his own nation, so that they who still remained at Jerusalem and in Judea might know that nothing would be better for them than to join themselves to their other brethren. The Jews, as it has already appeared, and as we shall hereafter in many places see, had set their minds on an unreasonable deliverance; God had fixed on seventy years, but they wished immediately to break through and extricate themselves from the yoke laid on them. Hence Jeremiah, in writing to the captives and exiles, intended to accommodate what he said to the Jews who still remained at Jerusalem, and who thought their case very fortunate, because they were not driven away with their king and the rest of the multitude. But at the same time his object was to benefit also the miserable exiles, who might have been overwhelmed with despair, had not their grief been in some measure mitigated. The Prophet, as we shall see, bids them to look forward to the end of their captivity, and in the meantime exhorts them to patience, and desires them to be quiet and peaceable, and not to raise tumults, until the hand of God was put forth for their deliverance.
he says that he wrote a book to the remaining elders; for many of that age had died; as nature requires, the old who approach near the goal of life, die first, he then says that he wrote to them who still remained alive. We hence conclude that his prophecy was designed for them all; and yet he afterwards says, “Take wives and propagate;” but this, as we shall see, is to be confined to those who were at that time in a fit age for marriage. He did not however wish to exclude the aged from the comfort of which God designed them to be partakers, and that by knowing that there would be a happy end to their captivity, provided they retained resignation of mind and patiently bore the punishment of God justly due to them for having so often and in such various ways provoked him. Then he adds, the priests, and the prophets, and then the whole people.
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But we must notice that he not only exhorts the people to patience, but also the priests and the prophets. And though, as we shall hereafter see, there were among them impostors, who falsely boasted that they were prophets, it is yet probable that they are also included here who were endued with God’s Spirit, either because the spirit was languid in them, or because God did not always grant to them the knowledge of everything. It might then be that the prophets, to whom God had not made known this, or whose minds were oppressed with evils, were to be taught.
As to the priests, we hence conclude that they had from the beginning neglected their office, for they would have been God’s prophets, had they faithfully performed their sacerdotal office; and it was, as it were, an extraordinary thing when God chose other prophets, and not without reproach to the priests; for they must have become degenerated and idle or deceptive, when they gloried in the name alone, when they were destitute of the truth. This then was the reason why they were to be taught in common with the people. It now follows, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 7 For some died in the way.
For some died in the way.
Or, letter.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–7 Jer 29:1 Now these [are] the words of the…
Jer 29:1 Now these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
Ver. 1. Now these are the words of the letter.] Heb., Of the book. It is taken for any manner of writing, whether longer, as a book, or shorter, as a letter, an epistle, cuius ornamentum est ornamentis carere, saith Politian; the two chief commendations whereof, say others, are shortness and plainness. Here we have both, and should therefore highly prize it, not as apocryphal Baruch’s letter, but as parcel of holy writ, worthy of all acceptation.
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Which were carried away captive.] And longed for deliverance; but are advised to have patience, and not to antedate the promises, which in their due time should be accomplished. As till then obediendum est etiam dyscolis, obedience must be yielded to the Babylonians, now their masters, and "not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward; for this is thankworthy." {1Pe 2:18}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 There were two carryings into the captivity of Babylon,…
There were two carryings into the captivity of Babylon, the latter about eleven or twelve years after the former; the first was in the time of Jehoiachin, of which we read in 2Ki 24:14, when the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths, were carried away, as we read there, amongst whom were some priests and prophets.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 We are here told,
We are here told,
I. That Jeremiah wrote to the captives in Babylon, in the name of the Lord. Jeconiah had surrendered himself a prisoner, with the queen his mother, the chamberlains of his household, called here the eunuchs, and many of the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, who were at that time the most active men; the carpenters and smiths likewise, being demanded, were yielded up, that those who remained might not have any proper hands to fortify their city or furnish themselves with weapons of war. By this tame submission it was hoped that Nebuchadnezzar would be pacified. Satis est prostrasse leoni - It suffices the lion to have laid his antagonist prostrate; but the imperious conqueror grows upon their concessions, like Benhadad upon Ahab's, Kg1 20:5, Kg1 20:6. And, not content with this, when these had departed from Jerusalem he comes again, and fetches away many more of the elders, the priests, the prophets, and the people (Jer 29:1), such as he thought fit, or such as his soldiers could lay hands on, and carries them to Babylon. The case of these captives was very melancholy, the rather because they, being thus distinguished from the rest of their brethren who continued in their own land, looked as if they were greater sinners than all men who dwelt at Jerusalem. Jeremiah therefore writes a letter to them, to comfort them, assuring them that they had no reason either to despair of succour themselves or to envy their brethren that were left behind. Note, 1. The word of God written is as truly given by inspiration of God as his word spoken was; and this was the proper way of spreading the knowledge of God's will among his children scattered abroad. 2. We may serve God and do good by writing to our friends at a distance pious letters of seasonable comforts and wholesome counsels. Those whom we cannot speak to we may write to; that which is written remains. This letter of Jeremiah's was sent to the captives in Babylon by the hands of the ambassadors whom king Zedekiah sent to Nebuchadnezzar, probably to pay him his tribute and renew his submission to him, or to treat of peace with him, in which treaty the captives might perhaps hope that they should be included, Jer 29:3. By such messengers Jeremiah chose to send this message, to put an honour upon it, because it was a message from God, or perhaps because there was no settled way of sending letters to Babylon, but as such an occasion as this offered, and then it made the condition of the captives there the more melancholy, that they could rarely hear from their friends and relations they had left behind, which is some reviving and satisfaction to those that are separated from one another.
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II. We are here told what he wrote. A copy of the letter at large follows here to Jer 29:24. In these verses,
1. He assures them that he wrote in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who indited the letter; Jeremiah was but the scribe or amanuensis. It would be comfortable to them, in their captivity, to hear that God is the Lord of hosts, of all hosts, and is therefore able to help and deliver them; and that he is the God of Israel still, a God in covenant with his people, though he contend with them, and their enemies for the present are too hard for them. This would likewise be an admonition to them to stand upon their guard against all temptations to the idolatry of Babylon, because the God of Israel, the God whom they served, is Lord of hosts. God's sending to them in this letter might be an encouragement to them in their captivity, as it was an evidence that he had not cast them off, had not abandoned them and disinherited them, though he was displeased with them and corrected them; for, if the Lord had been pleased to kill them, he would not have written to them.
2. God by him owns the hand he had in their captivity: I have caused you to be carried away, Jer 29:4 and again, Jer 29:7. All the force of the king of Babylon could not have done it if God had not ordered it; nor could he have any power against them but what was given him from above. If God caused them to be carried captives, they might be sure that he neither did them any wrong nor meant them any hurt. Note, It will help very much to reconcile us to our troubles, and to make us patient under them, to consider that they are what God has appointed us to. I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.
3. He bids them think of nothing but settling there; and therefore let them resolve to make the best of it (Jer 29:5, Jer 29:6): Build yourselves houses and dwell in them, etc. By all this it is intimated to them, (1.) That they must not feed themselves with hopes of a speedy return out of their captivity, for that would keep them still unsettled and consequently uneasy; they would apply themselves to no business, take no comfort, but be always tiring themselves and provoking their conquerors with the expectations of relief; and their disappointment at last would sink them into despair and make their condition much more miserable than otherwise it would be. Let them therefore reckon upon a continuance there, and accommodate themselves to it as well as they can. Let them build, and plant, and marry, and dispose of their children there as if they were at home in their own land. Let them take a pleasure in seeing their families built up and multiplied; for, though they must expect themselves to die in captivity, yet their children may live to see better days. If they live in the fear of God, what should hinder them but they may live comfortably in Babylon? They cannot but weep sometimes when they remember Zion. But let not weeping hinder sowing; let them not sorrow as those that have no hope, no joy; for they have both. Note, In all conditions of life it is our wisdom and duty to make the best of that which is, and not to throw away the comfort of what we may have because we have not all we would have. We have a natural affection for our native country; it strangely draws our minds; but it is with a nescio qua dulcedine - we can give no good account of the sweet attraction; and therefore, if providence remove us to some other country, we must resolve to live easy there, to bring our mind to our condition when our condition is not in every thing to our mind. If the earth be the Lord's, then, wherever a child of God goes, he does not go off his Father's ground. Patria est ubicunque bene est - That place is our country in which we are well off. If things be not as they have been, instead of fretting at that, we must live in hopes that they will be better than they are. Non si male nunc, et olim sic erit - Though we suffer now we shall not always. (2.) That they must not disquiet themselves with fears of intolerable hardships in their captivity. They might be ready to suggest (as persons in trouble are always apt to make the worst of things) that it would be in vain to build houses, for their lords and masters would not suffer them to dwell in them when they had built them, nor to eat the fruit of the vineyards they planted. "Never fear," says God; "if you live peaceably with them, you shall find them civil to you." Meek and quiet people, that work and mind their own business, have often found much better treatment, even with strangers and enemies, than they expected; and God has made his people to be pitied of those that carry them captives (Psa 106:46), and a pity it is but that those who have built houses should dwell in them. Nay,
4. He directs them to seek the good of the country where they were captives (Jer 29:7), to pray for it, to endeavour to promote it. This forbids them to attempt any thing against the public peace while they were subjects to the king of Babylon. Though he was a heathen, an idolater, an oppressor, and an enemy to God and his church, yet, while he gave them protection, they must pay him allegiance, and live quiet and peaceable lives under him, in all godliness and honesty, not plotting to shake off his yoke, but patiently leaving it to God in due time to work deliverance for them. Nay, they must pray to God for the peace of the places where they were, that they might oblige them to continue their kindness to them and disprove the character that had been given their nation, that they were hurtful to kings and provinces, and moved sedition, Ezr 4:15. Both the wisdom of the serpent and the innocency of the dove required them to be true to the government they lived under: For in the peace thereof you shall have peace; should the country be embroiled in war, they would have the greatest share in the calamitous effects of it. Thus the primitive Christians, according to the temper of their holy religion, prayed for the powers that were, though they were persecuting powers. And, if they were to pray for and seek the peace of the land of their captivity, much more reason have we to pray for the welfare of the land of our nativity, where we are a free people under a good government, that in the peace thereof we and ours may have peace. Every passenger is concerned in the safety of the ship.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–7 Now these are the words of the letter that…
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem,.... The argument and tenor, the sum and substance, of an epistle, which the prophet Jeremiah, being at Jerusalem, wrote, under the inspiration of God, to his countrymen abroad, afterwards described; so the prophets under the Old Testament instructed the people, sometimes by their sermons and discourses delivered by word of mouth to them, and sometimes by letters and epistles; as did the apostles of the New Testament; and they were both ways useful and profitable to men:
unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captive; some perhaps dying by the way, and others quickly after they came to Babylon; some were left, who had been rulers or civil magistrates in Judea, and perhaps of the great sanhedrim:
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and to the priests, and to the prophets: false prophets, as the Syriac version; for we read only of one true prophet that was carried captive, and that was Ezekiel; but of false prophets several:
and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; which was eleven or twelve years before their last captivity thither. This was a catholic epistle, common to all the captives of every rank and class, age or sex.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 Jeremiah's letter to the captives in Babylon, to be…
Jeremiah's letter to the captives in Babylon, to be quiet there, ver. 1-7. Not to believe false prophets; nor expect to return 'till after fifty years, ver. 8-14. The destruction of those who remained in Judah for their disobedience, ver. 15-19. The fearful end of two lying prophets, ver. 20-23. Shemaiah's letter against Jeremiah, ver. 24-29. Who reads his doom, ver. 30-32.
Captives - There were two carryings into Babylon, the latter about eleven or twelve years after the former, the first was in the time of Jehoiakim, When the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths were carried away.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 7 This chapter contains the substance of two letters sent…
CHAPTER XXIX
This chapter contains the substance of two letters sent by the
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prophet to the captives in Babylon. In the first he recommends
to them patience and composure under their present
circumstances, which were to endure for seventy years, 1-14;
in which, however, they should fare better than their brethren
who remained behind, 15-19.
But, finding little credit given to this message, on account of
the suggestions of the false prophets, Ahab the son of Kolaiah,
and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who flattered them with the
hopes of a speedy end to their captivity, he sends a second, in
which he denounces heavy judgments against those false prophets
that deceived them, 20-23;
as he did afterwards against Shemaiah the Nehelamite, who had
sent a letter of complaint against Jeremiah, in consequence of
his message, 24-32.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIX
Verse 1. Now these are the words of the letter] This transaction took place in the first or second year of Zedekiah. It appears that the prophet had been informed that the Jews who had already been carried into captivity had, through the instigations of false prophets, been led to believe that they were to be brought out of their captivity speedily. Jeremiah, fearing that this delusion might induce them to take some hasty steps, ill comporting with their present state, wrote a letter to them, which he entrusted to an embassy which Zedekiah had sent on some political concerns to Nebuchadnezzar. The letter was directed to the elders, priests, prophets, and people who had been carried away captives to Babylon.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 Jer 29:1. Now these are the words of the…
Jer 29:1. Now these are the words of the letter — Hebrew, דברי הספר, the words of the book, or writing, as both the LXX. and the Vulgate translate it. Although this title announces but one, Blaney gives it as his opinion that this chapter undeniably contains the substance of two writings sent at different times, which, he says, “is evident from comparing Jer 29:28 with Jer 29:4-5, and that the distinction between them is at the end of Jer 29:20. For in the first the prophet exhorts the captives to accommodate themselves to their present circumstances, under an assurance that their captivity would last to the end of seventy years; after which period, and not before, God would visit and restore them. And to prevent their listening to any false suggestions that might flatter them with hopes of a speedier return, he informs them of what would happen to their brethren that were left behind at Jerusalem, for whom a harder fate was reserved than for those that had been carried away. After this, finding, as it should seem, upon the return of the messengers, the little credit the first message had met with, he sends a second to the same persons, denouncing the divine judgments against three of their false prophets, by whose influence chiefly the people had been prevented from hearkening to his good advice.” The time when one or both of these written declarations of the divine will was sent to Babylon is not known, but it is thought to have been at the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign. By the residue of the elders, Lowth thinks that the remnant of the members of the Sanhedrim is intended, who were carried away captive in the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign, (Dan 1:3,) or in Jeconiah’s captivity, (see 2Ki 24:14,) many of whom might die by the hardships they suffered in their transportation. These, being persons of authority, were more likely to influence the rest of the people, and induce them to hearken to the prophet’s advice. Houbigant, however, not content with this interpretation, renders it, Unto the principal elders. Instead of prophets, here the LXX. read ψευδοπροφητας, false prophets: but the Chaldee understands by the word the scribes or doctors of the law; while others again think that Ezekiel, (carried away with Jeconiah,) Daniel, and other prophets of the captivity, may be meant.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–4 The residue of the ciders - i. e., such…
The residue of the ciders - i. e., such of the elders as were still alive.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 7 Letter. Literally, "book." (Haydock) --- It was probably sent…
Letter. Literally, "book." (Haydock) --- It was probably sent at the beginning of the reign of Sedecias by his ambassadors, and is different from that sent by Baruch i. and chap. lii. 28. --- Prophets. Chaldean, "scribes." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "false prophets," ver. 8. (Haydock) --- Daniel had begun to prophesy, the year of the world 3402. Ezechiel commenced only five years after the captivity of Jechonias. One prophet frequently instructs another, as Nathan did David, Daniel ix. 2., and 1 Peter i. 11. (Calmet) --- Jeremias declares that the captivity would continue long. He comforts and rebukes to chap. xl. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Jeremiah 29
3. THE CONFLICT OF JEREMIAH WITH THE FALSE PROPHETS IN BABYLON
Jeremiah 29
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1. The Letter to the Exiles
Jer_29:1-23
1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried 2away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon (after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters 3and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem); By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah (whom Zedekiah the king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), saying,
4Thus saith the Lord of hosts [Jehovah Zebaoth], the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem 5unto Babylon: Build ye houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat the 6fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and 7daughters; that ye may be increased there and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord [Jehovah] for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your 9dreams which ye cause to be dreamed1 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my 10name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good 11word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give 12you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, 13and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall 14search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity,2 and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 15, 16Because3 ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; Know that thus saith the Lord of4 the king that sitteth upon the throne5 of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in the city, and of your brethren that are not gone 17forth with you into captivity; Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile6 18figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an 19hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent7 unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord [Jehovah].
20Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have 21sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, 22king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab,8 whom the king of Babylon roasted 23in the fire; Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them: even I know9 and am a witness, saith the Lord.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Jeremiah did not limit himself to contending against the perverse nationalism of the Jews in their own home, for those who had already been carried away captive were in constant communication with home, and the accounts of the views and expectations prevailing among the former at all events influenced the conclusions of the latter. If they adapted themselves to their state of exile and described it as tolerable, when they saw its inevitable necessity, and admonished their countrymen to bow to this necessity, this was at any rate a powerful auxiliary to Jeremiah’s preaching. Hence Jeremiah seeks to move the captives to humble submission to their lot, presenting before them on the one hand the true consolation of a deliverance to be hoped for after seventy years, and on the other hand most emphatically warning them against the false consolation of a deliverance in a shorter period, which the false prophets set before them. Jeremiah thus avails himself of the opportunity afforded by an embassy, despatched by Zedekiah to Babylon (Jer_29:3), to send a letter to those who had been already deported. We know nothing further either of the object of the embassy or of the persons of the ambassadors. As to the time of the composition and despatch of the letter Hitzig has correctly remarked that all the data we have point to the period between the first and the fourth years of Zedekiah. The deportation under Jeconiah had taken place (Jer_29:1-2). The deportation appears to be that event on which the sending of the letter leans; there seems to be nothing more important as the occasion of it. Add to this that the counsel which. Jeremiah gives suits the commencement of the exile. How are the exiles to arrange matters? Are they to compose themselves for a brief or lengthened sojourn? Jeremiah tells them they are to do the latter. It is incredible that he delayed this advice for years, the more so since of the seventy years of exile, for those who were carried away with Jeconiah, eight were already past. Besides this, it is not probable that Zedekiah in his fourth year, when he himself went to Babylon (Jer_51:59), would send an embassy thither. I therefore agree with Hitzig, who ascribes the epistle to the first or second year after the deportation. The vision, of which Jeremiah 24 relates, must have preceded this letter, not only because from its purport it must have followed immediately after the deportation of Jeconiah, while our letter presupposes the arrival of the captives in Babylon, but also because in several places in the letter reference is made to it (comp. Jer_29:10 with Jer_24:6; Jer_29:17 with Jer_24:2; Jer_24:8; Jer_29:18 with Jer_24:9).—It is true many commentators regard Jer_29:16-20 as inauthentic, but incorrectly as we shall see.—The question, whether we have a true copy of the letter or only a later reproduction, or account of it, is variously answered. The last view has in its favor: 1. that the writing has not the form of a letter; 2. the apparently unconnected position of Jer_29:15-20. But what is the Hebrew form of a letter? From the few examples which the Old Testament affords (comp. 2Sa_11:14; 1Ki_21:8; 2Ki_10:1-6; 2Ch_30:6; Ezr_4:8; Neh_6:5), we cannot derive any set form, and as to the absence of connection we shall hereafter show (on Jer_29:15 sqq.) that such an absence does not exist. I find therefore no reason for doubting the agreement of our letter with the original. It contains four parts: 1. Jer_29:4-7, the positive command to arrange for a longer sojourn in Babylon; 2. Warning against being deceived by the false prophets, since Jehovah promises deliverance and return only after seventy years; 3. Jer_29:15-20, Warning against trusting in the false prophets, especially in reference to that part of the people which had remained in Jerusalem, since it is devoted to destruction; 4. Jer_29:21-23, prediction of the severe punishment of two false prophets.
Jer_29:1-7. Now these are the words … shall ye have peace. After the words of historical introduction, which give information concerning the receivers and bearers of the letter, follows the first part of the letter (Jer_29:4-7). As the command of God (Jer_29:4), Jeremiah proclaims to the exiles that they should build houses and lay out gardens (Jer_29:5), marry and give their children in marriage (Jer_29:6), and seek the welfare of the place assigned them as a residence as a condition of their own (Jer_29:7). Hitzig regards Jer_29:1-3 as showing traces of a later hand in the abbreviated forms of the names, the mention of Nebuchadnezzar, which name is omitted by the LXX., and in the remark that Jeremiah was a prophet. But comp. on the other hand Graf, S. 342 sqq.—The residue of the elders. The explanation of Hitzig and Graf that these were the elders who were not at the same time priests or prophets, cannot possibly be correct. For then this phrase must have come after, since those priests and prophets who were not elders, can be no others than those straightway mentioned. The supposition that the deceased elders must have been already replaced by others, so that the council of elders could not appear to the prophet as merely a residue, is unfounded. How could Jeremiah assume an organized community, when in his letter he exhorts them to enter into such relations. He will of course address those elders only who are alive.—Does the date in Jer_29:2 refer to “sent” or “carried away?” Manifestly to the latter, for if referred to “sent” it would declare that Jeremiah wrote immediately after the surrender, which is not to be imagined. The sentence “after that,” etc., is therefore to be referred to “carried away” and the sense is: “which Nebuchadnezzar carried away after that, in accordance with the required condition, Jehoiachin, with those afterwards named, surrendered himself. For יָצָא is used of the surrendering of besieged persons (2Ki_24:12 sqq.; 1Sa_11:3; 1Sa_11:10; 1Ki_20:31; Isa_36:16; Jer_21:9; Jer_38:2; Jer_38:21).—The queen. Comp. Jer_13:18; 2Ki_24:8; 2Ki_24:12; 2Ki_24:15.—The eunuchs, the princes. The two terms appear to be in apposition, but the princes of Judah were certainly not eunuchs. Either then is סָרִים to be taken in the sense of chamberlain, courtier (of which use there is certain proof. Comp. 2Ki_24:14-15. Gesen. Thes., p. 973), or else וְ, and, is wanting before שָׁרֵי, princes.—On carpenters, etc., comp. rems. on Jer_24:1.—The Lord designates the captives as carried away by him: Jer_29:4; Jer_29:7; Jer_29:14; Jer_29:20.—Increased there. This ancient theocratic blessing (Gen_13:16; Gen_15:5; Gen_17:2; Jer_3:16; Jer_3:19) is thus to be preserved to the people even in captivity.
Jer_29:8-14. For thus … carried away captive. The direction in Jer_29:5-7 is given by the prophet for two reasons, a negative and a positive. The negative reason is, the expectation of a speedy liberation, which false prophets seek to produce in the people and which is an illusion of their own dreams, a nonentity, by which they are not to allow themselves to be deceived (Jer_29:8-9). The positive reason is that not till after seventy years will the Lord verify His promise of grace. Then will the people call upon their God and seek Him, and He will hear and be found of them and turn away their captivity and bring them home from all the places where they have been dispersed (Jer_29:10-14).
Jer_29:10. Seventy years. Comp. Jer_25:11. The prophet does not calculate from the present, but he has in mind the absolute period of duration appointed to the Babylonian empire. Observe also, that he does not say: when the years of your exile are ended. The seventy years represent primarily the years of the Babylonian empire and only secondarily those of the captivity. The more justified are we in dating the seventy years from the siege of Carchemish. It should further be observed that the prophet opposes the arbitrary unfounded thesis of the false prophets, not in a harsh and severe but mild and consolatory antithesis, in which even the severest point, the seventy years’ duration of the exile, is expressed in the most forbearing manner. The Lord evidently wishes to soften and win their hearts, which had been rendered obstinate by false consolation, by presenting the true. Hence also the gracious thoughts of Jer_29:11. I still know my thoughts, says the Lord, i. e. I have not forgotten them or let them pass from my view. אחרית corresponds to our English “future” (to “have a future,” etc.). Comp. Pro_23:18; Pro_24:14; Pro_24:20; Psa_37:37; Jer_31:17. The Lord, however, sets before the people not merely a future of outward prosperity, but above all a future of internal welfare, without which the former would be altogether inconceivable.—Ye shall go (והלכתם), Jer_29:12, is best taken of going to a place of worship. So that ye shall call and and pray are distinguished as private and public worship (comp. 1Ki_8:20; 1Ki_8:29-30; 1Ki_8:35, etc.). If the sentences of Jer_29:13 and “I will be found of you,” Jer_29:14, are not tautological, we must regard them as two sentences with two clauses each, the second forming the basis of the former; כִּ is not “when” but “for,” or “because:” ye will seek me and find me; because ye shall seek me with all your heart, I will be found of you.—Turn away your captivity. The expression is rooted in Deut. (Jer_30:3), as generally in our whole passage this chapter hovered before the mind of the prophet. The expression is found with special frequency in Jeremiah, and chiefly in chs. 30–33 and 48–49. To turn the captivity stands, however, for restitutio in integrum generally (Job_42:10; Jer_30:18). The return from exile was only a weak beginning of the fulfilment of our prophecy. Comp. rems. on Jer_3:12 sqq.
Jer_29:15-19. Because ye have said … saith Jehovah. Not only has Jer_29:15 been declared to be transposed hither from its first place, but the whole passage, Jer_29:16-20, has been pronounced spurious (Hitzig), which is thought to be the more justified, because the passage is wanting in the LXX. It seems to me that two things have been overlooked here. 1. Jerusalem with its remaining population and the theocratic king at their head naturally still continued to the exiles to be the sun of their happiness and their hope. So long as Jerusalem and the temple were standing, the main foundation of the theocracy was unshaken and the hope existed that the present temporary adversity might be followed any moment by a turn for the better. Hence also the prophecies of the false prophets dwelt above all on the continuance of Jerusalem. Even the present misfortune, the partial deportation of the people and the sacred vessels, although they had not predicted it, they could explain as a mere episode, which did not refute the main tenor of their promises, so long as Jerusalem and the temple were standing, and there were people in Jerusalem. Hence Jeremiah takes away the ground from under the feet of those false prophets, by predicting in Jer_29:16-20 the total destruction of the present population of Jerusalem, together with their king. We are not then to say that these words, Jer_29:16-20, apply to the population of Jerusalem. They certainly do so, but only secondarily. Primarily they are to overthrow the basis on which the false prophets of the captivity are standing. I can then regard the words only as necessary parts of the genuine letter, written by Jeremiah to the exiles, and cannot assume with Graf that we have in this chapter only a report of the letter. 2. In its grammatical relations the כִּי in the beginning of Jer_29:16 has given the greatest trouble to the commentators. They have taken it mostly in the causal signification, which it certainly usually has in this formula, which however affords no sense, whether we connect Jer_29:16 with Jer_29:15 or Jer_29:14. It is here rather the pleonastic כִּי which so frequently introduces a direct statement. We have had it already in Jer_29:10. Comp. Jer_2:35; Jer_22:22; and Textual Note.—Hath raised, etc. Jeremiah supposes a reply to Jer_29:8-9. You despise our prophets; we however assure you that Jehovah raises up prophets not only in Jerusalem, but He has extended the inspiring influence of His Spirit even to Babylon. Hence the local form בָבֶלָה.—The sword. Comp. Jer_9:15; Jer_24:10; Jer_27:8; Jer_27:13.—Figs. The prophet has Jer_24:2 in view. That the exiles were acquainted with the vision in Jeremiah 24 is possible but not necessary. This passage is intelligible to those who had no knowledge of Jeremiah 24—Ye would not hear. The 2 pers. plur. proceeds doubtless simply from the circumstance that the prophet quotes entire a frequent saying there: Jer_7:13; Jer_25:3-4; Jer_25:7-8; Jer_26:5. On Jer_29:20 comp. Jer_24:5.
Jer_29:20-23. Hear ye therefore … witness, saith Jehovah. In conclusion the prophet predicts the punishment of two of those false prophets for their presumption and blasphemy generally by a terrible death. Nothing further is known of this Ahab and Zedekiah.—Slay them. It is very natural to suppose that Nebuchadnezzar feared the exciting preaching of such prophets and that he wished to terrify others by inflicting death in a terrible manner.
Jer_29:22 a. Comp. Jer_24:9; Jer_25:18; Jer_26:6 coll. Isa_65:15.—Roasted. Comp. Dan_3:6.—Villany, (נבלה) a deed of shame, facinus rationi legique divinæ repugnans (Fuerst). Comp. Gen_34:7; Deu_22:21; Jos_7:15.—The Lord calls Himself a knower and witness, because He not only knows the truth, but brings it also to light. Comp. Mal_3:5. Lev_5:1 may in general have been hovering before the mind of the prophet.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Jer_26:3. [“See how God waits to be gracious, waits till we are duly qualified, till we are fit for Him to be gracious to, and in the meantime tries a variety of methods to bring us to be so.” Henry—S. R. A.]
2. On Jer_26:6. “Deus nulli loco præcise alligatus est ita, ut ecclesiam suam et doctrinam cœlestem inde dimovere nequeat propter hominum ingratitudinem. Vehementer igitur errant Romanenses, dum ex auctoritate urbis Romæ suæ ecclesiæ ac religionis auctoritatem evincere satagunt. Multo rectius Hieronymus in hoc memorabili dicto, quod etiam allegatur in Jure Canon. Dist. Jeremiah 19 : Non facile est stare loco Pauli et tenere gradum Petri cum Christo regnantium. Non enim Sanctorum filii sunt, qui tenent loca Sanctorum, sed qui exercent opera eorum.” Förster.
3. On Jer_26:8 sqq. “Scarcely has Jeremiah done speaking than they take him to task, and threaten his life. What does Jeremiah do? Instead of vindicating himself he says: ‘Reform your life, and hearken to the voice of the Lord, and it will be better for you,’ Jer_26:13. You do not wish me to thunder away at you; reform then and I can let it alone. This preaching was seasonable, and produced an admirable effect. The priests and elders contradicted the priests, the parrhesia [free-spokenness, Act_4:13] of the man filled them with astonishment. ‘He is not worthy of death,’ Jer_26:16. A brief illustration of the saying ‘We need not our senses lose, when our enemies accuse.’ Jeremiah has to thank his honesty for this presence of mind, his profound meditation, his constrained calling, the necessity, the ardor, which urged him to preach, for no personal inclination had any share in it. I know in more recent times a man, who has unaffectedly practised Jeremiah’s behavior, a pastor, a teacher, I might say a prophet of many thousand people. Whenever he had to vindicate himself (which happened now and then) he preached, he repeated to the commissioners the very things of which he was accused, confessed and denied not, but pressed them on their hearts, and showed aliud agendo his innocence, his mind, his steadfastness, and all at the same time so plainly that they always returned with full conviction and knew not whether they had gone forth to see a prophet or were sent to examine a culprit? ‘Never man,’ they said, ‘spake like this man.’ That cannot be counterfeited. One must be just as full of the matter, as absorbed in the subject, as pressed at heart, kindled with the same ardor in order to explain himself with the same indifference, repose and plainness, when there is a knife at his throat.” Zinzendorf.
4. On Jer_26:12 sqq. “Si injuriam deposueris penes Deum, ultor est; si damnum, restitutor est; si dolorem, medicus est; si mortem, resuscitator est.” Tertullian. [“Those that persecute God’s ministers hurt not them so much as themselves.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
5. On Jer_26:7-8; Jer_26:11; Jer_26:16. “Auctores persecutionis plerumque esse solent ii, qui in ordine ecclesiastico eminent.” Förster. “Especially are the priests and men-pleasing prophets mad with Jeremiah, for if he is right they have lied.” Diedrich.
6. On Jer_26:18 [“By this it appears that a man may be a true prophet of the Lord and yet may prophesy the destruction of Zion and Jerusalem. When we threaten secure sinners with the taking away of the Spirit of God, and declining churches with the removal of the candle-stick, we say no more than what has been said many a time, and what we have warrant from the word of God to say.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
7. On Jer_26:20 sqq. “Urias, a true prophet, preached like Jeremiah, therefore the king wished to kill him, so he fled to Egypt but could not escape. Jeremiah did not flee and was spared … Our running and anxiety are of no use. The wickedness of the world must for its judgment be displayed on God’s servants, and these must yield to it; but on whom it is to come first God has in His own hand; and we may spare ourselves all our care and flight.” Diedrich. [“Nothing more is known of Urijah than is here related; but this incident suggests that God mercifully strove with His people by the ministry of many prophets whom He sent, rising up early and sending them (Jer_26:5) whose names are written in the Book of Life and are canonized in God’s Martyrology, but do not appear in the pages of any earthly history.” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.]
8. On Jer_26:24. “Monemur hic, Deum servis suis fidelibus subinde largiri quosdam patronos, ut Jeremiæ hic Achikamum et infra cap. 38 Ebedmelechum, Eliæ et prophetis συγχρόνοις Obadiam 1 Reg. 18, Luthero Electores Saxoniæ Fridericum sapientem, Johannem pium, Johannem-Fridericum constantem.” Förster.
9. On Jer_27:2-11. Historical times are preceded by a long series of centuries which present themselves to us as altogether obscure or only in the dubious twilight of tradition. Accredited history also comprises only a relatively small portion of the human race, for the nations which are added as ciphers to the factors of history form the majority. A universal ruler in the biblical sense is not one whose dominion actually extends over the entire globe—for there is none such—but he who represents the leader in the concert of history. This part is here given to Nebuchadnezzar. Among all the universal monarchies that represented by him appears richest in noble capacity. It is therefore compared to the golden head of the image in Daniel 2. Comp. Auberlen, der Prophet Daniel, S. 41 sqq.
10. On Jer_27:5 sqq. [“The things of the world are not the best things, for God often gives the largest share of them to bad men, that are rivals with him and rebels against him. Dominion is not founded in grace. Those that have not any colorable title to eternal happiness may yet have a justifiable title to their temporal good things.” Henry.—S. R. A.] “Great lords sit indeed on high thrones, but not firmly, for they are only God’s vassals. And when they do not please Him and act accordingly, he can easily transfer the fief to another; Dan_2:21; Dan_4:14; Dan_4:22.” Cramer.
11. On Jer_27:12. [“The conduct of Jeremiah, counselling Zedekiah and Jerusalem to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, has been represented as an act of political prudence to be imitated by Statesmen and Ecclesiastics, who are thereby justified in making large concessions of national rights and national independence in times of public emergency (Stanley, Lect. 534).
But was it not rather one of religious duty?
God had revealed to the prophet that He had given the Nation into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, ‘His servant,’ on account of their sins, and they must submit to Him as the Minister and Vicegerent of God.” Wordsworth. “Many might have prevented destroying providences by humbling themselves under humbling providences. It is better to take up a lighter cross in our way, than pull a heavier on our own head.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
12. On Jer_27:14. “It is one sign of our depraved nature that we are more ready to believe lies than the truth. For when Jeremiah and his colleagues preached, no one believed. But no sooner did the false prophet come and open their mouths, than all their discourses must be spoken directly from heaven, and what they said, must pass current on earth (Psa_73:9). But not what Jeremiah said. Take for example our mother Eve; what God said was of no account, but what the serpent said was something purely excellent.” Cramer.
13. On Jer_27:18. “True prayer is a certain sign of Godliness and a fruit of faith and the Holy Ghost, which cries in our hearts: Abba, dear Father. Therefore he who cannot or will not pray is not a good Christian.” Cramer.
14. On Jer_27:18. “If they be prophets let them supplicate the Lord. This was the great demonstration of Elias, to which Jeremiah adheres. It is infallibly the case that a false teacher has no heart for the Saviour, and goes out of His way. A heretic, who has a heart to pray (and that too in secret) is certainly not far from the truth.” Zinzendorf.
15. On Jer_27:22. [“We are apt to set our clock before God’s dial, and then to quarrel because they do not agree, but the Lord is a God of judgment, and it is fit that we should wait for Him.” Henry.—S. R. A.]
16. On Jer_28:1 sqq. “Wherever the dear lord builds His church, the devil has a chapel near by.” Cramer. This Hananiah (comp. Jer_28:2; Jer_28:11) shows us plainly what it is to lie or deceive in the name of God.
“O Lord, and must Thy glorious name
Thus be a cover to their shame?” Förster.
17. On Jer_28:6. “Amen! the Lord do so. Quite a different attitude of the prophet from the preceding. A false prophet, a miserable comforter disputes with him, brings good news and appeals to an oracle, a voice which he had perhaps heard more lately than Jeremiah. Jeremiah without getting warm about it, says I shall be heartily glad if it be so: but take care that you have understood it correctly. His opponent is encouraged and goes further, he breaks off the prophetic yoke from Jeremiah’s neck. Jeremiah, with the same indifference, which he has shown from the beginning, goes his way … I dare not speak of anything, says Paul, which Christ hath not wrought by me (Rom_15:18).” Zinzendorf.
18. On Jer_28:10-11. “Chananias hic præbet exemplum impudentiæ Jesuwilicæ, cujus magistrum non abs re appellaveris Eumundum Campianum (1580) qui epistola quadum Theologos Angliæ provocare non erubuit, ponens inter alia verba hæc fere thrasonica: Si præstitero cœlos esse, divos esse, Christum esse, fidem esse, causam obtinui: hic non animosus ero? Occidi quidem possum, superari non possum. Pari impudentia Jesuwitas ante Colloquium Ratisbonense scriplitasse legimus: The Prædicantes should come, if they had a heart in their body, they would catch them alive: if they would bring a syllogism, which is in Bocardo, they would throw it at one’s head and say it was in Bocallo.” Förster.
19. On Jer_29:7. “Monemur hic, orandum esse pro magistratibus et non tantum iis, qui nostræ religioni addicti et veræ ecclesiæ membra, sed etiam pro iis, qui extra ecclesiam adeoque gentiles ut Nebuchadnezzar et Nero tyrannus (2Ti_2:2). Nam ex salute reipublicæ etiam salus et incolumitas ecclesiæ constat. Et Lutherus pereleganter: Politia, inquit, servit ecclesiæ, ecclesia servat politiam.” Förster. “Quod pastori hoc et ovibus.” The symbol of the Emperor Charles the Bald.
20. On Jer_29:11. “God always has compassion, and His heart breaks for us (Jer_31:20), for he exercises guardianship over His elect (Wis_4:15). And he knows how, in all that he does, to mitigate His justice with His mercy, so that we may see how richly His mercy is diffused over all His works; that even when He punishes, He straightway has mercy again according to His great goodness, and causes His mercy to be the more richly dispensed, because He knows our frame (Psa_103:14), viz., that we are flesh, a wind which passeth away and returneth not again (Psa_78:40). Cramer.
21. On Jer_29:10-11. “The waiting of the righteous has always something to depend upon, namely, the promise, and it is a duty to God to believe the promises, but an insult and dishonor to the name of the Lord when no faith is put in them. Is it not enough that ye injure men, will ye also insult the Lord my God? (Isa_7:13).” Zinzendorf.
22. On Jer_29:11. “God gives a happy ending; He also tells us beforehand, that we may honor Him by hoping; but He deals with us according to His wisdom and His righteousness, so that He chastens us as long as we need it. We cannot, therefore, do otherwise than place ourselves in His hands.” Diedrich.
23. On Jer_29:12. “Let this be firmly established among the brethren, that there is no sham about the hearing of prayer. I remember that once a great minister said across the table: My pastor wrote me that he had settled it with the dear Lord that my wife should live; I should be comforted. My wife died. Now my pastor congratulates me and says, I could now indeed see that she lived. No wonder. The Bible has a nose or wax; and gentlemen also can explain their own words. … Is it then to be in vain that the Lord Jesus has said; whatever ye ask believing that ye shall receive, shall be given unto you (Mar_11:24; Joh_16:23; Mat_7:7; Jam_4:4)? … Test it as often as it is necessary; ask however in faith, and doubt not. I know most assuredly that you will be heard. But I regard it as a matter for consideration, whether one is to ask.” Zinzendorf.
24. On Jer_29:15-16. “A heavy cross often frees us from a heavier, which would otherwise have come upon us. The best way, therefore, is to be satisfied with God’s ways, who can bring good out of evil (1Pe_4:19; Gen_50:20). ” Starke.
25. On Jer_29:24-32. “Those who seek their own consolation without God must be eternally deprived of the true consolation, which God grants to those who at this time humble themselves under Him. Those who preach false consolation confirm the resistance of men to the divine guidance and thus preach revolt, though intending to act conservatively. But in their blindness they do not see what sort of a time it is.” Diedrich.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer_26:1-24. A sermon in rebuke of the corruptions of Zion. 1. Its purport (Jer_26:4-6); 2. How it is received (Jer_26:7-11); 3. How the preacher must defend himself (Jer_26:12-15); 4. What the fate of the preacher will be (a), in the most favorable case (Jer_26:16-19; Jer_26:24) (b), in the most unfavorable case (Jer_26:20-23).
2. On Jer_27:1-22. How the Lord’s servants are to treat Politics.—1. They are to point out to the people that it is the Lord who raises and overthrows the kingdoms of this world (Jer_27:2-8). 2. They are to admonish the people to do what the Lord commands (Jer_27:12-13). 3. They are to warn against those who speak their own thoughts to the people (Jer_27:9-11; Jer_27:14-17). 4. They are to admonish to prayer and intercession (Jer_27:18 sqq).
3. On Jer_28:1-17. Of false and true prophets. 1. False prophets, (a) publish on their own responsibility what the people like to hear (Jer_28:2-4); (b) boldly contradict the true word of God (Jer_28:10-11); (c) come to shame, by the non-fulfilment of their predictions (Jer_28:8-9) and by their personal destruction (Jer_28:15-17). 2. True prophets (a) proclaim faithfully the true word of God, (b) fearlessly oppose the lusts of men and the lies of the false prophets; (c) They are honored (α) by the fulfilment of their prophecies, (β) by martyrdom, i.e., honor with God and posterity.
4. On 28. [This year thou shalt die. Dwight:—A Sermon on the New Year.—S. R. A.]
5. On Jer_29:7. The best Christians the best citizens: 1. They know that the prosperity of the whole is their own prosperity (they do not, therefore, seek selfishly their own personal advantage); 2. They actually labor with all diligence for the furtherance of the common good; 3. They employ for this end the power of Christian prayer. [A. Fuller:—Christian patriotism, or the duty of religious people towards their country. Christianity a religion of peace.—S. R. A.]
6. On Jer_29:11. The thoughts of the Lord concerning us. 1. They are thoughts of peace and not of evil; 2, we must wait for their realization, for the Lord delays this, but he does not forget it.
7. On Jer_29:11. Sermon at the funeral service of the Grand Hereditary Prince of Russia, delivered by Prof. Christiani, in Dorpat, 14 April, 1865: 1. Of the thoughts of peace which the Lord has had in this death; 2. Of the fruits and effects of these thoughts of peace.
8. On Jer_29:11-14. Whereupon is our hope of peace based? 1. Objectively upon this, that the Lord Himself has thoughts of peace concerning us. 2. Subjectively on this, that we (a) call upon and seek the Lord with all our hearts, (b) patiently wait for the time of hearing.
Footnotes:
[1]Jer_29:8.—מחלמים. Hiph. from חלם occurs only in Isa_38:16 and here; Part. Hiph. here only. The causative conjugation would not inappropriately intimate the self made character of those dreams (Hitzig). The form is not without analogies. Comp. מַעְזְרִים, 2Ch_28:23. מַחְצְרִים (Keri) 1Ch_15:24. But comp. Olsh., § 258 a, S. 580.
[2]Jer_29:14.—שׁוּב in this connection is used transitively. That שְׁבוּת cannot be taken as accusative of the object (I turn myself to the captivity) is evident from the circumstance, that, where the connection requires the imperfect we have אָשִׁיב Jer_32:44; Jer_33:11; Jer_33:26 (Keri); Jer_49:6; Jer_49:39 (Keri); in Eze_39:25; Eze_33:7 we have even the perfect Hiphil.
[3]Jer_29:15.—כִּי. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 109, 1 a. Since the pleonastic כִּי requires a verbum dicendi to be supplied before it, we must here supply: thus I say; thus I declare to you. כִּי before אֲמַרְתֶּם=when, or as to this that—as almost all the commentators admit. The perfect is used (comp. the imperf. Jer_29:13), because the fact supposed is real.
[4]Jer_29:16.—אל־המלך, Jer_29:16. אֵל=in respect to, of, as frequently elsewhere: Jer_29:21; Jer_22:11. Comp. Naegelsb Gr., § 112, 5, b.
[5]Jer_29:16.—אֶל־כִּסֵא. אֶל for עַל, as frequently in Jeremiah. Comp. rems. on Jer_10:1.
[6]Jer_29:17.—שֹׁעָר (probably from מַשֹׁעָר) here only—meaning horridus, abominandus. Comp. שַׁעֲרוּרָה.
[7]Jer_29:19.—אשׁר־שׁלחתי. On the construction with a double accusative comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 69, 2 c.
[8]Jer_29:22.—וּכְאֶחָב. In consequence of the elision of the א, patahh must, according to the well-known rule, pass over into Segol.
[9]Jer_29:23.—On the reading הַויּדֵעַ comp. Textual Notes on Jer_17:23.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 5, 6, 7 queen--Nehushta, the queen mother, daughter of Elnathan (Kg2 24:8,…
queen--Nehushta, the queen mother, daughter of Elnathan (Kg2 24:8, Kg2 24:15). (Elnathan, her father, is perhaps the same as the one mentioned in Jer 26:22). She reigned jointly with her son.
princes--All the men of authority were taken away lest they should organize a rebellion. Jeremiah wrote his letter while the calamity was still recent, to console the captives under it.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 7 To complete the history of this conflict between Jeremiah…
LETTER TO THE EXILES, 1-23.
To complete the history of this conflict between Jeremiah and those like Hananiah, who promised to the Jews the speedy downfall of Nebuchadnezzar’s power and the consequent restoration of those who had gone into captivity, there is given in this chapter the letter which Jeremiah wrote to those in Babylon to correct the false hopes which had sprung up there. As was to be expected, there was the same uneasiness at Babylon as at Jerusalem. The eager desire of these captives that the assurances of speedy release should come true, joined with an original impatience of foreign rule, doubtless created a dangerous tendency toward revolt. To correct this, to enlarge their view of God’s plans, and to lead them into his purposes more fully, this letter was written.
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1. The words of the letter — The Substance or import of the letter. The exact form of words does not seem to be given.
Residue of the elders — Those still surviving of the original company carried away. The time had not, indeed, been long, but it had doubtless been, for these people thus violently torn away from their homes and all ordinary conditions of safety and comfort, a time of unusual mortality. And they had not yet become so well organized in the land of their exile as that the places of these elders were promptly filled at their death.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 7 1. Now these are the words of the letter]…
1. 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 last for seventy years.
the residue] The reference of the word is obscure, but it may allude (so Du.) to some disaster, well known at the time. LXX omit the word, and so Gi.
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and to the priests … to Babylon] Du. omits all these words, holding that Jeremiah addressed the letter to the elders alone. Co. agrees. Gi. now (2nd ed.) rejects the latter part (“whom … to Babylon”), which is absent from LXX. Moreover, he and others consider the whole or the greater part of Jer_29:2 to be an expansion.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 (1) These are the words.—The prophecy in this chapter…
XXIX.
(1) These are the words.—The prophecy in this chapter was addressed to those whom we may describe as the first of the Babylonian exiles who had been carried into captivity with Jeconiah (see Note on Jer_35:2). Among these also, probably in connection with the projects which we have traced in the preceding chapter, there was a restless disquietude, fostered by false prophets, who urged the people to rebel against their conquerors. Against that policy Jeremiah, in accordance with the convictions on which he had all along acted, enters an earnest protest. The letter was sent by special messengers, of whom we read in Jer_29:3, and shows that Jeremiah had been kept well informed of all that passed at Babylon. The spelling of the prophet’s name, in the Hebrew text, as Jeremiah, instead of the form Jeremiahu, which is the more common form throughout the book, is probably an indication that the opening verse which introduces the letter was the work of a later hand. The date of the letter was probably early in the reign of Zedekiah, before the incidents of the previous chapter. It is brought before us as following in almost immediate sequel on the deportation mentioned in Jer_29:2. The term “residue of the elders,” in connexion with “priests and prophets,” points to the fact that the whole body of counsellors, so named, had not been carried into exile, but only the more prominent members. Such “elders” we find in Eze_8:1; Eze_20:1. Ezekiel himself may be thought of as among the priests and prophets.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 7 Despised and rejected at home, Jeremiah turned his thoughts…
Despised and rejected at home, Jeremiah turned his thoughts to those distant brethren in captivity, whom he had already likened to "good figs, very good". (Jer_24:3, Jer_24:5) He had heard with sorrow that they could not readily submit to their altered circumstances; Judah, with its consecrated associations, was still too near to them in spirit. Probably a rumor of the expected confederacy (Jer_27:3) had troubled their minds, and the discontent was increased by the pernicious discourses of prophets and sooth sayers similar to that Hananiah of whom we have just heard. Two of these in particular are mentioned, and a terrible fate is held out to them. The appendix (vers. 24-32) deals with another prophet of the same type, who had not, indeed, offended so deeply as his companions, but had stirred up those at home to persecute Jeremiah in revenge for the preceding letter. The chapter is evidently, what it professes to be, a letter, at any rate in substance. From the looseness of its structure (see especially on vers. 16-20) it has been thought to have been dictated, like those Epistles of St. Paul, of which it may be regarded as a precursor (Ewald). The date seems to be a little earlier than that of the two preceding chapters; (comp. ver. 2 with Jer_24:1) the messengers in ver. 3 are therefore not to be regarded as Zedekiah"s companions in the journey mentioned in Jer_51:59.
The residue of the elders; i.e. the surviving elders. Some may, perhaps, have died from natural causes, some by violence, some from grief.
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HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR Vers. 1-14. Duties and consolations of God"s captivity.
I THEIR DUTIES The imposition of definite lines of conduct and policy upon the exiled, was one proof that they were not cast off; the promise of deliverance was another. Although amongst the heathen, they were not to be as the heathen; neither were they to be wholly given over to despair. As children of God they were to exhibit the virtues of:
1. Industry. (Ver. 5) Misanthropy and despair are the parents of idleness; Divine faith endues men with energy. The exiles had a testimony to bear before the heathen. It was a present duty to achieve an honest independence.
2. Domestic attachment. (Ver. 6) The family, with all its joys and responsibilities, is still to be cared for. If the present be forfeited the future is still capable of being redeemed. The new generations would reap the advantages of which the fathers had been deprived.
3. Public spirit. (Ver. 7) They were not to abstain from the duties of citizenship merely because they were amongst heathen conquerors. Even there they might exert an influence for good. The fundamental law of God"s kingdom is to seek the good of all men. Work faithfully rendered to the commonwealth would not be vain or without its reward. Even the heathen and the men of this world can appreciate good citizenship. That a distinctive work and testimony still remained to the Church as a Church, is no reason for neglecting those less direct and more general duties which so powerfully commend the religious profession that inculcates them.
4. Cheerfulness. This is not so much to be classified along with the preceding as to be understood as the spring and governing principle of them all. What more natural than a spirit of resentment under the circumstances? How easy to hang the harp on the willows! But this would only be to misunderstand God and thwart his purposes. He seeks the happiness and prosperity of his people even here and now, and notwithstanding the discipline to which he may be subjecting them. Not resignation merely, but cheerful acquiescence and Co-operation, are, therefore, to be expected of his people. I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.
II THEIR CONSOLATIONS. These were partly to consist in the natural results of the course of conduct enjoined, or the happiness inseparably associated with the observance of it; but chiefly in the anticipation of the future.
1. A definite term was set to their captivity. (Ver. 10) It was one that could easily be verified, and was not too far distant to extinguish hope. Some of those who as children were taken to Babylon, might in their old age return to the land of promise. There is measure as well as meaning in all God"s discipline. He never imposes upon his people a burden greater than they can bear. The darkest night is illumined by light beyond. When the sorrow, their sorrow is not without hope.
2. The present was linked with the future. They might be comforted in the fulfillment of their daily tasks by the knowledge that everything done in obedience to God and the spirit of true benevolence would have its influence upon the promised deliverance. At the very worst, what was done in this disposition would not retard that event or rob it of its fullness of blessing. In like manner the children of God are assured that this earthly life is but a "sojourning," and that "all things work together for good." This life will have an immense influence upon the complexion of the next. The duties of every day are therefore to be attended to in the full conviction of their absolute worth and avail in the sight of God. They have the promise not only of the life which now is, but of that which is to come.
3. Spiritual blessings were promised. (Vers. 11-14) The good will and faithfulness of God; the restoration of religious communion; the gathering and reconstitution of the theocracy. M.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1-7. The letter to the captives.
Notice the mention of those who bore this letter. We may conclude they were not mere messengers having no interest in the message they conveyed, but those who themselves would have much to say over and above what was written.
I GOD"S CONSIDERATION FOR HIS PEOPLE IN THEIR CAPTIVITY. He not only means to bring that captivity to an end in his own time, but while it lasts it is to be made as little like captivity as possible. It was not enough that he should leave the nation in Babylon till the time of his chastisement expired. While they remained there, they were to have the largest opportunities compatible with the circumstances in which he had found it necessary to place them. And so when the circumstances of any life are untoward, when perhaps we have made them so by our own folly, God shows his solicitude that we should nevertheless have peace in our own hearts, and such ample guidance as may turn even the untoward into the helpful. God will not banish circumstances merely because we find them hard; but this we may always be sure of, that he will enable us to make the very best of them.
II GOD"S ASSERTION OF HIS PART IN BRINGING THIS CAPTIVITY ABOUT. He had caused his people to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon. The place of their present abode was by his arrangement. It was their own fault as a nation that they had had to leave Jerusalem; but it was in God"s own wisdom that they were planted in Babylon rather than another place. Clearly to perceive that the omnipotent God was disposing their outward relations, would enable them to listen all the more attentively to what instructions he had to give them for making the best of their present circumstances.
III GOD"S PLAN FOR THE PROFIT AND COMFORT OF THE PRESENT GENERATION. The people are plainly told that they are to be there for seventy years. No energy of their own can get them away a year sooner; and no might of their captors can keep them a year later. Hence it is the true wisdom to accept the divinely settled position. No man among them was to neglect the possibilities of his brief temporal life by reason of a baseless expectation that he might soon return to his own land. He might indeed say, "If I show signs of settling down here, I shall be reckoned a very poor patriot." And so over against all temptations to restlessness and utter waste of existence there is this explicit direction from Jehovah. If any Israelites lives a wasted life in Babylon it will be his own fault. So to speak, God makes Babylon, for the time, a sort of substitute for the promised land. If the Israelite has only sufficient of the spirit of true faith and obedience in him, he may make even the land of captivity a place of blessing. For the nation Babylon was a mere place of sojourning, but for the individual it was to be his chief abode on earth. Hence the loving-kindness of God is manifest in telling him he might build a house and make a home and plant fields, thus settling down to a useful and cheerful life.
IV GOD"S WILL WITH REGARD TO THE RELATIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND BABYLON. Israel was to seek the peace of Babylon. It was to support everything that promoted peace and security. Naturally Israel would expect to find its chance in the difficulties of Babylon. If any formidable foe threatened the country, or the equal danger of civil war, it might only too easily seem to Israel that this would give the chance for liberty. But so far from this being really the case, God assures his people that Babylon"s peace is their peace. This sets before us a principle of action which Christian people cannot too diligently observe. While it is true that we are not of this world, but must constantly rise superior to its habits and maxims, yet at the same time we cannot do too much to maintain the stability of governments and the public order of the land in which we live. While Christ would have us turn away from the cant of what is called patriotism, he would also have us to abhor everything that tends to anarchy. While the Spirit of God promotes the highest individuality, he also promotes the greatest order. Y. (1Ti_2:1-4)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 7 Now these are the words of the letter that…
Jer_29:1
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent.
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Messages to exiles
I. The very fact that a message was sent to them under an express Divine appointment was consolatory. Wherever Gods children are scattered, the written Word is to them a source of permanent encouragement. In the severest ways of justice God does not forget His own children, but has in reserve ample consolations for them, when they lie under the common judgment
II. The particular providence of God, appearing on their behalf under all their calamities, was a source of consolation.
1. He is the Lord of hosts, of all the armies above and below, and yet is the God of Israel; and though He permits their captivity, He does not break His relation to them--their covenant-God still, though under a cloud.
2. He assumes the active agency in their dispersion. I have caused them to be carried away. Certainly it must be a great sin which induces a loving father to cast his child out of doors. But sin is a great scatterer, and is always followed by a driving away and a casting out. Yet the fact of Gods being the agent in their dispersion is referred to as a ground of consolation; since it reconciles us to our troubles to see the hand of God in them, and to trace an all-gracious and merciful design in them.
III. The promise of the stability and security of their social and domestic interests was given.
IV. The prospect of a certain and favourable issue to their trials (verse 11). (S. Thodey.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Jeremiah 29
CHAPTER X
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EXILES
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Jeremiah 29
"Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire."- Jer_29:22
NOTHING further is said about the proposed revolt, so that Jeremiahs vigorous protest seems to have been successful. In any case, unless irrevocable steps had been taken, the enterprise could hardly have survived the death of its advocate, Hananiah. Accordingly Zedekiah sent an embassy to Babylon, charged doubtless with plausible explanations and profuse professions of loyalty and devotion. The envoys were Elasah ben Shaphan and Gemariah ben Hilkiah. Shaphan and Hilkiah were almost certainly the scribe and high priest who discovered Deuteronomy in the eighteenth year of Josiah, and Elasah was the brother of Ahikam ben Shaphan, who protected Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and of Gemariah ben Shaphan, in whose chamber Baruch read the roll, and who protested against its destruction. Probably Elasah and Gemariah were adherents of Jeremiah, and the fact of the embassy, as well as the choice of ambassadors, suggests that, for the moment, Zedekiah was acting under the influence of the prophet. Jeremiah took the opportunity of sending a letter to the exiles at Babylon. Hananiah had his allies in Chaldea: Ahab ben Kolaiah, Zedekiah ben Maaseiah, and Shemaiah the Nehelamite, with other prophets, diviners, and dreamers, had imitated their brethren in Judah; they had prophesied without being sent and had caused the people to believe a lie. We are not expressly told what they prophesied, but the narrative takes for granted that they, like Hananiah, promised the exiles a speedy return to their native land. Such teaching naturally met with much acceptance, the people congratulating themselves because, as they supposed, "Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon." The presence of prophets among them. was received as a welcome proof that Jehovah had not deserted His people in their house of bondage.
Thus when Jeremiah had confounded his opponents in Jerusalem he had still to deal with their friends in Babylon. Here again the issue was one of immediate practical importance. In Chaldea as at Jerusalem the prediction that the exiles would immediately return was intended to kindle the proposed revolt. The Jews at Babylon were virtually warned to hold themselves in readiness to take advantage of any success of the Syrian rebels, and, if opportunity offered, to render them assistance. In those days information travelled slowly, and there was some danger lest the captives should be betrayed into acts of disloyalty, even after the Jewish government had given up any present intention of revolting against Nebuchadnezzar. Such disloyalty might have involved their entire destruction. Both Zedekiah and Jeremiah would be anxious to inform them at once that they must refrain from any plots against their Chaldean masters. Moreover the prospect of an immediate return had very much the same effect upon these Jews as the expectation of Christs Second Coming had upon the primitive Church at Thessalonica. It made them restless and disorderly. They could not settle to any regular work, but became busybodies-wasting their time over the glowing promises of their popular preachers, and whispering to one another wild rumours of successful revolts in Syria; or were even more dangerously occupied in planning conspiracies against their conquerors.
Jeremiahs letter sought to bring about a better state of mind. It is addressed to the elders, priests, prophets, and people of the Captivity. The enumeration reminds us how thoroughly the exiled community reproduced the society of the ancient Jewish state-there was already a miniature Judah in Chaldea, the first of those Israels of the Dispersion which have since covered the face of the earth.
This is Jehovahs message by His prophet:-
"Build houses and dwell in them;
Plant gardens and eat the fruit thereof;
Marry and beget sons and daughters;
Marry your sons and daughters,
That they may bear sons and daughters,
That ye may multiply there and not grow few.
Seek the peace of the city whither I have sent you into captivity:
Pray for it unto Jehovah
For in its peace, ye shalt have peace."
There was to be no immediate return; their captivity would last long enough to make it worth their while to build houses and plant gardens. For the present they were to regard Babylon as their home. The prospect of restoration to Judah was too distant to make any practical difference to their conduct of ordinary business. The concluding command to "seek the peace of Babylon" is a distinct warning against engaging in plots, which could only ruin the conspirators. There is an interesting difference between these exhortations and those addressed by Paul to his converts in the first century. He never counsels them to marry, but rather recommends celibacy as more expedient for the present necessity. Apparently life was more anxious and harassed for the early Christians than for the Jews in Babylon. The return to Canaan was to these exiles what the millennium and the Second Advent were to the primitive Church. Jeremiah having bidden his fellow countrymen not to be agitated by supposing that this much longed for event might come at any moment, fortifies their faith and patience by a promise that it should not be delayed indefinitely.
"When ye have fulfilled seventy years in Babylon I will visit you,
And will perform for you My gracious promise to bring you back to this place."
Seventy is obviously a round number. Moreover the constant use of seven and its multiples in sacred symbolism forbids us to understand the prophecy as an exact chronological statement.
We should adequately express the prophets meaning by translating "in about two generations." We need not waste time and trouble in discovering or inventing two dates exactly separated by seventy years, one of which will serve for the beginning and the other for the end of the Captivity. The interval between the destruction of Jerusalem and the Return was fifty years (B.C. 586-536), but as our passage refers more immediately to the prospects of those already in exile, we should obtain an interval of sixty-five years from the deportation of Jehoiachin and his companions in B.C. 601. But there can be no question of approximation, however close. Either the "seventy years" merely stands for a comparatively long period, or it is exact. We do not save the inspiration of a date by showing that it is only five years wrong, and not twenty. For an inspired date must be absolutely accurate; a mistake of a second in such a case would be as fatal as a mistake of a century.
Israels hope is guaranteed by Gods self-knowledge of His gracious counsel:-
"I know the purposes which I purpose concerning you, is the utterance of Jehovah,
Purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you hope for the days to come."
In the former clause "I" is emphatic in both places, and the phrase is parallel to the familiar formula "by Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah."
The future of Israel was guaranteed by the divine consistency. Jehovah, to use a colloquial phrase, knew His own mind. His everlasting purpose for the Chosen People could not be set aside. "Did God cast off His People? God forbid."
Yet this persistent purpose is not fulfilled without reference to character and conduct:-
"Ye shall call upon Me, and come and pray unto Me,
And I will hearken unto you.
Ye shall seek Me, and find Me,
Because ye seek Me with all your heart.
I will be found of you-it is the utterance of Jehovah.
I will bring back your captivity, and will gather you from all nations and
Places whither I have scattered you-it is the utterance of Jehovah.
I will bring you back to this place whence I sent you away to captivity."
As in the previous chapter, Jeremiah concludes with a personal judgment upon those prophets who had been so acceptable to the exiles. If Jer_29:23 is to be understood literally, Ahab and Zedekiah had not only spoken without authority in the name of Jehovah, but had also been guilty of gross immorality. Their punishment was to be more terrible than that of Hananiah. They had incited the exiles to revolt by predicting the imminent ruin of Nebuchadnezzar. Possibly the Jewish king proposed to make his own peace by betraying his agents, after the manner of our own Elizabeth and other sovereigns.
They were to be given over to the terrible vengeance which a Chaldean king would naturally take on such offenders, and would be publicly roasted alive, so that the malice of him who desired to curse his enemy might find vent in such words as:-
"Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted alive."
We are not told whether this prophecy was fulfilled, but it is by no means unlikely. The Assyrian king Assurbanipal says, in one of his inscriptions concerning a viceroy of Babylon who had revolted, that Assur and the other gods "in the fierce burning fire they threw him and destroyed his life" - possibly through the agency of Assurbanipals servants. One of the seven brethren who were tortured to death in the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes is said to have been "fried in the pan." Christian hagiology commemorates St. Lawrence and many other martyrs, who suffered similar torments. Such punishments remained part of criminal procedure until a comparatively recent date; they are still sometimes inflicted by lynch law in the United States, and have been defended even by Christian ministers.
Jeremiahs letter caused great excitement and indignation among the exiles. We have no rejoinder from Ahab and Zedekiah; probably they were not in a position to make any. But Shemaiah the Nehelamite tried to make trouble for Jeremiah at Jerusalem. He, in his turn, wrote letters to "all the people at Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah ben Maaseiah and to all the priests" to this effect:-
"Jehovah hath made thee priest in the room of Jehoiada the priest, to exercise supervision over the Temple, and to deal with any mad fanatic who puts himself forward to prophesy, by placing him in the stocks and the collar. Why then hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who puts himself forward to prophesy unto you? Consequently he has sent unto us at Babylon: It (your captivity) will be long; build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat the fruit thereof."
Confidence in a speedy return had already been exalted into a cardinal article of the exiles faith, and Shemaiah claims that any one who denied this comfortable doctrine must be, ipso facto, a dangerous and deluded fanatic, needing to be placed under strict restraint. This letter travelled to Jerusalem with the returning embassy, and was duly delivered to Zephaniah. Zephaniah is spoken of in the historical section common to Kings and Jeremiah as "the second priest," {Jer_52:24; 2Ki_25:18} Seraiah being the High Priest; like Pashhur ben Immer, he seems to have been the governor of the Temple. He was evidently well disposed to Jeremiah, to whom Zedekiah twice sent him on Important missions. On the present occasion, instead of acting upon the suggestions made by Shemaiah, he read the letter to Jeremiah, in order that the latter might have an opportunity of dealing with it.
Jeremiah was divinely instructed to reply to Shemaiah, charging him, in his turn, with being a man who put himself forward to prophesy without any commission from Jehovah, and who thus deluded his hearers into belief in falsehoods. Personal sentence is passed upon him, as upon Hananiah, Ahab, and Zedekiah: no son of his shall be reckoned amongst Gods people or see the prosperity which they shall hereafter enjoy. The words are obscure: it is said that Jehovah will "visit Shemaiah and his seed," so that it cannot mean that he will be childless; but it is further said that "he shall not have a man to abide amongst this people." It is apparently a sentence of excommunication against Shemaiah and his family.
Here the episode abruptly ends. We are not told whether the letter was sent, or how it was received, or whether it was answered. We gather that, here also, the last word rested with Jeremiah, and that at this point his influence became dominant both at Jerusalem and at Babylon, and that King Zedekiah himself submitted to his guidance.
Chapters 28 and 29 deepen the impression made by other sections of Jeremiahs intolerance and personal bitterness towards his opponents. He seems to speak of the roasting alive of the prophets at Babylon with something like grim satisfaction, and we are tempted to think of Torquemada and Bishop Bonner. But we must remember that the stake, as we have already said, has scarcely yet ceased to be an ordinary criminal punishment, and that, after centuries of Christianity, More and Cranmer, Luther and Calvin, had hardly any more tenderness for their ecclesiastical opponents than Jeremiah.
Indeed the Church is only beginning to be ashamed of the complacency with which she has contemplated the fiery torments of hell as the eternal destiny of unrepentant sinners. One of the most tolerant and catholic of our religious teachers has written: "If the unlucky malefactor, who in mere brutality of ignorance or narrowness of nature or of culture has wronged his neighbour, excite our anger, how much deeper should be our indignation when intellect and eloquence are abused to selfish purposes, when studious leisure and learning and thought turn traitors to the cause of human well-being and the wells of a nations moral life are poisoned." The deduction is obvious: society feels constrained to hang or burn "the unlucky malefactor"; consequently such punishments are, if anything, too merciful for the false prophet. Moreover the teaching which Jeremiah denounced was no mere dogmatism about abstruse philosophical and theological abstractions. Like the Jesuit propaganda under Elizabeth, it was more immediately concerned with politics than with religion. We are bound to be indignant with a man, gifted in exploiting the emotions of his docile audience, who wins the confidence and arouses the enthusiasm of his hearers, only to entice them into hopeless and foolhardy ventures.
And yet we are brought back to the old difficulty, how are we to know the false prophet? He has neither horns nor hoofs, his tie may be as white and his coat as long as those of the true messenger of God. Again, Jeremiahs method affords us some practical guidance. He does not himself order and superintend the punishment of false prophets: he merely announces a Divine judgment, which Jehovah Himself is to execute. He does not condemn men by the code of any Church, but each sentence is a direct and special revelation from Jehovah. How many sentences would have been passed upon heretics, if their accusers and judges had waited for a similar sanction?
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.—1. Chronology of the Chapter.—This letter…
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.—1. Chronology of the Chapter.—This letter and its transmission are usually dated the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign (because of chap. Jer_28:1), but Jer_29:2 of this chapter rather points to a somewhat earlier date, possibly the first or second year of Zedekiah; for Zedekiah himself had to go in his fourth year (chap. Jer_51:59), and it is probable therefore that this embassy was a year or two earlier.
2. Contemporary Scriptures.—2Ch_36:14-21; Eze_17:11-21.
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3. National Affairs.—An embassy sent from Zedekiah to the king of Babylon. Its object unknown; but not unlikely to carry the tribute he was under bond to pay Nebuchadnezzar (2Ch_36:13), and possibly to delude him by renewed pledges of obedience when he was conspiring, with the kings of other nations, to rebel against him (chap. Jer_27:3).
4. Contemporaneous History.—See notes on chap. 21.
5. Personal Allusions.—Jer_29:3. “Elasah.” Most probably brother of Ahikam (see note chap. Jer_26:24), and would consequently be favourably received at the Chaldean court. Jer_29:4. “Gemariah the son of Hilkiah.” Hilkiah was the priest who found the law in the house of the Lord and showed it to Shaphan the scribe, who showed it to Josiah the king (2Ki_22:8). Different person from the Gemariah of Jer_36:25. Jer_29:21. “Ahab, son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, son of Maaseiah.” Two false prophets who traded upon the wishes and credulity of the Babylonian captives, provoking them to revolt against Nebuchadnezzar, and were therefore cast into the “burning fiery furnace” (comp. Dan_3:6). Jer_29:24. “Shemaiah the Nehelamite.” This Shemaiah would seem to have been the leader of these false prophets at Babylon, for he wrote the letter in their name against Jeremiah. Jer_29:25. “Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah” (see on Jer_21:1). He was the “second priest,” the pakéd, deputy “in the stead of Jehoiada the priest” (Jer_29:26), and in this office he controlled the civil force which guarded the Temple. Jer_29:26, “Jehoiada the priest.” Supposed by some to be the same conspicuous and influential Jehoiada of king Joash’a reign (2Ki_11:15; 2Ch_23:16); but as both Jehoiada and Zephaniah are in this verse called “officers in the house of the Lord,” i.e., pakíds, deputy high-priests, the supposition fails.
6. Geographical References.—Jer_29:24. “The Nehelamite,” i.e., belonging to the village of Nehlam. A place of similar name existed somewhere between the Jordan and the Euphrates (comp. 2Sa_10:16-17); called there the “Helam” or Chelam, and here Ne-chelam.
7. Literary Criticisms.—Jer_29:2. “The queen.” Nehushta, the queen-mother (comp. Jer_13:18). Jer_29:11. “An expected end.” אַחֲרִית, lit., last, i.e., issue or future—“a future and a hope.” Jer_29:12. “Ye shall go and pray unto Me.” Probably a Hebrew idiom for repeated and frequent prayer (Michaelis); but better, going to the place of prayer. Jer_29:17. “Like vile figs.” The adjective comes from שָׁעַר to shudder. Jer_29:18. “Deliver them to be removed:” vide note on chap. Jer_15:4, p. 314. Though a different word from “vile,” shuddering, there is a play on the sense of that word in the word rendered “removed” (Jer_29:18), “make them a shuddering.” Jer_29:22. A curse, קְלָלָה. Another ringing on the form of words. This “curse,” kelalah, should be associated with the conduct of “the son of Kolaiah” (Jer_29:21), קוֹלָיָה, whom Nebuchadnezzar “roasted” קָלָם, kalam, in the fire. Jer_29:24. “Nehelamite:” in margin, dreamer; but this is an error, for the word (vide Geographical Reference above) is a name of a place, though it closely resembles the word Chalam, “dreamer,” which Jeremiah so often uses (see Jer_29:8).
HOMILIES AND OUTLINES ON CHAPTER 29
A REVOLUTIONARY EPOCH
Zedekiah’s was certainly an uneasy throne. At home the people were restless, the priests and princes eager to revolt. And in Babylon (to whose monarch he was tributary, and whither the flower of the Jewish nation had already been carried) the Chaldees were probably irritated, as the Romans were in later times, at the determination of the Jews never to submit quietly to a foreign rule; while, also, there was the same ferment among the Jews in Babylon as there was among those in Jerusalem. To quell this ferment among the exiles, he sent letters assuring them that the captivity would continue for seventy years, and urging them to settle down calmly and wisely, to make themselves homes, and give themselves to industry and commerce. His words found acceptance there, but the false prophets in Jerusalem did their utmost to thwart Jeremiah’s aim, and to stir among the exiles resistance to his influence.
Jer_29:1. Theme: MESSAGES TO EXILES. “Now these are the words of the letter Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders which were carried away captives.”
This was a letter from Jeremiah to the captives and exiles, far from Jerusalem their happy home. They were then what we are now, strangers and pilgrims—exiles; and the directions given to them may be fitly applied by us. The captives would find very real consolations in this letter from the prophet whom God inspired to write it.
I. The very fact that a message was sent to them under an express Divine appointment was consolatory. And this may teach us that, wherever God’s children are scattered, the written word is to them a source of permanent encouragement.
God looks after His afflicted and scattered servants. He moved the Apostles James and Peter to write Epistles to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. John, when banished from Ephesus to Patmos, was favoured with high revelations from God. During the seventy years’ captivity, Daniel was raised up to be a living consolation to the exiles; and here Jeremiah is directed to write a letter to them by express command of God. This proves to us that in the severest ways of justice God does not forget His own children, but has in reserve ample consolations for them, when they lie under the common judgment.
A man would have thought that these were driven away from God’s care when they were driven out from the sanctuary, but Ezekiel tells a different tale (Eze_11:16): “I will be a little sanctuary in all countries whither they come.” They at Jerusalem, it seems, had the Temple, but without God; they at Babylon shall have God, but without the Temple. He applies seasonable comforts under discouraging providences, and is bent upon making up His jewels though they seem scattered and lost. God gives a command to Moab: “Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab.”
II. The particular Providence of God, appearing on their behalf under all their calamities, was a source of consolation.
He is the Lord of Hosts, of all the armies above and below, and yet is the God of Israel; and though He permits their captivity, He does not break His relation to them—their covenant God still, though under a cloud.
He assumes the active agency in their dispersion. “I have caused them to be carried away.” Their sins were the procuring cause of their dispersion; Nebuchadnezzar was the instrumental cause, but God Himself was the efficient and disposing cause. “Is there evil in the city and I have not done it?” He asserts the strictness of His justice, visiting the sins of His own people upon them. Certainly it must be a great sin which induees a loving father to cast his child out of doors. But sin is a great scatterer, and is always followed by a driving away and a casting out. It drove the angels from heaven, Adam from Paradise, Cain from the boundaries of the visible Church, and the children of Israel from their much-loved dwellings in Zion. Your houses will be weary of you when you dishonour God in them, and you may live to be driven from those comforts which you abuse to excess.
Yet the fact of God’s being the agent in their dispersion is referred to as a ground of consolation; since it reconciles us to our troubles to see the hand of God in them, and to trace an all-gracious and merciful design in them. “I was dumb because Thou didst it.” “He that scattered Israel shall gather him.”
III. The promise of the stability and security of their social and domestic interests was given. They were promised “peace in the peace of Babylon,” and were forbidden to plot and intrigue against its political interests. They were not to be known as agitators, or ringleaders of revolt, but as peaceful citizens. And it is a fact that they were treated more like colonists than captives: “He made them pitied of those who carried them captive.” If they were to “pray for the peace” of Babylon, much more should we for the welfare of our own country.
The permanence and maintenance of their domestic interests were provided for. “Build ye houses and plant gardens; take wives for your sons, that ye may be increased and not diminished.” This is just contrary to God’s command to Jeremiah (Jer_16:3) in Jerusalem, because then the country was on the eve of convulsion, but now they were informed of a long captivity. Had God given the hope of speedy return, their minds would have been unsettled and uneasy; they would have applied to no business, taken no comfort; but they were given to calculate on long absence from home.
Scripture deals honestly by us. It tells us that through much tribulation we enter the kingdom. “In every place the Spirit testifies that bonds and imprisonments await us.” It tells us where comfort cannot be found, and where our peace is securely laid up: “In Me ye shall have peace.”
IV. The prospect of a certain and favourable issue to their trials.
“Thoughts of peace and not of evil” (Jer_29:11).—S. Thodey, A.D. 1834.
Jer_29:2. JECONIAH’S CAPTIVITY. Nebuchadnezzar, in the first half of his reign (B.C. 606–562), repeatedly invaded Judea, besieged Jerusalem, carried away the inhabitants to Babylon, and destroyed the city and Temple. Two distinct deportations are mentioned in 2Ki_24:14 (including 10,000 persons), Jer_35:11; one in 2Ch_36:20; three in Jer_52:28-30 (including 4600 persons); and one in Dan_1:3. The two principal deportations were—
i. That which took place B.C. 598, when Jehoiachim, with all the nobles, soldiers, and artificers were carried away; and
ii. That which followed the destruction of the Temple and the capture of Zedekiah, B.C. 588.—“Captivities of the Jews” (Dr. Smith).
Jer_29:7. Theme: CHRISTIAN PATRIOTISM. “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”
The case of these people does not exactly correspond with ours, but the difference should heighten our obligations. Ought we not to seek the good of our native land—the land of our fathers’ sepulchres—the land where we are protected by mild and wholesome laws, where civil and religious freedom are enjoyed in a higher degree than in any other country in Europe; a land where God has been known for many centuries as a refuge; a land where there are greater opportunities for propagating the Gospel, at home and abroad, than in any other land under heaven?
I. Inquire into the duty of religious people towards their country. “Seek the peace of the city.” The word “peace” here means prosperity in general.
We should therefore seek our nation’s welfare. Then—
1. We shall do nothing, and join in nothing, that tends to disturb its peace or hinder its welfare; e.g., conspiracies, inflammatory speeches, sow discontent and disaffection, depreciate those who govern in a way so as to bring government into contempt.
2. Do everything in our power to promote its welfare; e.g., a cheerful obedience to the laws, respect for those who frame and execute them, ready co-operation in beneficent measures.
3. That we pray the Lord on its behalf. Though banished from their Temple, these exiles had access to their God. All our dependence, as a nation, is upon God; and therefore we should importune Him. Further, there is a load of guilt upon our country, and we should therefore supplicate mercy on its behalf.
II. The motives by which these duties are enforced.
1. The interests of individuals and families are closely connected with those of a country.
2. Our interests as Christians are interwoven with the well-being of our country. What our advantages are we should know to our grief were we once to lose them.
3. Should the young be called upon to take up arms for our country’s defence, every one of us, parent, wife, or friend, will (if we can pray for anything) importune the Lord of hosts to cover their heads in the day of battle.—Rev. Andrew Fuller (delivered at Kettering, in 1803, at a time of threatened invasion).
Theme: THE BEST CHRISTIANS THE BEST CITIZENS.
I. They know that the prosperity of the whole is their own prosperity. They do not, therefore, selfishly seek their own advantage.
II. They actually labour with all diligence for the furtherance of the common good.
III. They employ for. this end the power of Christian prayer.—Naegelsbach.
Theme: THE DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS TO THEIR COUNTRY.
I. What are the things absolutely necessary to the security and prosperity, the true glory and happiness, of our country?
1. The true honour of a nation, like that of the individual, lies in character. President Quincy affirms: “Human happiness has no perfect security but freedom; freedom, none but virtue; virtue, none but knowledge; neither freedom nor virtue has any vigour or immortal hope except in the principles of the Christian faith and in the sanctions of the Christian religion.”
2. The security and prosperity of our nation are inseparably associated with the advancement of religion among the people.
II. What are the best means for securing those things which are essential to our country’s highest welfare?
1. General diffusion of education. “Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.”
2. Equally essential that the people be virtuous. Knowledge is power, but unsanctified power is power for evil.
3. The general distribution of the Bible. The Bible is the great instrument for enlightening the conscience and purifying the heart.
4. Preaching the Gospel. Our nature is a wreck, a chaos, which the cross of Christ alone can adjust.
5. Prayer. See 2Ch_7:13-14; Psa_106:23; Exo_32:10, &c. John Knox, the great Scottish reformer, prayed—“Give me Scotland, or else I die.” Queen Mary said she feared his prayers more than an army of 10,000 men! (See Addenda: PRAYER FOR ONE’S OWN COUNTRY.)
III. What arguments may enforce the duties of personal and combined activity in seeking the highest good of our land?
1. Because our own individual good is intimately connected with its general happiness and prosperity. “For in the peace thereof ye shall have peace.”
2. We shall thereby recommend the religion we profess.
3. The work of supplying our land with the preached Gospel and with religious institutions is the most important work to which Christians can devote their energies.—Rev. Samuel Baker, D.D., Philadelphia, 1864.
Jer_29:8-9. DECEIVING PROPHETS. See on chap. Jer_14:14; Jer_23:21; Jer_27:14-15.
Jer_29:10-14. Theme: GRACIOUS PURPOSES OF GRIEVOUS PUNISHMENTS. In the text four things:—The certain punishment of sin. The certain fulfilment of God’s gracious purposes. The certain issue of sanctified afflictions. The certain acceptance of fervent devotious.
I. The certain punishment of sin.
“After seventy years be accomplished in Babylon I will visit you.” But seventy years must be accomplished. And mark, this threatening was fulfilled towards the most pious of God’s people among the Jews, as well as the most impious. “One event happeneth to all.” “The soul that sinneth,” &c.
The blood of Christ, applied by faith, delivers from the curse of sin hereafter, but the consequences of sin are often bitterly felt by God’s people here. It is the law of Divine dispensations that sin should bring sorrow; and it is the tendency of Divine grace to make sin appear exceeding sinful. Job and David and Hezekiah and Peter, even though through rich grace their sins were forgiven and their hopes were restored, found that it was “an evil thing and bitter to sin against God;” and in the text the pious Jews equally with their irreligious countrymen endured captivity in Babylon seventy years.
As the shadow follows the body, so does anguish attend upon sin. We may advance towards sin with pleasure in our eye, but when we return it is with sorrow and repentance in our heart.
II. The certain fulfilment of God’s gracious purposes. “I will visit and perform My good word. For I know the thoughts,” &c. The “good word” was the word of promise of deliverance from captivity, and the coming and reign of Christ.
It is the mercy of the penitent sinner, it is the comfort of the humblest believer, that God is as true to His promises as to His threatenings—as faithful to the declarations of the covenant of His grace as He is to the sentence of His holy law—as ready to listen to the voice of the blood of sprinkling as He was to listen to the voice of the blood of Abel. God will perform His good word to the humblest spirit that has sought and found rest at the foot of the cross. No sin will be our ruin which leads us to Christ for salvation. It is His own language. “I, even I, am He,” and “Come now, and let us reason.” “I know the thoughts—thoughts of peace.” God often thinks thoughts of peace, when we suppose He thinks thoughts of evil. He occupies Himself in merciful thoughts concerning their spiritual peace of mind now and their eternal peace hereafter.
The issue is to give you “an expected end”—a very desirable one. “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth;” “But the God of all grace,” &c.
APPLY IT TO CHRIST, the expected Messiah, in whom all God’s thoughts of peace concerning His people issue. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all things. Of all things in creation; “for all things were made by and for Him.” All things in Scripure: prophecies, promises, types, ceremonies, sacrifices, “the end of the law.” Salvation by Christ now and happiness with Christ hereafter is the end of all God’s gracious purposes and designs—the end of the covenant of grace—the end of God’s providential dispensations—and the end of the toils and conflicts of the Christian life. It is an end, an issue, contemplated by faith, and waited for by believers; “an expected end,” “receiving the end of your faith,” &c. And it is freely bestowed—thankfully received—as a grace-gift. “By grace ye;” “I will perform My good word;” “Heaven and earth may pass away,” &c.
III. The certain issue of sanctified afflictions (Jer_29:12). “Then shall ye call and go and pray, and I will hearken.” We cannot have a better proof of sanctified afflictions than when a spirit of prayer is poured out—when we are brought to our knees—taught the futility of broken dependencies—taught to find our happiness and all in God. Distrust of ourselves—dependence on Christ—confidence in God—humility in His presence—submission to His will—and a delight in communion with Him—these mark growth in grace.
IV. The certain acceptance of fervent prayer. “Seek and find Me … whole heart” (Jer_29:13). True of forgiveness of sin—support in trouble—deliverance. We must be earnest and fervent, or shall have but a cold answer. He that asks with a doubting mind and wavering lazy desire, begs for nothing but to be denied. God gives His people what they ask, or better. We beg for removal of present sadness—but He gives that which makes us able to bear twenty sadnesses, a cheerful spirit, peaceful conscience, joy in God, the antepast of eternal rejoicings in His kingdom. Remember how great a God you go to, how great a need you have, how great a thing you pray for.—S. Thodey, A.D. 1827.
Jer_29:11. Theme: GOD’S GRACIOUS THOUGHTS.
Near disasters clearly realised (Jer_29:10); yet future good confidently anticipated. As God would be in their calamities, for He will punish sin, so He designed their deliverance, for “He will not always chide, neither keep His anger for ever.”
I. The Lord has “thoughts” concerning His people. Yes! “Thoughts of peace and not of evil.” “How precious also are Thy thoughts!” True: for “as the heavens are high above the earth, so are Thy thoughts above our thoughts,” &c. So then—
i. The Most High bows to the things done upon the earth. Yes, and further: He forms intentions respecting them. And specially: He attentively regards mankind to divide between His people and their adversaries; discerns between our struggles, alarms, prayers, tears, &c., and the scorn and oppression of those hostile to us.
ii. He thinks about us! Is not indifferent, but intently concerned; our case occupies His thoughts. Benevolent people will give to the poor, but not think about the pleader. But God takes us up into His “thoughts.” “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me!”
1. God has “thoughts” of our present condition. “Remembers us in our low estate.”
2. “Thoughts,” too, of our coming calamities (Jer_29:10). “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” &c.
3. But “thoughts” also of our future deliverance and happiness.
II. The Lord’s thoughts will be wrought out into accomplishment. These thoughts of God were—
a. Unrecognised by His people’s foes. They act as if we were friendless. God is not in their thoughts.
b. Unhindered by the world’s designs. What foes intend against us, and may do, does not alter nor impede God’s designs.
1. God’s “thoughts” were not known to us till we were enlightened. His messengers taught, but “we would not hear.”
2. How then should aliens know the thoughts of God? Even “the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth;” how should foes? “The natural man understandeth not the things of the Spirit of God,” &c.
III. Adversaries know not against what Divine “thoughts” and intentions they strive. When they would injure us; “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.” Often they conspire against us; but “if this thing be not of God it cannot stand.” Gladly would hostile powers condemn us; but “who is he that condemneth? Christ hath died, yea, rather is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God.”
Remember how “Satan stood at God’s right hand to resist” Joshua; and the Lord answered, “The Lord rebuke thee, Satan,” &c.
Think of Balaam, whom Balak would have to curse Israel: “How can I curse whom God hath blessed?”
1. It cannot be done. Adversaries intend ruin; but God has preceded their malice by His gracious designs! Human passion cannot reverse the Divine purpose.
2. God’s “thoughts” shall stand. He thinks of us with love; and “I am persuaded nothing shall separate us from the love of God,” &c. He intends our redemption: and “whom He called, them justified, glorified.” He means, we shall have a glad future: and “Because I live ye shall live also.”
Hints: THOUGHTS OF PEACE. We must wait for their realisation; for the Lord delays this, but does not forget it.—Naegelsbach.
“Whereupon is our hope of peace based?
1. Objectively upon this, that the Lord Himself has thoughts of peace concerning us.
2. Subjectively on this, that we (a) call upon and seek the Lord with all our hearts, (b) patiently wait for a time of hearing.”—Naegelsbach.
“The moral malady of man is twofold: at one time vain confidence, then, when that is disappointed, despair. So the Jews first laughed at God’s threats, confident that they should speedily return; then, when cast down from that confidence, they sank into inconsolable despondency.”—Jamieson.
Jer_29:12. “Ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you.” Fulfilled Dan_9:3, &c. When God designs mercy, He puts it into the hearts of His people to pray for the mercy designed. When such a spirit of prayer is poured out it is a sure sign of coming blessings.
Jer_29:13. Theme: GOOD NEWS FOR TRUE SEEKERS. Some lament they have been seeking God for months, but are still unable to praise Him. But always conclude that if a particular promise of God does not turn out true to you, there is something in you to hinder it.
I. The quality required in every true seeker. It is wholeheartedness: “Search for Me with all your heart.” In order to this there must be
1. An undivided object in the seeker’s mind. “Ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me,” &c. Yes; “Oh that I knew where I might find Him!” Shake off all attention to self. No reservation must be made for the gratification of pride.
2. “With all thy heart” means with the entire faculties of our being. Rouse thy understanding. Use memory and conscience. Bring thy will into the effort.
3. It mainly signifies aroused energy. Getting out of that dull, sluggish, indifferent spirit which is so common; being resolute, importunate.
II. The reasons for this wholeheartedness being required—
1. In every other pursuit, where the object is at all worthy of a man’s efforts, wholeheartedness is required.
2. The danger from which we need to escape is so great that the utmost earnestness is none too much.
3. Look, moreover, at the greatness of the mercy thou art seeking.
4. Everybody else is in earnest: Satan, to ruin thee; Christ, to save thee, &c.
5. You have been wholehearted enough in the ways of sin.
6. How can there be anything true about your seeking if it be not wholehearted?
7. That which you seek, if you obtain it, is a wholehearted thing.
8. The believer’s obedience is wholehearted (Psa_119:69).
III. Hindrances to a wholehearted search.
1. Presumption. “Because God wants us saved, we need not make much effort.” Or, “Salvation is so simple, any day will do to attend to it,” &c.
2. Remaining self-confident. They think there is at least a little good about themselves.
3. Despair. Some do not believe you can be forgiven, &c.
4. The conduct of Christian professors.
—C. H. Spurgeon, A.D. 1876.
Compare Homilies on chap. Jer_24:7.
Jer_29:14. GATHERING THE EXILES HOME. See on chap. Jer_4:1; Jer_23:3; Jer_24:5.
Jer_29:15-19. Comp. Jer_24:8-10; Jer_17:13, &c.
Jer_29:22. “Whom Nebuchadnezzar roasted in the fire.”
Daniel’s record of the punishment threatened against all who refused to “worship the image Nebuchadnezzar the king set up,” is that “whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace” (Dan_3:6).
“Here was the warrant for that iniquitous barbarity—the burning of heretics. It originated in Babylon. ‘The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.’ It is, at least, impressive to recall how Rome used this same hateful and bellish weapon of vengeance, and that too for the same godless purpose, namely, to subject the souls of men to her idolatry, burning as heretics those who refused to worship her image; thus emphatically identifying herself with the ‘Babylon’ whose cruelty and sins the Apocalypse portrays, and against whom the most solemn curses of Heaven are pronounced.”—Crowds of the Bible (pp. 55, 56), by Rev. W. H. Jellie.
Jer_29:24, seq. JEREMIAH’S SECOND LETTER TO THE EXILES. The messengers (Jer_29:3) of the first letter brought back a strong protest from the false prophet Shemaiah directed to Zephaniah, condemnatory of Jeremiah for pronouncing the captivity “long” (Jer_29:28), and reproving the authorities for their supineness in not apprehending him, urging Zephaniah to put him “in prison and in the stocks” (Jer_29:27).
Zephaniah, instead of lending himself to be the instrument of their rage, showed the letter to Jeremiah (Jer_29:29).
Whereupon Jeremiah again wrote the exiles, “the word of the Lord,” in which Shemaiah was denounced as—
1. Falsely assuming to be Jehovah’s prophet (Jer_29:31).
2. Misleading the credulous hopes of the exiles, “causing them to trust in a lie.” For which crime there is prophesied—
1. Punishment from God upon himself and his seed.
2. Complete extinction of his family line, “because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord.” See on chap Jer_28:16.
ADDENDA TO CHAP. 29: ILLUSTRATIONS AND SUGGESTIVE EXTRACTS
Jer_29:7. PRAYER FOR ONE’S OWN COUNTRY. John Knox used to be in such agony for the deliverance of his country that he could not sleep. He had a place in his garden where he used to go to pray. One night he and several friends were praying together, and, as they prayed, Knox spoke, declaring that deliverance had come. He explained that he could not tell what had happened, but he felt sure that in some way their prayers had been answered. And the next news informed them that their enemy, Mary Queen of Scotland, was dead.
At one time during the Lutheran reformation, soon after the conference of Augsburg in 1530, when the Reformer’s cause looked mournful, Melancthon, with Luther and other divines, met to consult about the situation; and, after spending some time in prayer to God, Melancthon was suddenly called out of the room, from which he retired heavily depressed. While absent he saw several elders of the reformed churches with their parishioners and families; and many, young and old, were in prayer for the triumph of their cause. He re-entered the room with a joyous countenance, which astonished Luther, who inquired, “What now has happened to you, Philip, that you are become so cheerful?” “Oh, sirs,” replied Melancthon, “let us not be discouraged, for I have seen our noble protectors, and such as, I will venture to say, will prove invincible against every foe.” “And pray,” returned Luther, thrilling with surprise and pleasure, “who and where are these powerful heroes?” “Oh,” said Melancthon, “they are the wives of our parishioners and their little children, whose prayers I have just witnessed—prayers which I am satisfied our God will hear; for as our Heavenly Father and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has never despised our supplications, we have reason to trust that He will not in the present alarming crisis.” The event proved that Melancthon was not mistaken. God heard their prayers.—Cox’s “Life of Melancthon.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Jer 29:10-14
Jer 29:10-14
I. We may describe every real affliction which comes upon the Christian as a captivity. To be in a condition which we should never voluntarily have preferred, or to be held back by the power of something which we cannot control, from that which we eagerly desire to do—is not that the very thing in an experience which makes it a trial? This is the case with bodily illness, with business perplexities; sometimes even with providential duties. Every captivity of which the Christian is the victim will have an end. In the fatherland above we shall work without weariness, and serve God without imperfection. So in the prospect of that home we may well be reconciled for a season to the discomforts of our present exile.
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II. But while there is much in this view of the case to sustain us, we must not lose sight of the moral end which God has in view in sending us into our captivity. He sees the result from the beginning, and all the afflictions which He sends are but like the hammer-strokes of the sculptor, each of which removes some imperfection or brings some new loveliness to view. How many of our idolatries He has rebuked and rectified by our captivities! How many portions of His word have been explained to us by our trials! How many of us might say with truth that we had never really prayed till God sent us into captivity.
III. If we would have such results from our captivity, there are certain important things which we must cultivate. I mention: (1) a willing acceptance of God’s discipline and patient submission to it; (2) unswerving confidence in God; (3) fervent prayer.
W. M. Taylor, The Christian at Work, June 20th, 1878.
References: Jer 29:11.—T. Gasquoine, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 403; S. Cox, Expositions, 2nd series, p. 434. Jer 29:12, Jer 29:13.—H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 394. Jer 29:13.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1313, and vol. xxv., No. 1457; Pulpit Analyst, vol. iii., p. 702. Jer 30:11.—Christian Chronicle, March 20th, 1884.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 1-14. Jeremiah's letter to the exiles. Release after seventy…
1-14. Jeremiah's letter to the exiles. Release after seventy years.
1. Prophets] The exiles in Babylon had also false prophets, e.g. Ahab and Zedekiah (Jer_29:21), and Shemaiah (of Jer_29:24) among them. But they were on the whole of a better class (see Jer_24:5-7), and the prophet might hope that his words would have more effect.
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2. Carpenters] RV 'craftsmen.'
4-7. They are not to sit loose to the land of their exile, but to make homes for themselves there. Else they will soon dwindle away.
10. At Babylon] RV 'for Babylon,' referring to the duration of its power: cp. Jer_25:11.
11. An expected end] RV 'hope in your latter end.'
15-23. The exiles reply:—The prophets here tell us that we shall be delivered speedily. Jeremiah answers that their teaching shall soon be disproved by the overthrow of Jerusalem, and they shall themselves die miserable deaths.
17. Vile figs] cp. Jer_24:2. The exiles would probably already know that prophecy.
24-32. On the arrival of Jeremiah's letter at Babylon, Shemaiah had written to Zephaniah, the acting high priest (Jer_52:24) at Jerusalem, to have the prophet silenced as a madman. Jeremiah, having seen the letter, writes again to denounce the writer, and foretell his punishment.
26. In prison, and in the stocks] RV 'in the stocks and in shackles.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 carried away captives
carried away captives
Cf. 2Ki 24:10-16. The complete captivity of Judah came eleven years later. 2Ki 25:1-7.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles
CHAPTER 29
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles
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1. Jeremiah’s letter (Jer 29:1-23)
2. Concerning Shemaiah and his false prophecies (Jer 29:24-32)
Jer 29:1-23. King Zedekiah sent Elasah and Gemariah on a diplomatic mission to King Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah used the occasion to send a letter by them to the exiles. The letter first of all makes it clear that their stay in Babylon will not be transitory. They are to settle down, build homes, many, rear families, take wives for their sons and husbands for their daughters. They were to seek the peace of Babylon, for Babylon’s peace would mean their own peace. The latter injunction has often been forgotten by the Jews during the past 1900 years, since their great dispersion; often have they fomented strife among the nations where they are strangers.
The false prophets had predicted a speedy return. Some of these false prophets had gone with them to Babylon and were present in the prison camp on the banks of the river Chebar. We read in Eze 11:3 that they ridiculed the Divine command and gave wicked counsel. They felt themselves secure. Ezekiel continued the message of Jeremiah. (See annotations of Ezekiel.) Once more the seventy years are mentioned and what is to take place after they have expired. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” He promises an answer to their cry, and if they seek Him, He will be found. How gracious and merciful He is towards His own! In His own time all His gracious purposes will be fully accomplished in that nation, as they were partially accomplished in the return of a remnant after the exile. Jer 29:14 speaks of the larger return “gathered out from all the nations.” But those who persistently continued in disobedience, who listened to the false prophets will suffer the predicted fate; for such there will be no deliverance. Two of the false prophets are mentioned by name, Ahab and Zedekiah (not the king). Besides being false prophets, they were adulterers and whoremongers. King Nebuchadnezzar roasted them in the fire (Jer 29:22-23) .
Jer 29:24-32. Shemaiah, a Nehelamite, which means “the dreamer,” was also in Babylon, and when the captives received the letter from Jeremiah, he answered the letter. The letter was received by a certain Zephaniah, of whom he inquired, “Why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?” When Zephaniah received this letter he read it to Jeremiah. The Lord exposes the Nehelamite as a deceiver, and his judgment is announced.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles and Its Consequences.
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles and Its Consequences.
The Contents of the Letter.
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Just as certain false prophets in Jerusalem had tried to arouse and maintain false hopes in the inhabitants of the capital, thus also certain men of the same type were active among the exiles who had been taken to Babylon at the time of Jeconiah. The result was that a spirit of discontent and restlessness took hold of the Jews, which not only increased the bitterness of their affliction, but also tended to break down all moral restraint. Jeremiah therefore, by God’s command, sent a letter to the exiled Jews, in which he gives them some excellent rules of behavior in the midst of the trying circumstances in which they found themselves.
v. 1. Now, these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders, to those who had survived the hardships of the exile up to that time, which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, to the congregation of the exiled Jews, disorganized as it was in the conditions of the exile,
v. 2. (after that Jeconiah, the king, and the queen, Nehushta, the dowager, daughter of Einathan, 2Ki 24:8-15, and the eunuchs, the courtiers or chamberlains, high court officers, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, all the artisans and craftsmen of the city, 2Ki 24:16, were departed from Jerusalem,)
v. 3. by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent unto Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, nothing further being known of the message carried by this embassy, except that Zedekiah ruled only by the pleasure of the Babylonian king and was bound to use the highest diplomacy to hold his position), saying, the actual wording of Jeremiah’s letter now being given,
v. 4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, His exact words being given in the message, as throughout the book, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon, the fact that they were suffering the just punishment of their transgressions being made fundamental in this address, as preparing the way for repentance:
v. 5. Build ye houses and dwell in them, thereby preparing for a long stay in the land of their captivity, against the advice of the false prophets who were trying to mislead them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them, altogether in agreement with the idea that their homes would, for some time, be in the strange country;
v. 6. take ye wives and beget sons and daughters, thereby establishing families; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, for the giving in marriage is essentially a function of the parents, a duty which they dared not disregard, that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there and not diminished, for the nation was not to die out during the period of the Babylonian Exile.
v. 7. And seek the peace, the welfare, of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, striving with all their might to promote its best interests, and pray unto the Lord for it, such intercessions being commanded by God even in the case of a heathenish government; for true religion teaches patient submission to the government in all things which are not in conflict with God’s Word; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace, the Lord blessing a country for the sake of the believers among its citizens, and they, in turn, being benefited by the blessings which the Lord grants their country.
v. 8. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Let not your prophets and your diviners that be in the midst of you, whose business nourished because of the willing credulity of the people, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed, for it was the attitude of the people themselves, in encouraging prophecies of this kind, which gave them false hopes, that was at the bottom of the whole situation.
v. 9. For they prophesy falsely unto you, with a lie they posed as prophets, in My name, adorning their base deceptions with the name of the Lord, insisting that He had sent them; I have not sent them, saith the Lord, their claims being utterly unfounded. Over against their deceitful promises, therefore, He tells them the plain truth concerning the length of their captivity.
v. 10. For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, counting from the time the first exiles were taken to Babylon with their King Jeconiah, I will visit you, turn to them in merciful kindness, and perform My good word toward you, cause His promise to them to be fulfilled, in causing you to return to this place, to Jerusalem and Judah, the home of their fathers.
v. 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, He would still accomplish His merciful purposes with regard to them, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end, literally, "future and hope," that is, the end which they desired, but which could be theirs only on condition of their showing true repentance. The Lord shows in just what manner the Jews would continue in their course: first, in vain confidence, relying upon the empty promises of the false prophets; then, in deepest despondency, believing that they were doomed. to extermination; but finally, in true repentance, when they would be accepted by the Lord.
v. 12. Then shall ye call upon Me, in a realization of their sinfulness and guilt, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you, turning to them in the grace and mercy which He much prefers to exercise.
v. 13. And ye shall seek Me and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart, if their repentance proved to be sincere, of the right kind. Cf Lev 26:40-45.
v. 14. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, Isa 55:6; and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord, for the Jews were finally dispersed throughout the various countries of the world empire; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. Cf Deu 4:29-30; Deu 30:3-5. The return from exile was only the beginning of the fulfilment of our prophecy, which clearly has Messianic significance.
v. 15. Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon, literally, "as far as Babylon," the people of Judah insisting that the ministry of the prophets extended far beyond the confines of the Holy Land, and that therefore the threatening prophecy had no effect upon them,
v. 16. know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, in this case Zedekiah, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, those remaining after the first company of exiles had left, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity:
v. 17. thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, the dreaded scourges which are the worst punishments of nations, and will make them like vile figs, 24:8, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
v. 18. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, scattered throughout the kingdoms which belonged to the great world empire, to be a curse, an object of execration, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, to be jeered at and treated with contempt on every side, among all the nations whither I have driven them,
v. 19. because they have not hearkened to My words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by My servants, the prophets, rising up early and sending them, in eager zeal for the welfare of their souls; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord. Note that the change from the third to the second person places the exiled Jews into the same class with those who were still in Judah, for all were alike guilty.
v. 20. Hear ye therefore the Word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon, for the Chaldeans, in this instance, were only the instruments in the hands of the Lord:
v. 21. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, two men who are otherwise unknown, which prophesy a lie unto you in My name, since they were evidently the leaders of the false prophets, Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes, this execution evidently taking place because the king feared their exciting and rebellious preaching,
v. 22. and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, that is, the exiles made this event a proverb, a formula of imprecation, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, a Chaldean form of punishment in general use at that time, Cf Dan 3:6,
v. 23. because they have committed villainy in Israel, a deed of shame, a sinful folly, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, acts of gross immorality often being associated with false teaching, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them; even I know and am a Witness, saith the Lord. Jehovah is not only intimately acquainted with the truth, but also brings it to light and testifies of it before men.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6 sent out from Jerusalem
sent out from Jerusalem
"proclaimed from Jerusalem"
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remaining elders
"elders who were still alive"
Jehoiachin
The Hebrew text has "Jeconiah," which is a variation of the name "Jehoiachin." Many modern versions have "Jehoiachin" in order to make it clear that the same king is being referred to.
the queen mother
the king's mother
high officials
"very important officials"
by the hand of Elasah
Jeremiah gave the scroll to Elasah so that Elasah could take it to Babylon. The reader should understand that Elasah probably put the scroll in a container to keep it safe as he traveled. (See: Synecdoche)
Elasah ... Shapan ... Gemariah ... Hilkiah
These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
word
scroll
Jeremiah
prophet
send
Jerusalem
elder
captive
priest
people group
Nebuchadnezzar
exile
Babylon
Jehoiachin
king
queen
kingdom of Judah
hand
son
Zedekiah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 5 29:1-23 Jeremiah contacted the Hebrew exiles in Babylon by…
29:1-23 Jeremiah contacted the Hebrew exiles in Babylon by letter. To reach all the scattered Israelites, his letter would be read repeatedly from settlement to settlement.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.