because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long. Build houses, and dwell in them. Plant gardens, and eat their fruit?” ’ ”
Parallel Translations
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because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long. Build houses, and dwell in them. Plant gardens, and eat their fruit?” ’ ”
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For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
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forasmuch as he hath sent unto us in Babylon, saying: The captivity is long; build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them?'
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 29:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 29:5 “Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit.
- Jeremiah 29:1 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,
- Jeremiah 29:10 For Yahweh says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The crime ascribed to Jeremiah was, — that he…
The crime ascribed to Jeremiah was, — that he rendered the captives indifferent, so that they cast off every hope of deliverance, and disregarded their own country. But the design of Jeremiah was far different; it was, that the people might not by too much haste anticipate the promises of God, and that he might also extend their hope to the end, prefixed. As there are two causal particles here found, כי על-כן, ki ol-ken, some give this rendering, “For for this cause,” that is, because he claimed the name of a Prophet. The simpler meaning however is, that he gives a reason why Shemaiah blamed the neglect of the priest, even because he (Jeremiah) had habituated the captives to bear their exiles. But he reproached the holy man, as though he had made them indifferent through long delay. Jeremiah had indeed said that the time would be long; but this particular phrase, It is long, means a different thing, as though Jeremiah wished to bury in oblivion the hope of a return, because it would have been foolish to languish so long.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 29:28 For therefore he sent unto us [in]…
Jer 29:28 For therefore he sent unto us [in] Babylon, saying, This [captivity is] long: build ye houses, and dwell [in them]; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
Ver. 28. For therefore he sent to us in Babylon.] And is this all the thank he hath for his friendly counsel? Haec est merces mundi. This is the recompence of the world.
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 The matter of fact was true, as appeared Jer…
The matter of fact was true, as appeared Jer 29:5,6, but it was false that this was the effect of phrensy, or that he spake this of his own head without commission from God; for he wrote nothing of this nature but by order from God, as appeareth from Jer 29:4, where he began his letter with, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying,....…
For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying,.... That is, Jeremiah the prophet; and this was the reason, because his mouth was not stopped, and he restrained from prophesying; so that Shemaiah lays all the blame on Zephaniah, and his brethren the priests; who, had they done their duty, would have prevented Jeremiah's letter to the captives, as he suggests; the purport of which was,
this captivity is long; so Kimchi, Abarbinel, and Ben Melech, supply it; or, "it is long" (m); it will be a long time before the captives shall return to their own land; and therefore they should not think of it, or provide for it; but, on the contrary, for their continuance in Babylon; giving the following advice:
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build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; referring to Jeremiah's letter; See Gill on Jer 29:5.
(m) "longum est", Pagninus, Cocceius, Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Time, before you will return. (Haydock) --- Sophonias read…
Time, before you will return. (Haydock) --- Sophonias read the letter, approving of its contents, (St. Jerome) though this is not certain. He took no violent steps against Jeremias, as Phassur had done. (Haydock)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Referring to Jeremiah's first letter to Babylon (Jer 29:5).
Referring to Jeremiah's first letter to Babylon (Jer 29:5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (28) This captivity is long . . .—As the…
(28) This captivity is long . . .—As the italics show, there is no word corresponding to “captivity” in the Hebrew, and some commentators render the words, It is far off . . . as though Jeremiah had counted on the distance of Babylon as enabling him to write the letter with impunity, or possibly in all the emphasis of abruptness. “All is a long way off—the end of your exile, your present distance from your native land, and haste, therefore, is but folly.”
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 For therefore, etc.; i.e. the consequence of Jeremiah"s not…
For therefore, etc.; i.e. the consequence of Jeremiah"s not having been kept within bounds by authority is that he has even ventured, in his fanatical zeal, to trouble the exiles in Babylon. This captivity is long ; rather, It (is) long; a more forcible expression.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.