Jeremiah 1

It was about seventy years after the death of Isaiah that the call of God came to the young Jeremiah (i. 4-6). Josiah, King of Judah, was then in the thirteenth year of his reign, 628 B.C. He had already begun, when he was sixteen years old, to “seek after the God of David his father,” and in the twentieth year of his age to cleanse the land of idols (2 Chron. xxxiv. 3, 4). It was an encouraging time for those who had at heart the highest interests of the people, and the work of reformation was strengthened by the finding of the Book of the Law in the Temple in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign (2 Kings xxii. 1-xxiii. 30; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 8-xxxv. 27).

At first Jeremiah shrinks from the great task of being God’s messenger to the people, but God encourages him by His promises of help and support (i. 7-12). It is evident that there were many of the people who had not accepted Josiah’s reformation, or only sullenly acquiesced in it, for the first message given to Jeremiah is one of judgement for their sins (i. 14-16). The earlier chapters contain the stern words, spoken partly at Anathoth, his native place, and partly at Jerusalem, in which he denounced the wickedness of his time. The finding of the law is referred to in chap. xi. 2-8.

The death of Josiah in battle against Pharaoh-Necho, at Megiddo, made Jeremiah’s task still more difficult. Josiah’s son and successor, Shallum or Jehoahaz, only reigned three months, and is only once mentioned in this book (xxii. 10, 11; cp. 2 Kings xxiii. 31-33). He was succeeded by Jehoiakim, to whom many of Jeremiah’s rebukes are addressed (xix. 3-5; xxii. 1-19; xxxvi. 30, 31). Jeremiah suffered the penalty of his courage and faithfulness. He was more than once arrested and imprisoned under Jehoiakim and Zedekiah (xx. 2; xxxvii. 15, 16; xxxviii. 6-28).

When Jerusalem was taken by the Assyrians, Nebuchadrezzar gave special instructions that he was to be well treated (xxxix. 12), and Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard gave him the option of coming with him to Babylon or remaining in his own country (xl. 4). Jeremiah chose the latter, but when the remnant decided to take refuge in Egypt, contrary to his remonstrance (xlii. 7-22), they compelled him to go with them (xliii. 5-7). There he still spoke to the people, and foretold the Divine judgements upon other nations (xliii. 10-13; xliv.; xlvi.; li.). And there, according to the tradition, he died.

“But for Jeremiah,” says Dr. W. H. Bennett (Expositor’s Bible), “the religion of Jehovah might have perished with His Chosen People. It was his mission to save Revelation from the wreck of Israel. Humanly speaking, the religious future of the world depended upon this stern, solitary prophet.” Even Renan says that, before John the Baptist, Jeremiah was the man who contributed most to the foundation of Christianity. “The sufferings of the Prophet,” says Elvet Lewis, “have become one of the noble heritages of the human race” (Devotional Commentary: Jeremiah).

1. Anathoth.** Anathoth was a city of the priests (Josh. xxi. 18), in the tribe of Benjamin, less than three miles north-east of Jerusalem; now called Anata.

3 unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah. In this enumeration of kings, Jehoahaz (Jehoiakim’s predecessor) and Jehoiachin (his son and successor) are omitted. Each of them lasted only three months; and none of the prophecies contained in the Book appear to belong to either of these reigns.

2 confounded . . . broken. Or, as R.V., “put to shame . . . dismayed.” On “Bel”: see note on Isa. xlv. 1. “Merodach” is frequently mentioned in the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions as Mar-u-duk, and is described sometimes as the supreme god. The name is contained in those of two Babylonian kings, “Evil-merodach” (lii. 31) and Merodach-baladan (Isa. xxxix. 1).

3 out of the north. The Medes.

They shall remove, they shall depart. More literally and vividly as in R.V., “They are fled, they are gone!”

5. They shall ask their way to Zion. Or, as R.V., “They shall inquire concerning Zion.”

6 from mountain to hill. From one idolatrous haunt to another.

their resting-place. Their proper fold.

7 the habitation of justice. Or, “the fold of righteousness,” i.e., the true source of good and safety. The argument of Israel’s enemies was, It cannot be counted impiety towards Jahveh to oppress those who have rebelled against Him.

8 be as the he goats. “Lead on.” March with boldness and energy.

9 raise. Or, “stir up,” as R.V.

An assembly of great nations. The Medo-Persians with their allies; see li. 27, 28.

None shall return in vain. Perhaps meaning, None shall miss their mark.

11 the heifer at grass. The R.V. reads, “the heifer that treadeth out [the corn].”

12. Your mother. Your mother country.

the hindermost of the nations [shall be], etc. Rather, as R.V., “She [shall be] the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness,” etc.

15. She hath given her hand. That is, she has surrendered. Ancient Oriental sculptures frequently indicate the submission of the conquered by the stretching out of the hand. Cp. Virgil, &n. xii. 936.

foundations. Rather “battlements” or “bulwarks” (R.V.).

16. Cut off the sower from Babylon. In ancient times the plain of Babylon was so fertile that, according to Herodotus (i. 193), the seed yielded from two to three hundredfold. It is now an utter waste, with here and there a patch of cultivation.

every one to his people. Cp. Isa. xiii. 14. The reference is to immigrants settled in Babylonia, who will now hastily return to their own countries.

19 his habitation. Rather, “his pasture,” as R.V.

20 whom I reserve. Or, “whom I leave as a remnant,” as R.V.

21. Merathaim . . . Pekod. Symbolic names for Babylon; vengeance or visitation (Pekod), the doubly rebellious (Merathaim).

Waste. Or, “Slay,” as in ver. 27.

23 hammer. The term has often been applied to redoubtable conquerors, as Charles Martel of France, and Edward I. of England, Malleus Scotorum.

24. I have laid a snare for thee. Predicting the stratagem of Cyrus, who took the city by surprise: see note on Isa. xlv. 1. Cp. Herodotus, i. 191.

25 this is the work of the Lord God of hosts. Or, “For the Lord God of hosts hath a work to do.”

26 from the utmost border. “From every quarter.” R.V. marg.

27 her bullocks. Her strong men.

28 of them that flee. Of the Jews set free from bondage.

31. O thou most proud. Heb., “O Pride!” Moffatt translates, “Queen Insolence.” So in next verse, “the proud one shall stumble.”

33 [were] oppressed. Better, “are oppressed,” as R.V., and so in the following clauses.

34 to the land. “To the earth,” as R.V.: cp. Isa. xiv. 7.

A sword is, etc. There is no “is” in the Hebrew, and the force of the passage is strikingly and correctly brought out by Moffatt, who begins each of the vers. 35-38, “Sword, strike,” etc.

36 liars. The soothsayers.

they shall dote. Shall appear fools (Orelli).

37 mingled people. Auxiliaries: see note on xxv. 24.

39 wild beasts . . . owls. Rather, wild cats . . . wolves . . . ostriches.

41 a people shall come from the north. See note on ver. 3. The whole picture is a companion to that in vi. 22-24; where the attack upon Jerusalem is described. Now the same ruin befalls her great enemy.

44. Behold, he shall come up, etc. This and the two following verses predict the same calamities for Babylon as were threatened to Edom in xlix. 19-21.

The ministry of Jeremiah, also, continued some years after “the carrying away of Jerusalem captive” (see xl.-xlv., etc.), but this latter period is not here mentioned.

5 knew thee. i.e., favourably; implying choice. unto the nations. Not merely to the Jews: see xivi.-ii. To this office Jeremiah was “sanctified” or set apart in God’s purposes before his birth: ep. Gal. i. 15.

6. I am a child. The Hebrew word here used may denote any period of youthful life: ep. Gen. xxxiv. 19; xli. 12. Jeremiah may have been about twenty years old.

8 of their faces. i.e., as R.V., “because of them.” 10 to root out, and to pull down, etc. That is, to announce these things: see Ezek. xliii. 3.

11 a rod (shoot) of an almond tree. The almond tree, which flowers very early in the year, derives its Hebrew name (“wake-tree”) from its watching, as it were, for the first dawn of spring. Hence this shoot of an almond tree represented the speedy fulfilment of these predictions, of which God says, “I am watching over My word to perform it.”

13 toward the north. Rather, “from the north” (R.V.).

15 they shall come. Cp. xxxix. 3. In ver. 16, God speaks of the heathen conquerors as uttering His sentence.

they shall set every one his throne, etc. Shall sit in judgement upon the people’s crimes.

17 gird up thy loins. Prepare thyself resolutely for thy work. The phrase is derived from the Eastern custom of tucking up the skirt in the girdle, before undertaking any laborious employment, as a journey (Exod. xii. 11), a race (I Kings xviii. 46), a conflict (Job xxxviii. 3).

18. I have made thee this day a defenced city. Thou shalt be as strong as a fortified city. The emblem is in strong contrast with Jeremiah’s natural disposition.