Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 29

Verse 1

29:1 Now these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to {a} the rest of the elders who 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;

(a) For some died in the way.

Verse 2

29:2 (After Jeconiah the king, and the {b} queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem;)

(b) Meaning Jeconiah’s mother.

Verse 3

29:3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah {c} sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,

(c) To entreat of some equal condition.

Verse 4

29:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all that are carried away captives, whom I have {d} caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon;

(d) That is, the Lord whose work this was.

Verse 7

29:7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives, and {e} pray to the LORD for it: for in the peace of it ye shall have peace.

(e) The prophet does not speak this for the affection that he bore to the tyrant, but that they should pray for the common rest and quietness that their troubles might not be increased, and that they might with more patience and less grief wait for the time of their deliverance, which God had appointed most certain: for not only the Israelites but all the world yea and the insensible creatures would rejoice when these tyrants would be destroyed, as in Isaiah 24:4 .

Verse 13

29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find [me], when ye shall search for me with all {f} your heart.

(f) When your oppression will be great, and your afflictions cause you to repent your disobedience and also when the seventy years of your captivity will be expired, 2 Chronicles 36:22, Ezra 1:1, Jeremiah 25:12, Daniel 9:2 .

Verse 15

29:15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised up for us {g} prophets in Babylon;

(g) As Ahab, Zedekiah and Shemaiah.

Verse 17

29:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the {h} sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile {i} figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

(h) By which he assures them that there will be no hope of returning before the appointed time.

(i) According to the comparison, Jeremiah 24:1-2 .

Verse 18

29:18 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, to be {k} a curse, and an horror, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them:

(k) Read Jeremiah 26:6 .

Verse 19

29:19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, {l} rising early and sending [them]; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.

(l) Read Jeremiah 7:13; Jeremiah 25:3; Jeremiah 26:5 .

Verse 22

29:22 And concerning them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah who [are] in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted {m} in the fire;

(m) Because they gave the people hope of speedy returning.

Verse 23

29:23 Because they have committed {n} villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbour’s wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and [am] a witness, saith the LORD.

(n) Which was adultery and falsifying the word of God.

Verse 26

29:26 The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of {o} Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man [that is] mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.

(o) Shemaiah the false prophet flatters Zephaniah the chief priest as though God had given him the spirit and zeal of Jehoiada to punish whoever trespassed against the word of God, of that he would have made Jeremiah one, calling him a raver and a false prophet.

Verse 32

29:32 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man {p} to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.

(p) He and his seed will be destroyed so that none of them would see the blessing of this deliverance.