Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah

III

THE BOOK: OF JEREMIAH INTRODUCTION

Jeremiah 1:1-3

The book of Jeremiah is the longest in the Bible coming from the hand of a single writer, or author. The book of the Psalms is a larger book, but it is really a compilation of various writers, five great books in one. The book of Jeremiah contains his prophecies and the events of his life covering about forty-four years, one of the most stirring periods of Hebrew history.

The greater part of the book was no doubt written by Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, or secretary, though some parts may have been written by Jeremiah himself. Of these facts we cannot be absolutely sure, though we do know that Baruch wrote most of it. In Jeremiah 36 we have the story of how the author came to write his prophecy. He tells us that somewhere about the year 604 or 603 B.C. in the reign of King Jehoiakim, by the command of Jehovah, he dictated the substance of all his prophecies, covering eighteen or nineteen years previous, to his scribe, who wrote them in a book, or roll. Baruch wrote down these words, including the prophecy of how God would destroy Jerusalem because of the sins of the people. The roll was taken and read to the king and he was so enraged that he cut it in pieces and threw it in the fire. Thus the first edition was burned.

A short time after this he again dictated to his scribe these prophecies, and Baruch wrote them down. It was the same prophecy, but many like words were added unto them. That edition of Jeremiah’s prophecies was preserved, and we have it in the first seventeen chapters of the book. It is doubtless true that he gave here the substance of his prophecies covering the early period of his life. To these seventeen chapters the remainder of the book has been added. There is no doubt that all of the book except Jeremiah 52 is from Jeremiah, although some modern critics say that about four-nineteenths of it is really Jeremiah’s and about four nineteenths Baruch’s and the rest belongs to many writers unknown. They have figured it down very fine, even down to the nineteenth part. These are vulgar fractions instead of inspired writings. Jeremiah 52 was not from the hand of Jeremiah, but was taken from the book of 2 Kings and is a repetition of the 2 Kings 24 almost word for word.

There are more difficulties in the study of the text than in the study of almost any other book of the Bible. In the third century B.C. a Greek translation was made in Egypt by many scholars from the original Jewish manuscripts that they might have the Scriptures in Greek. That translation was called the Septuagint. From this it appears that the book of Jeremiah has more corruptions in the text than any other book of the Bible; 2,700 words were left out of the Septuagint Version, or about one-eighth of the book. Most of these words, however, are words of lesser importance; for instance, such expressions as "Thus saith the Lord," introductory words which do not take from the substance of the book, or from the heart of the prophecy, to any great extent. The critics differ as to which to follow, the Septuagint Version or our Massoretic Hebrew text. Many of them prefer the Septuagint. Ezra and those who follow him evidently preferred the Hebrew text, for it has been preserved in connection with the Old Testament Scriptures and is in our Hebrew Bible.

A convenient outline of the book of Jeremiah is as follows:

Introduction: Title, author, and date (Jeremiah 1:1-3).

I. The prophet’s call (Jeremiah 1:4-19):

1. Personal (Jeremiah 1:4-10).

2. Official (Jeremiah 1:11-19).

II. The prophet’s commission (Jeremiah 2-13):

1. The impeachment, call, and Judgment (Jeremiah 2-6)

2. The sins of worship and backsliding (Jeremiah 7-9).

3. The sin of idolatry and the broken covenant (Jeremiah 10-13).

III. The prophecies before the fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 14-39):

1. God’s decree to punish (Jeremiah 14-17).

2. Lessons from the potter (Jeremiah 18-20).

3. Message to Zedekiah (Jeremiah 21-27).

4. Jeremiah and the false prophets (Jeremiah 28-29).

5. The "Book of Consolation" (Jeremiah 30-33).

6. Prophecies of the siege and the Rechabites (Jeremiah 34-35).

7. The history of the roll (Jeremiah 36).

8. History of the siege, (Jeremiah 37-39).

IV. The prophecies after the fall of Jerusalem (40-45):

1. Against going into Egypt (Jeremiah 40-42).

2. While in Egypt (Jeremiah 43-44).

3. The exhortation of Baruch (Jeremiah 45).

V. The prophecies concerning the nations (Jeremiah 46-51):

1. Concerning Egypt (Jeremiah 46).

2. Concerning Philistia (Jeremiah 47).

3. Concerning Moab (Jeremiah 48).

4. Concerning Ammon (Jeremiah 49:1-6).

5. Concerning Edom (Jeremiah 49:7-22).

6. Concerning Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23-27).

7. Concerning Koedar and Hazor (Jeremiah 49:28-33).

8. Concerning Elam (Jeremiah 49:34-39).

9. Concerning Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51).

VI. Historical supplement (Jeremiah 52):

(The following analysis, as a preview of the book, will be followed closely in the discussion.)

We have in Jeremiah 1:1-3 the preface. Whether this was written by Jeremiah himself or by Baruch we cannot be absolutely sure, but it constitutes the introduction. In this passage we have stated the family of Jeremiah, his home, and when he began to prophesy. We see that his life and ministry cover the reigns of five kings. These were Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiakin, and Zedekiah. The reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin were very short. This preface was probably written by Baruch, the scribe, after the book had been compiled.

SECTION 1. Jeremiah 1:4-6:30

This is the early group of prophecies and gives the substance of his preaching during several years of the reign of Josiah. They belong somewhere between 626-621 B.C. It was written by Baruch in 604 B.C., but burned by Jehoiakim and rewritten in 603 B.C. As to the details, note:

1. The call and commission of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-19). In the study of the life of Jeremiah we discover that emphasis is laid on his call, his consecration, and his commission.

2. His account of the nation’s history. It had been one long history of wickedness, and backsliding from God (Jeremiah 2:1-4:4).

3. The inevitable result of such a history (Jeremiah 4:5-6:30). The inevitable result was destruction, complete and overwhelming. This destruction was at hand. It came perhaps at the hand of the Scythians. We find that about this time there was a great invasion by these terrible people, who swept down, through Palestine, almost to Egypt but were driven back by Psammetichus, the Egyptian king. It was like the invasion of the Tartars, or Huns, of a later time. It may be that Jeremiah had this invasion in mind as the agent that God would use in destroying the people. But they did not come into the mountains of Judah. However that may be, we do know that Nebuchadnezzar completed the work that this Scythian horde left undone.

SECTION 2. Jeremiah 7-10

This covers the reign of Josiah, and probably the reign of Jehoiakim, reaching from 618-607 B.C., written 604 B.C., burned about the same time, and rewritten 603 B.C. Note in detail:

1. The destruction of the Temple of Jehovah was here threatened. Jeremiah pointed to the fact that they had so sinned centuries before that God had destroyed Shiloh, and would destroy their present Temple (Jeremiah 7:1-15).

2. The prophet goes on to warn them of the exile, because their wilfulness must be punished (Jeremiah 7:16-9:2).

3. The people are grossly corrupt and destruction is inevitable. The nation will not repent (Jeremiah 9:3-26).

4. Jeremiah describes the wicked condition of the idolatrous nation and warns against them (Jeremiah 10:1-16). In this section we find many similarities to Isaiah 40-44. There are many expressions almost identical.

5. Jeremiah’s distress and his prayer that the people might be saved from their punishment (Jeremiah 10:17-25).

SECTION 3. Jeremiah 11-17

This belongs to the early years of Jehoiakim’s reign. The subject of this section is the idolatry and sins of Judah and the result. The prophet illustrates this thought and repeats it over and over again, under different figures and from different viewpoints. As to details, note:

1. The preaching of the covenant which some hold belongs to a former period, immediately after the discovery of the book of the Law, but more probably after the breach of the covenant at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 11:1-8).

2. Apostasy charged against Judah, and a plot to take Jeremiah and put him to death (Jeremiah 11:9-23).

3. Jeremiah pleading with God and with the people. How pathetic and how tender is this pleading of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 12:1-7).

4. The sign of the marred girdle and the water bottle, and their lessons (13). This tells how Jeremiah is told to go to the Euphrates River and hide his girdle in a rock. He goes and gets the rotten girdle and brings it to Jerusalem as a picture of the destruction which shall be the result of their sins and wickedness.

5. The drought and its lesson. Sometime in the early part of the reign of Jehoiakim a terrible drought falls upon the land and Jeremiah sees the meaning of it and preaches its lessons to the people. Some people cannot see how the hand of God is in a drought, but this prophet did (Jeremiah 14-15).

6. The domestic life of Jeremiah and its illustration of the sins of Judah. He was told that God would not permit him to marry. He could not have a home. He was not to go to the house of mourning. Neither was he to go to the house of feasting. He was to be a recluse and a man of solitude (Jeremiah 16).

7. If he cannot enter into the social life of the people at all, he must turn to God alone. God was his only refuge. The people’s sins were too deep dyed to be cleansed (Jeremiah 17:1-18).

8. Consecration of the sabbath (Jeremiah 17:19-27). Here we find the same problem that Nehemiah had in his time. The great and ever living problem of the sabbath, then as now.

(NOTE. – These are probably the chapters that Jeremiah dictated to Baruch. The remainder of the book consists of short histories. It is a compilation of pieces of writing and accounts of the life and teachings of the prophet. His lessons and prophecies against the nations and against Judah are placed together with no chronological order or regularity.)

SECTION 4. Jeremiah 18-20

This belongs to the reign of Jehoiakim, sometime before 600 B.C., doubtless written and published later. The subject for this section is lessons from the potter and the results which the prophet experiences. He sees a potter working at his wheel. He sought to make a fine piece of pottery out of a lump of clay and it was marred in his hands. So he made it over into a cruder vessel. That is the way it would be with the people. God could not make out of them the fine vessel he would have made, because of their sins. In chapter 20 we have an account of Pashur, the chief officer of the house of the Lord, who struck Jeremiah and put him in the stocks and kept him there over night. In all literature there is hardly anything to be found more pathetic than the passage (Jeremiah 20:8-13).

SECTION 5. Jeremiah 21

This belongs to about 588 or 587 B.C. It was in the latter part of the reign of Zedekiah and was the prophecy of Jeremiah to Zedekiah. The king sent for the prophet and asked him to tell the results of the siege. He told him that it meant that the city should be given to the enemy.

SECTION 6. Jeremiah 22-23

In these chapters the prophet describes the miserable reign of the kings of Judah, especially that of Jehoiakim. The priests are false prophets and likewise denounced.

SECTION 7. Jeremiah 24

We see here how these passages lack chronological order. This chapter speaks of the first year or two of the exiles now in Babylon. It compares them with the people in Jerusalem. He pictures those who had been taken away with Jehoiachin, and those who had remained in Judah, as good and bad figs. Those in Babylon are the better of the two. I doubt if those who remained in Judah felt very much complimented by his words.

SECTION 8. Jeremiah 25

This contains an oracle concerning Judah and the neighboring nations. We find in the latter part of the book distinct prophecies concerning those nations mentioned here. This oracle was delivered about 603 B.C., perhaps a little later.

SECTION 9. Jeremiah 26

This chapter gives the result of the discourse in Jeremiah 7, in which Jeremiah describes the destruction of the Temple. Enemies of the prophet rose up, consulted together and said that this prophet must be put to death. But Jeremiah escaped because he had friends among the princely families.

SECTION 10. Jeremiah 27-29

Jeremiah contends with Hananiah, a false prophet. He advises the king to submit to the Babylonians. Jeremiah retires from the contest for a while, then utters a prophecy against Hananiah. In Jeremiah 29 we have the letter which Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon, counseling them to remain there for seventy years. A certain prophet in Babylon wrote back to put Jeremiah to death, and Jeremiah wrote a prophecy against him in response.

SECTION 11. Jeremiah 30-31

These contain what is called "The New Covenant." It is Jeremiah’s "Book of Consolation" for Israel. It corresponds to the latter half of the book of Isaiah (40-66), called "The Old Testament Book of Comfort." It contains Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the new covenant.

SECTION 12. Jeremiah 34

This describes an incident which occurred during the siege of Jerusalem. The king of Egypt came up to help Zedekiah. The city was relieved for a time. Then the people went back to their wicked lives again. This occurred in 587 B.C.

SECTION 13. Jeremiah 35

This goes back to about 597 B.C. Here the prophet gives a striking lesson from the example of the Rechabites.

SECTION 14. Jeremiah 36

We have here the story of the writing of the prophecy by Baruch.

SECTION 15. Jeremiah 37-39

This treats of the siege and capture of Jerusalem, 586 B.C., the desolation of the inhabitants, the efforts to save themselves in the city and Jeremiah’s advice to submit. He is charged with treason. They seek to kill him. He is saved by friends. The city falls and is destroyed and Jeremiah is saved by the king.

SECTION 16. Jeremiah 40-44

This is a history of Judah and Jerusalem after the fall of the Temple. Thousands are carried into exile, and thousands remain. Gedaliah is appointed governor, a community is formed at Mizpah. Ishmael, a traitor, murders the governor and escapes. Under Johanan the people go to Bethlehem, consult Jeremiah, and flee to Egypt contrary to his advice. They cling to idolatry while in Egypt.

SECTION 17. Jeremiah 45

He gives an exhortation to Baruch. Here is excellent advice to preachers: "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not."

SECTION 18. Jeremiah 46-51

This is the record of Jeremiah’s oracles concerning the nations. They were doubtless delivered sometime between 605 and 585 B.C., and are as follows:

1. An oracle concerning Egypt (Jeremiah 46). See Isaiah 19; Ezekiel 29-33.

2. An oracle concerning the Philistines Jeremiah (47). It is interesting that both Isaiah and Ezekiel have messages concerning these nations. See Isaiah 14:18-32; Ezekiel 25:15-17.

3. Moab (Jeremiah 48). Much like Isaiah 15-16.

4. Ammon (Jeremiah 49:1-6; Ezekiel 25:1-17).

5. Edmon (Jeremiah 49:7-22; Isaiah 34; Ezekiel 25.)

6. Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23-27; also Isaiah 17).

7. Kedar and the king of Hazor (Jeremiah 49:28-33; Isaiah 21).

8. Elam (Jeremiah 49:34-39).

(NOTE. – These latter prophecies seem to have been written in the reign of Zedekiah, about 594 B.C., just a short time before the prophet’s death.)

9. Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51). Here we have a long prophecy against this nation.

SECTION 19. Jeremiah 52 This is a historical supplement containing records from the book of 2 Kings, of the story of the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity.

QUESTIONS

1. What can you say of the book of Jeremiah as compared with other books of the Bible, and what of its contents and the period which it covers?

2. Who wrote the book of Jeremiah? What is the history of its writings and what say the critics?

3. What of the difficulties of the text of Jeremiah, what version indicates these and what the critics’ position?

4. Give a convenient outline of the book of Jeremiah.

5. Give the items of information in the title of the book and a bird’s eye view of the book itself.