the Third Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Dictionaries
Jeremiah
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Jeremiah (jĕr-e-mî'ah), whom Jehovah setteth up or appointeth. 1. The distinguished prophet, son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth. Jeremiah 1:1-6. He was called to assume the prophetic office when a youth, and on that account declined it: but God promised him grace and strength sufficient for his work. He prophesied under Josiah, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah; and for some time during the exile. During the course of his predictions, Jerusalem was in a distracted and deplorable condition, and the prophet was calumniated, imprisoned, and often in danger of death. Jeremiah expressly foretold that the captivity would endure for 70 years; he also predicted the return of the people to their own country. He appears to have stood high in the estimation of Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah 39:11-14. Towards the close of his life he was carried into Egypt against his will, by the Jews who remained in Judea after the murder of Gedaliah, where he probably died. Jeremiah is called "Jeremy," Matthew 2:17 A. V., and "Jeremias," Matthew 16:14 A. V. The name Jeremy, in Matthew 27:9-10, is probably an error of the transcribers for Zechariah. The ft. V. reads Jeremiah in all these places. Canon Cook says of Jeremiah: "His character is most interesting. We find him sensitive to a most painful degree, timid, shy, hopeless, desponding, constantly complaining, and dissatisfied with the course of events, but never flinching from duty.... Timid in resolve, he was unflinching in execution; as fearless when he had to face the whole world as he was dispirited and prone to murmuring when alone with God. Judged by his own estimate of himself, he was feeble, and his mission a failure; really, in the hour of action and when duty called him, he was in very truth 'a defenced city and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land.' Jeremiah 1:18. He was a noble example of the triumph of the moral over the physical nature." There are eight persons of this name mentioned in the Scriptures.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Jeremiah'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/j/jeremiah.html. 1893.
