No prophet in the Old Testament has been so widely misunderstood as Jeremiah. For centuries he has been known as the man with the despondent face and weeping eyes. He has been thought of as a temperamental, neurotic individual, a misfit for his times, a bungling preacher who should have developed a better psychological approach to the problems of his day. But this view of the prophet can come only from a superficial reading of the book,1 and an inadequate understanding of the life and times of Jeremiah. On the contrary, when this so-called “weeping prophet” is seen in true perspective, he turns out to be a great prophet of hope.
In fact, Jeremiah had a genius for hoping beyond that of any Old Testament prophet. Although he had the unpleasant task of gathering up into a new whole the warnings of all his predecessors and pronouncing a sure and final doom on his beloved nation, he saw beyond a horrifying judgment to a new and better day. When everything about him was as black as midnight, he was convinced that there was light ahead. Even when in the depths of excruciating grief, his eyes beheld distant horizons where there would be a new covenant and a new age.
It is true that with his dark and gloomy message and his own inner conflicts, he does not make a pretty figure. People who are highly confident of themselves, and who worship “the god of immediate success,” can only despise Jeremiah. In this, however, they only indict themselves as shallow and immature, for the centuries have vindicated Jeremiah. He stands today as the greatest figure of his age. He may have been late in coming into his own, “but the final recognition is ample and full.”2
A. THE PERSONALITY OF THE PROPHET
From the standpoint of temperament and disposition, no man was more ill-fitted for his task than Jeremiah. Only a God who “looketh upon the heart” would have selected this strange, sensitive, timid, introspective youth to fill the gigantic task of being “a prophet to the nations.” This would be especially true in the closing decades of the seventh and the opening years of the sixth centuries before Christ. This was a period of dislocation, upheaval, and change for the nations of the Near East. Gentle, kind-hearted Jeremiah, who loved the simple things of life, was thrown into the vortex of these national and international events very much against his own personal inclinations and desires. He was by disposition much more of a follower than a leader, and his tender, affectionate nature was poorly equipped for the thoroughgoing and ruthless denunciation of sin that his commission required.
It is precisely at these points that an almost unbearable tension developed in his inner life. He was so utterly human and loving by nature, and the demands of his calling were so inflexible, that “his emotions were in constant conflict with his vocation, his heart struggled with his head.”3 This produced an inner conflict that went on for years. The intensity of his sufferings is reflected in a group of passages known as the “Confessions of Jeremiah” (11:18-23; 12:1-6; 15:10-21; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20: 7-18).
One of the greatest values of the book is that Jeremiah permits us to see the inner struggle of his mind, the vast sweep of his emotions, as he attempted to carry out a heartbreaking task. To his enemies and to the public generally he must have appeared inflexible and unreasonably stubborn. But he shares with us his most intimate thoughts and feelings. We know more about him than about any other Old Testament prophet. We see him in the saddest and most despairing moments of his life, but we also see him in his moments of exultation and hope. The fluctuations of his emotional life can be painful to the reader, as well as exhilarating, since he does not hesitate to express every thought as it arises to the surface. But it is the uninhibited expression of his feelings that intrigues us. He is entirely himself. We are therefore given the privilege of seeing an immature youth develop into a spiritual giant.
His dislike for bearing evil tidings is evident everywhere, but his sense of vocation compels him to keep prophesying even against his will (20:9). Although he had been “set apart” for sacred office in unusual fashion, and was promised by God that he would be like an iron pillar and a bronze wall against his enemies, his tender heart was still so unprepared for what came out of the “unknown bundle” that he was brought to the breaking point more than once. Although mightily used and blessed of God, he was still human enough that he had to wrestle over the issues and pray until he found rest of soul. His sensitive spirit cried out in the blinding intensity of his grief, and he did not hesitate to protest to God the hopeless predicament into which He had led him. There is no pretense or camouflage in this man. He is unashamedly himself: pain is pain, grief is grief, perplexity and pressure are terrifyingly real, and he does not hesitate to say that it is so. It can be said of him as of Another, although in a different way, “Yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.”
However, it is these inner struggles that cause many people to turn away from Jeremiah. They want a hero who never doubts himself, has no inner conflicts, is always confident, and is constantly successful. But even our Lord could not measure up to these requirements, for He found it necessary to spend entire nights in prayer, was tortured with a thousand pangs in Gethsemane, and was deemed a bungling failure as far as earthly success is concerned. But if “courage is fear that has said its prayers,” Jeremiah was one of the most courageous men that ever lived. He deserves our highest admiration. Certainly he also was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” He is an interesting reflection of the Suffering Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 53), whose ministry and mission are so perfectly portrayed in the life of our Lord. It is no wonder that when men became acquainted with Jesus they thought of Jeremiah (Matt. 16:14).
B. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JEREMIAH
Concerning Jeremiah's home and family background we know but little. The preface of the book (1:1-3) tells us that he was bom at Anathoth and that his father's name was Hilkiah. Anathoth is a village that lies about three miles northeast of Jerusalem (modem Anata), just inside the territory of Benjamin. It seems to have been a Levitical city from the time of Joshua (Josh. 21:18) and appears to have been the home of Abiathar, the high priest in the time of David (see comments on 1:1-3; also I Kings 2:26). Since the preface plainly states that Jeremiah was “of the priests of Anathoth,” we may safely assume that he was of the family of Abiathar. We cannot be certain as to the exact date of Jeremiah's birth, but he must have been born somewhere between 650 and 645 B.C., in the later years of the reign of Manasseh (697-42 B.C.). He received his call in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah ( cir. 626), and since that king came to the throne when he was eight years of age, Josiah and Jeremiah must have been near the same age.
Great events were taking place on the international scene during the lifetime of Jeremiah. The empire of Assyria reached its zenith and declined in his earlier years. Ashurbanipal, the last great king of Assyria, died in 626 B.C. (the year Jeremiah received his call) and after that the empire rapidly deteriorated. Weakened by wars and internal trouble, Assyria was unable to withstand the fierce raids of the Cimmerians and Scythians who attacked her northern and western borders, nor the sledgehammer blows of the Chaldeans and Medes on her southern and eastern flank. When a combined army of Medes and Chaldeans led by Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, laid siege to the capital city, Nineveh, in 612 B.C., that proud city fell with terrible slaughter.4
When Nineveh fell, some of the Assyrian leaders fled westward to Haran and sought to reorganize the remnants of the Assyrian army. At the same time these leaders sought an alliance with Pharaoh-Necho of Egypt. Necho responded to their call for help and marched his army up the coast of Palestine (defeating Josiah, king of Judah, at Megiddo on the way) to join the Assyrians.
In the meantime, Nabopolassar's Chaldean kingdom had continued to grow in strength in the east. He began to move slowly westward, taking all that had once been under the control of Assyria. It was inevitable that the Assyro-Egyptian alliance would meet the Chaldean armies to decide who would be master of Asia. By this time Nebuchadnezzar, the young crown prince of Babylon, had replaced his ailing father at the head of the Chaldean forces. After months of maneuvering on the upper Euphrates, one of the most decisive battles of the ancient world was fought at Carchemish (606-605). The Assyro-Egyptian alliance was shattered beyond hope of recovery. Pharaoh-Necho staggered back to Egypt in shameful defeat, and Assyria fell to rise no more. Babylon was now master of the Near East. The repercussions of Carchemish were felt throughout the Fertile Crescent, and especially in the small kingdom of Judah, where Jeremiah was prophesying.
In Judah, Josiah came to the throne in 639 B.C. His reign had followed the long and wicked rule (fifty-five years) of Manasseh, his grandfather, and the two years of his father, Amon. During the almost sixty years that had preceded Josiah, idolatry and pagan worship had flourished in Judah. Manasseh had brought in many of the religious practices of Assyria and the neighboring nations. Fertility cults with their practice of sacred prostitution were tolerated in the Temple precincts (II Kings 23:4-7; Zeph. 1:4-6); offerings to astral deities were made on the streets of Jerusalem (7:17-18). Even human sacrifice was practiced in the capital of Judah (7:31-32). Religious decay was evident everywhere in Judah, and paganism became so mixed with the worship of the Lord that the common people did not know the difference. The lines of true religion had become blurred, the Temple had fallen into disrepair, and the masses of Judah had become polytheiste—worshipping Yahweh along with the gods of their overlords, the kings of Assyria. This is the situation that faced Josiah when he came to the throne of Judah. It was into this kind of environment that Jeremiah was thrust when he was called to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign ( cir. 626 B.C.).
Although nominally under the rule of Assyria, Josiah seems to have had a larger measure of freedom from Assyrian control than the kings that preceded him. This was possibly due to the fact that the empire was breaking under the strain of debilitating wars, overextended supply lines, and a series of internal troubles. At any rate, Josiah felt free to remove some of the shrines that Manasseh had erected to the Assyrian gods,5 and to emphasize the worship of the Lord (II Chron. 34:3-7). And because the Temple had fallen into great disrepair, he ordered that it be renovated and refurbished. It was thus in connection with the renovation of the Temple that the greatest event of Josiah's career took place. In the eighteenth year of his reign, while workmen were repairing the house of the Lord, a copy of the book of the law was discovered (II Kings 22:3-8). The book was read in the ears of the king. When Josiah heard of the curses that were pronounced on the nation that failed to keep this law, he rent his clothes in great distress, for he saw how miserably Judah had failed at this point. The king sought to remedy matters immediately. The Josianic reform was the result (see BBC, Vol. 2, on II Kings 22).
Jeremiah had been prophesying for five years when the reform was instituted. Just what part Jeremiah played in this effort at revival, if any, we are not told. This seems rather strange, for Jeremiah was certainly in favor of correcting the social injustices, the corrupt business dealings, and the idolatrous practices that the reform espoused. Yet there is no indication that he played any prominent part in the reform. Paterson suggests that it may have been due to his youth, or that he had not as yet been recognized as a prophet.6 Scholarly opinion is quite divided upon the matter. Whatever the answer, we may be sure that Jeremiah was not indifferent to the reform. If he did at first become involved, and 11:1-8; 12:6 seem to indicate that he might have, he soon saw its inadequacies. His spiritual insight pierced to the heart of Judah's trouble. He saw that outward religious conformity was not equivalent to regeneration of spirit. Superficial repentance could only heal the hurt of the nation lightly. Therefore deep and drastic heart surgery7 was necessary to national spiritual health (see comments on 4:3-4). It is here that he laid his emphasis.
Apparently the nation outwardly conformed to the commands of Josiah, and for a time pagan worship was halted in Judah. Yet all the evidence points toward the fact that the people, the priests, and the professional prophets loved the corrupt ways to which they had become accustomed in the time of Manasseh and Amon, and were just waiting for a change of administration to go back to their old ways. That opportunity was given when the good king Josiah was killed in the battle of Megiddo by Pharaoh-Necho of Egypt.
The people of Judah quickly selected Jehoahaz, a son of Josiah, to succeed his father. He had ruled only three months in Jerusalem when Pharaoh-Necho demanded that he appear before him in Syria. Jehoahaz dared not refuse. In the interview Necho apparently became strongly displeased with the young king, for he deposed him and sent him in chains to Egypt (II Kings 23:33). In his place he installed Jehoiakim (Eliakim), another son of Josiah, and made him swear allegiance to Egypt. Jehoiakim ruled eleven years in Jerusalem. He seems to have conceived himself to be another Solomon, and he made grandiose plans to enlarge his kingdom, erect great buildings, and enhance his own prestige. He was pagan in his sympathies, and despised Jeremiah and all that he stood for.
It was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim that the battle of Carchemish was fought. This marked a turning point in the affairs of the Near East. Nebuchadnezzar now acquired for Babylon all the lands previously ruled by Assyria and Egypt (II Kings 24:7). Although it is not absolutely clear, there are indications that, after the battle of Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar pursued Necho to the “gates of Egypt.” While in the vicinity he seems to have demanded tribute and hostages of Jehoiakim as proof of that king's submission to Babylon.8
Shortly after the battle of Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar was compelled to return to his own land because of the death of his father, Nabopolassar, whom he succeeded upon the throne of Babylon. For a number of years he was unable to return to the west. During this period Jehoiakim broke his oath and sought to throw off the Babylonian yoke. After getting his rule established in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar in 599-598 gave attention to his possessions in the west. He sought to punish Jehoiakim for his rebellious spirit by marching against Jerusalem. Again the facts are obscure. We do not know if Jehoiakim died within the city during the siege or died in the camp of the Babylonians. II Chron. 36:6 speaks of him being put in fetters of iron for transportation to Babylon, but there is no indication that he ever reached there. II Kings 24:6 speaks as though he died in Jerusalem. It is the opinion of this writer that he died in the camp of the Babylonians from ill treatment and exposure, and they dishonored his body and threw it on a rubbish heap outside Jerusalem (see footnote on 22:18-19).
During the siege Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, succeeded his father on the throne of Judah, but he ruled only three months. He surrendered the city of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, and was carried captive to Babylon with his mother, Nehushta, his wives, many of his nobles, and ten thousand of his people (II Kings 24:6-16; II Chron. 36:9-10; Jer. 22:24-30; 37:1). He languished there many years (Jer. 52:31-34; II Kings 25:27-30).
Nebuchadnezzar put Mattaniah, another son of Josiah, on the throne of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah (II Kings 24:17-20; II Chron. 36:10-13; Jer. 37:1). Zedekiah reigned eleven years. He was of a different disposition from Jehoiakim, and treated Jeremiah with more consideration. He kept his oath of allegiance to Babylon for almost ten years. He finally succumbed to the pro-Egyptian party among his nobles and refused to send tribute to Babylon. This brought the return of the Babylonian armies to Judah. This time the cities of Judah were systematically reduced and Jerusalem was long under siege. The celebrated Lachish Letters throw a great deal of light on the events of this period. These Letters (twenty-one in number), recovered during the excavation of the site of ancient Lachish during the years 1932-38, reflect the conditions that prevailed during the final days of the kingdom of Judah.9
After an eighteen-month siege, the city of Jerusalem fell in 587-586 B.C. Zedekiah and many of his people were carried to Babylon. The king's palace and the Temple were totally demolished. Judah became a province of the Babylonian Empire, and Gedaliah, a member of a highly respected Jewish family, was appointed governor over the devastated land. However Gedaliah was cruelly murdered a short time after taking office, and the remnant of the people fled to Egypt for fear of Babylonian reprisals. Little is known of Judah's history in the period immediately following the death of Gedaliah.
Jeremiah was living in Jerusalem during all the foregoing events. He sought to help the various kings that came to the throne of Judah during these turbulent years. They constantly refused his advice and counsel. He was present at the fall of Jerusalem, and chose to remain in Judah with Gedaliah, the governor, after the fall of the city. When Gedaliah was murdered, the remnant of Judah compelled Jeremiah and Baruch, his secretary and disciple, to go with them to Egypt. Tradition tells us that he was stoned to death in Egypt by these same Jews because he preached against their idolatrous practices. He was faithful to his call to the very end.
C. THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOOK
One does not read far into the Book of Jeremiah without discovering that much of the material is not in chronological order. To be sure, chapters 1—6 seem to be in sequence, but from chapter 7 on the material is such that no systematic pattern can be discerned. One finds materials that are dated from widely different periods in Jeremiah's life lying side by side (36 and 37). Other materials are not dated at all, and the reader is hard put to know where they fit in chronologically. Thus to get any sort of orderly picture of Jeremiah's life, one has to jump from one passage to another. At best the situation is confusing. Since the book is sometimes chronological (37—44) and sometimes topical (46—51) but without any discernible underlying motif, one wonders what principle, if any, governed its present organization. Many conjectures have been made, but to this day scholars are not in agreement as to how the book reached its present form.
Kuist suggests that part of the explanation may lie in the convulsive times in which the book was written.10 Certainly when one looks at the turmoil that prevailed throughout Jeremiah's public ministry, ending as it did in “the siege and fall of Jerusalem, the deportation of the people to Babylon, and the flight of the remnant to Egypt, it is a marvel that any records written within this period survived at all.”11 The times were so chaotic and the dangers suffered by Jeremiah and Baruch after the fall of Jerusalem were so great (41—44) that there was no time to organize and refine the written documents. Although later editors may have attempted to rearrange certain sections, and delete some repetitions, the book as it stands in the Hebrew Bible is essentially the work of Jeremiah and his secretary, Baruch. It is a miracle of God's providence that we even have a Book of Jeremiah.
Chapter 36 reveals how the book came to be written in the first place. Right from the start it seems to have had a turbulent history. The first edition was destroyed by Jehoiakim (36:23), but an expanded second edition appeared a short time later (36:32). This took place in the fourth and fifth years of Jehoiakim's reign (605-604) and would mark the middle point of Jeremiah's career (see 25:3). He prophesied for more than forty years. It is not hard to see that there must have been a third edition, for a large portion of the book must have been added to the second edition subsequent to the events that took place in chapter 36. The events recorded in chapters 21, 23—24, 27—29, 30—34, 37—44 show that they happened later than the fifth year of Jehoiakim.
That the book has passed through very hectic days is further seen when the Septuagint (Greek) edition is placed alongside the Masoretic (Hebrew) text. The Greek text is one-eighth shorter than the Hebrew, and the arrangement is different, especially the oracles against foreign nations. “These oracles are found in the Hebrew text (and so in our English Bible) in chapters 46—51. In the Greek text they are introduced at 25:13.”12 Why these differences between the Hebrew and Greek texts exist has never been conclusively explained. Could it be that there were two main editions of Jeremiah in Hebrew, and the translation into the Greek was made from the shorter one? Whatever the answer, the leaders of the Jewish community who formulated the Hebrew canon apparently considered the longer one to be more representative of Jeremiah.