I. Name

The Hebrew name, Yeremyahu, or more briefly Yermeyah, has been variously explained. Jerome, "Whom Jehovah exalts"; Gesenius, "Whom Jehovah appoints"; Bleek, "Whom Jehovah hurls or casts." He was born in Anathoth, 11, in the tribe of Benjamin, two and one-half miles northeast of Jerusalem. He belonged to a priestly family, his father's name being Hilkiah. This was not the High Priest of that name, whose home would have been in Jerusalem, but probably a descendant of Abiathar, whom Solomon banished to Anathoth, 1 Kings 2:26. Jeremiah frequently visited his native place, ii:i8ff.; 37:1 iff., although his severe condemnation of the sins of his people caused them to treat him with contempt, 29:27, and even to seek his life, 11:21. By divine command he remained unmarried, 16:2.

While yet a youth he was called to be a prophet, 1:6; and the sad character of his mission was revealed to him, 1:10. He began his official career in the thirteenth year of King Josiah, 626 B. C, and continued it until the captivity in 586 B. C. When Nebuzaradan first arranged to take the people to Babylon, Jeremiah was given the choice of going to Babylon, with the promise of promotion in the royal palace, 40:4; or remaining with the remnant in Mizpah, 40:6; choosing the latter. Shortly after, apparently against his will, 43:5, he went into Egypt and settled in Tahpanhes, 43:9, where he continued his stern rebuke of their sin, and according to tradition was stoned to death for his fidelity. According to another tradition he died in Babylon. In 2 Mac. 2:iff. there is a curious account telling how Jeremiah, when the temple was burned, took the ark and other holy things and hid them in a cave on Mt. Horeb, there to remain until Messiah should appear. Another idea was that Jeremiah himself would one day reappear. Matt. 16:14.

II. The Conditions under Which He Wrote

The announcement made to him when he received his call, 1:10, is the key to his ministry. He appeared at a time when the nation was absorbed in idolatry and sensuality, and his life-work was to rebuke it. Because of this he was reproached as disloyal, 26:8; and treated with contempt, 38:4-6; and great harshness, 37:21. The men of his native town tried to kill him, 11:21; the king hated and imprisoned him, and was prevented from killing him only by fear of the consequences upon himself. His life was a perpetual conflict. He bewails the day of his birth, 20:14; he sheds bitter tears over the persistent sins of the people, 9:1; he suffers the most humiliating punishment, 20:2; languishes in filthy prisons, 38:6; but never once withholds the divine word, and dies with so little affection that no one has recorded either the time or the manner of his death.

III. Peculiarities of His Book

The Book of Jeremiah is apparently written in a very disconnected way. It is made up of addresses, some of them very brief, which are neither topically nor chronologically arranged. Possibly the conditions under which he wrote may explain this, for the state was fast rushing down to its doom and Jeremiah himself lived in a state of constant unrest.

In 36:1-4 we are told how the book came to be written. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, twenty years after he began to prophesy, Jehovah tells him to write it. Later, when Jehoiakim threw his prophetic roll into the fire, 36:23, he greatly enlarged it. In 30:2 a record is made of another command to write, but how much of our present book is included in it we have no means of knowing.

That the present book is a compend of Jeremiah's teaching, rather than a full report, may be assumed, since so long and active a ministry would result in a larger amount of material than is here represented.

A very perplexing feature of the book is the great difference between the Hebrew text as we have it in our Hebrew Bible and the Greek text known as the Septuagint, made about 250 B. C. Two points may be specially noted:

(1) The Greek text is much shorter than the Hebrew, the difference being about 2,700 words, one-eighth of the entire amount. Sometimes only a word is omitted, at other times an entire paragraph. (10:6-8; 33:14-26.)

(2) There is also a great difference in the order in which the events are recorded. A series of utterances against foreign nations begins in the Hebrew with Ch. 46, and continues to the end of Ch. 51. In the Septuagint this is inserted after Ch. 25:13, and the order in which they are mentioned is different.

These variations have been explained as due to the carelessness of the scribes, or to the existence of two different copies of the Hebrew text, prepared perhaps by the same person, but designed for different purposes. Neither explanation is satisfactory. Most critics agree that the Hebrew is the form in which Jeremiah left it.

IV. Style

It is difficult to form an opinion as to the true style of Jeremiah, from the fact that his book is largely a condensed statement made long after the original address was delivered, 36:2; and his purpose was to preserve the contents of his thought rather than the full form in which it was originally expressed. Compared with the earlier prophets, Jeremiah lacks the condensed energy which marks their writings. He has many repetitions, and there is little of the rhythmical flow seen in Isaiah. This may be accounted for, in part, by the fact that his utterances are largely limited to one theme, and that of a depressing character.

But he is not lacking in force and often rises to a lofty poetical power, 8:20. The expression of his sadness over the perversity of the people is most tender and pathetic, 2:13; 9:1. His denunciation of the persistent sinner is most energetic and at times almost fierce in its energy, 15:1ff; 5:15-19. At times there is an elegiac beauty which is rarely equalled, 18:14ff, 22:6ff, 14:7-9; while his symbolic teachings are pointed and effective, as the linen girdle, 13:1; breaking the earthen pitcher, 19:1; the good and bad figs, 24:1ff; the wooden and iron yoke, 27:2ff.

V. Doctrinal Teachings

Owing partly to the peculiar mission of Jeremiah and partly to his own personality, he has given unusually full expression to the cardinal doctrines which underlie religion. This may be seen in his utterances:

I. About God.

He maintains the unique character of Jehovah as contrasted with idols, 16:19-21. He alone rules among the nations, 10:1-16; 25:15-31. He knows the hearts of men, 17:10. There is no hiding from Him, 23:23, 24. He loves His people, 2:1-3. He hears the cry of the needy, 4:1, 2. He will punish wrong-doers, 11:8. He will save the penitent, 3:11-15; 24:4-7. He is a covenant-keeping God, 33:20, 21. Especially does he exalt the love of God for His people. Nothing can exceed the tenderness of passages like Chs. 2 and 33, in which Jehovah tells of the delight He has in His people and of the great things He is ready to do for them. If He punishes them it is that by their return to Him He may renew and enlarge His mercies, Ch. 31. His love is an everlasting love, 31:3. He is the Father of His people, 31:9. His heart yearns over them, 31:20. Nowhere in the Old Testament is the doctrine of the divine love made more conspicuous than in Jeremiah.

2. About sin.

The wretched condition of the people is not occasioned by anything in God, 2:5, but grows out of the people's disregard for God, 1:16; 2:13. The seat of

sin is in the heart, 17:9. Sin brings down the judgments of God, 16:18. Man alone cannot overcome it, 13:23; but God is willing to forgive it, 31:34; 36:3.

3. About salvation.

Although Jeremiah sees the people defiant in their sin and doomed to destruction, he sees also a day of better knowledge of God, 24:7; when God will write His law on their hearts, 31:31-34; and a good shepherd will come to lead His people back to God, 23:4; and they shall be His people forever, 32:36-42.

A formal analysis is exceedingly difficult, owing to the lack of either topical or chronological arrangement. The earlier part is a condensed abstract of the work of years, with few indications of the time or circumstances under which it was written; in the latter part the time of the different utterances is carefully stated, but the grouping of the facts is based largely on the contents. We submit the following as a general outline, but subject to many modifications,

VI. Contents

1. A condensed abstract of Jeremiah's earlier work, Chs. 1-21. This section opens with the account of Jeremiah's call, 1:1, and covers his work until the fourth year of Jehoiakim. The general subjects are rebukes for sin, warning to those who do not repent, and promises of forgiveness and mercy to those who are faithful.

2. Short prophecies against the kings of Israel and the false prophets in whom they were confiding, Chs. 22-28. The growing disregard for God ends in the announcement of the great captivity which will continue for seventy years, 25:12. This is followed, in Chs. 26-28, by more detailed accounts of the coming disaster, the shock of which will be felt by all nations, 25:15, and of the manner in which Jeremiah's message is received by the people.

3. Advice to the captives in Babylon, and the promise of restoration, Chs. 29-33. At the opening of Ch. 29 we find the people in Babylon, according to the prophet's declaration, but restless because false prophets tell of a speedy end of the captivity. Jeremiah urges them to be quiet and build houses and seek the peace [of the city where they dwell, 29:4-7, and patiently wait for the completion of the seventy years when God will open the way for their return and Jerusalem will be rebuilt, 30:18. In that day a new and better covenant, written on the heart, will ensure faithfulness on the part of the people and great spiritual blessing from God, 31:31-34. In this section the sublimest heights of Messianic prophecy are reached, 33:14-26.

4. Details of Jeremiah's efforts during the siege of Jersualem and after it had fallen, Chs. 34-45. This narrative is interrupted by Chs. 35 and 36, which refer back to the time of Jehoiakim. Chs. 34, 37, 38 describe the personal work of Jeremiah before the city fell, and Chs. 39 to 45 relate Jeremiah's history after the fall of the city and the flight of the remnant into Egypt.

5. Prophecies concerning foreign nations, Chs. 46-51. We note here a great similarity to Chs. 13 to 23 of Isaiah. Egypt, the Philistines, Moab, the Ammonites, and Babylon are severely arraigned for their sins and their overthrow predicted.

6. Historical appendix. Ch. 52 tells of the time when Jerusalem was destroyed and the people carried away to Babylon. It is almost a verbal reproduction of the account found in 2 Kings 24 and 25.

LITERATURE

Commentaries: Lange, Keil, and Ball in Expositor's Bible. Workman, The Text of Jeremiah; Cheyne, Jeremiah, His Life and Times; Stanley, Lectures on the Jewish Church, II., p. 57off; article "Jeremiah" in Bible Dictionaries of Smith and Hastings.