Jeremiah

Jeremiah, book of the Bible

Jeremiah a book of the Bible, comprising a collection of prophetic oracles attributed to Jeremiah, a prophet who preached (c.628–586 B.C.) in Jerusalem under King Josiah and his successors. His message indicts his contemporaries for social injustice and religious apostasy. Jeremiah realistically opposed resistance to Babylon, and his insistence on speaking unpalatable truths brought him to prison and the stocks. When Jerusalem fell to Babylon (586 B.C.), Jeremiah was allowed to stay with the Jews who remained, who subsequently took him to Egypt. The oracles of the book were preserved by the prophet's secretary, Baruch. They are not in strict chronological order, and there are important differences in the Hebrew and Greek texts. In the Septuagint, chapter 25 is followed by chapters 46–51 of the Hebrew order with some rearrangement and omission of individual oracles. The New Revised Standard Version text follows the ordering of the material found in the Hebrew text. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain Hebrew fragments of Jeremiah that bear witness to both traditions. One analysis of the book would be as follows: introduction; oracles against Judah and Jerusalem denouncing social injustice, immorality, and breaking covenant with God with warnings of imminent destruction of the city—Jehoiakim's reign (609–598) is probably the setting for most of these oracles; oracles dating from the reign of Zedekiah; Babylon as God's agent in the coming destruction; Baruch's memoirs, including Jeremiah's letter to the first group of exiles; the prophecy of a new covenant replacing the one now irreparably broken; oracles against the nations; historical appendix. A series of laments, sometimes known as the confessions of Jeremiah, are interspersed throughout the book. These reveal something of the personal cost to the prophet of his ministry of confrontation. See also Lamentations.

Bibliography

See studies by R. P. Carroll (1986) and R. E. Clements (1988); see also bibliography under Old Testament.

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Jeremiah, persons in the Bible

Jeremiah (jĕrĭmī`ə), in the Bible.

1 Prophet of the book of Jeremiah.

2 Father-in-law of Josiah.

3 Rechabite contemporary with Jeremiah the prophet.

4,

5,

6 Three who joined David at Ziklag.

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Jeremiah

Jeremiah, detail from a fresco by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, Rome, c. 1512

(credit: Alinari—Art Resource/EB Inc.)

(born probably after 650, Anathoth, Judah—died c. 570 BC, Egypt) Hebrew prophet and reformer, author of the book of Jeremiah. Born into a priestly family in a village near Jerusalem, he began to preach c. 627 BC, charging his fellow citizens with injustice and false worship and calling on them to reform. He accurately predicted the destruction of Judah by Babylonia. After Jerusalem fell in 586 and much of its population was carried into exile, he remained behind under the protection of its new governor. When the governor was assassinated, Jeremiah was taken to Egypt by Jews who feared reprisals, and he remained there until he died. His most significant prophecy looked to a time when God would make a new covenant with Israel.

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Jeremiah

the Lord’s herald. [O.T.: Jeremiah]

See : Prophecy