201874825 jeremiah-1-commentary

JEREMIAH 1 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
I quote many authors both old and new, and if any I quote do not want their wisdom
shared in this way they can let me know and I will remove it. My e-mail is
gdpease1@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
1. We have more personal knowledge about Jeremiah than any of the other Old Testament
prophets. His prophetic ministry began in 626 b.c. and ended sometime after 586. We know
that Jewisah tradition says he was stoned to death while living in Egypt
2. Bob Deffinbaugh, "No prophet had a tougher assignment than Jeremiah, for it fell to
him to proclaim and oversee the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem; and although the
opposition against him and his message was unrelenting, he stayed on message for over 40
years. His prophetic vision saw the coming of terrors and horrors beyond imagining. When
vision became reality, he witnessed those terrors and horrors. Throughout it all, he was the
soldier who stood his post in disciplined obedience, pressing on even when he wanted to
quit. He went the distance with no compensation, but having done the will of God.”
3. RAY STEDMAN, " I know that Jeremiah is not the greatest of the prophets. Isaiah, I
think, would be awarded that title. Nor is this the most difficult of the prophets to
understand. Ezekiel would probably qualify there. But surely Jeremiah is the most heroic
of all the prophets. For this young man began his ministry in the days of Josiah the king of
Judah, and for forty-two years he preached in Judah, trying to awaken the nation to what
was about to happen to it, to get them to turn around, to save the nation from the judgment
of God. And in all those forty-two years, never once did he see any sign of encouragement.
Never did he alter for one moment the headlong course of this nation toward its own
destruction. Never did he see any sign that what he was saying had any impact at all upon
these people. And yet he was faithful to his task. Through much personal sorrow and
struggle and heartache and difficulty and danger, he performed what God had sent him to
do. And in so doing, he left a tremendous record of the greatness of God, of the power of
God over nations and his control of history, and of the hope which arises out of darkness."
4. PULPIT COMMENTARY, "The name of Jeremiah at once suggests the ideas of trouble
and lamenta-
tion ; and not without too much historical ground. Jeremiah was, in fact,

not only " the evening star of the declining day of prophecy," but the
herald of the dissolution of the Jewish commonwealth. The outward show
of things, however, seemed to promise a calm and peaceful ministry to the
youthful prophet. The last great political misfortune mentioned (in
2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, not in Kings) before his time is the carrying captive
of King Manasseh to Babylon, and this is also the last occasion on which
a king of Assyria is recorded to have interfered in the affairs of Judah.
Manasseh, however, we are told, was restored to his kingdom, and, apostate
and persecutor as he was, found mercy from the Lord God of his fatheis.
Before he closed his eyes for ever a great and terrible event occurred —
the sister kingdom of the ten tribes was finally destroyed, and one great
burden of prophecy found its fulfilment. Judah was spared a little
longer. Manasseh acquiesced in his dependent position, and continued to
pay tribute to the " great King " of Nineveh. In B.C. 642 Manasseh died,
and, after a brief interval of two years (it is the reign of Amon, a prince
with an ill-omened Egyptian name), Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh,
ascended the throne. This king was a man of a more spiritual religion than
any of his predecessors except Hezekiah, of which he gave a solid proof by
putting down the shrines and chapels in which the people delighted to
worship the true God, Jehovah, and other supposed gods under idolatrous
forms. This extremelj' popular form of religion could never be entirely
eradicated ; competent travellers agree that traces of it are still visible in
the religious usages of the professedly Mohammedan peasantry of Palestine.
" Not only have the fellahs preserved (Eobinson had already a presentiment
of this), by the erection of their Mussulman huhhes, and through their fetish-

worship of certain great isolated trees, the situation and the memory of those
sanctuaries which Deuteronomy gives up to the execration of the Israelites
entering the promised land, and which it points out to them crowning the
lofty' summits, surmounting the hills, and sheltering themselves under the
green trees; but they pay tliem almost the sarno worship as the ancient
devotees of the Elohim, those Canaanitish kuffars of whom they are the
descendants. These mahoms — so Deuteronomy calls them — which Manasseh
AA-ent on constructing, and against which the prophets in vain exhaust
their grandiose invectives, are word for word, thing for thing, the Arab
vidlcams of our modern goyim, covered by those little cupolas which dot with
fcuch picturesque white spots the mountainous horizons of the arid Judaaa."
Such is the language of an accomplished explorer, M. Clermont-Gannman,^
and it helps us to understand the difficulties with which Hezekiah and
Josiah had to contend. The former king had the support of Isaiah, and the
latter had at his right hand the equally devott'd prophet, Jeremiah, the
year of whose call was apparently the one immediately following the com-
mencement of the reformntion (see ch. i. 2 ; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3). Jeremiah,
hiiwever, had a more difficult task than Isaiah. The latter prophet must
have had on his side nearly all the zealous worshippers of Jehovah. The
state was more than once in great danger, and it was the burden of
Isaiah's prophecies that, by simply trusting in Jehovah and obeying his
commandments, the state would infallibly be delivered. But in Jeremiah's
time there seems to have been a great revival of purely external religion.
Men went to the temple and performed all the ceremonial laws which
concerned them, but neglected those practical duties which make up

so large a portion of true religion. Tliere was a party of this kind
in Isaiah's time, but it was not so powerful, because the misfortunes of
the country seemed to show clearly tliat Jehovah was displeased with
the state of the national religion. In Jeremiah's time, on the other
hand, the continued peace and prosperity which at fiist pievailed was
equally regarded as a proof that God looked favourably upon his people,
in accordance with those repeated promises in the Book of Deuteronomy,
that, if the people obeyed the Law of Jehovah, Jehovah would bless their
basket and their store, and would keep them in peace and safety. And
here it must be remarked (apart from the higher criticism, so much is as
clear as the day) that the Book of Deuteronomy was a favourite reading-book
of religious people at this time. Jeremiah himself (surely a representative
of the most religious class) is full of allusions to it ; its characteiistic phrases
recur continually in his pages. The discovery of the book in the temple "
(2 Kings xxii.) was, we may venture to surmise, providentially permitted
with a view to the religious needs of those times. No one can deny that
Deuteronomy was peculiarly adapted to the age of Josiah and Jeremiah,
partly because of the stress which it lays on the importance of religious
cf-ntralization as opposed to the liberty of worshipping at local shrines, and
partly because of its emphasis on the simple moral duties which the men
of that age were in serious danger of forgetting. No wonder, then, that
' Th« question, on which Old Testament critics are so much divided, as to the Mosaic or
post-Mosaic o: igin of the Book of Deuteronomy receives a special treatment elsewhere
Jeremiah himself should take up the study of the book with special earnest-
ness, and that its phraseology should impress itself on his own style of

writing. There is yet another circumstance which may help us to under-
stand our prophet's strong interest in the Book of Deuteronomy. It is that
his father was not improbably the high priest who found the Book of the Law
in the temple. We know, at any rate, that Jeremiah was a member of a
priestly family, and that his father was named Hilkiah (ch. i. 1); and that
he had high connections is probable from the respect shown to him by suc-
cessive rulers of Judah — by Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, no less than by Ahikam
and Gedaliah, the viceroys of the King of Babylon. We may safely assume,
then, that both Jeremiah and a large section of the Jewish people were
deeply interested in the Book of Deuteronomy, and, though there was no
Bible at that time in our sense of the word, that this impressive book to
some extent supplied its place. There was, however, as has been indicated
above, a danger connected with reading the Book of Deuteronomy, the
exhortations of which so repeatedly connect the national prosperity with
obedience to the commandments of God. Now, these commandments are
obviously of two kinds — moral and ceremonial ; not that any hard and fast
line can be drawn between them, but, roughly speaking, the contents of some
of the laws are more distinctly moral, and those of others more distinctly
ceremonial. Some of the Jews had little or no conception of the moral nr
spiritual side of religion, and thought it enough to perform with the
strictest punctuality the ceremonial part of God's Law. Having done
this, they cried, " Peace, peace ; " and applied the delightful promises of
Deuteronomy to themselves. And it seemed as if Providence justified them,
for, as was noticed just now, the kingdom of Judah was freer from external
danger than it had been for a long time. Another consideration may be

added. The prophet Nahum, as is well known, predicted the complete
destruction of the tyrannical power of Assyria. In B.C. 626, i.e. in the
fourteenth year of Josiah, a great step was taken towards the fulfilment of
that prediction; a powerful rival kingdom to Assyria (though in nominal
subordination to it) was established at Babylon, and the Medes, now a
powerful and united kingdom, advanced upon Assyria from the east. This
was just at the time when Josiah was beginning his reformation, and
Jeremiah beginning to prophesy. Could there be a more manifest token
(so many professedly religious people might urge) of the favour of God
to his long humiliated people ? Jeremiah, however, thought otherwise.
Cassandra-like, he began his dirge when all were lulled in a deep sense of
security. The spiritual state of his country seemed to him utterly rotten.
He agreed, it is true, with those would-be reUgious persons that the local
shrines and chapels ought to be abolished, and he could not object to their
stiiot observance of the appointed rites and ceremonies ; but he did from the
bottom of his heart abhor and detest the supposition that a mere ceremonial
worship could be pleasing to God (see those remarkable, though at the same
time obscure, passages, oh. vii. 8 — 15, 21 — 23 ; xi. 15),
Jeremiah was the prophet of Jerusalem's destruction by the Babylonian Nebuchad-
nezzar; our Lord of the like destruction by the Roman Titus. Both beheld the
glories of the temple, and both told of the swiftly coming days when there should " not
be left one stone upon another, which should not be thrown down." The footsteps of
him who, beyond all others, was " despised and rejected of men," Jeremiah, in so far
as it was possible to him, anticipated. The bitter tears shed by our Saviour over
impenitent Jerusalem are shadowed forth in the prophet's prolonged and profound

lament over his own idolatrous and disobedient countrymen. His well-known words,
" Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by ? " uttered concerning the sorrows of Jeru-' ;
salem and her people, have come to be so universally appropriated to our Lord, that the '
prophet's own deep distress which they tell of, and the occasion of that distress, are
alike almost if not entirely forgotten. "His sufferings come nearest of those of the
whole army of martyrs to those of the Teacher against whom princes, and priests, and
elders, and people were gathered together." To him, as to the great apostle, was it'
given to know " the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, and to be made conformable
unto his death." And we may venture to prolong the parallel, and to apply to Jere-
miah the august words which, in their supreme meaning, can belong to but One alone.
" Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is atove
every name." In that high recompense Jeremiah, so far as any servant of God may,
shares. For the honour in which his name came to be held was very great. As time
rolled on he was regarded as the chief representative of the whole prophetic order. By
some he was placed at the head of all the prophets. At the time of the Christian
era his return was daily expected. He was emphatically thought to be " the Prophet
— ' the Prophet like unto Moses,' who should close the whole dispensation." No
wonder, then, that one devout student after another has been struck by the closeness of
the resemblance, here briefly pointed out, and has delighted to trace in the prophet's
history foreshadowings of the "Man of Sorrows," who, more than any other, was
acquainted with grief.
5. WILBUR WHITE
SEVEN REASONS WHY JEREMIAH
SHOULD BE STUDIED.
First. It is comparatively little known.

Second. The history of Jeremiah bears a closer
analogy to that of Jesus than that of any other
prophet of the Old Testament.
Third. The book gives more details about the
life, methods, and work of an Old Testament
prophet than any other.
Fourth. The book abounds in material for
character study.
Fifth. It is invaluable for its great moral
lessons.
Sixth. The period in which Jeremiah lived is
one of the most important and interesting in history.
Seventh. " So far as we have data for a judg-
ment, Jeremiah was the healthiest, strongest, brav-
est, grandest man of Old Testament history."
6. L. ELLIOTT BINNS, "The book of the prophet Jeremiah is the longest in the Bible ^
and
though the mere volume of matter contained in even an inspired

writing is no sure or final test of its importance — such a test, for
example, would make Ecclesiastes of higher value than the Epistles ol
St John — yet in view of the disappearance of many of the prophetic
utterances, it is evidence of the regard in which Jeremiah was held by
the men of the Jewish Church, that they were at pains to collect and
preserve so many narratives concerning his life, as well as writings
attributed to him. The importance of the book, however, does not
depend on its bulk, and had there come down to us only such fragments
as chh. ix., xv. 15 ff., xvii. 12 ff., and xx. 7 ff. it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that
Jeremiah was still the most valuable book in OT.
7. MCGHEE, "Jeremiah, the prophet of the broken heart, is the writer of this book. It is one of the most
remarkable books in the Bible. Every book in the Bible is remarkable, but this book is
remarkable in a very unusual way. Most of the prophets hide themselves and maintain a
character of anonymity. They do not project themselves on the pages of their prophecy.
But Jeremiah is a prophet whose prophecy is largely autobiographical. He gives to us
much of his own personal history. Let me run through this list of facts about him so that
you will know this man whom we will meet in this book.
1 . He was born a priest in Anathoth, just north of Jerusalem ( Jer. 1:1) .
2. He was chosen to be a prophet before he was born ( Jer. 1:5) .
3. He was called to the prophetic office while he was very young ( Jer. 1:6 ).
4. He was commissioned of God to be a prophet ( Jer. 1:9-10 ).

5. He began his ministry during the reign of King Josiah and was a mourner at his
funeral ( 2Chron. 35:25) .
6. He was forbidden to marry because of the terrible times in which he lived ( Jer.
16:1-4) .
7. He never made a convert. He was rejected by his people ( Jer. 11:18-21 ; Jer. 12:6 ;
Jer. 18:18) , hated, beaten, put in stocks ( Jer. 20:1-3) , imprisoned, and charged
with being a traitor ( Jer. 37:11-16 ).
8. His message broke his own heart ( Jer. 9:1) .
9. He wanted to resign, but God wouldn't let him ( Jer. 20:9 ).
10. He saw the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity. He was
permitted to remain in the land by the captain of the Babylonian forces. When the
remnant wanted to flee to Egypt, Jeremiah prophesied against it ( Jer. 42:15 — Jer.
43:3 ); he was forced to go with the remnant to Egypt ( Jer. 43:6-7 ); and he died
there. Tradition says that he was stoned by the remnant.
Jeremiah was a remarkable man. I call him God's crybaby, but not in a derogatory sense.
He was a man in tears most of the time. God chose this man who had a mother's heart, a
trembling voice, and tear-filled eyes to deliver a harsh message of judgment. The
message that he gave broke his own heart. Jeremiah was a great man of God. Candidly, I
don't think that you and I would have chosen this kind of man to give a harsh message.

Instead we would have selected some hard-boiled person to give a hard-boiled message,
would we not? God didn't choose that kind of man; He chose a man with a tender,
compassionate heart.
Lord Macaulay said this concerning Jeremiah: "It is difficult to conceive any situation
more painful than that of a great man, condemned to watch the lingering agony of an
exhausted country, to tend it during the alternate fits of stupefaction and raving which
precede its dissolution, and to see the symptoms of vitality disappear one by one, till
nothing is left but coldness, darkness, and corruption" (Studies in the Prophecy of
Jeremiah, W. G. Moorehead, p. 9). This was the position and the call of Jeremiah. He
stood by and saw his people go into captivity.
Dr. Moorehead has given us this very graphic picture of him: "It was Jeremiah's lot to
prophesy at a time when all things in Judah were rushing down to the final and mournful
catastrophe; when political excitement was at its height; when the worst passions swayed
the various parties, and the most fatal counsels prevailed. It was his to stand in the way
over which his nation was rushing headlong to destruction; to make an heroic effort to
arrest it, and to turn it back; and to fail, and be compelled to step to one side and see his
own people, whom he loved with the tenderness of a woman, plunge over the precipice
into the wide, weltering ruin" (pages 9, 10).
Another author has written, "He was not a man mighty as Elijah, eloquent as Isaiah, or
seraphic as Ezekiel, but one who was timid and shrinking, conscious of his helplessness,
yearning for a sympathy and love he was never to know — such was the chosen organ
through which the Word of the Lord came to that corrupt and degenerate age."
"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying,
Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John
the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets" ( Matt. 16:13-14) .

There was a difference of opinion, and none of them seemed to really know who He was.
Folk had some good reasons for thinking He was Elijah and also good reasons for
thinking He was John the Baptist. Now there were those who thought He was Jeremiah,
and they had a very good reason for believing it, because Jeremiah was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. The difference between him and the Lord Jesus was that the
Lord Jesus was bearing our sorrows and our grief, while Jeremiah was carrying his own
burden, and it was breaking his heart. He went to the Lord one time and said, "I can't
keep on. This thing is tearing me to pieces. I'm about to have a nervous breakdown. You
had better get somebody else." The Lord said, "All right, but I'll just hold your
resignation here on My desk because I think you'll be back." Jeremiah did come back,
and he said, "The Word of God was like fire in my bones; I had to give it out." He did
that even though it broke his heart. God wanted that kind of man, because he was the
right kind of man to give a harsh message. God wanted the children of Israel to know
that, although He was sending them into captivity and He was judging them, it was
breaking His heart. As Isaiah says, judgment is God's strange work (see Isa. 28:21 ).
Characterizing Jeremiah's message is the word backsliding, which occurs thirteen times.
It is a word that is used only four other times in the Old Testament, once in Proverbs and
three times in Hosea — Hosea's message is also that of the backsliding nation.
The name that predominates is Babylon, which occurs 164 times in the book, more than
in the rest of Scripture combined. Babylon became the enemy.
1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the
priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
1. Barnes, “The words of Jeremiah - The usual title of the prophetic books is “the Word
of the Lord,” but the two books of Amos and Jeremiah are called the words of those
prophets, probably because they contain not merely the words of those prophets, probably
because they contain not merely prophecies, but also the record of much which belongs to

the personal history of the writers. This title might therefore be translated the “life of
Jeremiah” or “acts of Jeremiah,” though some understand by it a collection of the
prophecies of Jeremiah. One derivation of Jeremiah’s name is “God exalteth.”
Hilkiah, may have been the high priest of that name.
That were - Or, who was, i. e., dwelt. The meaning is, that Jeremiah was a priest who
dwelt at Anathoth.
2. Clarke, “The words of Jeremiah - These three verses are the title of the Book; and
were probably added by Ezra when he collected and arranged the sacred books, and put
them in that order in which they are found in Hebrew Bibles in general. For particulars
relative to this prophet, the times of his prophesying, and the arrangement of his
discourses, see the introduction.
Eleventh year of Zedekiah - That is, the last year of his reign; for he was made prisoner
by the Chaldeans in the fourth month of that year, and the carrying away of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem was in the fifth month of the same year.
3. Gill, “The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah,.... This is the general title of the whole
book, and includes all his discourses, sermons, and prophecies; and designs not his own
words, but the words of the Lord, which were put into his mouth, and he delivered under
divine inspiration. The Septuagint version renders it, "the word of God": and the Arabic
version, "the word of the Lord": the Targum,
"the words of the prophecy of Jeremiah;''
who is described by his descent and parentage, "the son of Hilkiah". The Arabic version
calls him Selkiah. This was not Hilkiah the high priest, who in the days of Josiah found the
book of the law, 2Ki_22:8 as Kimchi's father and Abarbinel think, and so Clemens of
Alexandria (n); since he is not said to be a high priest, or of the high priests, but
of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin; though the Targum
paraphrases the words to the other sense,
"of the heads of the ward of priests, of the amarcalin, or governors which were in
Jerusalem, a man that took his inheritance in Anathoth, in the land of the tribe of
Benjamin;''
nor is Jeremiah mentioned among the posterity of Hilkiah the high priest in 1Ch_6:13,
besides, Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth, must be of the family of Ithamar; the last of which
family that was high priest was Abiathar, who had fields in Anathoth, 1Ki_2:26, and so
could be no other than a common priest; for Hilkiah the high priest was of the family of
Phinehas; for, from the times of that Abiathar to the Babylonish captivity, there was no

high priest but of that family. The Jews say that Jeremiah descended by his mother's side
from Rahab the harlot (o). Anathoth was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, as is here said,
and belonged to the priests, Jos_21:18, it lay north of Jerusalem about three miles from it,
according to Jerom (p) and others; but, according to Josephus (q), it was but twenty
furlongs from it, that is, two and a half miles.
4. Henry, “We have here as much as it was thought fit we should know of the genealogy
of this prophet and the chronology of this prophecy. 1. We are told what family the prophet
was of. He was the son of Hilkiah, not that Hilkiah, it is supposed, who was high priest in
Josiah's time (for then he would have been called so, and not, as here, one of the priests that
were in Anathoth), but another of the same name. Jeremiah signifies one raised up by the
Lord. It is said of Christ that he is a prophet whom the Lord our God raised up unto us,
Deu_18:15, Deu_18:18. He was of the priests, and, as a priest, was authorized and
appointed to teach the people; but to that authority and appointment God added the
extraordinary commission of a prophet. Ezekiel also was a priest. Thus God would support
the honour of the priesthood at a time when, by their sins and God's judgments upon them,
it was sadly eclipsed. He was of the priests in Anathoth, a city of priests, which lay about
three miles from Jerusalem. Abiathar had his country house there, 1Ki_2:26. 2. We have
the general date of his prophecies, the knowledge of which is requisite to the understanding
of them. (1.)
5. Jamison, “Anathoth — a town in Benjamin, twenty stadia, that is, two or three miles
north of Jerusalem; now Anata (compare Isa_10:30, and the context, Isa_10:28-32). One of
the four cities allotted to the Kohathites in Benjamin (Jos_21:18). Compare 1Ki_2:26,
1Ki_2:27; a stigma was cast thenceforth on the whole sacerdotal family resident there; this
may be alluded to in the words here, “the priests ... in Anathoth.” God chooses “the weak,
base, and despised things ... to confound the mighty.”
6. K&D, “Jer_1:1-3 contain the heading to the whole book of the prophecies of Jeremiah.
The heading runs thus: "Sayings of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests at Anathoth,
in the land of Benjamin, to whom befell the word of Jahveh in the days of Josiah the son of
Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign, and in the days of Jehoiakim the son
of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king
of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month." The period
mentioned in these verses includes the time of Jeremiah's principal labours, while no
reference is here made to the work he at a later time wrought amidst the ruins of Judah
and in Egypt; this being held to be of but subordinate importance for the theocracy.
Similarly, when the names of the kings under whom he laboured are given, the brief reigns
of Jehoahaz and of Jehoiachin are omitted, neither reign having lasted over three months.
His prophecies are called ‫ים‬ ִ‫ָר‬‫ב‬ְ‫,ד‬ words or speeches, as in Jer_36:10; so with the prophecies

of Amos, Amo_1:1. More complete information as to the person of the prophet is given by
the mention made of his father and of his extraction. The name ‫ָהוּ‬‫י‬ְ‫מ‬ ְ‫ִר‬‫י‬, "Jahveh throws,"
was in very common use, and is found as the name of many persons; cf. 1Ch_5:24;
1Ch_12:4, 1Ch_12:10, 1Ch_12:13; 2Ki_23:31; Jer_35:3; Neh_10:3; Neh_12:1. Hence we
are hardly entitled to explain the name with Hengstb. by Exo_15:1, to the effect that
whoever bore it was consecrated to the God who with almighty hand dashes to the ground
all His foes, so that in his name the nature of our prophet's mission would be held to be set
forth. His father Hilkiah is taken by Clem. Alex., Jerome, and some Rabbins, for the high
priest of that name who is mentioned in 2Ch_22:4; but without sufficient grounds. For
Hilkiah, too, is a name that often occurs; and the high priest is sure to have had his home
not in Anathoth, but in Jerusalem. But Jeremiah and his father belonged to the priests who
lived in Anathoth, now called Anâta, a town of the priests, lying 1 1/4 hours north of
Jerusalem (see on Jos_21:18), in the land, i.e., the tribal territory, of Benjamin. In Jer_1:2
‫ָיו‬‫ל‬ֵ‫א‬ belongs to ‫ר‬ֶ‫שׁ‬ֲ‫:א‬ "to whom befell (to whom came) the word of Jahveh in the days of
Josiah,...in the thirteenth year of his reign." This same year is named by Jeremiah in
Jer_25:3 as the beginning of his prophetic labours. ‫ִי‬‫ה‬ְ‫י‬ַ‫ו‬ in Jer_1:3 is the continuation of
‫ָה‬‫י‬ָ‫ה‬ in Jer_1:2, and its subject is ‫ַר‬‫ב‬ְ‫ד‬ ‫:יהוה‬ and then (further) it came (to him) in the days of
Jehoiakim,...to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, etc. In the fifth month of the year
named, the eleventh of the reign of Zedekiah, Jerusalem was reduced to ashes by
Nebuzar-adan, and its inhabitants carried away to Babylon; cf. Jer_52:12., 2Ki_25:8.
Shortly before, King Zedekiah, captured when in flight from the Chaldeans during the
siege of Jerusalem, had been deprived of eyesight at Riblah and carried to Babylon in
chains. And thus his kingship was at an end, thought the eleventh year of his reign might
not be yet quite completed.
7. Calvin, “"I Have said that the time, when Jeremiah began to discharge his office of a
Prophet in God’s Church, is not stated here without reason, and that it was when the state
of the people was extremely corrupt, the whole of Religion having become vitiated, because
the Book of the Law was lost: for nowhere else can be found the rule according to which
God is to be worshipped; nor can right knowledge be obtained from any other source. It
was then, at the time when impiety had by a long custom prevailed among the Jews, that
Jeremiah suddenly came forth. There was then laid on his shoulders the heaviest burden;
for many enemies must have risen to oppose him, when he attempted to bring back the
people to the pure doctrine of the law, which the greater part were then treading under
their feet.
He calls himself the son of Hilkiah The Rabbins think that this Hilkiah was the priest by
whom the Book of Moses was found five years after: but this seems not to me probable. The
conjecture also of Jerome is very frivolous, who concludes that the Prophet was a boy when
he began to prophesy, because he calls himself ‫נער‬ (nor,) a child, a little farther on, as
though he did not use the word metaphorically. 6 At what age he was called to the
prophetic office, we do not know; it is, however, probable that he was of mature age, for it

was a work of high authority; and further, had he been a youth, doubtless such a miracle
would not have been passed over in silence, that is, that he was made a prophet before the
age of maturity.
With regard to his father, it is nothing strange that the Rabbins have regarded him as the
high priest; for we know that they are always prone to vain boastings. Ambition possessed
them, and hence they have said that Jeremiah was the son of the high priest, in order to
add to the splendor of his character. But what does the Prophet himself say? He declares
indeed that he was the son of Hilkiah, but does not say that this was the high priest; on the
contrary he adds, that he was from the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of
Benjamin Now we know that this was a mean village, not far from Jerusalem; and
Jeremiah says, that it was in the tribe of Benjamin. Its nearness to Jerusalem may be
gathered from the words of Isaiah, who says that small Anathoth was terrified. (Isaiah
10:30) He threatened Jerusalem by saying that the enemy was near.
“What,” he says, “is your security? Ye can hear the noise of your enemies and the groans of
your brethren from your very gates; for Anathoth is not far from you, being only three
miles distant.”
Since then Jeremiah only says, that he came from Anathoth, why should we suppose him to
be the sort of the high priest? And frivolous is what the Chaldee paraphraser adds here,
that Hilkiah had possessions in the town of Anathoth, as though it was allowed the priests
to possess land: God allowed them only what was necessary to feed their flocks. We may
then take it as certain, and what the Prophet indeed expressly declares, that he came from
the village of Anathoth.
He further says, that he was of the priestly order. Hence the prophetic office was more
suitable to him than to many of the other prophets, such as Amos and Isaiah. God took
Isaiah from the court, as he was of the royal family, and made him a prophet. Amos was in
a different situation: he was taken from the shepherds, for he was a shepherd. Since God
appointed such prophets over his Church, he no doubt thus intended to cast a reflection on
the idleness and sloth of the priests. For, though all the priests were not prophets, yet they
ought to have been taken from that order; for the priestly order was as it were the nursery
of the prophets. But when gross want of knowledge and ignorance prevailed among them,
God chose his prophets from the other tribes, and thus exposed and condemned the priests.
They ought, indeed, to have been the messengers of the God of hosts, so as to keep the law
in their lips, that the people might seek it from their mouth, according to what is said by
Malachi. (Malachi 2:7) But as they were dumb dogs, God transferred the honor of the
prophetic office to others; but Jeremiah, as I have already stated, was a prophet as well as
a priest.

8. Wilbur White, "The study of Jeremiah's character is of psycholog-
ical and also of theological iaterest. He has been called the
prophet of " the bleeding heart and the iron will." He com-
bined the most contradictory traits of character. His endue-
ment was sach that he did not omit duty, but to perform duty
often caused him keen anguish of heart. He was naturally
diffident, yet was made steadfast in the will of God. He was
timid, yet spake boldly in the name of God. He was a man
of broad views, yet possessed intense national feeling. He
was a man of prayer. He was jealous for and obedient to
God. He was often perplexed and sometimes despondent,
yet was continually sustained by the grace of God. This
combination of character found in Jeremiah "is a strong
proof of the divine origin of his mission — the spirit of proph-
ecy acting powerfully upon his mind, controlling his natural
temper, and- qualifying him for his hazardous undertaking,
without doing violence to his peculiar individuality*"
9. PULPIT COMMENTARY, "Vers. 1—3.— On the external eurroundings of the life cf Jeremiah. These
words, which constitute the preface to the Bools of Jeremiah, are evidently intended to furnish a historical
setting for the writings of the prophet. But they also throw light on his character and work. For, though the
true life of every man is his inner spiritual life, ,
we cannot estimate the worth of this until -we have taken account of the circumstances
in which it is placed, the adds and the hindrances it receives from without. Let us con-
sider, therefore, the spiritual sigtrificance of the main historical surroundings of the work
of Jeremiah.
I. The official kelationship <m Jeremiah. 1. Jeremiah had the advantage of
being the son of a priest. He had prohahly received a religious education from his child-

hood. The religion of his fathers must have been familiar to him. Its solemn rites and
suggestive symbols were often before his eyes. Possibly, like St. Paul, who was trained
in°Jewish theology before he became a Christian (Gal. i. 14), he may have found ttie
Law a schoolmaster to bring him to a higher religion. The children of Christian
ministers have peculiar privileges in the early knowledge of Scripture, Church life, etc.,
which they have opportunities of acquiring. 2. ¥et this official relationship of Jeremiah's
had its disadvantages. It was quite exceptional. Not more than three of the prophets
were of sacerdotal origin. For the most part the priestly class regarded the prophetic
with jealousy, if not with envy. (1) Officialism is conservative, and opposed to the free
and revolutionary spirit of prophecy. (2) It is also formal, and tends to repress the
inward and spiritual experiences of which prophecy is the highest outcome. It speaks
well for Jeremiah that the spirit of prophecy was not crushed out of him by the dry
traditionalism and the rigid ritualism of his priestly connections. 3. It is noteworthy
that the official relationship of Jeremiah was entirely overshadowed hy his prophetic
mission. He is known to history not as the priest, but as the prophets Official religious
services are quite secondary to spiritual work.
II. The characteb of the age of Jebemiah. 1. Jeremiah entered on his mission in
the midst of the reformalion ef Josiah. et the prophet's work was entirely discon-
nected from that of the king. Political religious activity is very different from personal
spiritual work. Ecclesiastical relorms will not effect spiritual regeneration. The king's
overthrow of the idols does not dispense with the need of the prophet's call to repentance.
2. Jeremiah continued his mission after the failure (f Josiah's reformation and during
an age of national decay. The character of the age changed, but the prophet remained
unchanged. Weak men may be content to «cho the popular cries of the day. It is too
often the mission of the servant of God to contradict these familiar voices. The true
prophet is not the creature of his age, the mouthpiece of the Zeit-geist ; he is called to
resist this influence. 3. Jeremiahclosed his mission amidst scenes of national ruin. It

was given him to see the fulfilment of his warnings of doom, but not that of his promises
of restoration. Hence he is the prophet of tears. Jesus also wept over Jerusalem, but
he brought redemption. We should be thankful that we live in these latter times when
we can see the realization of the promises of " the Book of consolation."
III. The dubation of the mission of Jbbbmiah. It lasted for at least forty years ;
how many more after the overthrow of Jerusalem we do not know. 1. This fact
speaks much for the prophetic power of Jeremiah. Many men can only rouse themselves
to one supreme effort. True greatness is as much seen in the continuance of powers as
in supreme exhibitions of them. 2. This fact is a grand proof of the faithfulness
of the prophet. Almost the whole of his work was done " in opposition." We admire
the young martyr who summons up a momentary heroic courage to seal his testimony
with his blood ; but greater honour is due to the aged confessor who has persevered
through a lifelong martyrdom, and, though spared to old age, is also " faithful unto
death." 3. This fact sheds light on God's ways with man. Jeremiah commenced his
stern prophetic denunciations forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem. This
suggests to us (1) that God mercifully delays the execution of his threats to give man
time for repentance ; and (2) that the forbearance of God, which postpones the evil day,
does not frustrate the justice which must ultimately bring it upon the impenitent.
Vers. 1 — 3. — Introductory statements concerning Jeremiah's parentage and period of
his ministry. I. His parentage. He was the son of Hilkiah, not that Hilkiah who
was high priest during the reign of Josiah, but of some similarly named priest. Even amid
the terrible corruptions of that period, there appear to have been a few faithful souls who
held fast to the fear of the Lord. We have their names, Huldah, Shallum, Baruch, etc.
From amidst these Jeremiah sprang. The Lord can call and convert and consecrate
to his work whom he will ; but his more common way is to come to the habitations
of his people, when he would find some whom he destines for special and honoured

service. The homes of the godly are the hope of the Church. Amidst the children of
the believing are to be found those whom God will generally employ to carry on his
work. This is one way in which the promise is fulfilled, " Them that honour me I
will honour."
II. His PROFESSION. He belonged to the priesthood. Terrible are the charges
which are brought against the priests and prophets of that day. They had reached
the limit of utmost degradation. They are said to " deal falsely," to be " profane ; " and
their conduct is described as " a v?onderful and horrible thing." Yet Jeremiah be-
longed to this deeply fallen class. How difficult must have been his position ! how
constant his resistance to the contagion of their example and influence! When from
amongst those who are of the same order, wlio have common interests, common duties,
and who are thrown together in so many and close relationships, one stands aloof and
turns upon his companions in severe and solemn rebuke as Jeremiah did, such a
one needs to be strong as " a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls "
(ver. 18) Jeremiah stands before us as a noble proof that the tide of evil, however
strongly it may run, may yet be resisted ; none are of necessity borne down by it
but, by the same grace which was given to Jeremiah, they may stem the fierce current
and defy its power. Ten thousand of the saints of God have done this ; why should
not. we?
III. The reason of all men counting iiim as a pnopiiET. " The word of the Lord
came unto hiiu." He did not say, " I am a prophet ; " but all men felt he was. For
his words had power; they were mighty to the pulling down of the strong holds of
sin. It was not simply that he announced that there should be a " rooting out and
pulling down " (cf. ver. 10), but the words which he spoke so wrought in men's minds
that these results followed. Hence men, conscious of the power of his words, con-

fessed that it was " the word of the Lord " which had come to him. This is the old
prophetic word which, whenever spoken, constrains men to confess the presence of
God (cf. 1 Cor. xiv. 25). And St. Peter (2 Epist. i. 19) says concerning it, " We have,
surer still, the prophetic word." " More sure," he meant, than even the wondrous voice
and vision of " the holy mount," for that was but a transient testimony given once
and to the three favoured apostles of the Lord alone ; but the prophetic word, that
which woke up the response in men's hearts, and by which the secrets of each soul
were disclosed — that was a more constant, more universal, more powerful, and therefore
a more sure testimony than aught beside. And the occasions when this " word of the
Lord " comes to any of his servants are well known. See how particular and definite
the dates are here. " In the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah. It came
also in the days of Jehoiakim," etc. The coming of the word of the Lord to any soul
is a marked and memorable period. He through whom that word is spoken is conscious
of an unusual power, he realizes the Divine presence in an altogether unusual manner.
He is more passive than active. It is said of the holy men of old, that they " spake as
they were moved [borne along] of the Holy Ghost," and this, St. Peter declares (2 Epist.
i. 21), is ever a characteristic of the prophetic word. And those who hear the word know
that the Lord is speaking through his servant. Listlessness and unconcern give way
to serious concern. Some can tell the very day and hour when they first heard the
" word of the Lord." They had listened to sermons and read the Scriptures again and
again, but one day they felt that the Lord himself was speaking to them, and they
could not but give heed. Like as the people of Judah and Jerusalem knew when the
voice of God, though they despised it to tlieir ruin, was speaking to them, so do men
now. And if we have heard it for our salvation, the time, the place, the speaker, will
often be vividly remembered in connection with ii, like as those who heard Jeremiah
knew the very year when the " word of the Lord came " to him. It is ill for both
hearers and speakers alike if they be unable to point to periods when they were conscious
that " the word of the Lord " came to them. For a preacher never to realize the sacred

glow and the uplifting of soul which accompany the utterance of the prophetic word ;
or for a hearer to have so dulled his conscience, so destroyed his spiritual ear, that
though the word of the Lord be spoken his heart never responds, his soul never
realizes the presence of God ; — from the sin and sorrow of either may God mercifully
save us.
2 The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth
year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah,
1. Barnes, “Came - literally, was (and in Jer_1:4); the phrase implies that Jeremiah
possessed God’s word from that time onward, not fitfully as coming and going, but constantly.
The thirteenth year of his reign - According to the ordinary reckoning, this would be 629
b.c., but if the Ptolemaic canon be right in putting the capture of Jerusalem at 586 b.c., it would
be two years later, namely 627 b.c. However, according to the Assyrian chronology, it would be
608 b.c. It was the year after that in which Josiah began his reforms.
2. Clarke, “The words of Jeremiah - These three verses are the title of the Book; and were
probably added by Ezra when he collected and arranged the sacred books, and put them in that
order in which they are found in Hebrew Bibles in general. For particulars relative to this
prophet, the times of his prophesying, and the arrangement of his discourses, see the
introduction.
Eleventh year of Zedekiah - That is, the last year of his reign; for he was made prisoner by
the Chaldeans in the fourth month of that year, and the carrying away of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem was in the fifth month of the same year.
3. Gill, “To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah,.... This was the
beginning of the prophecy of Jeremiah, so that he prophesied long after Isaiah, Hosea, Amos,
and Micah; for this king was
the son of Amon king of Judah, which Amon was the son of Manasseh; the Septuagint and
Arabic versions wrongly call him Amos; and Jeremiah began to prophesy
in the thirteenth year of his reign: in the twenty first of Josiah's age, for he began to reign
when he was eight years old, and he reigned eighteen years after, for he reigned in all thirty one

years; and it was five years after this that the book of the law was found by Hilkiah the high
priest, 2Ki_22:3.
4. Henry, “He began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign, Jer_1:2. Josiah, in the
twelfth year of his reign, began a work of reformation, applied himself with all sincerity to purge
Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the images, 2Ch_34:3. And
very seasonably then was this young prophet raised up to assist and encourage the young king in
that good work. Then the word of the Lord came to him, not only a charge and commission to
him to prophesy, but a revelation of the things themselves which he was to deliver. As it is an
encouragement to ministers to be countenanced and protected by such pious magistrates as
Josiah was, so it is a great help to magistrates, in any good work of reformation, to be advised
and animated, and to have a great deal of their work done for them, by such faithful zealous
ministers as Jeremiah was. Now, one would have expected when these two joined forces, such a
prince, and such a prophet (as in a like case, Ezr_5:1, Ezr_5:2), and both young, such a complete
reformation would be brought about and settled as would prevent the ruin of the church and
state; but it proved quite otherwise. In the eighteenth year of Josiah we find there were a great
many of the relics of idolatry that were not purged out; for what can the best princes and
prophets do to prevent the ruin of a people that hate to be reformed? And therefore, though it
was a time of reformation, Jeremiah continued to foretel the destroying judgments that were
coming upon them; for there is no symptom more threatening to any people than fruitless
attempts of reformation. Josiah and Jeremiah would have healed them, but they would not be
healed. (2.) He continued to prophesy through the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, each of
whom reigned eleven years.
5. Jamison, “To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah,.... This was the
beginning of the prophecy of Jeremiah, so that he prophesied long after Isaiah, Hosea, Amos,
and Micah; for this king was
the son of Amon king of Judah, which Amon was the son of Manasseh; the Septuagint and
Arabic versions wrongly call him Amos; and Jeremiah began to prophesy
in the thirteenth year of his reign: in the twenty first of Josiah's age, for he began to reign
when he was eight years old, and he reigned eighteen years after, for he reigned in all thirty one
years; and it was five years after this that the book of the law was found by Hilkiah the high
priest, 2Ki_22:3.
6. MCGHEE, “Josiah was eight years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for thirty-one
years. Jeremiah began his ministry when Josiah was twenty-two years old. Apparently
Jeremiah was about twenty years old himself; so both of them were young men and were
probably friends. Jeremiah prophesied during eighteen years of Josiah's reign, and he was
a mourner at his funeral (see IChron. 35:25).

Josiah had done a very foolish thing — even men of God sometimes do foolish things. He
went over to fight against the pharaoh of Egypt at Carchemish although the pharaoh had
not come up against Judah at all. For some reason Josiah went out to fight against him in
the valley of Esdraelon or Armageddon at Megiddo, and there Josiah was slain. Jeremiah
mourned over his death because Josiah had been a good king. The last revival that came
to these people came under the reign of Josiah, and it was a great revival. After the death
of Josiah, Jeremiah could see that the nation would lapse into a night out of which it
would not emerge until after the Babylonian captivity.
It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of
Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive
in the fifth month f Jer. 1:3 1.
This and the preceding verse give to us the exact time of the ministry of Jeremiah — from
the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah and continuing through the carrying away of
Jerusalem into captivity.
We know that when Judah went into captivity, Nebuchadnezzar allowed Jeremiah to stay
in the land: "Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to
Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying, Take him, and look well to him, and do
him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee" ( Jer. 39:11-12 ). Of course
Jeremiah didn't want to go to Babylon with the others — they had rejected his message
and were being led away captives as he had predicted. Since Nebuchadnezzar gave him
his choice, he chose to stay in the land with the few who remained. However, those
fugitives took off and went down to Egypt, doing it against the advice of Jeremiah and
taking him with them. In Egypt Jeremiah continued faithfully giving them God's Word.
Jeremiah continued his ministry to the remnant that was left at Jerusalem. After they

forced him to go to Egypt with them, he still continued his ministry in Egypt until the
time of his death. We can say that two things characterized the life of Jeremiah: weeping
and loneliness. They are the marks of his ministry.
7. Calvin, “He begins in the second verse to speak of his calling. It would have, indeed,
been to little purpose, had he said that he came forth and brought a message; but he
explains, in the second verse, that he brought nothing but what had been delivered to him
by God, as though he had said, that he faithfully declared what God had commanded him.
For we know that the whole authority belongs entirely to God, with regard to the doctrine
of religion, and that it is not in the power of men to blend this or that, and to make the
faithful subject to themselves. As God, then, is the only true teacher of the Church,
whosoever demands to be heard, must prove that he is God’s minister. This is, then, what
Jeremiah is now carefully doing, for he says that the word of Jehovah was given to him.
He had before said, the words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah; but any one of the people
might have objected and said, “Why dost thou intrude thyself, as though any one is to be
heard? for God claims this right to himself alone.” Hence Jeremiah, by way of correction,
subjoins, that the words were his, but that he was not the author of them, but the minister
only. He says, then, that he only executed what God had commanded, for he had been the
disciple of God himself, before he undertook the office of a teacher.
3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah
king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh
year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when
the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
1. Barnes, “The whole period contained in this verse is no less than 40 years and 6 months,
namely, 18 years under Josiah, two periods of 11 years each under Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, and
3 months under each of the omitted kings, Jehoahaz and Jeconiah.
In the fifth month - The capture of Jerusalem took place in the fourth month, but its
destruction was in the fifth month (see the marginal references), the ninth day of which was
subsequently kept as a fast-day Zec_7:3.

2. Clarke, “The words of Jeremiah - These three verses are the title of the Book; and were
probably added by Ezra when he collected and arranged the sacred books, and put them in that
order in which they are found in Hebrew Bibles in general. For particulars relative to this
prophet, the times of his prophesying, and the arrangement of his discourses, see the
introduction.
Eleventh year of Zedekiah - That is, the last year of his reign; for he was made prisoner by
the Chaldeans in the fourth month of that year, and the carrying away of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem was in the fifth month of the same year.
3. Gill, “And it came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of
Judah,.... In the beginning of his reign, and in the fourth year of his reign; see Jer_25:1, no
mention is made of Jehoahaz, who reigned between Josiah and Jehoiakim, because his reign
was short, but three months, 2Ki_23:31, and perhaps no word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in
his time, though it did before and after:
unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah; so
that Jeremiah must prophesy in the land of Judea upwards of forty years; eighteen under
Josiah, 2Ki_22:11, three months under Jehoahaz, 2Ki_23:31 eleven years under Jehoiakim,
2Ki_23:36, three months under Jeconiah, 2Ki_24:8, and eleven years under Zedekiah, when the
city was besieged and taken, 2Ki_25:2. Josiah had three sons as kings of Judah, Jehoahaz,
Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, under all whom Jeremiah prophesied:
even unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month: the month Ab,
which answers to part of July and part of August; and it was on the ninth or tenth day of this
month that the city of Jerusalem was burnt, and the people carried captive, 2Ki_25:8 the ninth
of the said month is now kept by the Jews as a fast on that account.
4. Henry, “He prophesied to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive (Jer_1:3), that great
event which he had so often prophesied of. He continued to prophesy after that, Jer_40:1. But
the computation here is made to end with that because it was the accomplishment of many of
his predictions; and from the thirteenth of Josiah to the captivity was just forty years. Dr.
Lightfoot observes that as Moses was so long with the people, a teacher in the wilderness, till
they entered into their own land, Jeremiah was so long in their own land a teacher, before they
went into the wilderness of the heathen: and he thinks that therefore a special mark is set upon
the last forty years of the iniquity of Judah, which Ezekiel bore forty days, a day for a year,
because during all that time they had Jeremiah prophesying among them, which was a great
aggravation of their impenitency. God, in this prophet, suffered their manners, their ill manners,
forty years, and at length swore in his wrath that they should not continue in his rest.
5. Calvin,As to the beginning of his time and its termination, it has been briefly shewn, why
he says that he had been chosen a prophet in the thirteenth year of Josiah, and that he
discharged his office till the eleventh year of Zedekiah.

Now that Josiah is called the son of Amon, it is doubtful whether Josiah was properly his
son. Amon began to reign in his twenty-second year, and reigned only two years. Josiah
succeeded him in the eighth year of his age. If we number the years precisely, Josiah must
have been born when Amon was in his sixteenth year; but it does not appear likely, that
Amon was a father when he was sixteen years of age, for in this case he must have begotten
a son in his fifteenth year; as the birth must have taken place nine months after. Then
Josiah must have been begotten in the fifteenth year of Amon’s age. It is hence a probable
conclusion, that he was a son by law and not by nature, according to what is afterwards
said of Zedekiah, that he was Josiah’s son, because he was his successor, while he was, as
many think, his nephew, a brother’s son. But it was a common thing to call the successors
of kings their sons, who were their sons by law, and not, as I have said, by nature
6. EBC, "TRULY Jeremiah was a prophet of evil. The king might have addressed him in the
words with which Agamemnon reproaches Kalchas.
"Augur accursed! denouncing mischief still:
Prophet of plagues, forever boding ill!
Still must that tongue some wounding message bring,
And still thy priestly pride provoke thy king."
Never was there a sadder man. Like Phocion, he believed in the enemies of his country more
than he believed in his own people. He saw "Too late" written upon everything. "He saw himself
all but universally execrated as a coward, as a traitor, as one who weakened the nerves and
damped the courage of those who were fighting against fearful odds for their wives and children,
the ashes of their fathers, their altars, and their hearths. It had become his fixed conviction that
any prophets-and there were a multitude of them-who prophesied peace were false prophets,
and ipso facto proved themselves conspirators against the true well-being of the land Jer_6:14;
Jer_8:11 Eze_13:10. In point of fact, Jeremiah lived to witness the death struggle of the idea of
religion in its predominantly national character. (Jer_7:8-16; Jer_6:8) The continuity of the
national faith refused to be bound up with the continuance of the nation. When the nation is
dissolved into individual elements, the continuity and ultimate victory of the true faith depends
on the relations of Jehovah to individual souls out of which the nation shall be bound up."
And now a sad misfortune happened to Jeremiah. His home was not at Jerusalem, but at
Anathoth, though he had long been driven from his native village by the murderous plots of his
own kindred, and of those who had been infuriated by his incessant prophecies of doom. When
the Chaldaeans retired from Jerusalem to encounter Pharaoh, he left the distressed city for the
land of Benjamin, "to receive his portion from thence in the midst of the people"-apparently, for
the sense is doubtful, to claim his dues of maintenance as a priest. But at the city gate he was
arrested by Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the captain of the watch, who charged him with the
intention of deserting to the Chaldaeans. Jeremiah pronounced the charge to be a lie; but Irijah
took him before the princes, who hated him, and consigned him to dreary and dangerous
imprisonment in the house of Jonathan the scribe. In the vaults of this house of the pit he
continued many days. (Jer_37:11-15) The king sympathized with him: he would gladly have
delivered him, if he could, from the rage of the princes; but he did not dare. Meanwhile, the
siege went on, and the people never forgot the anguish of despair with which they waited the
re-investiture of the city. Ever since that day it has been kept as a fast-the fast of Tebeth.
Zedekiah, yearning for some advice, or comfort-if comfort were to be had-from the only man
whom he really trusted, sent for Jeremiah to the palace, and asked him in despicable secrecy, "Is

there any word from the Lord?" The answer was the old one: "Yes! Thou shalt be delivered into
the hands of the King of Babylon." Jeremiah gave it without quailing, but seized the opportunity
to ask on what plea he was imprisoned. Was he not a prophet? Had he not prophesied the return
of the Chaldaean host? Where now were all the prophets who had prophesied peace? Would not
the king at least save him from the detestable prison in which he was dying by inches? The king
heard his petition, and he was removed to a better prison in the court of the watch where he
received his daily piece of bread out of the bakers’ street until all the bread in the city was spent.
For now utter famine came upon the wretched Jews, to add to the horrors and accidents of the
siege. If we would know what that famine was in its appalling intensity, we must turn to the
Book of Lamentations. Those elegies, so unutterably plaintive, may not be by the prophet
himself, but only by his school but they show us what was the frightful condition of the people of
Jerusalem before and during the last six months of the siege. "The sword of the wilderness"-the
roving and plundering Bedouin-made it impossible to get out of the city in any direction. Things
were as dreadfully hopeless as they had been in Samaria when it was besieged by Benhadad.
(Lam_5:4) Hunger and thirst reduce human nature to its most animal conditions. They
obliterate the merest elements of morality. They make men like beasts, and reveal the ferocity
which is never quite dead in any but the purest and loftiest souls. They arouse the least human
instincts of the aboriginal animal. The day came when there was no more bread left in
Jerusalem. (Jer_37:21; Jer_38:9; Jer_52:6) The fair and ruddyNazarites, who had been purer
than snow, whiter than milk, more ruddy than corals, lovely as sapphires, became like withered
boughs, (Lam_4:7-8) and even their friends did not recognize them in those ghastly and
emaciated figures which crept about the streets. The daughters of Zion, more cruel in their
hunger than the very jackals, lost the instincts of pity and motherhood. Mothers and fathers
devoured their own little unweaned children. There was parricide as well as infanticide in the
horrible houses. They seemed to plead that none could blame them, since the lives of many had
become an intolerable anguish, and no man had bread for his little ones, and their tongues
cleaved to the roof of their mouth. All that happened six centuries later, during the siege of
Jerusalem by Titus, happened now. Then Martha, the daughter of Nicodemus ben-Gorion, once
a lady of enormous wealth, was seen picking the grains of corn from the offal of the streets; now
the women who had fed delicately and been brought up in scarlet were seen sitting desolate on
heaps of dung. And Jehovah did not raise His hand to save His guilty and dying people. It was
too late!
And as is always the case in such extremities, there were men who stood defiant and selfish amid
the universal misery. Murder, oppression, and luxury continued to prevail. The godless nobles
did not intermit the building of their luxurious houses, asserting to themselves and others that,
after all, the final catastrophe was not near at hand. The sudden death of one of them-Pelatiah,
the son of Benaiah-while Ezekiel was prophesying, terrified the prophet so much that he flung
himself on his face and cried with a loud voice, "Ah, Lord God! wilt Thou make a full end of the
remnant of Israel?" But on the others this death by the visitation of God seems to have produced
no effect; and the glory of God left the city, borne away upon its cherubim-chariot. (Eze_11:22)
Even under the stress of these dreadful circumstances the Jews held out with that desperate
tenacity which has often been shown by nations fighting behind strong walls for their very
existence, but by no nation more decidedly than by the Jews. And if the rebel-party, and the
lying prophets who had brought the city to this pass, still entertained any hopes either of a
diversion caused by Pharaoh Hophrah, or of some miraculous deliverance such as that which
had saved the city from Sennacherib years earlier, it is not unnatural that they should have
regarded Jeremiah with positive fury. For he still continued to prophesy the captivity. What
specially angered them was his message to the people that all who remained in Jerusalem
should die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, but that those who deserted to the
Chaldaeans should live. It was on the ground of his having said this that they had imprisoned

him as a deserter; and when Pashur and his son Gedaliah heard that he was still saying this, they
and the other princes entreated Zedekiah to put him to death as a pernicious traitor, who
weakened the hands of the patriot soldiers. Jeremiah was not guilty of the lack of patriotism
with which they charged him. The day of independence had passed forever, and Babylon, not
Egypt, was the appointed suzerain. The counseling of submission-as many a victorious chieftain
has been forced at last to counsel it, from the days of Hannibal to those of Thiers-is often the
true and the only possible patriotism in doomed and decadent nations. Zedekiah timidly
abandoned the prophet to the rage of his enemies; but being afraid to murder him openly as
Urijah had been murdered, they flung him into a well in the dungeon of Mal-chiah, the king’s
son. Into the mire of this pit he sank up to the arms, and there they purposely left him to starve
and rot. But if no Israelite pitied him, his condition moved the compassion of Ebed-Melech, an
Ethiopian, one of the king’s eunuch-chamberlains. He hurried to the king in a storm of pity and
indignation. He found him sitting, as a king should do, at the post of danger in the gate of
Benjamin; for Zedekiah was not a physical, though he was a moral, coward. Ebed-Melech told
the king that Jeremiah was dying of starvation, and Zedekiah bade him take three men with him
and rescue the dying man. The faithful Ethiopian hurried to a cellar under the treasury, took
with him some old, worn fragments of robes, and, letting them down by cords, called to
Jeremiah to put them under his arm-pits. He did so, and they drew him up into the light of day,
though he still remained in prison.
It seems to have been at this time that, in spite of his grim vaticination of immediate retribution,
Jeremiah showed his serene confidence in the ultimate future by accepting the proposal of his
cousin Hanameel to buy some of the paternal fields at Anathoth, though at that very moment
they were in the hands of the Chaldaeans. Such an act, publicly performed, must have caused
some consolation to the besieged, just as did the courage of the Roman senator who gave a good
price for the estate outside the walls of Rome on which Hannibal was actually encamped.
Then Zedekiah once more secretly sent for him, and implored him to tell the unvarnished truth.
"If I do, " said the prophet, "will you not kill me? and will you in any case hearken to me?"
Zedekiah swore not to betray him to his enemies; and Jeremiah told him that, even at that
eleventh hour, if he would go out and make submission to the Babylonians, the city should not
be burnt, and he should save the lives of himself and of his family. Zedekiah believed him, but
pleaded that he was afraid of the mockery of the deserters to whom he might be delivered.
Jeremiah assured him that he should not be so delivered, and, that, if he refused to obey,
nothing remained for the city, and for him and his wives and children, but final ruin. The king
was too weak to follow what he must now have felt to be the last chance which God had opened
out for him. He could only "attain to half-believe." He entrusted the result to chance, with
miserable vacillation of purpose; and the door of hope was closed upon him. His one desire was
to conceal the interview; and if it came to the ears of the princes-of whom he was shamefully
afraid-he begged Jeremiah to say that he had only entreated the king not to send him back to die
in Jonathan’s prison.
As he had suspected, it became known that Jeremiah had been summoned to an interview with
the king. They questioned the prophet in prison. He told them the story which the king had
suggested to him, and the truth remained undiscovered. For this deflection from exact truth it is
tolerably certain that, in the state of men’s consciences upon the subject of veracity in those
days, the prophet’s moral sense did not for a moment reproach him. He remained in his prison,
guarded probably by the faithful Ebed-Melech, until Jerusalem was taken.
Let us pity the dreadful plight of Zedekiah, aggravated as it was by his weak temperament. "He
stands at the head of a people determined to defend itself, but is himself without either hope or
courage."

The Call of Jeremiah
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
1. Barnes, “This history of Jeremiah’s call to his office formed a part of his first address to the
people. He claimed to act by an external authority, and to speak not his own words but those of
Yahweh; and this even when resisting the divine call (see Jer_15:13; Jer_20:7, Jer_20:14-18).
2. Clarke, “The word of the Lord came unto me - Then I first felt the inspiring influence
of the Divine Spirit, not only revealing to me the subjects which he would have me to declare to
the people, but also the words which I should use in these declarations.
3. Gill, “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Not in the days of Jehoiakim,
but in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, Jer_1:2. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin
versions read, "unto him".
4. Henry, “Here is, I. Jeremiah's early designation to the work and office of a prophet, which
God gives him notice of as a reason for his early application to that business (Jer_1:4, Jer_1:5):
The word of the Lord came to him, with a satisfying assurance to himself that it was the word of
the Lord and not a delusion; and God told him, 1. That he had ordained him a prophet to the
nations, or against the nations, the nation of the Jews in the first place, who are now reckoned
among the nations because they had learned their works and mingled with them in their
idolatries, for otherwise they would not have been numbered with them, Num_23:9. Yet he was
given to be a prophet, not to the Jews only, but to the neighbouring nations, to whom he was to
send yokes (Jer_27:2, Jer_27:3) and whom he must make to drink of the cup of the Lord's
anger, Jer_25:17. He is still in his writings a prophet to the nations (to our nation among the
rest), to tell them what the national judgments are which may be expected for national sins. It
would be well for the nations would they take Jeremiah for their prophet and attend to the
warnings he gives them. 2. That before he was born, even in his eternal counsel, he had designed
him to be so. Let him know that he who gave him his commission is the same that gave him his
being, that formed him in the belly and brought him forth out of the womb, that therefore he
was his rightful owner and might employ him and make use of him as he pleased, and that this
commission was given him in pursuance of the purpose God had purposed in himself
concerning him, before he was born: “I knew thee, and I sanctified thee,” that is, “I determined

that thou shouldst be a prophet and set thee apart for the office.” Thus St. Paul says of himself
that God had separated him from his mother's womb to be a Christian and an apostle, Gal_1:15.
Observe, (1.) The great Creator knows what use to make of every man before he makes him. He
has made all for himself, and of the same lumps of clay designs a vessel of honour or dishonour,
as he pleases, Rom_9:21. (2.) What God has designed men for he will call them to; for his
purposes cannot be frustrated. Known unto God are all his own works beforehand, and his
knowledge is infallible and his purpose unchangeable. (3.) There is a particular purpose and
providence of God conversant about his prophets and ministers; they are by special counsel
designed for their work, and what they are designed for they are fitted for: I that knew thee,
sanctified thee. God destines them to it, and forms them for it, when he first forms the spirit of
man within him. Propheta nascitur, non fit - Original endowment, not education, makes a
prophet.
5. RONALD YOUNGBLOOD, “Adherents of all other religions are
asked to reach out to God, but the Bible everywhere describes God as
reaching out to us, searching for us, calling us. Elsewhere the direction
of the call is from down upward, as people seek to touch God in their
own strength and through their own devices, building towers of Babel
in uninvited attempts to storm the bastions of heaven. But in Scripture
the direction of the call is from above downward, and that difference
alone is enough to expose every man-made religion as being diametri-
cally opposed to biblical faith."
6. K&D, “The Call and Consecration of Jeremiah to be a Prophet of the Lord. - The investiture
of Jeremiah with the prophetic office follows in four acts: the call on the part of the Lord,
Jer_1:4-8; Jeremiah's consecration for his calling in Jer_1:9-10; and in two signs, by means of
which the Lord assures him of certain success in his work and of powerful support in the
exercise of his office (Jer_1:11-19). The call was given by a word of the Lord which came to him
in this form: Jer_1:5. "Before I formed thee in the womb I have known thee, and before thou
wentest forth from the belly have I consecrated thee, to be prophet to the nations have I set
thee. Jer_1:6. Then said I, Ah, Lord Jahveh! behold, I know not how to speak; for I am too
young. Jer_1:7. Then said Jahveh to me, Say not, I am too young; but to all to whom I send
thee shalt thou go, and all that I command thee shalt thou speak. Jer_1:8. Fear not before
them: for I am with thee, to save thee, saith Jahveh. This word came to Jeremiah by means of
inspiration, and is neither the product of a reflective musing as to what his calling was to be, nor
the outcome of an irresistible impulse, felt within him, to come forward as a prophet. It was a
supernatural divine revelation vouchsafed to him, which raised his spiritual life to a state of
ecstasy, so that he both recognised the voice of God and felt his lips touched by the hand of God
(Jer_1:9). Further, he saw in spirit, one after another, two visions which God interpreted to him

as confirmatory tokens of his divine commission (Jer_1:11-19). Jeremiah's appointment to be a
prophet for the nations follows upon a decree of God's, fixed before he was conceived or born.
God in His counsel has not only foreordained our life and being, but has predetermined before
our birth what is to be our calling upon this earth; and He has accordingly so influenced our
origin and our growth in the womb, as to prepare us for what we are to become, and for what we
are to accomplish on behalf of His kingdom. This is true of all men, but very especially of those
who have been chosen by God to be the extraordinary instruments of His grace, whom He has
appointed to be instruments for the carrying out of the redemptive schemes of His kingdom; cf.
Jer_44:2, Jer_44:24; Jer_49:5; Gal_1:15. Thus Samson was appointed to be a Nazarite from the
womb, this having been revealed to his mother before he was conceived, Jdg_13:3. To other men
of God such divine predestination was made known for the first time when they were called to
that office to which God had chosen them. So was it with our prophet Jeremiah. In such a case a
reminder by God of the divine counsel of grace, of old time ordained and provided with means
for its accomplishment, should be accepted as an encouragement willingly to take upon one the
allotted calling. For the man God has chosen before his birth to a special office in His kingdom
He equips with the gifts and graces needed for the exercise of his functions.
7. Calvin, ““Here Jeremiah explains more fully what he had already mentioned that he had
been called from above, for otherwise he would have presumptuously obtruded himself: for
no one, as the Apostle says, takes this honor to himself; but the call of God alone raises up
prophets and teachers to their dignity {see Hebrews 5:4}. Hence, that Jeremiah might
secure attention, he declares that he had been called to the prophetic office, and that by the
clear voice of God. For this purpose, he says, that this word was given him, Before I formed
thee in the womb 9 I knew thee He introduces God as the speaker, that what he declares
might be more emphatical, that it might be of more weight and more forcible: for, if he had
said simply in his own person, that he had been made a prophet by God’s voice, it would
not have so much moved the hearers; but when he brings forward God as the speaker,
there is necessarily more weight and force in what is said.
I pass by here what might be more largely said on what is necessary in one’s call, so that he
may be attended to by God’s people; for no one, by his own and private right, can claim
this privilege of speaking, as I have already said, inasmuch as this is what belongs to God
alone. But I have elsewhere spoken at large on the prophetic call; it is therefore enough
now to point at such things as these as it were by the finger: and particular discussions
must be sought elsewhere; for were I to dwell at large on every subject, my work would be
endless. I will, therefore, according to my usual practice, give a brief exposition of this
Prophet.
Jeremiah then says, that he had been called by God, for this end, that he might on this
account gain a hearing from the people. God declares that he knew Jeremiah before he
formed him in the womb. This is not said specially of the Prophet, as though other men are
unknown to God, but it is to be understood of the prophetic office, as though he had said,
“Before I formed thee in the womb, I destined thee for this work, even that thou mayest

undertake the burden of a teacher among the people.” And the second part is a repetition,
when he says, Before thou camest forth from the womb I sanctified thee Sanctification is
the same as the knowledge of God: and thus we perceive that knowledge is not mere
prescience, but that predestination, by which God chooses every single individual
according to his own will, and at the same time appoints and also sanctifies him; for no one,
as Paul declares, (2 Corinthians 2:16,) is according to his own nature fitted for the work.
Since then this fitness is the gratuitous gift of God, it is nothing strange that God declares
that he had sanctified Jeremiah, as though he had said, “I formed thee man in the womb,
and at the same time appointed thee for this particular work; and as it was not in thy
power to bring with thee a qualification for the prophetic office, I formed thee not only a
man, but a prophet.” This is the import of the passage.
But they refine too much, who think that the Prophet was sanctified from the womb as
John the Baptist was, for the words mean no such thing; but only that is testified of
Jeremiah, which Paul also affirms respecting himself in the first chapter of the Epistle to
the Galatians, that he was known by God before he was born. Jeremiah then was not
actually sanctified in the womb, but set apart according to God’s predestination and
hidden purpose; that is, God chose him then to be a Prophet. It may be asked, whether he
was not chosen before the creation of the world? To this it may be readily answered, that
he was indeed foreknown by God before the world was made; but Scripture accommodates
itself to the measure of our capacities, when it speaks of the generation of any one: it is then
the same as though God had said of Jeremiah, that he was formed man for this end that in
due time he might come forth a Prophet.
And no doubt the following clause is added exegetically, A prophet for the nations I made
thee His sanctification, then, as I have said, was not real, but intimated that he was
appointed a Prophet before he was born.
It however seems strange that he was given a Prophet to the nations God designed him to
be the minister of his Church; for he neither went to the Ninevites, as Jonah did, (Jonah
3:3,) nor traveled into other countries, but spent his labors only among the tribe of Judah;
why then is it said that he was given as a Prophet to the nations? To this I answer, that
though God appointed him especially for his Church, yet his teaching belonged to other
nations, as we shall presently see, and very evidently, as we proceed; for he prophesied
concerning the Babylonians, the Egyptians, and the Moabites; in short, he included all the
nations who were nigh and known to the Jews. This was indeed as it were accidental: but
though he was given as a Prophet especially to his own people, yet his authority extended to
heathen nations. No doubt nations are mentioned, including many, in order that the power
and dignity of his teaching might appear more evident.

8. EBC, "THE CALL AND CONSECRATION
IN the foregoing pages we have considered the principal events in the life of the prophet
Jeremiah, by way of introduction to the more detailed study of his writings. Preparation of this
kind seemed to be necessary, if we were to enter upon that study with something more than the
vaguest perception of the real personality of the prophet. On the other hand, I hope we shall not
fail to find our mental image of the man, and our conception of the times in which he lived, and
of the conditions under which he laboured as a servant of God, corrected and perfected by that
closer examination of his works to which I now invite you. And so we shall be better equipped
for the attainment of that which must be the ultimate object of all such studies; the deepening
and strengthening of the life of faith in ourselves, by which alone we can hope to follow in the
steps of the saints of old, and like them to realise the great end of our being, the service of the
All-Perfect.
I shall consider the various discourses in what appears to be their natural order, so far as
possible, taking those chapters together which appear to be connected in occasion and subject.
Chapter 1 evidently stands apart, as a self-complete and independent whole. It consists of a
chronological superscription (Jer_1:1-3), assigning the temporal limits of the prophet’s activity;
and secondly, of an inaugural discourse, which sets before us his first call, and the general scope
of the mission which he was chosen to fulfil. This discourse, again, in like manner falls into two
sections, of which the former (Jer_1:4-10) relates how the prophet was appointed and qualified
by Iahvah to be a spokesman for Him; while the latter (Jer_11:1-19), under the form of two
visions, expresses the assurance that Iahvah will accomplish His word, and pictures the mode of
fulfilment, closing with a renewed summons to enter upon the work, and with a promise, of
effectual support against all opposition.
It is plain that we have before us the author’s introduction to the whole book; and if we would
gain an adequate conception of the meaning of the prophet’s activity both for his own time and
for ours, we must weigh well the force of these prefatory words. The career of a true prophet, or
spokesman for God, undoubtedly implies a special call or vocation to the office. In this preface
to the summarised account of his life’s work, Jeremiah represents that call as a single and
definite event in his life’s history. Must we take this in its literal sense? We are not astonished by
such a statement as "the word of the Lord came unto me"; it may be understood in more senses
than one, and perhaps we are unconsciously prone to understand it in what is called a natural
sense. Perhaps we think of a result of pious reflection pondering the moral state of the nation
and the needs of the time perhaps of that inward voice which is nothing strange to any soul that
has attained to the rudiments of spiritual development. But when we read such an assertion as
that of Jer_1:9, "Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth," we cannot but
pause and ask what it was that the writer meant to convey by words so strange and startling.
Thoughtful readers cannot avoid the question whether such statements are consonant with what
we otherwise know of the dealings of God with man; whether an outward and visible act of the
kind spoken of conforms with that whole conception of the Divine Being, which is, so far as it
reflects reality, the outcome of His own contact with our human spirits. The obvious answer is
that such corporeal actions are incompatible with all our experience and all our reasoned
conceptions of the Divine Essence, which fills all things and controls all things, precisely because
it is not limited by a bodily organism, because its actions are not dependent upon such imperfect
and restricted media as hands and feet. If, then, we are bound to a literal sense, we can only
understand that the prophet saw a vision, in which a Divine hand seemed to touch his lips, and a
Divine voice to sound in his ears. But are we bound to a literal sense? It is noteworthy that
Jeremiah does not say that Iahvah Himself appeared to him. In this respect, he stands in
conspicuous contrast with his predecessor Isaiah, who writes, (Isa_6:1) "In the year that king
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up"; and with his successor

Ezekiel, who affirms in his opening verse (Eze_1:1) that on a certain definite occasion "the
heavens opened," and he saw "visions of God." Nor does Jeremiah use that striking phrase of the
younger prophet’s, "The hand of Iahvah was upon me," or "was strong upon me." But when he
says, "Iahvah put forth His hand and touched my mouth," he is evidently thinking of the seraph
that touched Isaiah’s mouth with the live coal from the heavenly altar. (Isa_6:7) The words are
identical, and might be regarded as a quotation. It is true that, supposing Jeremiah to be
relating the experience of a trance-like condition or ecstasy, we need not assume tiny conscious
imitation of his predecessor. The sights and sounds which affect a man in such a condition may
be partly repetitions of former experience, whether one’s own or that of others; and in part
wholly new and strange. In a dream one might imagine things happening to oneself, which one
had heard or read of in connection with others. And Jeremiah’s writings generally prove his
intimate acquaintance with those of Isaiah and the older prophets. But as a trance or ecstasy is
itself an involuntary state, so the thoughts and feelings of the subject of it must be independent
of the individual will, and as it were imposed from without. Is then the prophet describing the
experience of such an abnormal state-a state like that of St. Peter in his momentous vision on
the housetop at Joppa, or like that of St. Paul when he was "caught up to the third heaven," and
saw many wonderful things which he durst not reveal? The question has been answered in the
negative on two principal grounds. It is said that the vision of Jer_1:11-12, derives its
significance not from the visible thing itself, but from the name of it, which is, of course, not an
object of sight at all; and consequently, the so called vision is really "a well-devised and
ingenious product of cool reflection." But is this so? We may translate the original passage thus:
"And there fell a word of Iahvah unto me, saying, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, A rod
of a wake tree" (i.e., an almond) "is what I see. And Iahvah said unto me, Thou hast well seen;
for wakeful am I over My word, to do it." Doubtless there is here one of those plays on words
which are so well known a feature of the prophetic style; but to admit this is by no means
tantamount to an admission that the vision derives its force and meaning from the "invisible
name" rather than from the visible thing. Surely it is plain that the significance of the vision
depends on the fact which the name implies; a fact which would be at once suggested by the
sight of the tree. It is the well known characteristic of the almond tree that it wakes, as it were,
from the long sleep of winter before all other trees, and displays its beautiful garland of blossom,
while its companions remain leafless and apparently lifeless. This quality of early wakefulness is
expressed by the Hebrew name of the almond tree; for shaqued means waking or wakeful. If this
tree, in virtue of its remarkable peculiarity, was a proverb of watching and waking, the sight of it,
or of a branch of it, in a prophetic vision would be sufficient to suggest that idea, independently
of the name. The allusion to the name, therefore, is only a literary device for expressing with
inimitable force and neatness the significance of the visible symbol of the "rod of the almond
tree," as it was intuitively apprehended by the prophet in his vision.
Another and more radical ground is discovered in the substance of the Divine communication. It
is said that the anticipatory statement of the contents and purpose of the subsequent
prophesyings of the seer (Jer_1:10), the announcement beforehand of his fortunes (Jer_1:8,
Jer_1:18, Jer_1:19); and the warning addressed to the prophet personally (Jer_1:17), are only
conceivable as results of a process of abstraction from real experience, as prophecies conformed
to the event (ex eventu). "The call of the prophet," says the writer whose arguments we are
examining," was the moment when, battling down the doubts and scruples of the natural man
(Jer_1:7-8), and full of holy courage, he took the resolution (Jer_1:17) to proclaim God’s word.
Certainly he was animated by the hope of Divine assistance (Jer_1:18), the promise of which he
heard inwardly in the heart. More than this cannot be affirmed. But in this chapter
(Jer_1:17-18), the measure and direction of the Divine help are already clear to the writer; he is
aware that opposition awaits him (Jer_1:19); he knows the content of his prophecies (Jer_1:10).
Such knowledge was only possible for him in the middle or at the end of his career; and
therefore the composition of this opening chapter must be referred to such a later period. As,

however, the final catastrophe, after which his language would have taken a wholly different
complexion, is still hidden from him here; and as the only edition of his prophecies prepared by
himself, that we know of, belongs to the fourth year of Jehoiakim; (Jer_36:1-2) the section is
best referred to that very time, when the posture of affairs promised well for the fulfilment of the
threatenings of many years (cf. Jer_25:9 with Jer_1:15, Jer_1:10; Jer_25:13 with Jer_1:12-17;
Jer_25:6 with Jer_1:16. And Jer_1:18 is virtually repeated, Jer_15:20, which belongs to the
same period)."
The first part of this is an obvious inference from the narrative itself. The prophet’s own
statement makes it abundantly clear that his conviction of a call was accompanied by doubts and
fears, which were only silenced by that faith which moves mountains. That lofty confidence in
the purpose and strength of the Unseen, which has enabled weak and trembling humanity to
endure martyrdom, might well be sufficient to nerve a young man to undertake the task of
preaching unpopular truths, even at the risk of frequent persecution and occasional peril. But
surely we need not suppose that, when Jeremiah started on his prophetic career, he was as one
who takes a leap in the dark. Surely it is not necessary to suppose him profoundly ignorant of
the subject matter of prophecy in general, of the kind of success he might look for, of his own
shrinking timidity and desponding temperament, of "the measure and direction of the Divine
help." Had the son of Hilkiah been the first of the prophets of Israel instead of one of the latest;
had there been no prophets before him; we might recognise some force in this criticism. As the
facts lie, however, we can hardly avoid an obvious answer. With the experience of many notable
predecessors before his eyes; with the message of a Hosea, an Amos, a Micah, an Isaiah, graven
upon his heart; with his minute knowledge of their history, their struggles and successes, the
fierce antagonisms they roused, the cruel persecutions they were called upon to face in the
discharge of their Divine commission; with his profound sense that nothing but the good help of
their God had enabled them to endure the strain of a lifelong battle; it is not in the least
wonderful that Jeremiah should have foreseen the like experience for himself. The wonder
would have been, if, with such speaking examples before him, he had not anticipated "the
measure and direction of the Divine help"; if he had been ignorant "that opposition awaited
him"; if he had not already possessed a general knowledge of the "contents" of his own as of all
prophecies. For there is a substantial unity underlying all the manifold outpourings of the
prophetic spirit. Indeed, it would seem that it is to the diversity of personal gifts, to differences
of training and temperament, to the rich variety of character and circumstance, rather than to
any essential contrasts in the substance and purport of prophecy itself, that the absence of
monotony, the impress of individuality and originality is due, which characterises the
Utterances of the principal prophets.
Apart from the unsatisfactory nature of the reasons alleged, it is very probable that this opening
chapter was penned by Jeremiah as an introduction to the first collection of his prophecies,
which dates from the fourth year of Jehoiakim, that is, circ. B.C. 606. In that case, it must not be
forgotten that the prophet is relating events which, as he tells us himself, (Jer_25:3) had taken
place three and twenty years ago; and as his description is probably drawn from memory,
something may be allowed for unconscious transformation of facts in the light of after
experience. Still, the peculiar events that attended so marked a crisis in his life as his first
consciousness of a Divine call must, in any case, have constituted, cannot but have left a deep
and abiding impress upon the prophet’s memory; and there really seems to be no good reason
for refusing to believe that that initial experience took the form of a twofold vision seen under
conditions of trance or ecstasy. At the same time, bearing in mind the Oriental passion for
metaphor and imagery, we are not perhaps debarred from seeing in the whole chapter a
figurative description, or rather an attempt to describe through the medium of figurative
language, that which must always ultimately transcend description-the communion of the
Divine with the human spirit. Real, most real of real facts, as that communion was and is, it can

201874825 jeremiah-1-commentary

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