Jeremiah (Bible)

The Book of Jeremiah is the twenty-fourth book of the Old Testament and is classified among the Major Prophets alongside the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. It records the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah, who tearfully urged the people to repent and proclaimed God’s impending judgment. It also contains a prophecy that God will restore Israel in due time.

Jeremiah
Abbreviation	Jer
Class.	Old Testament
Category	Major Prophets
Chapters	52 Chapters
Record Related
Writer	Jeremiah
Date (Approx.)	620–580 BC
Location	Jerusalem

Jeremiah the Writer

Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem. An oil painting by Rembrandt in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

This book was written by the prophet Jeremiah. His ministry began in the thirteenth year of King Josiah and continued for about forty years, spanning the reigns of Kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin, up to the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. During this period, idolatry was widespread in Judah. Jeremiah preached repentance and proclaimed God’s judgment, delivering the message that the people should surrender to Babylon according to God’s will. For this, he was denounced as a traitor and rejected by his own people.

Jeremiah endured great hardship, facing opposition and persecution from false prophets and leaders. He became known as the “weeping prophet” or the “lonely prophet” because of his deep sorrow over his nation’s sin and the impending destruction of Jerusalem. In 586 B.C., he witnessed the fall of Jerusalem during the third Babylonian invasion and wrote the book of Lamentations to mourn the city’s devastation.

For details, refer to: Jeremiah (Prophet)

Record Background

Assyria, the empire that had destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel, gradually declined in power, while Egypt and Babylon rose to prominence. Pharaoh Neco (Necho II) of Egypt, who killed King Josiah of the southern Kingdom of Judah, deposed Josiah’s successor, Jehoahaz, and appointed his brother Eliakim as king, renaming him Jehoiakim.

After serving Babylon for three years, Jehoiakim rebelled. In response, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Jerusalem and took members of the royal family and the nobility into captivity. Jehoiakim died in the eleventh year of his reign, and his son Jehoiachin became king. However, Babylon soon captured him as well and installed Zedekiah as king of Judah.

During this time, wickedness was widespread in Judah, much like it had been in the northern kingdom of Israel before its fall. Jeremiah boldly confronted Judah’s sins and proclaimed that surrendering to Babylon was God’s will. Yet the people of Judah branded him a traitor and refused to listen. In the end, Babylon completely destroyed Judah, just as Jeremiah had warned.

Characteristics of the Book of Jeremiah

• The book is not arranged in chronological order. For example, Jeremiah’s confrontation with the false prophet Hananiah happened after King Zedekiah was enthroned, but Zedekiah’s ascension to the throne was recorded later in the book.
• While Jeremiah was confined, his friend and scribe Baruch wrote down the revelations Jeremiah received. Baruch read the scroll at the temple, but King Jehoiakim burned it. Then, in accordance with God’s command to rewrite the words, Jeremiah dictated again to Baruch, adding many other prophecies.
• Jeremiah employed various symbolic acts and objects to deliver God’s will: a ruined belt (Ch. 13), prohibition against his marriage (Ch. 16), the parable of the potter and the clay (Ch. 18), a clay jar (Ch. 19), a yoke made of straps (Ch. 27), a purchased field (Ch 32), and two baskets with figs (Ch. 24).
• He compared the relationship between God and His people to that of parents and children, and also to that of husband and wife.
• God was described as the source of living water (Ch. 2), the potter (Ch. 18), and the Creator (Ch. 31).

Composition of Jeremiah

Class.	Chapters	Content
Chs. 1–25	Israel’s Idolatry and Prophesied Judgment	Prophecies Concerning Judah
Chs. 26–45	Work of Kings of Judah and the Suffering of Jeremiah
Chs. 46–51	Prophecies About the Nations
Ch. 52	Destruction of Jerusalem

Israel’s Idolatry and Prophesied Judgment (Chs. 1–25)

In the thirteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, God called Jeremiah as a prophet and gave him visions—an almond branch and a boiling pot—symbolizing that judgment was coming upon Judah for its idolatry. At that time, idolatry in Judah was at its peak. People offered their children as sacrifices in fire to idols and set up incense altars to Baal throughout the land. They oppressed the weak, condemned the innocent, and shamelessly practiced all kinds of evil.

Jeremiah warned that Judah’s rebellion against God would inevitably lead to judgment. Yet the people refused to listen and instead followed false prophets like Hananiah, who proclaimed peace when destruction was near. Despite Jeremiah’s use of symbolic acts and parables to awaken the people to their sins, they refused to repent. Instead, they threatened him and subjected him to ongoing persecution.

In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim’s reign, Jeremiah prophesied that Judah would fall to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and serve him for seventy years. After the seventy years were completed, God promised to judge Babylon and bring His people back to their homeland.

“I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn . . . these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD, “and will make it desolate forever.

Jeremiah 25:9–12

Symbols in the Book of Jeremiah

• Ruined Belt (Ch. 13) God told Jeremiah to buy a linen belt and put it around his waist, then later commanded him to hide it near the Euphrates. When he retrieved it, the belt was ruined and completely useless. God prophesied that Israel and Judah, who were arrogant and idolatrous, would become like this ruined belt.
• Potter and Clay (Ch. 18) God made it clear that the fate of nations and kingdoms lies in His hands, just as clay is molded by the will of the potter.
• Clay Jar (Ch. 19) God commanded Jeremiah to buy a clay jar from a potter and take some of the elders and priests to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, where detestable idol worship had occurred. There, Jeremiah shattered the jar before them as a prophetic sign, declaring the impending destruction of Jerusalem.
• Good Figs and Bad Figs (Ch. 24) God likened those who were taken into exile to Babylon during and before Jehoiachin’s reign to good figs, while those who remained in Jerusalem and relied on Egypt to resist Babylon were compared to bad figs.

Works of the Kings of Judah and the Suffering of Jeremiah (Chs. 26–45)

Kings of Judah During Jeremiah’s Ministry

King of Judah	Reign (BC)	Key Historical Events	Scripture
Josiah	640–609 (31 Years)	Instituted religious reforms in his 18th year; died in the Battle of Megiddo	2 Ki 22–23
Jehoahaz	608 (3 Months)	Became king but was taken captive to Egypt	2 Ki 23:31–36
Jehoiakim	608–597 (11 Years)	Babylon conquers Nineveh, Judah (first captivity, 606 BC), and Egypt. Jehoiakim ascended to the throne after Jehoiakim’s death	2 Ki 24:1–7
Jehoiachin	597 (3 Months)	Taken into Babylonian exile; Zedekiah (birth name: Mattaniah) was appointed king (second captivity, 597 BC)	2 Ki 24:9–15
Zedekiah	597–586 (11 Years)	Rebelled, leading Babylon to besiege Jerusalem (third captivity, 586 BC)	2 Ki 24:17; 2 Ki 25:8–9

• Jehoiakim (Chs. 22, 25–27, 35–36, 45) Jehoiakim imposed heavy taxes on the people to send tribute to Egypt, and even embezzled part of it. He sent men all the way to Egypt to capture Uriah, a prophet who had proclaimed God’s judgment, and had him killed. He also committed evil by burning the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies, which Baruch had written. Despite Jeremiah’s plea to surrender to Babylon in obedience to God’s will, Jehoiakim rebelled. As a result, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Judah, and members of the royal family and the nobility were taken into captivity in Babylon.
• Zedekiah (Chs. 21, 24, 27–32, 34, 37, 49, 51–52) Zedekiah was the last king of Judah; his original name was Mattaniah. After his enthronement, he allied himself with pro-Egyptian nations—Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon—to resist Babylon. Jeremiah proclaimed God’s message by placing a yoke on his neck like an ox, symbolizing Judah’s need to serve Babylon. However, the false prophet Hananiah broke Jeremiah’s yoke and falsely prophesied that the exiles would return within two years. As punishment, Hananiah died within two months. In the ninth year of his reign, Zedekiah, having received a promise of military aid from Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt, rebelled against Babylon. As a result, the Babylonian invasion resumed, and Jerusalem was besieged again. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, Jerusalem was completely taken. Zedekiah tried to flee but was captured by Babylonian soldiers on the plains of Jericho and brought to Riblah. There he watched his two sons being put to death before his eyes were gouged out. Bound in bronze shackles, he was taken to Babylon, where he eventually died in prison.

Jeremiah’s Suffering (Chs. 20, 36–45)
Jeremiah faced severe persecution, and his life was even threatened. Pashhur, the chief officer (head of the temple overseers), had Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks. Even his close friends hoped he would fall into disgrace. King Jehoiakim burned the scroll that contained Jeremiah’s prophecy. During King Zedekiah’s reign, Jeremiah was confined in a vaulted cell in a dungeon and later thrown into a muddy cistern.

Each time he delivered the word of the LORD, he was mocked and insulted, which brought him great distress. Yet, he fulfilled his mission as a prophet until the end, saying that God’s word was in his heart like a fire and that he could not hold it in.

After the fall of Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, having heard that Jeremiah had advised the people of Judah to surrender, intended to honor him in any way he wished. Jeremiah was released from captivity and stayed with Gedaliah, who had been appointed governor of Judah. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam, who had protected Jeremiah from danger. However, some of the remnant in Judah assassinated Gedaliah and fled to Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar’s retaliation, and forcibly took Jeremiah and Baruch as well. Jeremiah also preached God’s will to the Jews in Egypt.

Prophecy About the Nations (Chs. 46–51)

Egypt (Ch. 46)

After Egypt’s defeat by Babylon at the Battle of Carchemish, God gave a prophecy through Jeremiah that Nebuchadnezzar would invade Egypt.
Philistia (Ch. 47)

This prophecy foretells the destruction of the Philistines, which was fulfilled 20 years after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon conquered Judah.
Moab, Ammon, Edom, Syria, Kedar, Hazor, and Elam (Chs. 48–49)

These chapters declare that not only Moab, who supported Nebuchadnezzar during his invasion of Judah, but also Ammon, Edom, and many other nations would be conquered by Babylon.

Babylon (Chs. 50–51)

God prophesied that Babylon would be judged by the kings and officials of Media. Jeremiah recorded this prophecy seven years before King Nebuchadnezzar set fire to Jerusalem. He entrusted the scroll to Seraiah, the staff officer, who accompanied King Zedekiah on a journey to Babylon. Jeremiah instructed Seraiah to read the scroll aloud upon his arrival in Babylon, then tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates River. This symbolic act declared that Babylon would sink and never rise again.

Fall of Jerusalem (Ch. 52)

Despite Jeremiah’s repeated warnings, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon. In response, King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem for nearly two years. Eventually, the Babylonian army set fire to the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and took all the sacred articles. Millions of the people of Judah died, and hundreds of thousands of people who surrendered to Babylon were taken captive. Only the poor and destitute were left in the land of Judah.

For details, refer to: Babylonian Captivity