Jeremiah

n 1: (Old Testament) an Israelite prophet who is remembered for his angry lamentations (jeremiads) about the wickedness of his people (circa 626-587 BC)

2: a book in the Old Testament containing the oracles of the prophet Jeremiah syn Book of Jeremiah

Source: WordNet. Princeton University

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Jeremiah

Seven other persons bearing the same name as the prophet are mentioned in the Old Testament:--

• Jeremiah of Libnah, father of Hamutal wife of Josiah. (2 Kings 23:31) (B.C. before 632.) 2,3,4. Three warriors--two of the tribe of Gad-- in David's army. (1 Chronicles 12:4,10,13) (B.C. 1061-53.)

• One of the "mighty men of valor" of the transjordanic half-tribe of Manasseh. (1 Chronicles 5:24) (B.C. 782.)

• A priest of high rank, head of the second or third of the twenty-one courses which are apparently enumerated in (Nehemiah 10:2-8; 12:1,12) (B.C. 446-410).

• The father of Jazaniah the Rechabite. (Jeremiah 35:3) (B.C. before 606.)

(whom Jehovah has appointed) was "the son of Hilkiah of the priests that were in Anathoth." (Jeremiah 1:1)

• History.--He was called very young (B.C. 626) to the prophetic office, and prophesied forty-two years; but we have hardly any mention of him during the eighteen years between his call and Josiah's death, or during the short reign of Jehoahaz. During the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, B.C. 607-598, he opposed the Egyptian party, then dominant in Jerusalem, and maintained that they only way of safety lay in accepting the supremacy of the Chaldeans. He was accordingly accused of treachery, and men claiming to be prophets had the "word of Jehovah" to set against his. (Jeremiah 14:13; 23:7) As the danger from the Chaldeans became more threatening, the persecution against Jeremiah grew hotter. ch. 18. The people sought his life; then follows the scene in (Jeremiah 19:10-13) he was set, however, "as a fenced brazen wall," ch. (Jeremiah 15:20) and went on with his work, reproving king and nobles and people. The danger which Jeremiah had so long foretold at last came near. First Jehoiakim, and afterwards his successor Jehoiachin, were carried into exile, 2Kin 24; but Zedekiah, B.C. 597-586, who was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, was more friendly to the prophet, though powerless to help him. The approach of an Egyptian army, and the consequent departure of the Chaldeans, made the position of Jeremiah full of danger, and he sought to effect his escape from the city; but he was seized and finally thrown into a prison-pit to die, but was rescued. On the return of the Chaldean army he showed his faith in God's promises, and sought to encourage the people by purchasing the field at Anathoth which his kinsman Hanameel wished to get rid of. (Jeremiah 32:6-9) At last the blow came. The city was taken, the temple burnt. The king and his princes shared the fate of Jehoiachin. The prophet gave utterance to his sorrow in the Lamentations. After the capture of Jerusalem, B.C. 586, by the Chaldeans, we find Jeremiah receiving better treatment; but after the death of Gedaliah, the people, disregarding his warnings, took refuge in Egypt, carrying the prophet with them. In captivity his words were sharper and stronger than ever. He did not shrink, even there, from speaking of the Chaldean king once more as "the servant of Jehovah." (Jeremiah 43:10) After this all is uncertain, but he probably died in Egypt.

• Character.--Canon Cook says of Jeremiah, "His character is most interesting. We find him sensitive to a most painful degree, timid, shy, hopeless, desponding, constantly complaining and dissatisfied with the course of events, but never flinching from duty...Timid in resolve, he was unflinching in execution; as fearless when he had to face the whole world as he was dispirited and prone to murmuring when alone with God. Judged by his own estimate of himself, he was feeble, and his mission a failure; really, in the hour of action and when duty called him, he was in very truth 'a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land.' ch. (Jeremiah 1:18) he was a noble example of the triumph of the moral over the physical nature." (It is not strange that he was desponding when we consider his circumstances. He saw the nation going straight to irremediable ruin, and turning a deaf ear to all warnings. "A reign of terror had commenced (in the preceding reign), during which not only the prophets but all who were distinguished for religion and virtue were cruelly murdered." "The nation tried to extirpate the religion of Jehovah;" "Idolatry was openly established," "and such was the universal dishonesty that no man trusted another, and society was utterly disorganized." How could one who saw the nation about to reap the awful harvest they had been sowing, and yet had a vision of what they might have been and might yet be, help indulging in "Lamentations"?--ED.)

Source: Smith's Bible Dictionary, 1884

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Jeremiah

"There can be little doubt that the book of Jeremiah grew out of the roll which Baruch wrote down at the prophet's mouth in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. ch. (Jeremiah 36:2) Apparently the prophets kept written records of their predictions, and collected into larger volumes such of them as were intended for permanent use."--Canon Cook. In the present order we have two great divisions:-- I. Chs. 1-45. Prophecies delivered at various times, directed mainly to Judah, or connected with Jeremiah's personal history. II. Chs. 46-51. Prophecies connected with other nations. Looking more closely into each of these divisions, we have the following sections:

• Chs. 1-21, including prophecies from the thirteenth year of Josiah to the fourth of Jehoiakim; ch. 21; belongs to the later period.

• Chs. 22-25. Shorter prophecies, delivered at different times, against the kings of Judah and the false prophets. Ch. (Jeremiah 25:13,14) evidently marks the conclusion of a series of prophecies; and that which follows, ch. (Jeremiah 25:15-38) the germ of the fuller predictions in chs. 46-49, has been placed here as a kind of completion to the prophecy of the seventy years and the subsequent fall of Babylon.

• Chs. 26-28. The two great prophecies of the fall of Jerusalem, and the history connected with them.

• Chs. 29-31. The message of comfort for the exiles in Babylon.

• Chs. 32-44. The history of the last two years before the capture of Jerusalem, and of Jeremiah's work int hem and in the period that followed.

• Chs. 46-51. The prophecies against foreign nations, ending with the great prediction against Babylon.

• The supplementary narrative of ch. 52.

Source: Smith's Bible Dictionary, 1884

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