3. THE CONFLICT OF JEREMIAH WITH THE FALSE PROPHETS IN BABYLON

CHAPTER 29

1. The Letter to the Exiles

29:1–23

1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried 2away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon (after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters 3and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem); By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah (whom Zedekiah the king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), saying,

4Thus saith the Lord of hosts [Jehovah Zebaoth], the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem 5unto Babylon: Build ye houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat the 6fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and 7daughters; that ye may be increased there and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord [Jehovah] for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

8For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your 9dreams which ye cause to be dreamed1 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my 10name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good 11word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give 12you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, 13and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall 14search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity,2 and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 15, 16Because3 ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; Know that thus saith the Lord of4 the king that sitteth upon the throne5 of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in the city, and of your brethren that are not gone 17forth with you into captivity; Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile6 18figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an 19hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent7 unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord [Jehovah].

20Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have 21sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, 22king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab,8 whom the king of Babylon roasted 23in the fire; Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them: even I know9 and am a witness, saith the Lord.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Jeremiah did not limit himself to contending against the perverse nationalism of the Jews in their own home, for those who had already been carried away captive were in constant communication with home, and the accounts of the views and expectations prevailing among the former at all events influenced the conclusions of the latter. If they adapted themselves to their state of exile and described it as tolerable, when they saw its inevitable necessity, and admonished their countrymen to bow to this necessity, this was at any rate a powerful auxiliary to Jeremiah’s preaching. Hence Jeremiah seeks to move the captives to humble submission to their lot, presenting before them on the one hand the true consolation of a deliverance to be hoped for after seventy years, and on the other hand most emphatically warning them against the false consolation of a deliverance in a shorter period, which the false prophets set before them. Jeremiah thus avails himself of the opportunity afforded by an embassy, despatched by Zedekiah to Babylon (29:3), to send a letter to those who had been already deported. We know nothing further either of the object of the embassy or of the persons of the ambassadors. As to the time of the composition and despatch of the letter HITZIG has correctly remarked that all the data we have point to the period between the first and the fourth years of Zedekiah. The deportation under Jeconiah had taken place (29:1, 2). The deportation appears to be that event on which the sending of the letter leans; there seems to be nothing more important as the occasion of it. Add to this that the counsel which. Jeremiah gives suits the commencement of the exile. How are the exiles to arrange matters? Are they to compose themselves for a brief or lengthened sojourn? Jeremiah tells them they are to do the latter. It is incredible that he delayed this advice for years, the more so since of the seventy years of exile, for those who were carried away with Jeconiah, eight were already past. Besides this, it is not probable that Zedekiah in his fourth year, when he himself went to Babylon (51:59), would send an embassy thither. I therefore agree with HITZIG, who ascribes the epistle to the first or second year after the deportation. The vision, of which Jer 24 relates, must have preceded this letter, not only because from its purport it must have followed immediately after the deportation of Jeconiah, while our letter presupposes the arrival of the captives in Babylon, but also because in several places in the letter reference is made to it (comp. Jer 29:10 with 24:6; Jer 29:17 with 24:2, 8; Jer 29:18 with 24:9).—It is true many commentators regard Jer 29:16–20 as inauthentic, but incorrectly as we shall see.—The question, whether we have a true copy of the letter or only a later reproduction, or account of it, is variously answered. The last view has in its favor: 1. that the writing has not the form of a letter; 2. the apparently unconnected position of Jer 29:15–20. But what is the Hebrew form of a letter? From the few examples which the Old Testament affords (comp. 2 Sam. 11:14; 1 Ki. 21:8; 2 Ki. 10:1–6; 2 Chron. 30:6; Ezr. 4:8; Neh. 6:5), we cannot derive any set form, and as to the absence of connection we shall hereafter show (on Jer 29:15 sqq.) that such an absence does not exist. I find therefore no reason for doubting the agreement of our letter with the original. It contains four parts: 1. Jer 29:4–7, the positive command to arrange for a longer sojourn in Babylon; 2. Warning against being deceived by the false prophets, since Jehovah promises deliverance and return only after seventy years; 3. Jer 29:15–20, Warning against trusting in the false prophets, especially in reference to that part of the people which had remained in Jerusalem, since it is devoted to destruction; 4. Jer 29:21–23, prediction of the severe punishment of two false prophets.

Jer 29:1-7. Now these are the words … shall ye have peace. After the words of historical introduction, which give information concerning the receivers and bearers of the letter, follows the first part of the letter (Jer 29:4–7). As the command of God (Jer 29:4), Jeremiah proclaims to the exiles that they should build houses and lay out gardens (Jer 29:5), marry and give their children in marriage (Jer 29:6), and seek the welfare of the place assigned them as a residence as a condition of their own (Jer 29:7). HITZIG regards Jer 29:1–3 as showing traces of a later hand in the abbreviated forms of the names, the mention of Nebuchadnezzar, which name is omitted by the LXX., and in the remark that Jeremiah was a prophet. But comp. on the other hand GRAF, S. 342 sqq.—The residue of the elders. The explanation of HITZIG and GRAF that these were the elders who were not at the same time priests or prophets, cannot possibly be correct. For then this phrase must have come after, since those priests and prophets who were not elders, can be no others than those straightway mentioned. The supposition that the deceased elders must have been already replaced by others, so that the council of elders could not appear to the prophet as merely a residue, is unfounded. How could Jeremiah assume an organized community, when in his letter he exhorts them to enter into such relations. He will of course address those elders only who are alive.—Does the date in Jer 29:2 refer to “sent” or “carried away?” Manifestly to the latter, for if referred to “sent” it would declare that Jeremiah wrote immediately after the surrender, which is not to be imagined. The sentence “after that,” etc., is therefore to be referred to “carried away” and the sense is: “which Nebuchadnezzar carried away after that, in accordance with the required condition, Jehoiachin, with those afterwards named, surrendered himself. For יָצָא is used of the surrendering of besieged persons (2 Ki. 24:12 sqq.; 1 Sam. 11:3, 10; 1 Ki. 20:31; Isa. 36:16; Jer. 21:9; 38:2, 21).—The queen. Comp. 13:18; 2 Ki. 24:8, 12, 15.—The eunuchs, the princes. The two terms appear to be in apposition, but the princes of Judah were certainly not eunuchs. Either then is סָרִים to be taken in the sense of chamberlain, courtier (of which use there is certain proof. Comp. 2 Ki. 24:14, 15. GESEN. Thes., p. 973), or else וְ, and, is wanting before שָׁרֵי, princes.—On carpenters, etc., comp. rems. on 24:1.—The Lord designates the captives as carried away by him: Jer 29:4, 7, 14, 20.—Increased there. This ancient theocratic blessing (Gen. 13:16; 15:5; 17:2; Jer. 3:16, 19) is thus to be preserved to the people even in captivity.

Jer 29:8-14. For thus … carried away captive. The direction in Jer 29:5–7 is given by the prophet for two reasons, a negative and a positive. The negative reason is, the expectation of a speedy liberation, which false prophets seek to produce in the people and which is an illusion of their own dreams, a nonentity, by which they are not to allow themselves to be deceived (Jer 29:8 and 9). The positive reason is that not till after seventy years will the Lord verify His promise of grace. Then will the people call upon their God and seek Him, and He will hear and be found of them and turn away their captivity and bring them home from all the places where they have been dispersed (Jer 29:10–14).

Jer 29:10. Seventy years. Comp. 25:11. The prophet does not calculate from the present, but he has in mind the absolute period of duration appointed to the Babylonian empire. Observe also, that he does not say: when the years of your exile are ended. The seventy years represent primarily the years of the Babylonian empire and only secondarily those of the captivity. The more justified are we in dating the seventy years from the siege of Carchemish. It should further be observed that the prophet opposes the arbitrary unfounded thesis of the false prophets, not in a harsh and severe but mild and consolatory antithesis, in which even the severest point, the seventy years’ duration of the exile, is expressed in the most forbearing manner. The Lord evidently wishes to soften and win their hearts, which had been rendered obstinate by false consolation, by presenting the true. Hence also the gracious thoughts of Jer 29:11. I still know my thoughts, says the Lord, i. e. I have not forgotten them or let them pass from my view. אחרית corresponds to our English “future” (to “have a future,” etc.). Comp. Prov. 23:18; 24:14, 20; Ps. 37:37; Jer. 31:17. The Lord, however, sets before the people not merely a future of outward prosperity, but above all a future of internal welfare, without which the former would be altogether inconceivable.—Ye shall go (והלכתם), Jer 29:12, is best taken of going to a place of worship. So that ye shall call and and pray are distinguished as private and public worship (comp. 1 Ki. 8:20, 29, 30, 35, etc.). If the sentences of Jer 29:13 and “I will be found of you,” Jer 29:14, are not tautological, we must regard them as two sentences with two clauses each, the second forming the basis of the former; כִּ is not “when” but “for,” or “because:” ye will seek me and find me; because ye shall seek me with all your heart, I will be found of you.—Turn away your captivity. The expression is rooted in Deut. (30:3), as generally in our whole passage this chapter hovered before the mind of the prophet. The expression is found with special frequency in Jeremiah, and chiefly in chs. 30–33 and 48–49. To turn the captivity stands, however, for restitutio in integrum generally (Job 42:10; Jer. 30:18). The return from exile was only a weak beginning of the fulfilment of our prophecy. Comp. rems. on 3:12 sqq.

Jer 29:15-19. Because ye have said … saith Jehovah. Not only has Jer 29:15 been declared to be transposed hither from its first place, but the whole passage, Jer 29:16–20, has been pronounced spurious (HITZIG), which is thought to be the more justified, because the passage is wanting in the LXX. It seems to me that two things have been overlooked here. 1. Jerusalem with its remaining population and the theocratic king at their head naturally still continued to the exiles to be the sun of their happiness and their hope. So long as Jerusalem and the temple were standing, the main foundation of the theocracy was unshaken and the hope existed that the present temporary adversity might be followed any moment by a turn for the better. Hence also the prophecies of the false prophets dwelt above all on the continuance of Jerusalem. Even the present misfortune, the partial deportation of the people and the sacred vessels, although they had not predicted it, they could explain as a mere episode, which did not refute the main tenor of their promises, so long as Jerusalem and the temple were standing, and there were people in Jerusalem. Hence Jeremiah takes away the ground from under the feet of those false prophets, by predicting in Jer 29:16–20 the total destruction of the present population of Jerusalem, together with their king. We are not then to say that these words, Jer 29:16–20, apply to the population of Jerusalem. They certainly do so, but only secondarily. Primarily they are to overthrow the basis on which the false prophets of the captivity are standing. I can then regard the words only as necessary parts of the genuine letter, written by Jeremiah to the exiles, and cannot assume with GRAF that we have in this chapter only a report of the letter. 2. In its grammatical relations the כִּי in the beginning of Jer 29:16 has given the greatest trouble to the commentators. They have taken it mostly in the causal signification, which it certainly usually has in this formula, which however affords no sense, whether we connect Jer 29:16 with Jer 29:15 or Jer 29:14. It is here rather the pleonastic כִּי which so frequently introduces a direct statement. We have had it already in Jer 29:10. Comp. 2:35; 22:22; and TEXTUAL NOTE.—Hath raised, etc. Jeremiah supposes a reply to Jer 29:8, 9. You despise our prophets; we however assure you that Jehovah raises up prophets not only in Jerusalem, but He has extended the inspiring influence of His Spirit even to Babylon. Hence the local form בָבֶלָה.—The sword. Comp. 9:15; 24:10; 27:8, 13.—Figs. The prophet has 24:2 in view. That the exiles were acquainted with the vision in Jer 24 is possible but not necessary. This passage is intelligible to those who had no knowledge of Jer 24—Ye would not hear. The 2 pers. plur. proceeds doubtless simply from the circumstance that the prophet quotes entire a frequent saying there: 7:13; 25:3, 4, 7, 8; 26:5. On Jer 29:20 comp. 24:5.

Jer 29:20-23. Hear ye therefore … witness, saith Jehovah. In conclusion the prophet predicts the punishment of two of those false prophets for their presumption and blasphemy generally by a terrible death. Nothing further is known of this Ahab and Zedekiah.—Slay them. It is very natural to suppose that Nebuchadnezzar feared the exciting preaching of such prophets and that he wished to terrify others by inflicting death in a terrible manner.

Jer 29:22a. Comp. 24:9; 25:18; 26:6 coll. Isa. 65:15.—Roasted. Comp. Dan. 3:6.—Villany, (נבלה) a deed of shame, facinus rationi legique divinæ repugnans (FUERST). Comp. Gen. 34:7; Deut. 22:21; Josh. 7:15.—The Lord calls Himself a knower and witness, because He not only knows the truth, but brings it also to light. Comp. Mal. 3:5. Levit. 5:1 may in general have been hovering before the mind of the prophet.

Footnotes:

[1]Jer 29:8.—מחלמים. Hiph. from חלם occurs only in Isa. 38:16 and here; Part. Hiph. here only. The causative conjugation would not inappropriately intimate the self made character of those dreams (HITZIG). The form is not without analogies. Comp. מַעְזְרִים, 2 Chron. 28:23. מַחְצְרִים (Keri) 1 Chron. 15:24. But comp. OLSH., § 258 a, S. 580.

[2]Jer 29:14.—שׁוּב in this connection is used transitively. That שְׁבוּת cannot be taken as accusative of the object (I turn myself to the captivity) is evident from the circumstance, that, where the connection requires the imperfect we have אָשִׁיב 32:44; 33:11, 26 (Keri); 49:6, 39 (Keri); in Ezek. 39:25; 33:7 we have even the perfect Hiphil.

[3]Jer 29:15.—כִּי. Comp. NAEGELSB. Gr., § 109, 1 a. Since the pleonastic כִּי requires a verbum dicendi to be supplied before it, we must here supply: thus I say; thus I declare to you. כִּי before אֲמַרְתֶּם=when, or as to this that—as almost all the commentators admit. The perfect is used (comp. the imperf. Jer 29:13), because the fact supposed is real.

[4]Jer 29:16.—אל־המלך, Jer 29:16. אֵל=in respect to, of, as frequently elsewhere: Jer 29:21; 22:11. Comp. NAEGELSB Gr., § 112, 5, b.

[5]Jer 29:16.—אֶל־כִּסֵא. אֶל for עַל, as frequently in Jeremiah. Comp. rems. on 10:1.

[6]Jer 29:17.—שֹׁעָר (probably from מַשֹׁעָר) here only—meaning horridus, abominandus. Comp. שַׁעֲרוּרָה.

[7]Jer 29:19.—אשׁר־שׁלחתי. On the construction with a double accusative comp. NAEGELSB. Gr., § 69, 2 c.

[8]Jer 29:22.—וּכְאֶחָב. In consequence of the elision of the א, patahh must, according to the well-known rule, pass over into Segol.

[9]Jer 29:23.—On the reading הַויּדֵעַ comp. TEXTUAL NOTES on 17:23.

2. The Consequences of the Letter

29:24–32

24, 25Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah 26the priest, and to all the priests, saying, The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad10 and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put 27him in prison, and in the stocks.11 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved12 Jeremiah 28of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you? For therefore13 he sent [a letter] unto us in Babylon, saying, this captivity is [will continue] long:14 build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 29And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30, 31Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Send to all them of the captivity [a message] saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him 32not [without my having sent him] and he caused you to trust15 in a lie: Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold16 the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The letter, 29:4–23, caused great exasperation among the false prophets at Babylon. One of them, Shemaiah, complains to the overseer of the temple in Jerusalem that he did not interfere against the conduct of the mad Jeremiah. Jeremiah gets information of this letter and receives the command to announce to Shemaiah that his family shall become extinct, and that he himself will not see the salvation of Israel. The arrangement of the sentences in this passage is very irregular. In the first place all explanation concerning the proximate occasion of this utterance is passed over. Yet this may be accounted for by the fact that this may be learned from the tenor of the passage itself. The beginning will then be made with the command to make an announcement to Shemaiah. This announcement does begin in Jer 29:25, and takes its regular course to the close of Jer 29:28, so that in Jer 29:26–28 the letter is communicated verbatim, which gave the occasion for the announcement to Shemaiah. Here the address to Shemaiah breaks off without a conclusion. Instead of this, after the prophet has suddenly sprung back from the point of the communication by him to the point of the communication to him, the conclusion is given in the form of an address to the exiles, in which Shemaiah is spoken of in the third person (Jer 29:30–32). Here accordingly two announcements seem to have been made (comp. Jer 29:24, 25 with Jer 29:30, 31), which on account of their identical tenor the prophet allows to combine in the course of his narrative.

Jer 29:24-28. Thus shalt thou … eat the fruit of them. We might indeed translate אֵל here, as in Jer 29:16 and 21, of [Shemaiah] instead of to, but Jer 29:25 contains a direct address to Shemaiah. Neither he nor his birth-place is mentioned elsewhere.—The letter, communicated in Jer 29:26–28, is addressed specially to the priest Zephaniah. When notwithstanding, in Jer 29:25, letters are spoken of which were addressed to all the prophets and all the priests besides Zephaniah, this may be explained in two ways; either there really were letters with the three addresses mentioned, the principal letter only being communicated to Zephaniah; or this letter was the only one, but designated in Jer 29:25 as intended to be communicated to a wider circle. Both explanations are grammatically possible. For letters (ספרים) may be a general plural. (Comp. פֹטוֹת, yokes, 28:13 and Isa. 37:14; 39:1).—Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, was כֹּהֵן מִשְׁנֶה, second priest, 52:24. Comp. 21:1 and 37:3.—Officers (פקידים). This also might in itself be a general plural, if the mention of the predecessor did not require us to refer it to both officers.—That is mad. Here the expression involves an insult to Jeremiah. Zephaniah was not to restrain all those who prophesied, but only those who were deranged and presumed to prophesy, and Jeremiah is reckoned among these.—In prison. Comp. 30:2.—This is long. By this the 70 years are meant (Jer 29:10), which, in comparison with the time predicted by the false prophets, would be a very long period.

Jer 29:29-32. And Zephaniah … against Jehovah. The words of Jer 29:29 do not clearly indicate whether Zephaniah read the letter of Jeremiah alone or in the presence of others. We may conclude from the two embassies (21:1; 37:3) that he was probably not personally hostile towards Jeremiah. We also find no indication that Shemaiah’s letter was at that time of any injury to Jeremiah. It is indeed possible that Zephaniah, though unable to keep the purport of the letter altogether secret, yet acted with the utmost possible consideration toward the prophet. At any rate Jeremiah was not intimidated. Shemaiah receives a reproving answer from the Lord’s prophet: his race shall be extirpated (the phrase “dwelling among his people” signifies a peaceful, secure existence, 2 Ki. 4:13) and he himself will not have his eyes gladdened by the prosperity of his people.

Footnotes:

[10]Jer 29:26.—משׁנא. Only the Part. Pual and Part. and Inf. Hiphil of this word are found. The radical meaning is to be astray. (Comp. שָׁנָא, שָׁנַנ, שָׁנָה). The Hiphil is used of raving in general, 1 Sam. 21:15,16; מְשֻנָא likewise in Deut. 28:34 and 1 Sam. 21:16; elsewhere only of prophets and always in a bad sense; Hos.9:7; 2 Ki. 9:11.

[11]Jer 29:26.—צינק. The word is ἅπ. λεγ. The root צָנַק also does not occur elsewhere in Hebrew. From the dialects the most suitable comparison is afforded by the Arabic zinäg, collar, ring (HITZIG). According to the older Rabbis in KIMCHI צינק=לידים מסנר, כלי as מהפכת=לאוֹאר מסנר Symm.: μόχλος lever, pole, bar. GES. Thes., p. 1175. HITZIG rightly supposes that both instruments formed the complete instrument of torture, one serving to confine the neck, the other the hands and feet.

[12]Jer 29:27.—נערת. Properly to chide (comp. Gen. 37:10) then to interfere, to stop any one (Ruth 2:16; Mal. 3:11).

[13]Jer 29:28.—כי על־כן. In itself these particles might be taken in the most natural sense; for on this account (viz., on account of defective control); but elsewhere they always designate the reason supposed as the object or result; 38:4; Gen. 18:5; 19:8; 33:10; 38:26. Comp. REDSLOB, lexical. Erürterunyen. Stud. u. Krit., 1841, S 983 sqq.

[14]Jer 29:28.—אָרֹךְ, of extension in time (2 Sam. 3:1), and in space (Job 11:9). On the neuter significance of the feminine, comp. NAEGELSB. Gr., § 60, 6 b.

[15]Jer 29:31.—On ויבִטח comp. 28:15.

[16]Jer 29:32.—ראה withבְ. Comp. NAEGELSB. Gr., § 112, 5, a; Ps. 37:34; 54:9; 118:7.