Jeremiah

Jeremiah (active late 7th-early 6th century B.C.) was one of the four major Jewish prophets. A priest from Anathoth, Israel, he is the reputed author of the Book of Jeremiah.

The dates of Jeremiah's birth and death are not known. It is known that he began his preaching either in the thirteenth year of King Josiah of Judah (626 B.C.) or at the accession of King Jehoiakim of Judah (608). He preached and taught for over 40 years, so his death must have taken place sometime in the first half of the 6th century B.C., probably between 580 and 560 B.C.

The entire background of Jeremiah's life and the words ascribed to him are permeated with the sense of disaster and disintegration which Judaism and Jews underwent in the 6th century B.C. The northern portion of Palestine, the kingdom of Israel, fell to the Assyrians in 622 B.C. A similar fate threatened the south, the kingdom of Judah, with its capital city of Jerusalem. The Assyrians were conquered by the Babylonians. The latter invaded Judea and captured Jerusalem in 587 B.C. A year later the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple, ended the kingdom of Judah, and deported the Jews (the Babylonian Captivity). Many Jews, among them Jeremiah, fled to Egypt for safety. As far as is known, however, Jeremiah died violently, perhaps by crucifixion, perhaps by the sword.

Not all of the writings ascribed to Jeremiah are considered by modern scholars to be really his. In fact, it is not certain that he ever actually wrote a line. It seems more likely that he dictated much of his material to an assistant or secretary called Baruch. Baruch made two collections of Jeremiah's words, one toward the end of the 7th century B.C. (605-600) and one toward the end of the prophet's life. Baruch added some materials of his own, and there were some later additions. Jewish tradition also ascribes the Book of Lamentations and the Book of Kings to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah's words and pronouncements are directly concerned with the febrile political maneuvering between 605 and 586 B.C. and with the Babylonian Captivity. His early message was simple: unless both king and people reformed their morals and returned to the true worship of God as taught by Moses, Jerusalem would be destroyed and its people killed or exiled. Jeremiah's general message was that temple and priesthood and kingship were of no avail if the heart of man was not clean from idolatry, from lies, and from deception of all kinds. His novel contribution as a prophet was his claim that God would replace the Old Covenant with the Israelites by a new covenant. Peculiarly, this new covenant was not to be restricted to Jews but was to include all the world. Jeremiah taught a universalist creed which would embrace all people.

Further Reading

Useful works on Jeremiah include Terrot R. Glover, The Pilgrim: Essays on Religion (1921); John Skinner, Prophecy and Religion: Studies in the Life of Jeremiah (1922); Adam C. Welch, Jeremiah, His Time and His Work (1928); James P. Hyatt and S. R. Hopper, eds., "The Book of Jeremiah," in George A. Battrick, gen. ed., The Interpreter's Bible (1956); and James P. Hyatt, Jeremiah: Prophet of Courage and Hope (1958). □

Jeremiah A major prophet who lived in Judah c.640–587 BCE and who spent his last years in old age as an enforced refugee in Egypt. Jeremiah came from a priestly family and began his prophetic ministry reluctantly (Jer. 15: 10—‘Why was I ever born?’) in his village of Anathoth (a short distance from Jerusalem) much to the indignation of neighbours and family (Jer. 11: 21; 12: 6). There is a remarkable account of his prophetic inspiration in Jer. 23: 9. Jeremiah had easy access to the king and he used his knowledge of international affairs to offer advice fearlessly. In his early years he opposed the official policy of an alliance with Egypt against Assyria (2: 14–19, 36–7), but when Egypt marched to help Assyria against the rising power of babylonia, King Josiah attempted to block the path of Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo and was killed (609 BCE). Soon afterwards Judah became a Babylonian province. Jeremiah was convinced that it was essential for Judah to maintain a good relationship with the Babylonians. But King Jehoiakim foolishly rebelled; almost immediately after his death, the city was besieged, but the young king Jehoiachin submitted (597 BCE) and the puppet king Zedekiah, Jehoiachin's uncle, was installed. In the reign of Zedekiah (597–587 BCE) Jeremiah frequently urged obedience as the safest course; the existence of the Temple was no guarantee of security. For this ‘blasphemy’ he was arrested (Jer. 26: 8). But in 589 Zedekiah withheld tribute; the Babylonians marched (Jer. 37–9). When the Babylonians were outside the gates of Jerusalem, some of the leading politicians denounced Jeremiah as a traitor and he was imprisoned. King Zedekiah transferred Jeremiah to a more humane prison, where he remained until the Babylonians released him when the city was captured in 586 BCE. The victorious Babylonians appointed Gedaliah to be governor of Judah, and Jeremiah attempted to muster support for him (Jer. 39: 14). But a group of conspirators opposed to the Babylonians murdered Gedaliah, and after seizing Jeremiah fled in a group to Egypt.

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

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

Jeremiah, Book of. Jewish tradition and NT quotations ascribe this OT Book to Jeremiah, but many modern critics attribute a great part of it to editors. The promises of restitution and the giving of a New Covenant (chs. 30 and 31) are often thought to come from scribes living in the time of the Exile or soon afterwards; the so-called Oracles to the Nations are also often denied to Jeremiah, especially the prophecy against Babylon (chs. 50 and 51), which contradicts the policy of submission advocated in other parts of the Book. There are striking differences between the Septuagint and the Massoretic texts which may arise from the amalgamation of two collections of prophecies. In ch. 36 we are told that the prophecies were written down by Baruch, read to the king and burnt by him, and then written again with additional material.

The Prophet extols both the transcendence and the justice of God, who condemns His people because they have abandoned righteousness. His sense of Divine justice causes Jeremiah's astonishment at seeing the wicked prosper, and here for the first time in the OT is raised the problem of the good fortune of sinners and the sufferings of the just. The most striking feature of the Book is the New Covenant (31: 31–4) which God will make with His people and in which the Gentiles too will participate (16: 19–21).

Jeremiah ♂ Meaning ‘appointed by God’ in Hebrew; it was borne in the Bible by a Hebrew prophet of the 7th–6th centuries bc, whose story, prophecies of judgement, and lamentations are recorded in the book of the Bible that bears his name. The Book of Lamentations is also attributed to him; it bewails the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Babylonians in 587 bc. Despite (or because of) the gloomy subject matter of these texts, the name enjoyed some popularity among Puritans from the 16th century onwards and later Christian fundamentalists, partly perhaps because Jeremiah also preached reconciliation with God after his wrath was assuaged. Since the 1970s it has found considerable favour in the United States.

Jeremiah (7th–6th cent. BC), prophet of Judah. He proclaimed the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, counselled submission to the Babylonians, and suffered during the siege of Jerusalem. After the destruction of the city (c.586), he was left free to live in Judah, but the Jews forced him to flee with them to Egypt. According to tradition he was stoned to death. His sufferings and prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem have been interpreted as figures of the life of Christ, and the W. Church has used the Books of Jeremiah and Lamentations (ascribed to Jeremiah) in her Offices for Passiontide.

Jeremiah (c.650–c.585 bc), a Hebrew major prophet who foresaw the fall of Assyria, the conquest of his country by Egypt and Babylon, and the destruction of Jerusalem. The biblical Lamentations are traditionally ascribed to him.

In extended usage, a Jeremiah is a person who complains continually or foretells disaster. A jeremiad is a long, mournful complaint or lamentation, a list of woes, as uttered by the prophet.

Jeremiah (active c.626–c.586 bc) Old Testament prophet who gave his name to the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah. He preached that the sinful behaviour of his countrymen would be punished by God. When Babylon invaded Judah (587 bc), Jeremiah saw this as divine retribution.

Jeremiah , in the Bible. 1 Prophet of the book of Jeremiah . 2 Father-in-law of Josiah. 3 Rechabite contemporary with Jeremiah the prophet. 4,5,6 Three who joined David at Ziklag.

Jeremiah. Sym. No.1 by Leonard Bernstein for orch. with mez. soloist in last movement to words from Book of Jeremiah. F.p. Pittsburgh, Jan. 1944, cond. Bernstein, with Jennie Tourel.

Jeremiah. Second of the major Hebrew prophets, after whom is named the prophetic book. Traditionally the Book of Lamentations is also ascribed to Jeremiah.

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