JEREMIAH

Jeremiah was born at Anathoth, a few miles northeast of Jerusalem, c. 650 b.c. At the time of his vocation in 627, he was a young man of a priestly class that had been excluded from the Temple cult (1 Kgs 2.26–35). During his ministry that lasted until after 587, he was a witness to one of the most troubled periods in the Near East.

When Ashurbanipal died c. 633, Assyria's power declined, leaving Josiah free to begin c. 621 a religious reform of judah that also extended to the land once ruled by the Northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Kgs 22–23). Jeremiah, who had already severely attacked the Judeans' crimes (Jer 2–6), must have approved of this reform for he seems not to have preached again until Josiah's death in 609.

In Jehoiakim's reign idolatry revived and Jeremiah again began to condemn infidelity to God and hypocritical worship, at the same time opposing any alliance with Egypt against Babylon. His preaching caused him repeated persecution, but his warnings proved accurate when Joakim's policy led to the first capture of Jerusalem in 597. Judah's last king, Zedekiah, powerless before the political forces at work, followed the priests and false prophets in affirming the Egyptian alliance. Jeremiah strongly objected, proclaiming that Judah must be subjected to Babylon, but to no avail. As a result Jerusalem was destroyed completely in 587 and the Prophet was persecuted anew (Jer 37–38). After his release from detention, he joined the governor, Gedaliah, at Mizpah until Gedaliah's assassination. He then was forced by fugitives to go to Egypt, and witnessed the people's new apostasy before he died there. Thus, his whole life was one of suffering and frustration (Jer 40–44).

By attributing lamentations to him, tradition has wrongly classified him as a lachrymose prophet, whereas his faith in God and his own mission strengthened his sensitive nature and made him "a fortified city" (Jer1.18). Although he loved his people, he did not fail in his duty as God's spokesman but condemned them again and again. The conflict between his love and the harshness of his vocation caused the interior crises described in his "Confessions." He was the only prophet to reveal his interior life.

The summation of his message is that the covenant promises will be realized only if people and leaders are faithful to the covenant's moral force. The new modality Jeremiah gives to this fidelity is found in each one's personal commitment and man's interior validation of external religion. Cult is vain when not inspired by the heart's religion that comes from love, justice, and faith (Jer7.1–28).

In early Christian art Jeremiah was practically ignored compared to the three other major Prophets, especially Daniel. In the 6th century his images began to appear in basilicas—St. Ambrose, Milan, and St. Vitalis, Ravenna—and later in miniatures of manuscripts—Syriac codex 341 (National Library, Paris; 7th or 8th century) and a Greek manuscript of Cosmas Indicopleustes (Vatican 699; 8th or 9th century). Henceforth, his images proliferated in all media. Michelangelo's painting of him in the Sistine Chapel is the most famous.

Bibliography: j. skinner, Prophecy and Religion (Cambridge, Eng. 1922). a. c. welch, Jeremiah, His Time and His Work (Oxford 1928; reprint 1951). j. muilenburg, The Interpreters' Dictionary of the Bible, ed. g. a. buttrick (Nashville 1962) 2:823–835. l. g. perdue, et al., A Prophet to the Nations (Winona Lake, 1984).

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