According to the narrative of the Book of Jeremiah, the prophet emerged as a significant figure in theKingdom of Judah in the late 7th and early 6th centuries BC. Born into apriestly lineage, Jeremiah reluctantly accepted hiscall to prophethood, embarking on a tumultuous ministry more than five decades long. His life was marked by opposition, imprisonment, and personal struggles, according toJeremiah 32 and37. Central to Jeremiah's message wereprophecies of impendingdivine judgment, forewarning of the nation's idolatry, social injustices, and moral decay. According to the Bible, he prophesied thesiege of Jerusalem andBabylonian captivity as consequences for disobedience. Jeremiah's teachings encompassedlamentations, oracles, and symbolic acts, emphasising the urgency ofrepentance and the restoration of acovenant relationship withGod.
Jeremiah was the son ofHilkiah, a priest from the land of Benjamin in the village ofAnathoth.[11] The difficulties he encountered, as described in the books of Jeremiah andLamentations, have prompted scholars to refer to him as "the weeping prophet".[12]
Jeremiah was called to prophecyc. 626 BC[13] by God to proclaim Jerusalem's coming destruction[14] by invaders from the north.[15] This was because Israel had forsaken God by worshiping theidols ofBaal[16] and burning their children as offerings to Baal.[17] The nation had deviated so far from God's laws that they had broken the covenant, causing God to withdraw his blessings. Jeremiah was guided by God to proclaim that the nation of Judah would suffer famine, foreign conquest, plunder, and captivity in a land of strangers.[18]
According toJeremiah 1:2–3, Yahweh called Jeremiah to prophesy in about 626 BC,[13] about five years before Josiah's famous reforms.[19] However, they were insufficient to save Judah and Jerusalem from destruction, because of the sins ofManasseh, Josiah's grandfather,[20] and Judah's return to the idolatry of foreign gods after Josiah's death.[21] Jeremiah was said to have been appointed to reveal the sins of the people and the punishment to come.[22][23]
Jeremiah resisted the call by complaining that he was only a child and did not know how to speak,[24] but the Lord placed the word in Jeremiah's mouth,[25] commanding "Get yourself ready!"[26] The qualities of a prophet listed inJeremiah 1 include not being afraid, standing up to speak, speaking as told, and going where sent.[27] Since Jeremiah is described as emerging well trained and fully literate from his earliest preaching, his relationship with theShaphan family has been used to suggest that he may have trained at the scribal school in Jerusalem over which Shaphan presided.[28][29]
In his early years of being a prophet, Jeremiah was primarily a preaching prophet,[30] preaching throughout Israel.[29] He condemned idolatry, the greed of priests, and false prophets.[31] Many years later, God instructed Jeremiah to write down these early oracles and his other messages.[32]Charles Cutler Torrey argues that the prophet accuses priests and scribes of altering theactual Scriptures with "scribal additions" to accommodate the worship of other deities.[33]
Rembrandt van Rijn,Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (c. 1630)
Jeremiah's prophecies prompted plots against him.[34] Unhappy with Jeremiah's message, possibly from concern that it would shut down theAnathoth sanctuary, his priestly kin and the men of Anathoth plotted to kill him. However, the Lord revealed the conspiracy to Jeremiah, protected his life, and declared disaster for the people of Anathoth.[29][35] When Jeremiah complains to the Lord about this persecution, he is told that the attacks on him will become worse.[36]
A priest,Pashur the son of Immer, a temple official in Jerusalem, had Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin for a day. After this, Jeremiah laments the travails and mockery that speaking God's word have caused him.[37] He recounts how, if he tries to shut God's word inside, it burns in his heart and he is unable to hold it in.[38]
While Jeremiah was prophesying the coming destruction, he denounced a number of other prophets who were prophesying peace.[39]
According to the book of Jeremiah, during the reign of King Zedekiah, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to make a yoke with the message that the nation would be subject to the king of Babylon. The false prophet Hananiah took the yoke off Jeremiah's neck and broke it, prophesying that within two years the Lord would break the yoke of the king of Babylon, but Jeremiah prophesied in return: "You have broken the yoke of wood, but you have made instead a yoke of iron."[40]
Jeremiah was sympathetic to, as well as descended from, thenorthern Kingdom of Israel. Many of his first reported oracles are about, and addressed to, the Israelites at Samaria. He resembles the northern prophet Hosea in his use of language and examples of God's relationship to Israel. Hosea seems to have been the first prophet to describe the desired relationship as an example of ancient Israelite marriage, where a man might be polygamous, while a woman was only permitted one husband. Jeremiah often repeats Hosea's marital imagery.[41][42]
The biblical narrative portrays Jeremiah as being subject to additional persecutions. After Jeremiah prophesied that Jerusalem would be handed over to the Babylonian army, the king's officials, including Pashur the priest, tried to convince King Zedekiah that Jeremiah should be put to death for disheartening the soldiers and the people. Zedekiah allowed them, and they cast Jeremiah into acistern, where he sank down into the mud. The intent seemed to be to kill Jeremiah by starvation, while allowing the officials to claim to be innocent of his blood.[43]Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian, rescued Jeremiah by pulling him out of the cistern, but Jeremiah remained imprisoned until Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian army in 587 BC.[44]
The Babylonians released Jeremiah, and showed him great kindness, allowing him to choose the place of his residence, according to a Babylonian edict. Jeremiah accordingly went toMizpah in Benjamin withGedaliah, who had been made governor ofJudea.[45]
Johanan succeededGedaliah, who had been assassinated by an Israelite prince in the pay ofAmmon "for working with the Babylonians." Refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsel, Johanan fled to Egypt, taking with him Jeremiah andBaruch, Jeremiah's faithfulscribe and servant, and the king's daughters.[46] There, the prophet probably spent the remainder of his life, still seeking to turn the people back to God.[46] There is no authentic record of his death. TheElephantine papyrus reflects that the Yahweh's wife or consort is still acknowledged in worship and liturgy at the site as late as 419 BCE, and several scholars have noted that this feature of the cultural landscape in the place of his exile is likely to have left him disconsolate or perturbed during the final years of his life.[47][48]
The consensus is that there was a historical prophet named Jeremiah and that portions of the book probably were written by Jeremiah or his scribe Baruch.[49] Views range from the belief that the narratives and poetic sections in Jeremiah are contemporary with his life (W. L. Holladay), to the view that the work of the original prophet is beyond identification or recovery (R. P. Carroll).[50][51]
According to Rainer Albertz, first there were early collections of oracles, including material in ch. 2–6, 8–10, 13, 21–23, etc. Then there was an earlyDeuteronomistic redaction which Albertz dates to around 550 BC, with the original ending to the book at 25:13. There was a second redaction around 545–540 BC which added much more material, up to about ch. 45. Then there was a third redaction around 525–520 BC, expanding the book up to the ending at 51:64. Then there were further post-exilic redactions adding ch. 52 and editing content throughout the book.[52]
Although Jeremiah was often thought of traditionally as the author of theBook of Lamentations, it may also be a collection of individual and communal laments by others composed at various times throughout theBabylonian captivity--interpretations on this question continue to swing both ways.[53]
In July 2007, Assyrologist Michael Jursa translated acuneiform tablet dated to 595 BC, as describing a Nabusharrussu-ukin as "the chiefeunuch" ofNebuchadnezzar II ofBabylon. Jursa hypothesized that this reference might be to the same individual as theNebo-Sarsekim mentioned inJeremiah 39:3.[54][55]
Pottery shards atTel Arad were unearthed in the 1970s that mentionPashhur, and this reference may be to the same individual mentioned inJeremiah 20:1.[57]
In Jewishrabbinic literature, especially theaggadah, Jeremiah andMoses are always mentioned together,[59] An ancientmidrash, in connection withDeuteronomy 18:18 presented their life and works in parallel, in which "a prophet like Moses" is promised, states Jeremiah's time as prophet was similar with Moses, which is 40 years. Moses also prophesied that his own tribe,Tribe of Levi, will rebel against Judah, while Jeremiah's tribe would in turn rebel against Jeremiah himself. In the year of the prophesied event, Moses also said that he himself will be exiled into watery areas, while Jeremiah will be jailed in a pit. Then Moses will be saved by a slave ofPharaoh's daughter, while subsequently Jeremiah will be rescued by a slave namedEbed-melech; After such, the Deuteronomy closed the chapter with Moses reprimanded the people in discourses; so did Jeremiah.[60] The prophetEzekiel was a son of Jeremiah according to rabbinic literature.[61] In2 Maccabees 2:4ff, Jeremiah is credited with hiding the Ark, incense altar, and tabernacle on the mountain of Moses.[62]
We celebrate the memory of Your Prophet Jeremiah, O Lord,/ and therefore we pray to You:// save our souls.
Kontakion Prophet Jeremias — Tone 3
Очи́стив ду́хом, вели́кий проро́че и му́чениче,/ твое́ светоза́рное се́рдце,/ сла́вне Иереми́е,/ проро́чествия дар свы́ше прия́л еси́/ и возопи́л еси́ велегла́сно во страна́х:/ се Бог наш, и не приложи́тся ин к Нему́,// И́же, вопло́щся, на земли́ яви́лся есть.
Ochistiv dukhom, veliky proroche i mucheniche,/ tvoe svetozarnoe serdtse,/ slavne Ieremie,/ prorochestviya dar svyshe priyal yesi/ i vozopil yesi veleglasno vo stranakh:/ se Bog nash, i ne prilozhitsa in k Nemu,// Izhe, voploshchsya, na zemli yavilsya yest’.
Having purified your spirit, great prophet and martyr, / your radiant heart, / glorious Jeremiah, / you received the gift of prophecy from above / and cried out loudly in the lands: / behold our God, and no one else will be added to Him, // Who, having become incarnate, appeared on earth.
Christian worshipservices regularly include readings from the Book of Jeremiah.[63] The author of theGospel of Matthew is especially mindful of how the events in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus fulfill Jeremianic prophecies.[64] There are about forty direct quotations of the book in the New Testament, most appearing inRevelation 18 in connection with the destruction of Babylon.[65] TheEpistle to the Hebrews also picks up the fulfilment of the prophetic expectation of the new covenant.[66]
In Christianity, there are several feast days which commemorate Jeremiah:
16 January – commemoration of overthrowing the Idols by prophet Jeremiah (OO)[67]
Jeremiah (Arabic:إِرۡمِيَا بۡنُ حَلۡقِيَا,romanized: Irmiya ibn Halqiya,lit. 'Jeremiah, son ofHilkiah';[70] 650BCE[71] – 570BCE)[71] is regarded as aprophet in Islam. In Arabic, Jeremiah's name is usually vocalisedIrmiyā,Armiyā orŪrmiyā.[72] However, since the name of Jeremiah is not explicitly mentioned in theQuran andHadith, belief in Jeremiah was considered not part of theFive Pillars of Islam by the academic community of Islam, who regarded Jeremiah instead as historical supplementary material, since his name was only found in thetafsir and other non-canonical Islamicliterature. Nevertheless, since his status as prophet was generally undisputed in Islam, Muslims apply "PBUH" or "Peace Belong Upon Him" as an honorific for Jeremiah.[73]
Islamic illustration of Irmiya hiding in the wilderness (top), Yunus and the fish (middle) and Uzayr awaking after the destruction of al Qods (bottom) from the 1583Cream of Histories
The oldest Islamic narration about Jeremiah was found in the tradition fromIbn Abbas, which identified Jeremiah asKhidr.[c] However, This Hadith tradition was considered inauthentic and not generally accepted by Ibn Kathir in his work, al-Bidaya wa l-Nihaya.[73][76]
According toal-Qurtubi, the interpretation of the 11th verse Quran chapterAl-Anbiya has mentioned the unnamed figure in the verse as Jeremiah, which musing in the similar narrative with the biblical version of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Jerusalem. However, al-Qurtubi also further added in his interpretation that during the meeting of Jeremiah with Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah revealed to him about the prophesied advent ofMuhammad in the land ofHejaz.[77]
Ibn Kathirtafsir narrate that theParable of the Hamlet in Ruins, which from the 259th verse ofAl-Baqara chapter focused about Jeremiah, when he was commanded by God to reconstruct the devastated Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar's invasion.[78][79]
In QuranSura (chapter) 17 (Al-Isra),Ayah (verse) 4–7, that is about the two corruptions ofchildren of Israel on the earth, some hadith and tafsir cite that one of these corruptions is the imprisonment and persecution of Jeremiah.[80][81][82][83] Separately, Ibn Kathir interpretation of the 11th verse of al-Isra also discussed about Jeremiah.[84]
Ibn Asakir has mentioned in his work titledTarikh Dimashq (History of Damascus), that Jeremiah was a son ofHilkiah, who hailed from the tribe of Levy which descended fromJacob.[73] According to one tradition which recorded by Ibn Kathir, Wahb has narrated that the timeline of Jeremiah as prophet was between the era ofDavid and the era ofZechariah.[85]
Wahb ibn Munabbih, who gaveIsraʼiliyyat account about Jeremiah which turned "upon the main points of the Old Testament story of Jeremiah: his call to be a prophet, his mission to the king of Judah, his mission to the people and his reluctance, the announcement of a foreign tyrant who is to rule over Judah."[7]
According to some Jewish narratives and Ibn Kathir,Zoroaster was once a disciple of Jeremiah.[d][87] However, the two of them came into conflict which ended with Jeremiah disowning Zoroaster. Jeremiah then cast a curse upon Zoroaster, causing him to sufferleprosy. Zoroaster later moved to a place in modern-dayAzerbaijan, ruled by Bashtaasib, governor of Nebuchadnezzar, and spread his teaching ofZoroastrianism there. Bashtaasib then followed his teaching, forced the inhabitants ofPersia to convert to Zoroastrianism and killed those who refused.[79][88] Ibn Kathir quoted the original narrative which was borrowed from Tabari's record of the "History of Jerusalem". He also mentioned that Zoroastrian was synonymous withMajus.[89][90]
Jeremiah inspired theFrench nounjérémiade, and subsequently theEnglishjeremiad, meaning "a lamentation; mournful complaint,"[92] or further, "a cautionary or angry harangue."[93]
Jeremiah has periodically been a popular first name in theUnited States, beginning with the earlyPuritan settlers, who often took the names of biblical prophets and apostles. Jeremiah was substituted for the IrishDiarmuid/Diarmaid (also anglicised as Dermot), with which it has no etymological connection, when Gaelic names were frowned upon in official records. The nameJeremy also derives from Jeremiah.
Sohrab Sepehri, an Iranian poet and painter, has mentioned Jeremiah in his work as "The weeping prophet".[94]
^similar narration about the identification as Khidr also found in the record of Tabari, which detailed the event was during the destruction of Jerusalem.[75]
^Sibt ibn al-Jawzi instead stated that some older narration said that Zoroaster was a former disciple ofUzair.[86]
^Torrey, Charles C. "The Background of Jeremiah 1–10".Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 56, no. 3, 1937, pp. 193–216.doi:10.2307/3259609. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
^Ibn Kathir (2011). Artawijaya (ed.).Kisah Para Nabi [Stories of prophets] (in Indonesian). Translated by Dudi Rosyadi. Pustaka Al-Kautsar. p. 870.ISBN9789795925576. Retrieved21 July 2024.
Collins, Marilyn F. (1972). "The Hidden Vessels in Samaritan Traditions".Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period.3 (2):97–116.doi:10.1163/157006372X00018.JSTOR24656260.
Singer, Isadore, ed. (1926)."Jeremiah".Jewish Encyclopaedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Vol. VII. New York: Funk & Wagnall.OCLC426865.
Sweeney, Marvin A. (2004). "Introduction to Jeremiah". In Adele Berlin; Marc Zvi Brettler (eds.).The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 917.ISBN978-0-19-529751-5 – via Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation.
