To the reader: Now that you have gone through much of the
commentary on Isaiah, you probably have gained some skill in
understanding the way such prophets speak. So now probably you will
be able to understand Jeremiah with rather little help. So please
try your wings:

Jeremiah naturally follows after Isaiah. Isaiah before 700 BC
predicted the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was there for it. Then
Ezekiel was actually in the exile.

There is a difference between the Hebrew text of Jeremiah and
that of the Greek Septuagint. We follow here the Hebrew text.

1. God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet. He has planned that before
Jeremiah was born. Jeremiah objects. God insists.

Jeremiah sees a watching tree, i.e, an almond (first to bud in
spring), to signify God will watch over His word, and it will come
true. He also sees a boiling cauldron appearing from the north:
standing for a coming invasion from the north. Israel has forsaken
God, her husband, hence the sin is called harlotry or adultery.

God assures Jeremiah He will make him strong and protect him.

2. He must tell unfaithful Israel: Once she was like a new bride,
but now she goes after other lovers, idols. God tells Jeremiah:
look to the east (Kedar) or to the west (Kittim) -- no other people
has changed its gods. They cling even to false Gods. But Israel has
turned away from the true God. They want to get help from Egypt or
Assyria: but the Egyptians will despoil them and shave their heads.
Assyria will shame them.

Under every tree Israel became a harlot, i.e., went in for
idol worship, which often involved sexual immorality. You cannot
scour this sin away with strong soap or lye. Israel has acted like
a camel or donkey in heat (wanting sex) which sniffs the air,
hunting for a male. Israel has said to the idols: "You are my
Father". Your gods are as numerous as your cities. But they cannot
help you. On your clothing is the lifeblood of the innocent, whom
you oppress.

3. When a man divorces a wife and she marries another, he cannot
take her back. Yet God is willing to take Israel back in spite of
her infidelities. The rains have failed because of your harlotry.
Judah saw all the adulteries of Israel, the northern kingdom and
what happened to it. But Judah has not reformed. Yet God pleads:
Reform, for I am merciful. He will appoint good shepherds over her.
The days will come when they will not need to depend on the ark of
the covenant, but all nations will come to Jerusalem. Now, however,
the Shame-god (Baal) has devoured your father's toil.

4. If you want to return, Israel, put away the detestable things,
your idols, and your immorality. But God is bringing in evil from
the north, the lion of Babylon, the destroyer of nations. It comes
like a storm cloud. His horses are swifter than eagles. Ruin after
ruin is reported: the whole earth is laid waste. The gardenland has
become a desert before the blazing wrath of the Lord.

5. Roam the streets of Jerusalem to find even one upright man
[semitic exaggeration]. They have made their faces harder than
stone. God will bring a nation whose tongue they do not understand.
Yet even then God will not completely destroy them -He will leave a
remnant. So now prophets prophesy falsely, and priests teach as
they wish, because people want it so.

6. He tells them to flee from Jerusalem for safety, for shepherds,
that is foreign rulers will come, and start a siege, for the city
must be punished. As a well keeps water fresh, so does this city
keep its wickedness fresh. Their ears are closed, they cannot hear.

So Jeremiah is weary of holding in the wrath of the Lord -- by
prayer and penance, to rebalance the objective order on their
behalf. Everyone is greedy. They say: Peace, peace, but there is no
peace.

Jeremiah advises them to look for the ancient paths, and walk
on them. God has set up watchmen, prophets, to warn them, but they
do not heed. So a people is coming from the north, cruel and
merciless. There is terror on every side. When a worker tries to
refine silver, his refining is in vain with this people.

7. God orders Jeremiah to stand in the temple and tell them that if
they do not mend their ways, He will destroy this temple as He did
the one at Shiloh (place of worship from Joshua to Samuel). In vain
do they keep on repeating: It is the temple of the Lord, the temple
of the Lord. - It is all externalism. They think if they go to the
temple, without reforming, all will be well. Jeremiah tells them
NO.

God has finally told Jeremiah: do not pray for this people,
for I will not listen. In the city, the fathers make a fire, the
women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, Ishtar,
the Assyro-Babylonian goddess of fertility. The cakes were shaped
like stars, for Ishtar was identified with the planet Venus.
(Cutting off hair was a sign of great mourning). God said He did
not really want the externals of sacrifice, but the interior
attitude of obedience to Him (cf. Hosea 6. 6). They even sacrifice
their children by fire, to appease the fire god Molech. They were
actually burned up. This was in the valley of Ben-hinnom (from
which name we get Gehenna).

(In chapters 20 and 26 Jeremiah is almost killed for speaking
as God had ordered in the temple, foretelling the fall of
Jerusalem).
***
8. The bones of the kings and great ones will be spread out under
the sun, not buried, in the view of the hosts of heaven, to which
they offered sacrifice.

People when they fall, get up again. But this people does not
get up again, they continue to sin. They say: We are wise. They
think just having the Law protects them. But it will not. We are
reminded of Isaiah 29. 13-14: because they did not worship with
true interior obedience, God will take away wisdom from the wise.

Already he thinks he hears the sound of the horses of the
invaders, from the north, from Dan.
Jeremiah says his heart is wounded because of their sins. Is
there balm in Gilead (famed for it)? But no one can cure the ache
of his heart for them.

9. He wishes his eyes were fountains of water to weep day and night
for them. For they go from evil to evil. Each must beware of his
neighbor, one cannot even trust a brother. While speaking
pleasantly to another, they are really plotting ambushes.

After the ruin people will say: Why did God do this? God will
reply: because the broke my laws and went after the Baals. So He
will scatter them among the nations. -- This is frightening, it is
the same threat God made long ago to Solomon after the dedication
of the temple: 1 Kings 9:1-9.

Call for professional mourners, he cries: dead bodies fall
like so much dung.

Let not the one called wise glory in his wisdom: Let a man
rather glory in this, if he knows the Lord and obeys.

10. God tells them not to learn the way of the nations, and not to
be afraid of the signs, the omens, i n the skies. The idols are
like scarecrows, they cannot speak or walk. They have to be
carried. They are just the work of craftsmen. Those gods did not
make the heavens. The real God has done all that.

Again, he seems to himself to hear the noise of the army
coming from the north.

Jeremiah tries to plead that men are so weak: the way of a man
is not in himself. So have mercy.

11. God spoke to Jeremiah: Cursed be the man who does not listen to
the words of this covenant which I gave your ancestors when I
brought them out of Egypt. If they obey, I will be their God and
they will be my people. But they did not obey, they walked in the
stubbornness of their wicked heart. So God brought upon them
everything the covenant threatened.

The cities of Judah and Jerusalem will cry to their idols to
whom they offer incense, gods as many as their cities. But they
cannot help.

Therefore Jeremiah must not pray for them, for God will not listen
to him.

Jeremiah says, speaking of himself: I was like a lamb led to
the slaughter, not knowing the schemes they made against me. So may
you rectify things -- the versions commonly have him asking for
vengeance, but that would be immoral. Rather, he asks for Hebrew
<naqam>, rectification of the objective order by God. God will
punish the men of his own town Anathoth. None of them shall be
left.

12. Jeremiah says he knows that the Lord is righteous, observes all
that is moral, yet he wishes to ask: Why do the wicked prosper?
They take root as if you planted them. Please rectify things, make
them like the sheep for the slaughter. They have said God will not
see.

God says He has forsaken His house. The whole land is desolate
since there is no one who cares. Therefore God will turn the land
over to the enemies of Israel. However, not forever. He will later
rescue them.

13. God told Jeremiah to buy a linen waistcloth, not let it get
wet, and go and hide it in a cleft of the rock by the Euphrates
river. After some days, God told him to get the garment again. It
was spoiled by the moisture, and longer good for anything.

Linen was the material for the garments of priests. The cloth
was a kind of undergarment: its closeness to the body symbolized
the closeness of the relation of God to His people, spoiled by
their sins.

There is a problem about going to the River Euphrates, which was a
very long distance for Jeremiah -- two round trips, really hundreds
of miles for him, and for that reason, not too apt to be useful for
the symbolism to his own people. Further there were no rocks on the
middle or lower Euphrates. So some have said all this happened only
in an imaginary vision - but then there would be no visible
symbolism for the contemporaries of Jeremiah. We could say that the
Hebrew <Farat>, the word for Euphrates really stood for Ain Farah,
which is about 3 miles NE of Anathoth, Jeremiah's home town. There
are rocks in that location.

This was a sort of acted out prophecy (there are several of these
elsewhere in Jeremiah e. g., in chapters 18 and 19, and 24, and in
Ezekiel).

Next Jeremiah, perhaps at a feast, says:Every jar shall be
filled with wine- an obvious fact. (A jar held about 10 gallons:
cf. Is 30:14) So, says the Lord, this people will be filled with
the wine of the Lord's anger.

|Net Jeremiah spoke to the King and to the King's mother,
foretelling their captivity. Drought and invasion were coming. Even
the Negev, the rather barren southern part, far from Jerusalem,
would be hit by the invasion. That fact that even the Negev was to
be hit stands for the completeness of the destruction.

The Queen Mother was the <gebirah>, who held a position of
respect, especially in view of the polygamy of the kings.

14. God said: Nobles send servants for water: there is none, there
is no rain. Even the hind in the field leaves her new calf:no
grass. God said: The people have loved to wander, so the Lord does
not accept them, even if they fast.

Jeremiah tells the Lord: the false prophets say there will be
no sword or famine. God tells him: There will be sword and famine,
and the prophets will be consumed. Tell them: Let my eyes run with
tears. If I go into the field, I see the slain. In the city: those
dead of famine. Jeremiah asks:Have you completely rejected Zion?
The Lord replied: Even if Moses and Samuel pleaded for them, I
would not listen. Destroyers will be sent to them. I am weary of
relenting.

Then Jeremiah moans: I wish my mother had not brought me
forth. I have not violated the law. Please set things right
(<naqam>) with those who persecute me. Then Jeremiah seems to have
doubted God: Will you be like a deceptive brook to me? He meant
like a <wadi>, that had water only after a downpour. But then God
then said: If you return, to confidence in me, and proclaim my
word, I will restore you to your office as a prophet. I will
deliver you from your enemies. (Jeremiah seems to have understood
that as victory over them in the temporal order. God did not mean
it that way. He meant final triumph. But Jeremiah did not
understand, hence later an almost bold complaint to God in 20. 7:
"You have deceived me. " The NAB here is quite unfortunate: "You
have duped me". )

16. Now God tells him not to take a wife -- a large sacrifice, all
young men then married . God explains: both parents and children
will die of deadly diseases, and not be lamented or buried.

God continued: Do not go into a house of mourning. For I have
taken well-being from this people. No one may cut himself for the
dead or make selves bald. Leviticus 19. 27 forbade cutting selves
in lamentation. Lv 21. 5 gave same order to the priests, and said
they must not make bare the crown of their head of shave the edges
of their beard.

Nor should Jeremiah go into a house of feasting for God is
sending such evil.

Yet now Jeremiah turns to a more pleasant view in the future -
recall Isaiah often made such shifts too, -- and says time will
come when they will no longer speak of the Lord who brought them
from Egypt, but the Lord who brought them out of captivity.

But He is sending many fishers, to hunt out the Israelites who
try to escape the Babylonians. God will give double recompense to
their iniquity. (The <double> is Hebrew <mishnet>, which may mean
(as suggested by a tablet from Alalakh in Syria) merely
"proportional, " or it could be an example of the common Semitic
exaggeration).


17. The sin of Judah is written indelibly, with a pen of iron. So
the Lord says: Cursed is the man who trusts in man. Blessed is the
man who trusts in the Lord.

The human heart is most deceitful:who can understand it? Yet
the Lord searches all hearts, and repays.

Those who turn away from God will have their names written in
the dust-- so they will not last. (We wonder: was this line in mind
when Our Lord wrote in the dust as the accusers of the woman taken
in adultery went away one by one?).

Jeremiah pleads with God: He has not pressed God to send evil.
But let those who persecute him be put to shame.

Then God told him to stand in the Benjamin Gate and tell them
not to violate the sabbath, or He will punish them. If they listen
to Jeremiah, there will be a line of Davidic kings, and the city
will be inhabited forever. (This reminds one of what God told
Solomon in 1 Kings 9).

18. God tells Jeremiah to buy a potter's vessel. If one turns out
badly, the potter reshapes it. So God could do to the house of
israel. He is shaping evil against them for their sins.
The people will not listen. God asks:who among the other
nations has acted this way. Does snow leave Lebanon?But God's
people have forgotten Him. They are making their land a horror, all
who pass by the ruins that it will be will hiss:Why did God do
this? (Cf. also in 1 Kings 9).

Far from repenting, Jeremiah's enemies decide to plot against
him, and not to heed any of his words. So Jeremiah pleads with God:
Hear me, O Lord. Is evil the repayment of good? I stood before you
to plead for them. But they did not heed. So now deliver them up to
famine.

19. Now Jeremiah is told to buy a potter's flask, go to the
Potsherd Gate, to Topeth, where they offered the sacrifice of their
children in the fire, and to break it before the senior priests and
to say: The people have filled the place with the blood of
innocents. So God is bringing evil on them.

So Jeremiah stood in the court of the temple and said:God says
He is bringing evil upon this city.

20. Then Pashur the priest, the chief officer there, beat Jeremiah
and put him in the stocks which held a man so that the body was
almost doubled up, this was in a conspicuous place in the city. The
next morning Pashur released Jeremiah, but Jeremiah warned him that
his name would not be Pashur, but Terror on Every Side. Pashur was
to go into captivity and die there.

Then Jeremiah, almost boldly, complains against God: God has
deceived Jeremiah. Jeremiah thought the promise of protection
included protection against physical mistreatment. But God meant
spiritual triumph instead. Jeremiah prays that God will set things
right (<naqam> - often mistranslated as vengeance). Like Job
Jeremiah even says: Cursed be the day I was born.

21. Chapter 21 moves on to the reign or Zedekiah ( 597-86--during
whose time Jerusalem finally fell to Nebuchadnezzar). There are
many references to time and place in chapters 21-45. Especially,
21-23 have messages given during the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim,
Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Chapter 21 probably is to be dated 588
when the Babylonians were advancing on Jerusalem. Chronologically
this chapter would come between chapters 37 and 38. Zedekiah was a
vassal king put in power by Nebuchadnezzar (cf 2 Kings 24:17)
during the first invasion of 597. Zedekiah respected Jeremiah, but
was too weak to do what he knew was right. Further, the Jews still
thought of Jehoiachin as the rightful king - he had been taken
captive in 597, and they looked for his early return from exile.

Zedekiah sent Pashur and Malchiah to Jeremiah to ask him to
inquire of the Lord for them. For Nebuchadnezzar was making war.
Jeremiah told them God said He would turn back the weapons of the
Jews back against them, He Himself would fight against His people
because of their sins. Then afterwards God would give Zedekiah into
the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and for the people who survived there
would be the sword, pestilence and famine.

God told Jeremiah to say: Behold, I set before you life and death.
He who stays in the city will die by the sword, famine and
pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the
Chaldeans will live. For God has set His face against the city.

22. God told Jeremiah:Go to the king and say: Hear the word of the
Lord. If you do what is right, then kings of the line of David will
rule here. But if not, this house shall become a desolation. and
many will pass by whispering: Why did the Lord do this? Reply:
"They abandoned the Lord and worshipped other gods. "

God says this of Shallum (preregnal name of Jehoaz):He shall
return here no more. Woe to him who builds his house of
unrighteousness. Having a house of cedar does not make a king. to
know God (<yada>, meaning to know, obey, love) is to take up the
cause of the poor and the needy. So the Lord says: There must be no
lament for Jehoiakim. He will have the burial of an ass. (Josaiah,
father of Jehoiakim had been a good and holy king. But the son
beautified his palace by forced, unpaid labor (forbidden by Lev.
19. 13;
Dt 24. 14-15), at the very time he was paying heavy tribute to
Egypt. 2 Kings 24. 6 says Jehoiakim "rested with his fathers. "
Perhaps he had a hurried burial during the siege and when the
Chaldeans took the city his body was thrown out.

So he calls:Go up to Lebanon, Bashan, and Abarim (which stand
foe the extreme parts of the land and wail, for all your lovers are
destroyed. The wind of adversity shall carry off all their leaders.
So Coniah (same as Jechoniah) shall not return to this land. He is
like a broken pot. None of his offspring will manage to sit on the
throne of David -- really, there were no more kings the line of
David after the exile.

23. God says woe to the false shepherds, leaders of the people, who
have scattered the sheep.

In verse 3 something remarkable appears: God says: "I myself
shall gather the remnant of my sheep from all the lands to which I
have driven them. " The RSV omits the <myself>, but it is there, in
the emphatic pronoun <ani> (NRSV and NAB keep the <myself>). This
at least seems to mean God Himself will come, as indeed He did come
in the Messiah. And we add that Jer 30. 11 has: "For I am with you,
says the Lord, to save you. " Ezekiel 34. 11 writes that God
Himself said: "For thus says the Lord God: Behold I, I will search
out my sheep and seek them out. " We note the repeated I here.
Then, going back to Jeremiah 23 and going down to verse 5 we find:
"I will raise up for David a righteous branch". So we seem to have
a connection again between God Himself coming, and the Messiah. We
notice the word <branch>, which the Targums regularly take to stand
for the Messiah. The Targum Jonathan does mark this passage as
Messianic. Also: we could relate these lines to Psalm 45:7-8: "Your
throne O God is ever and ever. " Some exegetes think this psalm was
written for a royal wedding, but the Targum calls it Messianic. And
of course we recall that in Isaiah 9. 5-6 the Messiah is called God
the Mighty. So there are multiple indications in the OT of the
divinity of the Messiah.

Then, looking ahead to that Messianic age, God says the time
is coming when they will no longer use the expression: "The Lord
who brought us up from Egypt", but instead: "The Lord who brought
us back from exile".

After that the Lord laments: My heart is broken about the
prophets -- the false prophets -- for the land is full of
adulterers. Prophet and priest are ungodly, and I have found
wickedness even in my own house. So their paths will be slippery in
darkness. In Samaria I saw that they prophesied by Baal, and led
Israel astray. Similarly the prophets of Jerusalem commit adultery.
They have become like Sodom and Gomorrah. So God will feed them
with wormwood. Hence God tells His people:Do not listen to these
prophets. The storm of the Lord is coming. I did not send such
prophets, they ran of their own accord.

In verse 33: When they ask: What is the <massa> of the Lord?
The word <massa> had two meanings: burden and oracle. It seems the
wicked were saying this in derision: What does God threaten now?
They do not believe. Hence God will bring disgrace on them, and
cast them out.

24. After Jeconiah was taken into exile, a vision came to Jeremiah
of two baskets of figs, good figs, and bad figs. Relatively
speaking God was calling those already in exile the good figs. He
did not of course mean their moral character - they had been exiled
for their sins. So the word good referred to the conditions in
which they lived in Babylon, in contrast to those of the survivors
in Jerusalem. God promised in time to bring back the exiles. But
Zedekiah who remained was to become a horror.

25. This chapter clarifies the length of the exile. In the 4th year
of Jehoiakim, that is, 605 BC, which was the first year of
Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah said that for 23 years he had spoken to
the people, but the people had not listened. So God said: In view
of that He was sending "His servant" Nebuchadnezzar against the
land. God called N His servant, for God willed that N should take
Jerusalem and punish His people.

The charge has been made that in Daniel 1. 1 we read that King
N besieged Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim, which seems to
be 607 BC, but from the Babylonian Chronicle, the siege should have
been three years later. But we need to notice two things: 1) Judah
used the accession year method of counting the reigns, while
Babylon, where Daniel was, used the nonaccession year (On this cf.
E. R. Thiele, <The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings>, pp. 6-
7, 17). 2)Secondly, the genre of Daniel is most likely edifying
narrative at this point, in which precision of timing is not
important.

God said that for 70 years they would serve N. After that God
would punish Babylon, for even though God used Babylon to punish
His people, yet the actions of Babylon were in themselves evil, not
motivated by any good purpose. Most likely the 70 years is just a
round number -- they often used round numbers. For example Jonah,
in the Hebrew text, told Nineveh God would destroy the city in 40
days, but in the Septuagint Greek version of the same verse, it was
3 days.

God then told Jeremiah to take the cup of His wrath and make
all the nations drink. They would stagger, and be crazed because of
the sword coming among them. So the Lord will roar from on high.

26. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, before the fall of
the city, God told Jeremiah to stand in the court of the temple, in
the hope they might listen. He should tell them that if they did
not repent he would make that temple like Shiloh, which was
destroyed long before. The priests and the court prophets heard
Jeremiah speaking, and seized Jeremiah saying: He must die. They
had the vain notion that with the mere possession of the temple,
with ceremonies devoid of interior obedience, they were safe. But
Jeremiah knew otherwise.

So Jeremiah replied: The Lord has sent me to say these things.
If you slay me, innocent blood will be upon you and upon this city.
So the princes and people told the priests and prophets that
Jeremiah did not deserve to die. They recalled Micah who also
foretold ruin in the days of the good king Hezekiah, and was not
killed for it. Hezekiah sought the favor of the lord, and so God
did relent and did not bring disaster. (The words "seek the favor
of the Lord" in Hebrew [<wayehal eth pene Yahweh>] literally mean,
" stroke the face of the Lord" - a powerful anthropomorphism). So
Ahikam, son of Shaphan saved Jeremiah from death at this point.

27. In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, when Judah was on
the verge of revolting against Babylon, God told Jeremiah to make a
yoke, such as was used on oxen, and to put it on his neck. This was
to symbolize that God had given Nebuchadnezzar the power to
subjugate Judah, and so it was futile to resist. God said it was
His power that made all things, and so he could give power to
whomsoever He might will. This word was to be sent through the
ambassadors of several nations. God even called Nebuchadnezzar His
servant- we saw this in chapter 25. That rule of Nebuchadnezzar was
to last through the times of his son and his grandson, that is, the
time of Belshazzar, during whose rule Cyrus captured Babylon.

So Jeremiah told the King Zedekiah not to listen to the false
prophets, who said Babylon would not conquer or that the vessels of
the Lord taken to Babylon would soon be brought back.

28. About this time a false prophet, Hananiah, spoke to Jeremiah in
the temple and said God would break the yoke of Babylon, and within
2 years would bring back the captured temple vessels. Jeremiah
replied: He wished it were true, but God has said otherwise. Then
Hananiah took off the yoke, which Jeremiah had put on in chapter
27, and broke it, to symbolize breaking the yoke of Babylon.

So God then told Jeremiah: tell Hananiah: You have broken a
wooden yoke, I will put on you an iron yoke. Hananiah would die
within a year.

29. Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles in Babylon, and sent it
by the hands of an embassy which Zedekiah sent to Nebuchadnezzar.
The letter advised the exiles: Build houses in Babylon, and plant
gardens. Take wives, and give your sons and daughters in marriage.
Seek the welfare of the city of your exile. And do not let false
prophets deceive you saying you will soon return. When 70 years are
completed, God said He would visit them and rescue them.

And God added He would punish the false prophet Shemaiah.

30. Then God said:Behold better days are coming, when I will
restore the fortunes of my people and bring them back. Then God
will take the yoke off their neck, and they will serve the Lord,
and David their king, whom He would raise up for them -- the real
fulfillment of this of course came with Jesus the Messiah, son of
David. The Davidic line was never restored to Judah after the
exile. Yet they would serve the son of David, in fulfillment of
Genesis 49:10 (which said a leader would not be lacking from Judah
until the time of the Messiah). Yes God would punish their sins,
but in time would bring back the dispersion. The city will be
rebuilt. --here the prophet's vision telescopes the return from
Babylon and the time of Jesus the Messiah.

31. Then, in that age, God will be the God of all the families of
Israel, and will rebuild Zion, even though it will be just a
remnant. God said He had loved them with an everlasting love, and
so has continued His faithfulness to them.

A voice is heard in Ramah, which was probably five miles north
of Jerusalem (though other locations have been suggested: some
uncertainty), and was the place from which they had gathered and
set out for exile, and the place of the tomb of
Rachel, the ancestress of the northern tribes,
Ephraim and Manasseh, and of the tribe of Benjamin in the south.

In consolation, God tells them to cease their weeping. Their
reward was to come, they were to return. Ephraim is a dear son, and
God will surely have mercy on him.

Matthew 2:17-18 quoted the words of Jeremiah about Rachel
weeping in Ramah, and made them refer to the slaughter of the
innocents whom Herod killed in trying to kill the Messiah. This is
best taken as a sort of multiple fulfillment-- as are also the
words of Hosea 11. 1 cited by Matthew 2. 15: "Out of Egypt I have
called my son. " In the original setting, the son was all the whole
people rescued from Egypt in the Exodus. Matthew saw another
fulfillment in the return of Jesus from Egypt. (Matthew seems also
to like to picture Jesus as a new Moses). And Matthew also shows
another multiple fulfillment in his quotation of Isaiah 7. 14, of
which we spoke in the comments on that passage in Isaiah.

Verse 22, about the woman protecting the man, has led to many
proposals from interpreters. St. Jerome and many Fathers thought it
could refer to the virginal conception of Jesus. But the wording is
not well suited to that - the word for woman here is <neqabah>,
without a definite article, and not apt to mean a virgin. And the
word <sahab> "surround" does not readily suggest the idea of
conceiving.

There are many other suggestions: A physically weaker partner
will sustain a stronger one -- or: Israel will be so secure that
women could defend it, and let the men stay with their work --or:
Israel formerly weak becomes stronger than Babylonia. But really,
there is no certainty.

A major teaching comes in v. 29: The proverb that the fathers
have eaten sour grapes and the teeth of the children are set on
edge is rejected: each one will suffer only for his own iniquity.
Could it be that the exiles near the end were saying they suffered
unjustly for the sins of their fathers? God said that is not the
case. Those already in exile were not without their own sins!
Ezekiel 18. 2-4 more strongly rejects such a proverb.
Interestingly, in Exodus 20. 5-6 God had said he would reward the
children of the good for a thousand generations, but punish the
children of the wicked to the third and fourth generation. - We do
not have a contradiction here. The sense of Exodus was this: the
children of wicked parents are very apt to become wicked 1)by
growing up in a wicked family: children are apt to imitate the ways
of their parents; 2) <Science News> of August 20, 1983, p. 122-25
reported that a chemist from Argonne laboratory took hair samples
of violent criminals at Stateville prison in Illinois, found highs
or lows of certain trace elements tended to correlate with
tendencies to violence. Similarly, <Discover> magazine of Oct,
1993, pp. 30-31 reported in: "Violence in the Blood" by Sarah
Richardson, a perfect correlation between inclination to violence
seems to relate to a defect in men on the short arm of the X
chromosome, a marker known to code for an enzyme monoamine oxidase
A which should break down three important neurotransmitters,
including norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine. Again,
<Discover> magazine, of Aug. 1992. pp. 11-12 reported: Louis
Gottschalk a neuro-psychiatrist at U of C at Irvine took hair
samples of 193 rapists, murderers, armed robbers and other violent
criminals - and also took samples from normal persons. "On the
average violent criminals have almost five times more manganese in
their hair. " He had set out to reproduce an earlier study that had
found elevated levels of lead, cadmium, and copper in criminal
hair. Those results did not hold up, but the manganese connection
did.

In verse 31 comes the great prophecy of the new Covenant . God
says: I will make a new covenant, it will not be like the covenant
I made with your fathers, for they broke my covenant and I had to
show myself their master. But this is the covenant: I will write my
law on their hearts; I will be their God and they will be my
people. - St. Paul in Romans 2. 15 quoted the words about writing
the law on hearts to show that gentiles could be saved by obeying
that law, for it was really the Spirit of Christ who made known to
them interiorly what they needed to do morally. If they did that,
then they had Pauline faith, which included:1)Belief in what God
says; 2) confidence in His promises; 3) obedience to His will: cf
Romans 1. 5, "the obedience of faith," that is, the obedience that
faith is. Then, according to St. Paul's principle they were
justified by faith. And according to St. Justin Martyr (<Apology>
1. 46) by following the law written on their hearts by the spirit
of Christ they were Christians.

Vatican iI in LG §9 says that Jesus made this New Covenant in
the Upper Room on the first Holy Thursday (He pledged His obedience
that evening, carried it out the next day, Friday. That obedience
of His was the essential interior condition of the sacrifice, and
of the covenant. Without it, His sacrifice would have been as empty
as those of which Isaiah complains in chapter 1 and elsewhere, esp
29. 13). The essential obedience of the New Covenant was Christ's:
cf. LG §3 and Rm 5. 19. Did Jeremiah see this? God surely could
have revealed it to Jeremiah, but we see no indication that God did
so. Then Jeremiah would most likely think of the obedience as that
of the people, in parallel with the Sinai Covenant: Ex 19. 5.

So God at this time appeals to the fact that He had made the
heavens and the earth, as an assurance of His promise to restore
Israel.

32. The year is most likely either 588 or 587, the last part of the
siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah himself was shut up in the court of
the guard by Zedekiah for foretelling the city would be taken. But
Jeremiah said God had told him to buy a field in his town of
Anathoth from Hanamel. This was a demonstration of the faith of
Jeremiah in the promise of the Lord, to buy a field at such a time.
But he did so, as God commanded. (Hanamel went to where Jeremiah
was staying). Jeremiah then prayed to the Lord, but the Lord still
told him the city would be taken, for the sins of the people, which
included sacrificing their sons in the fire to Molech in the valley
of the son of Hinnom. But later, God said, He would bring them back
from exile to this place, and so fields would be bought in the
place, even as Jeremiah had just done.

33. The word of the Lord came again to Jeremiah while Jeremiah was
still shut up in the court of the guard. God again told Jeremiah He
would hand over the city to the Chaldeans, but later He would
forgive them and bring them back. again the voice of mirth was
going to be heard there.

Further, in time, for the days were coming, God would cause a
righteous branch to spring up for David. The Targums regularly
recognize that word branch as standing for the Messiah. God added
there would always be a king from David to sit on the throne. Now
this did not happen after the exile, for the line of David was
never restored to power. Yet in Christ, son of David, it was
restored, and his kingship is eternal.

God further promised Levitical priests would continue. But we
know that often in the OT spiritual things were promised under the
imagery of temporal things, such as in the Sinai covenant, which at
first referred to temporal favors, later was reinterpreted to refer
to eternal salvation, cf. St. Paul, Gal 3:15-22.

34. When the siege was still more severe, only Jerusalem and a few
other cities, Lachish and Azekah still held out. But God told
Zedekiah through Jeremiah that he would have to answer personally
to the king of Babylon, and would die in captivity in Babylon.
Spices would be burned in honor of his death. This did not mean
cremation of his body, which was not usual for the Hebrews.

Then Zedekiah made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem:
they were to free all their Hebrew slaves. The people at first
obeyed, then went back on their word, and again enslaved Hebrews.
Therefore the Lord said:since you have not proclaimed liberty, I
proclaim liberty to the sword, pestilence and famine against you.
God said He would make them like the calf they had cut in two - a
part of the covenant ceremony, in which they passed between the
halves: cf. Genesis 15. 9-17. The ceremony seems to have been a
sort of curse: if one party breaks the covenant, he is to be like
the animal cut in two. We notice the expression, "to cut a
covenant" is related to this rite.

35. God told Jeremiah to go to the Rechabites, take them to the
temple, and offer them wine. The purpose is to contrast the
remarkable obedience of the Rechabites to their ancestor, with the
disobedience of Judah. The Rechabites were nomads, stemming from
Jonadab (Jehonadab) who had purged the northern kingdom of Baal
worship in the time of Jehu c 840 BC. Cf. 2 Kings 10. 15-23.

Wanting to go back to the nomadic life with its simplicity, they
banned all sedentary living, dwelling in the southern deserts and
also in northern territory. They drank no wine, as prescribed by
Jonadab -- a remarkable example of obedience for so many years. The
fact God sent Jeremiah to them does not mean God wanted their way
of life, just their obedience as a contrast to Judah.

When Jeremiah offered them wine, they refused, saying their
ancestor had told them not to do so, nor to build houses.

God promised them blessing for their devotedness.

36. We move back in time a bit. In the fourth year of Jehoaikim,
that is, 605 B. C. God told Jeremiah to write his prophecies on a
scroll. He did so, dictating to Baruch, his secretary. Jeremiah
said he was debarred from the temple -- probably because of the
destruction he foretold.

Then in the 9th month of the fifth year, which was 604 BC, a
time of fasting, Baruch read the scroll he had written to all the
people. Then Micaiah, son of Gemariah, went to the king and the
princes, and told them what had been read. Baruch was asked to come
and read to the king. They all turned to one another in fear. The
princes told Baruch to go to Jeremiah and both should hide. Then
Jehudi took the scroll and read it to the king. A fire was burning
there. When Jehudi red 3 or 4 columns, the king with a knife cut
them off from the scroll, and put them into the fire. The king
commanded that Jeremiah and Baruch be seized, but the Lord hid
them.

The word of the Lord came, ordering Jeremiah to dictate the
same words on another scroll, and say to the king that the king of
Babylon would take the city. Baruch did write it again and Jeremiah
added many similar words. God foretold that Jehoiakim would have no
one to sit on the throne of David: Jehoiakin did rule three months
after Jehoiakim, but was under siege, and not free. He was then
taken captive to Babylon where he stayed for 37 years. (Many of the
upper class of Judah also were sent to Babylon at this time,
including the prophet Ezekiel). No other descendant of Jehoiakim
ever became king. Nebuchadnezzar then put on the throne Mattaniah,
uncle of Jehoiakin, and changed his name to Zedekiah. There were no
more Davidic kings.

37. This Zedekiah and his servants did not listen to the words of
the Lord through Jeremiah. But Zedekiah did send to Jeremiah,
asking his prayers. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: tell
Zedekiah that the army of Pharaoh which came to help him was about
to return to Egypt. The Chaldeans would return, and take and burn
the city.

When the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the
approach of the army of Pharaoh, Jeremiah went to the land of
Benjamin. A sentry there accused Jeremiah of deserting, and beat
and imprisoned him. After many days Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah and
received him and asked if there was word from the Lord. Zedekiah
has Jeremiah put in the court of the guard, and provided a loaf of
bread daily for him until all the bread was gone from the city.

38. Jeremiah said in the name of the Lord: Those who go out in
surrender to the King of Babylon will be spared. But those who stay
in the city will perish. The princes then told the king; Jeremiah
should be put to death. The King let them have Jeremiah, and they
put him into a cistern that had no water, but mire in it.

But Ebedmelech, a Eunuch of the King, learned of it, reported
to the king, who had them take Jeremiah up out of the cistern.
Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

King Zedekiah called Jeremiah and was given the same advice.
The King feared the Jews who had deserted to the Chaldeans.
Jeremiah said there was no cause to fear. Z did not comply, but
told Jeremiah not to let the princes hear what was said. Jeremiah
obeyed, and stayed in the court of the guard until the day
Jerusalem fell.

39. Finally the walls of Jerusalem were broken open. We are not
sure how long the siege lasted. If we use the
Babylonian New Year, which was in March, as the basis, it ran from
January 588 to July 587. The fall of the city is described more
fully in chapter 52.

King Zedekiah seeing this tried to flee but was caught in the
plains of Jericho. Nebuchadnezzar slew the sons and nobles of
Zedekiah before him, and then put out Zedekiah's eyes, and took him
in chains to Babylon. The Chaldeans burned the city. Nebuzaradan,
captain of the guard for the Chaldeans left some poor landless
people in the land, and gave them land there. Nebuchadnezzar gave
orders to treat Jeremiah well, and took him from the court of the
guard, and entrusted him to Gedeliah, who had been a prominent
official in the reigns of Josiah and Jehoiakim, and who was
appointed governor for the Chaldeans. Before Jeremiah left the
court of the guard, God told him he would destroy the city but save
Jeremiah.

40. Jeremiah as taken to Ramah, place of assembly for the exiles to
leave. But Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard was kind to Jeremiah,
told him he could come to Babylon and would be cared for, or could
stay in Judah, and go to Gedeliah, Chaldean governor there.

The guerilla bands of Jews from the countryside then came to
Gedeliah at Mizpah -- the Chaldeans did not want to trust them in
Jerusalem, and made Mizpah the seat of the governor. Gedeliah seems
to have been a good ruler, who promised to represent them before
Nechuchadnezzar. But many did not trust Gedeliah, even though the
Chaldeans had not used a scorched earth policy, but left some
produce in the land. Gedeliah told them to gather supplies, for the
coming bleak winter. One of them, Johanan, warned Gedeliah that he
was in danger of being killed by Ishmael son of Nethaniah. Gedeliah
did not believe the warning and did not let Johanan kill Ishmael.

41. (Narrative simply continues). In the 7th month Ishmael came
with ten men to Gedeliah. While they were eating together, they
killed Gedeliah and also killed the Jews who were at Mizpah and the
Chaldean soldiers who were there.

The day after this, a band of 80 men from Shechem, Shiloh and
Samaria came with beards shaved, clothes torn and bodies gashed,
with cereal offerings and incense to present in the temple, even
though it had been ruined - cf. the use of the Wailing Wall in
Jerusalem even today. These men even though from the northern
kingdom still wanted to worship in the sacred ruins. But Ishmael
and the men with him killed them and threw their bodies into a
cistern. However those who had not yet been killed told Ishmael
they had stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden. So he did
not kill them. Ishmael then took captive all the rest of the people
who were in Mizpah.

But Johanan heard of it, and came with a force against Ishmael.
However Ishmael and 8 men escaped and went to the Ammonites.
Johanan then planned to go to Egypt with a remnant.

42. (Narrative continues). Johanan and others went to Jeremiah,
asking him to pray to the Lord and they would obey. After ten days
Jeremiah summoned them and told them that if they stayed in Judah
the Lord would build them up. But if they went to
Egypt, the sword would find them there.

43. (narrative continues). But they refused to listen to Jeremiah
and went to Egypt, taking him and Baruch his secretary along. In
Egypt Jeremiah told them the Lord would send Nebuchadnezzar against
them even in Egypt.

44. (narrative continues). Jeremiah rebuked the people, for they
were burning incense to the gods of Egypt. Jeremiah told them they
would be consumed in Egypt. The men then, knowing their wives had
burned incense there, came to Jeremiah and said they approved of
the action of their wives, and that they would burn incense to the
Queen of Heaven. They said that when they did that in Judah they
had had plenty, so they must do it now. Jeremiah told them that
this idolatry was the reason why the Lord had sent the sword
against Jerusalem. Most of them would be smitten with the sword,
only a remnant would escape to Judah.

Jeremiah continued: the Lord would sent the Chaldeans to overthrow
Pharaoh Hophra, who had been the ally of Zedekiah. Hophra was
overthrown by one of his own officers, Amasis, who shared rule with
Hophra for about 3 years. But then in 570 Amasis rebelled against
Nebuchadnezzar and was defeated in 568. Hophra was dethroned and
strangled by some of his subjects.

Scripture does not tell us more about Jeremiah himself after this
point in time. There are many legends, none of them certain.

45. We now go back in time to the year 604. The Lord sent a message
to Baruch, secretary of Jeremiah. God told Baruch who was weary and
groaning under all the trouble. God said that He had caused the
destruction that was coming. But Baruch's life would be spared,
wherever he might be.

46. All the remainder of Jeremiah, except chapter 51, is made up of
prophecies against foreign nations. Some have thought a different
writer added them. But there is no strong reason for saying that.
These chapters 46-51 are some of the finest poetry in Scripture.

The Septuagint Greek version puts these oracles after 25. 13
and arranges them in a different order.

First, against Egypt:The text is specific, it deals with the
defeat of Pharaoh Neco at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar in 605.
Carchemish is in Syria, near the Euphrates river. The battle there
was one of the great decisive battles of history. It showed
Assyria, supported by Egypt, could not resist the rising power of
Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar pursued Neco to Egypt, but turned back at
the news of the death of his father, Nabopolassar. He had to go
back to be crowned king. The name Carchemish means the Fort of
Chemosh, god of the Moabites: cf. 2 Kings 23. 13.

Jeremiah in words with a color of sarcasm tells of the
preparation of the Egyptians, and their defeat in a panic, which
seems to have been induced by the Lord.

Jeremiah says that day was a day of <naqam>, God's setting
things right (not <vengeance> as versions often have it. That is
immoral). Jeremiah tells Neco to get balm in Gilead, famous for
balm, even though Egypt itself was famed in that time for its
physicians. It was from Egypt and India that the knowledge of
medicine came to Europe:cf. Herodotus 2. 116.

Jeremiah asks: Why has Apis fled? Apis was the sacred bull of
Egypt, the incarnation of Osiris. But the gods of Egypt could not
stand up. So the mercenary troops of Neco called him a braggart, "a
loud noise" (v. 17).

Jeremiah speaks of Egypt as a beautiful heifer, the gadfly
from the north is Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah says Egypt will hiss
like a serpent-- the Pharaoh had an image of a Uraeus serpent on
his crown. They thought it could strike people dead if they came
too close.

God is bringing punishment on Amon, chief god of Thebes in
Egypt. But the Lord said that Egypt would later be restored.

But the Lord promises to save His people even from a distant
place.

47. Jeremiah speaks of the Pharaoh smiting Gaza, a Philistine city.
There could be any of several historical incidents: Neco conquered
Gaza (2 Kings 23. 29-30) about the time he defeated Josiah at
Megiddo. Or on his return from the battle of Carchemish Neco may
have struck Gaza. Or it could be Pharaoh Hophra who took Gaza in
his campaign against Tyre and Sidon.

The waters rising out of the north stand for Babylon. Limp
hands indicated paralysis from fear. The mention of Caphtor recalls
that Crete, once called Caphtor was the original home of the
Philistines before their entrance into Palestine:
cf. Dt. 2. 23.

Baldness of Gaza means they shaved their heads as signs of
deep mourning . Ashkelon is another Philistine city on the coast.
V. 5 in RSV speaks of the remnant of the Anakim, which seems to
mean the tall people, living near Hebron in prehistoric times:. cf
Joshua 11. 21-22.

48. Against Moab: The people of Moab were descended form Lot (Gen
19. 37). They lived east of the Dead Sea, were often in conflict
with Israel. When Israel was coming back from Egypt they wanted to
pass through Moab, but the Amorite King Sihon, who had conquered
Moab, refused them permission, even though God has told them not to
harass Moab (Dt 2. 8-9). Later on, King Balak of Moab hired a pagan
seer, Balaam, to curse Israel, but God forced Balaam to bless them
instead. He foretold that a star, the Messiah, would arise from
them: Numbers 24. 17. It was from Me. Nebo in Moab that Moses saw
the promised land, which God ordered hi not to enter. They joined
Nebuchadnezzar as marauding bands against Israel in 602 after the
revolt by Jehoiakim. Early in the reign of Zedekiah they joined in
a plot to revolt against Babylon. They were conquered by
Nebuchadnezzar, and disappeared as a nation. Yet at the end of this
chapter Jeremiah says God will eventually restore them, in the
final age.

We meet a series of woes against more than twenty cities. We
do not know even the location of some of them. Nor is it helpful
for us to determine the places of many of the others.

Jeremiah says that Chemosh will go into exile. He was the chief
god of Moab. He was mentioned on the Moabite stone, which
celebrated the victory of King Mesha of Moab over Israel in the 9th
century. Idols were often taken into captivity with their conquered
worshippers.

The valley would be the part of the Jordan valley which
touched Moab on the west. Most Moabite cities were located on a
high plateau, 3000 ft above sea level.

Moab has been at rest for long in that while it was made a
tributary by Assyria and Babylon, it was not exiled. But days are
coming when men will pour from jars and they will pour her oil,
empty her jars, and smash them. Then they will be ashamed of their
idol Chemosh, who did not help them, just as Israel was later
ashamed of Bethel where Israel had worshipped a bull.

Jeremiah says there will be shaved heads, beards cut off, and
gashes on the body - signs of mourning at funerals.

Yet God shows pity even to Moab. In v 36 He says his heart
moans for Moab, and in v 47 He says eventually He will restore
Moab, in the last days.


In verse 9 he says: Put salt on Moab. That was sometimes done in
ancient times to ruin the soil, so nothing would grow there.

49. Oracles against several nations:

a)Against Ammon: These people were descended from Ben-Ammi,
son of Lot(Gen 19:38), and lived north of Moab. It seems they first
occupied the land in which the tribe of Gad settled after the fall
of Sihon. When Tiglath Pileser III in 733 conquered the
Transjordanian tribes, Ammonites encroached on the territory of
Gad, which was east of the Jordan. They were often in conflict with
Israel. They joined in the invasion of Judah in 602. It as probably
Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed Ammon.

Molech [the root is same as in Hebrew <melech>, king] was
their chief god. Rabbah was the chief city of the Ammonites, now
Amman, capital of the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan. Hesbon was under
control of the Ammonite king Sihon, and later it came under Moabite
control. The Ai mentioned here is not the one conquered by Joshua
(Joshua 8. 1-29). They lived in a country with mountains on three
sides, and so felt safe from invasion. Josephus (<Antiquities> 10.
181 [9. 7] says Nebuchadnezzar defeated Ammon in the 5th year after
the fall of Jerusalem. Even after the Exile the Ammonites opposed
Israel. During the time of the Maccabees they were forced to accept
the Jewish religion. God promised later restoration to them.

b)Against Edom: The relations of the Edomites with Israel were
always poor. They descended from Esau (Gen 36. 1-19) twin brother
of Jacob. Their land was in a mountainous region south of the Dead
Sea until the Nabateans displaced them. They were proud and had
violent hatred of Israel. There was no prophecy given here for the
future restoration of Edom.

c)Against Damascus: We are not sure of which historical event
is spoken of here. The chief cities in Syria were Hamath, Zobah and
Damascus. Damascus was seat of a powerful dynasty that of Ben-Hadah
- which was also the name of some individual kings (cf. 1 Kings
15:18; 2 Kings 13:24). Hamath is on the Orontes river, modern Hama,
and is about 110 miles north of Damascus. Arpad is about 95 miles
north of Hamath.

All three cities were conquered by Assyria (cf. Isaiah 10;9).
Damascus was also conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 605.

d)Against Kedar and Hazor: Kedar was an Ishmaelite desert
tribe, but rich in livestock, and good at archery. Yet
Nebuchadnezzar conquered them. Hazor is not the Hazor mentioned in
Joshua 11. 1-13, for this one is in a desert region -- not
mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.

e)Against Elam: This oracle comes from the early part of the
reign of Zedekiah, c 598 BC. Elam was an ancient kingdom 200 miles
east of Babylon and west of the Tigris River. It had been an
important power, but was conquered about 640 BC. Its capital, Susa,
became the residence of Darius Hystaspes of Persia. Elamites were
famed for skill in archery. Yet invaders would overwhelm them from
all sides and scatter them. In the last days Elam will be restored.

50-51. Oracle Against Babylon: We have already seen the words of
Isaiah on the destruction of Babylon, it is good to review them
now.

Jeremiah says: Bel and Merodach (=Marduk), gods of Babylon are
put to shame. A nation shall come out of the north, the Medes and
Persians, and will take Babylon. Israel and Judah together will
turn back to the Lord, seeking an everlasting covenant. Their
shepherds had led them astray. Their enemies saw that
God had turned them over to the enemies. So Jeremiah advises them
to flee from Babylon, for it was to be destroyed. There will be
complete desolation. This is the <naqam> of the Lord (not
vengeance).

God will restore Israel and will pardon their iniquity. In v.
12 Merathim ("twice bitter") and Pekod ("punishment" stand for
Babylon. Babylon is called the hammer of the whole earth, but now
it will be repaid. The <naqam> of the Lord (not vengeance) comes.
It is true, God had used the agency of the Babylonians to carry out
His punishment of His people. Yet what they did was at the same
time objectively wrong, and their intention too was wrong: so they
must face punishment now.

In v. 34 the Lord is called the redeemer (<goel>) of Israel,
the kinsman who has the right and duty to rescue them when they are
in dire straits.

In v. 38 Babylon is called a land of images, mad over idols.

At its fall, the earth will tremble -- we recall the
apocalyptic language of Isaiah 13. 10 on this subject.

So they will fall in the streets at the time of the Lord's
<naqam>. It is He who set up the earth by His power. Men are stupid
to put their trust in the idols that their smiths make. Babylon
will be a perpetual waste.

Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz, nations north of Babylon,
conquered by Medes early in 6th century, are called on to strike
Babylon. God will make the princes of Babylon like drunks.

Jeremiah told Neriah the staff officer who went to
Babylon with Zedekiah to read his prophetic scroll in Babylon, and
then to tie the scroll to a rock, and throw it into the Euphrates,
as a symbol of the way Babylon was going to sink.

51. 64 the last words of this chapter read: "Thus far the words of
Jeremiah". This would seem to imply that chapter 52 was an addition
by another writer, who would be inspired too.

Herodotus in 1. 191 said that Cyrus conquered
Babylon by diverting the water of the Euphrates into a trench. The
Persian attack was so sudden and unexpected that when the outer
areas of the city were taken, those in the center did not realize
they were captured. Herodotus also, in 1. 178 ff. said Babylon was
surrounded by a double wall which allowed four chariots to run
abreast.

52. This chapter is a sort of historical supplement to the book of
Jeremiah. It is almost identical with 2 Kings 24. 18 - 25. 30.

The number of those deported in this chapter, at 52. 28-29, is
somewhat smaller than that given in 2 Kings. It seems both writers
were using different perspectives. The smaller figure may include
only adult males, and the larger number may give the total of all
persons. Perhaps the one figure covers only those from Judah, the
other is more inclusive.

52. 31-34 tells how in 561 BC Evil- Merodach, King of Babylon
released King Jehoiakin of Judah from prison, gave him a seat of
honor, and a place at the king's table. The cuneiform tablets from
Babylon confirm this point. Jewish tradition says that Evil-
Merodach was imprisoned by his father during the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar. In prison, Evil-Merodach became a friend of
Jehoiachin.
chin.