The Prophet Jeremiah and the Exile to Babylonia, Bryna Jochebed Levy, COJS. The biblical prophet Jeremiah is perhaps best remembered for his doomsday prophecies. He criticized his generation for their wayward behavior, and then watched them fall at the hands of their geopolitical enemies.
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Who was Jeremiah-the weeping prophet?
Who Was Jeremiah - the "Weeping Prophet"? A prophet’s life is never easy, but Jeremiah had an especially rough time. Known as the Weeping Prophet, Jeremiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah in the Old Testament, right before Judah ultimately fell to Babylon and was led away into captivity.
What is Jeremiah’s exile like?
After warning again not to be misled by false prophets and dreamers, Jeremiah tells them that, to be sure, the exile is a temporary one, but nevertheless long enough to settle down to a normal life, with complete trust in G‑d that He will redeem the remnants of His people and return them to their homeland.
What were Jeremiah’s prophecies?
These prophecies included messages of warning and hope. Many of Jeremiah’s prophecies are yet to be fulfilled in the end times. Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, a Levitical priest, was likely born between 650 and 645 B.C.
Who is Jeremiah in the Bible and when was he born?
Jeremiah, Hebrew Yirmeyahu, Latin Vulgate Jeremias, (born probably after 650 bce, Anathoth, Judah—died c. 570 bce, Egypt), Hebrew prophet, reformer, and author of a biblical book that bears his name.
Who are the exilic prophets in the Bible?
Ezekiel and Daniel are the prophets of the exile, while the last three minor prophets were during the post-exilic era.
What kind of prophet is Jeremiah?
As a prophet, Jeremiah pronounced God's judgment upon the people of his time for their wickedness. He was concerned especially with false and insincere worship and failure to trust Yahweh in national affairs. He denounced social injustices but not so much as some previous prophets, such as Amos and Micah.
Who was the prophet of the exile?
EZEKIEL, THE PROPHET OF THE EXILE.
Who is the prophet during the Babylonian exile?
A prophet during the Babylonian exile, Ezekiel's hopeful visions gave rise to a Jewish identity that extended beyond geographical and political borders. With the fall of Jerusalem and forceful deportation of citizens from Judah to Babylon, the Hebrew nation was shocked and in a spiritual crisis.
Why was Jeremiah called a weeping prophet?
“His message was one of hope and warning. The Israelites were getting away their destiny and God was trying to call them back. Jeremiah was faithful when God gave him a strong word and challenged him to execute that word. They called him the Weeping Prophet because his heart was so tender.”
How old was Jeremiah when he became a prophet?
He is believed to have been about 20 years old when he was called to prophesy. The prophet said, “The word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.” It is interesting to see the line of kings and the influence they had over the people.
What is the post exilic period in the Bible?
It was after the Babylonian captivity (not later than the 5th cent. BC) that a compilation of earlier texts and oral traditions was made, forming the canon of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses.
What does post exilic mean in the Bible?
Definition of postexilic : of or relating to the period of Jewish history between the end of the exile in Babylon in 538 b.c. and a.d. 1.
What is exilic period?
1. ( Judaism) the exile of the Jews in Babylonia from about 586 to about 538 bc.
Was the prophet Jeremiah taken to Babylon?
Since Jeremiah did not go to Babylon but was taken to Egypt, it is doubtful that this chapter was written by him. Perhaps it was added by his scribe, Baruch. (see 2 Kings 24–25; Jeremiah 39.)
Why was Jeremiah not allowed in the temple?
Streane suggests Jeremiah "was hindered from addressing the people by ceremonial uncleanness". Benjamin Blayney suggests that, as he has before been tried in front of the princes in Jeremiah 26, Jeremiah had been put under some restraint, perhaps forbidden to enter the precincts of the Temple".
What happened to Jeremiah?
Later, he was taken to Egypt against his will by a group of exiles who found it necessary to flee Jerusalem for their own safety. In Egypt, Jeremiah died after a long and troublesome career.
What was the role of prophet Jeremiah?
In his early years of being a prophet, Jeremiah was primarily a preaching prophet, preaching throughout Israel. He condemned idolatry, the greed of priests, and false prophets. Many years later, God instructed Jeremiah to write down these early oracles and his other messages.
What do we know about Jeremiah the prophet?
Jeremiah was born of priestly parentage, toward the middle of the seventh century, in the little town of Anathoth. He prophesied under Josiah and his sons from the year 626 to the fall of Jerusalem in b.c. 587 (1:2f). He was contemporary with four of the minor prophets, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel, Daniel.
When was Jeremiah called a prophet?
627/626 bcJeremiah, a Judaean prophet whose activity spanned four of the most tumultuous decades in his country's history, appears to have received his call to be a prophet in the 13th year of the reign of King Josiah (627/626 bc) and continued his ministry until after the siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 ...
What was Jeremiah's mission?
As a prophet, Jeremiah pronounced God's judgment upon the people of his time for their wickedness. He was concerned especially with false and insincere worship and failure to trust Yahweh in national affairs. He denounced social injustices but not so much as some previous prophets, such as Amos and Micah.
When Did Jeremiah Live?
It’s important to know the context of Jeremiah’s time in order to understand his life . Part of this requires a partial overview of the history of the Israelites in the Promised Land.
Why Is Jeremiah Called the "Weeping Prophet"?
Not only did he experience the horrors of war, starvation, siege, and captivity, he was called upon to tell the people of it, urging them to repent. Worst of all, they didn’t listen. The below passage well demonstrates the cause of Jeremiah’s agony:
What Does the Bible Say about Jeremiah?
He was called as a prophet in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah. For around forty years, Jeremiah spoke for God to the people of Judah.
What Happened to Jeremiah? How Did He Die?
After Jerusalem was destroyed, the Babylonians released Jeremiah from prison and allowed him to live in the land under the protection of a governor. Unfortunately, the governor was murdered two months later, and Jeremiah was carried off to Egypt against his will by Jewish rebels. The Bible doesn’t say exactly what happened to him, but it is known that he died there, possibly killed by the very people who brought him there, according to extrabiblical sources.
What was the name of the prophet who was a weeping prophet?
A prophet’s life is never easy, but Jeremiah had an especially rough time. Known as the Weeping Prophet, Jeremiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah in the Old Testament, right before Judah ultimately fell to Babylon and was led away into captivity. God sent Jeremiah to a crumbling nation to warn of their impending demise – ...
Why did Jeremiah buy land in Jerusalem?
At the height of the Babylonian siege, on orders from God, Jeremiah bought land in the city of Jerusalem to show that the Jews would one day return ( Jeremiah 32:6-25 ). Jeremiah preached a lot of doom and punishment. However, his message was ultimately one of repentance and restoration.
How long did Jeremiah spend telling the people what would happen?
Jeremiah spent forty years telling the people what would happen. And they didn’t listen.
What is Jeremiah's letter to the exiles?
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles of chapter 29 served as the basis of the apocryphal work, The Epistle of Jeremiah. The later text is presented as if it were a copy of Jeremiah’s letter, but it expounds further, and with significant differences.
What was the message of Jeremiah?
of King Jehoiachin, Jeremiah sent the following message “…to the priests, the prophets, the rest of the elders of the exile community, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon—a fter King Jeconiah [a reference to Jehoiachin], the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judea and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and smiths had left Jerusalem” (29-1)-
Why did Nebuchadnezzar take Jerusalem?
Nebuchadnezzar seized the event as an opportunity to eliminate the problem of a rebellious Jewish people in Judea. For two years, the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem, until the city finally fell in 586 B.C.E. Many Jews were killed, and most of those who remained were carried off into exile.
What does the Aramaic text mean in Jeremiah's missive?
By postulating that the Aramaic text was part of Jeremiah’s missive, the translation interprets the condemnation of idolatry as instructions as to how to engage in polemic. Jeremiah supplies the exiles with a response to the gentiles who prevail upon them to worship idols – and in their own language, no less.
What is the proof of God?
Note that, according to the Targum, the proof of the true God is His creation of heaven and earth. Only One who brings forth rain from the sky and fruit from the ground shall be worshiped. The obvious question is why the prophet would anticipate that the people of Israel would fall prey to idol worship in the Diaspora.
What was the purpose of King Josiah's intervention in the battle of Carchemish?
In 605 B.C.E., when the Egyptians were en route to aid the Assyrians in their battle against the Babylonians, at Carchemish, on the border between Turkey and Syria, King Josiah tried to interfere with their progress, a delay that would help the Babylonians.
Where is the verse "Let the gods perish from the earth"?
In the prophetic books, there is one single verse in Aramaic. Not surprisingly, in light of the exile and Jeremiah ’s realistic approach, that verse is found in Jeremiah-. Thus shall you say to them- Let the gods, who did not make heaven and earth, perish from the earth and from under these heavens.
Who is Jeremiah the prophet?
Professor of Old Testament, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 1944–72. Author of Jeremiah: Prophet of Courage and Hope and others. Jeremiah, Hebrew Yirmeyahu, Latin Vulgate Jeremias, (born probably after 650 bce, Anathoth, Judah—died c. 570 bce, Egypt), Hebrew prophet, reformer, and author of a biblical book that bears his name.
What did Jeremiah write to the exiles?
Early in Zedekiah’s reign, Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles in Babylonia, advising them not to expect to return immediately to their homeland, as false prophets were encouraging them to believe, but to settle peaceably in their place of exile and seek the welfare of their captors.
Why did Jeremiah denounce Jehoiakim?
Jeremiah denounced Jehoiakim harshly for his selfishness, materialism, and practice of social injustice. Near the time of the Battle of Carchemish, in 605, when the Babylonians decisively defeated the Egyptians and the remnant of the Assyrians, Jeremiah delivered an oracle against Egypt.
Why was Jeremiah disillusioned with the Reforms?
If this was the case, Jeremiah later became disillusioned with the reforms because they dealt too largely with the externals of religion and not with the inner spirit and ethical conduct of the people. He may have lapsed into a period of silence for several years because of the indifferent success of the reforms and the failure of his prophecies concerning the foe from the north to materialize.
When did Jeremiah start prophesying?
Some scholars doubt that Jeremiah’s career actually began as early as 627/626 bce and question the accuracy of the dates in the biblical account. This view arises from the difficulty of identifying the foe from the north, which seems likely to have been the Babylonians of a later time, as well as the difficulty of determining the prophet’s attitude toward the Deuteronomic reforms and of assigning messages of Jeremiah to the reign of Josiah. In the opinion of such scholars, Jeremiah began to prophesy toward the end of the reign of Josiah or at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (609–598).
What did King Josiah do in 621?
In 621 King Josiah instituted far-reaching reforms based upon a book discovered in the Temple of Jerusalem in the course of building repairs, which was probably Deuteronomy or some part of it. Josiah’s reforms included the purification of worship from pagan practices, the centralization of all sacrificial rites in the Temple of Jerusalem, and perhaps an effort to establish social justice following principles of earlier prophets (this program constituted what has been called “the Deuteronomic reforms ”).
What was the reign of Jehoiakim?
The reign of Jehoiakim was an active and difficult period in Jeremiah’s life. That king was very different from his father, the reforming Josiah, whom Jeremiah commended for doing justice and righteousness. Jeremiah denounced Jehoiakim harshly for his selfishness, materialism, and practice of social injustice.
Who was Jeremiah the prophet?
Jeremiah was a man called to be a prophet to deliver God’s message to Judah (before, during and after its fall to Babylon in 586 B.C.). These prophecies included messages of warning and hope. Many of Jeremiah’s prophecies are yet to be fulfilled in the end times.
Why is Jeremiah called the weeping prophet?
Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as “the weeping prophet.” This designation comes from his tender concern about his countrymen’s impending punishment. If the people rejected his warning from God to repent, he said, “My soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears , because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive” (Jeremiah 13:17). Of course, Judah did refuse to repent and was taken captive.
Why was Jeremiah appointed?
It was against this background that Jeremiah was appointed to reveal the sins of the people and the grave consequences of ignoring them. Jeremiah was among those who had hoped for a permanent spiritual revival, but tragedy came when righteous Josiah died suddenly at the young age of 39. The whole nation mourned his death, as did Jeremiah ( 2 Chronicles 35:25 ).
What was Jeremiah's challenge after Josiah's death?
Jeremiah’s challenge after Josiah’s death. God called Jeremiah to his prophetic ministry about one year after King Josiah began leading the nation in a great reform from the widespread idolatry promoted by his father, Amon, and his grandfather, Manasseh ( 2 Kings 21:10, 20 ).
What is the book of Jeremiah?
The book begins: “The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin” (Jeremiah 1:1). The text of this book is often the words of God, which Jeremiah recorded.
How long did Jeremiah write?
Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry extended over a period of more than 40 years, during which he wrote both Jeremiah and Lamentations. Jewish tradition also credits him with writing 1 and 2 Kings. Contemporary prophets during the time of Jeremiah included Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Daniel and Ezekiel.
Why did God set Jeremiah apart?
In fact, God had already set Jeremiah apart for the office of a prophet before he was even born, in order to take God’s words to all Israel and to the nations ( verse 5 ). God gave Jeremiah the overview of his prophetic ministry: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
What does Jeremiah tell the people about the exile?
After warning again not to be misled by false prophets and dreamers, Jeremiah tells them that, to be sure, the exile is a temporary one, but nevertheless long enough to settle down to a normal life, with complete trust in G‑d that He will redeem the remnants of His people and return them to their homeland.
What did Jeremiah preach?
Jeremiah tried to convince the king that it was useless to depend on false hopes of freeing himself from the Babylonian yoke with the help of Egypt. The prophet sternly warned him, in G‑d's Name, ...
How long did it take for the Beis Hamikdosh to be rebuilt?
It breathed new life into them, and encouraged them, for they knew exactly what they had to do. Thus, seventy years after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh by Nebuchadnezzar, the community of the faithful who returned from Exile, rebuilt the Beis Hamikdosh and Jerusalem, exactly as Jeremiah had prophesied.
What did Jeremiah warn the people of?
In those critical times, as for many years earlier, the great prophet Jeremiah of Anathoth, the Town of Kohanim, was the G‑d-sent messenger to warn the people of the mortal danger hanging over their heads. He did not cease calling on the king and the people to mend their ways and return to G‑d. Only wholehearted repentance and a complete break with the way of idolatry, injustice and immorality, could save the people from doom, he preached. Jeremiah tried to convince the king that it was useless to depend on false hopes of freeing himself from the Babylonian yoke with the help of Egypt. The prophet sternly warned him, in G‑d's Name, to follow a peaceful path with the mighty Babylonian, who was G‑d's rod to punish the Jewish people if they persisted in their faithlessness.
What did Jeremiah think of the Jewish people?
It pained him to think that at such a critical time, when the fate of the Jewish people hung in the balance, there should be false prophets among them, and, worse still, that there were many Jews who allowed themselves to be misled and deceived by them.
Why did Zedekiah turn to Egypt?
He turned to Egypt for help, since the ever growing power of Babylon was a threat to Egypt too .
What did the false prophets make them believe?
These false prophets made them believe that the rise of Babylon's power was only temporary, and that in a couple of years it would break down.
What was Jeremiah's prophecy concerning Israel's exile and restoration?
What was Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning Israel’s exile and restoration? “And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, ...
Who was convicted of the prophecies of Jeremiah?
Before God fulfilled Jeremiah ’s prophecies, He convicted Daniel , who was in the Babylonian exile, that the time of return to Israel and restoration had come ( Dan. 9:2 ). Although the Lord had promised deliverance to His people at the right time, Daniel realized the conditional nature of many of His promises ( Jer. 18:7–10 ). And he feared that ungodly state of God ’s people may delay the fulfillment of His promise. So, he confessed the sins of his people and asked for God ’s forgiveness.
When did the 70 years of Jeremiah's prophecies expire?
Since the Babylonian captivity had begun in 605 B.C. (Dan. 1:1), the 70 years of Jeremiah ’s prophecies expired in 536 , according to inclusive reckoning. Therefore, if the decree of Cyrus was issued in the summer or autumn of 537, the Jews probably returned to their homeland in the spring of the following year, 536.
What prophecy was fulfilled in Daniel 5?
Prophecy fulfilled. Faithfully, the Lord answered Daniel’s prayers. And the prophecy of restoration, which was against Babylon, began to be fulfilled. And that took place when “the Medes and Persians” captured the city, killed Belshazzar, and ended the Neo-Babylonian Empire (Dan. 5:17–31).
Who was God's servant in Babylon?
And Cyrus was used as God’s “servant” to punish the Babylonians (Isa. 44:24 to 45:5). Although God used Babylon to punish His own people, this did not release the nation from punishment due to their own sins (Jer. 50; 51; Isa. 10:5–16). Thus, the Lord performed His “good word” of mercy and caused His people to return to their country.
Who were the pre-exilic prophets?
The pre-exilic prophets can be divided into the pre-Assyrian and pre-Babylonian prophets. The pre-Assyrian prophets were Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah. They ministered from 734 to 722 BC and warned of the coming of the Assyrian empire, who took the northern tribes of Israel into exile in 722 BC. The pre-Babylonian prophets were Nahum, ...
What are the prophetic books in the Bible?
In the Bible, the prophetic books are divided into the categories of major and minor prophets. These labels refer to the length of the books rather than their importance. The Bible does not order the prophetic books chronologically in their historical context. Historically speaking, the prophetic books are divided into the categories ...
How long was Jeremiah in ministry?
Jeremiah was in ministry for nearly five decades, spanning the reigns of five different kings: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah, whose descendant was eventually Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father ), and Zedekiah (640-586 B.C.). These were the last five kings who reigned in Judah on the throne of David, and no one has reigned there since.
Where did Jeremiah go after the Egyptian invasion?
Rabbinic literature tells of Jeremiah being taken to Babylon after the Egyptian invasion. Scholars theorize he finished his book there in 561 B.C. as former king Jehoiachin was released from prison ( Jeremiah 52:31-34 ), but there is not sufficient evidence of it.
Why was Jeremiah imprisoned?
Twice he was imprisoned: once on the assumption he was defecting to the Chaldeans ( Jeremiah 37:15 ), and once for encouraging people to defect to the Chaldeans in order to diminish Jerusalem’s destruction (v2-6). The people also sought his death for prophesying, but the Babylonian governor of Judah used his influence to protect Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26 ). And the chief governor of the Temple, a priest named Pashhur, had him put in the stocks for 24 hours for prophesying.
Who did Zedekiah rebel against?
Nine years later, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, causing Nebuchadnezzar to invade Jerusalem again. Jeremiah urged the king to surrender. Surrendering would lessen the damage the Babylonians would inflict. But Zedekiah was afraid of what the exiled Jews would do to him ( Jeremiah 38:19) when they saw him. Instead, the king and his army fled. They were captured by the Chaldeans and turned over to Nebuchadnezzar (39:4-5).
What happened to the second Temple?
Unfortunately, 420 years later, the Romans invaded Jerusalem and utterly destroyed the Second Temple on the exact same day the First Temple was destroyed —the ninth of Av. And the Jewish people continue to wait for a Third Temple to be built.
Who burned the Temple?
Nebuchadnezzar pillaged the Temple and burned it to the ground ( 2 Kings 25:9) on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av. He then forced Zedekiah to watch the death of his sons before he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze ankle chains, and forced him to march to Babylon ( Jeremiah 39:6-7 ).
Who prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem?
With one statement, Jeremiah prophesied Jerusalem’s destruction, Jehoiakim’s death, and the end of his family line on the throne of David. And it all came to pass.
Where did Jeremiah die?
But with regards to how Jeremiah died, the Scriptures leave no record. Church tradition suggests that Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt by the Jews. Jeremiah prophesied in Judah around 626—587 BC, beginning in King Josiah’s reign and lasting through the fall of Judah to the Babylonians.
Who took Jerusalem from Jeremiah?
Soon after, the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar gave orders not to harm Jeremiah. The prophet was released and allowed to go to Mizpah. Our last glimpse of Jeremiah in Scripture is when he was forcibly taken by a band of Jewish rebels who left Judah to live in Egypt around 585—582 BC ( Jeremiah 43—45 ).
Why was Jeremiah banned from the temple?
In a sermon delivered in the temple, Jeremiah insisted that the people put away their idols, repent of their sin, and stop being hypocritical in their honor of God in the temple. For this, he was banned from the temple, although he was himself the son of a priest, and the priests sought to kill him.
What did Jeremiah warn his fellow countrymen to do?
In addition, the prophet regularly warned his fellow countrymen to submit to Babylon, a nation that God had appointed to discipline Israel. As a result, Jeremiah was despised as a traitor, and his life was often endangered.
Where did the Jews stone Jeremiah?
According to the early church father Tertullian, the Jews stoned Jeremiah to death in Daphne ( Tahpanhes in Hebrew), Egypt. Jeremiah’s “crime” was telling them truths they did not want to hear [ Scorpiace, Chapter VIII].
Who was the Ethiopian who rescued Jeremiah?
While there, Jeremiah’s enemies had him cast into an abandoned cistern to die, but he was rescued by an Ethiopian named Ebed-Melech ( Jeremiah 38 ). Soon after, the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar gave orders not to harm Jeremiah.
Why was Jeremiah arrested?
He was apprehended and arrested in Benjamin, accused of desertion, beaten, and imprisoned ( Jeremiah 37:11–16 ). After appealing to King Zedekiah, Jeremiah was placed under house arrest. While there, Jeremiah’s enemies had him cast into an abandoned cistern to die, but he was rescued by an Ethiopian named Ebed-Melech ( Jeremiah 38 ).