Notes on Jeremiah - Plano Bible Chapel

1 Copyright 2020 by Thomas L. Constable Notes on Jeremiah 2020 Edition Dr. Thomas L. Constable TITLE The title of this book derives from its writer, the early seventh and late sixth-century Judean prophet Jeremiah . The book occupies the second position in the Latter Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible after Isaiah and before Ezekiel, which accounts for its position in the Septuagint and most modern translations. However, in the Talmud, Jeremiah comes first, followed by Isaiah, Ezekiel, and The Twelve. This order may have been due to the fact that Jeremiah records the destruction of Jerusalem, Ezekiel records the destruction and consolation, and Isaiah ends with consolation.

2 Or this order may have been the lengths of these documents: Jeremiah contains 21,835 words, Ezekiel 18,730 words, Isaiah 16,932 words, and The Twelve 14,355 The meaning of " Jeremiah " is not clear. It could mean "Yahweh founds (or establishes)," "Yahweh exalts," "Yahweh throws down," "Yahweh hurls," or "Yahweh loosens (the womb)." WRITER The composition and structure of Jeremiah , discussed below, have led many scholars to conclude that an editor or editors (redactors) probably put the book in its final form. Many conservatives, however, believe that Jeremiah himself was responsible for the final form, though it is likely that the book went through several revisions before it reached its final canonical form.

3 Jeremiah could even have written the last chapter, which describes 1 Jack R. Lundbom, Jeremiah 1 20, p. 57. 2 Dr. Constable's Notes on Jeremiah 2020 Edition events that took place about 25 years after the next latest events, since he would have been approximately 83 years old, assuming he was still alive. Clearly, Jeremiah 's secretary, Baruch, provided the prophet with much assistance in writing the material and possibly arranging it in its final form (36:17-18; 45:1). Baruch was to Jeremiah what Luke was to Paul: his companion, amanuensis, and biographer.

4 The book bears marks of having been assembled by one person at one time, at least in its final form. "There is no satisfactory reason for doubting that Jeremiah himself was the author of the entire book."1 The Book of Jeremiah tells us more about the prophet Jeremiah than any other prophetic book reveals about its writer. It is highly biographical and Scholars often refer to the autobiographical sections (10:23-25; 11:18 12:6; 15:10-14, 15-21; 17:9-11, 14-18; 18:18-23; and 20:7-13, 14-18) as " Jeremiah 's confessions." They are, more accurately, his laments.

5 We know more about his personality than that of any other writing prophet. Jeremiah 's hometown was Anathoth, a Levitical town in the territory of Benjamin three miles northeast of Jeremiah 's father, Hilkiah, was evidently a descendant of Abiathar, a descendant of Eli (1 Sam. 14:3). Thus, Jeremiah had ancestral connections to Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood during the Judges Period of Israel's history. Jeremiah referred to Shiloh in his Temple Sermon (7:12, 14; cf. 26:6). Abiathar was the sole survivor of King Saul's massacre of the priests at Nob, also only a few miles northeast of Jerusalem (1 Sam.)

6 22:20). Later, Solomon exiled Abiathar to Anathoth, where Abiathar had property, because Abiathar had proved unfaithful to David (1 Kings 2:26). Jeremiah 's father Hilkiah may have been the high priest who found the book of the Law in the temple during Josiah's reforms (2 Kings 22:8-10).4 Even though Jeremiah came from a priestly family (like Ezekiel and Zechariah), there is 1 Edward J. Young, An Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 243. See also Eugene H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, p. 458; and Tremper Longman III and Raymond B.

7 Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, pp. 323-28. , John F. Graybill, " Jeremiah ," in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 656; and J. A. Thompson, The Book of Jeremiah , pp. 88-92. 3 See the map of Palestine at the end of these Notes . 4R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 802. 2020 Edition Dr. Constable's Notes on Jeremiah 3 no indication that he ever underwent training for the priesthood or functioned as a priest, though he may have. Jeremiah 's date of birth is a matter of dispute. Many scholars believe he was born about 643 , one year before the end of King Manasseh's He probably died in Egypt.

8 "A late, unattested tradition, mentioned by Tertullian, Jerome, and others, claims that the people of Tahpanhes [in Egypt] stoned Jeremiah to death."2 His call to the prophetic office came in 627 (1:2; 25:3) when he would have been about 20 years His ministry as a prophet may have extended over 40 years. Several reliable scholars believe that Jeremiah 's ministry ended about 587 or a little Others believe it continued to about 580 He may have had the longest writing ministry of the writing prophets. Jeremiah evidently exercised his ministry mainly during periods of crisis in Judah's history, though it is impossible to date some of his prophecies.

9 His ministry involved prophesying about Judah and the other ancient Near Eastern nations of his time (1:10). One writer divided Jeremiah 's life into three These periods were the pleasant years during Josiah's reign, the hard years of persecution and suffering during the reigns of Josiah's sons and grandson, and the mixed years of favor and disappointment following Jerusalem's fall. 1 For a clear discussion of the problem, see Thompson, pp. 50-56. See Edwin R. Thiele, A Chronology of the Hebrew Kings, p. 75, for the dates of Israel and Judah's kings.

10 The commentators give dates that sometimes vary by one or two years when describing the same events. This is because the Babylonians used one method of dating and the Israelites another, at least for some periods of their history. There is still some confusion about these dates. I have usually followed the scheme that Thiele set forth. 2 Charles Lee Feinberg, " Jeremiah ," in Isaiah-Ezekiel, vol. 6 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary, p. 360. 3 See my comments on 1:6. , Peter C. Craigie, Jeremiah 1 25, p. xlv; Merrill, p. 467; and Thompson, p.