27. A cage. A reference to the wicker coop or basket in which captured birds were placed (see Rev. 18:2).
2. Authorship.âJeremiah was the author of at least the major portion of the book. The actual writing was done by his trusted secretary, Baruch, the son of Neriah (see 36:4, 27, 28, 32). Baruch may also have collected, edited, and preserved the material in the book, and may possibly have contributed to the biographical narratives it contains. His position as “the scribe” and secretary of Jeremiah implies that Baruch was well educated. According to Josephus (Antiquities x. 9. 1), Baruch came from a distinguished family in Judah. It appears that his brother was Zedekiah’s quartermaster, who went with the king to Babylon (see on Jer. 51:59). His high character and influence are shown by the fact that the remnant who wished to flee to Egypt charged Baruch with influencing the prophet against them (see 43:3), also by the fact that some spurious writings were later issued under his name. One of these, the book of Baruch, is found in the Apocrypha. Ever loyal to Jeremiah, he went with him to the land of Egypt when the prophet was forced to accompany the remnant of Judah to that land (see 43:5-7).
The closing chapter of the book ( 52) consists of a historical summaryânot a prophecyâthat extends to a time far beyond the known ministry of Jeremiah, and that was probably written by a later hand. Whoever the writer may have been, he was careful to make it clear that this chapter was not the work of the prophet Jeremiah. Before adding this historical appendix he wrote, “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah” ( 51:64).
The book of Jeremiah itself contains an account of how the first two editions of this prophecy were written (see 36). For more than a score of years Jeremiah had been seeking to persuade the people of Judah to turn to God with real heart religion. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim (604 ) he was commanded by God to put the main substance of his preaching into writing so that it could be read publicly by his secretary ( 36:1, 2). In response to this command, Jeremiah dictated to Baruch the words of the first edition on a roll of parchment ( 36:1-4, 17, 18; PK 432). Baruch was then given the dangerous task of reading these words to the people in the Temple on a fast day ( 36:5-8).
Later, when one of Jehoiakim’s officers, Jehudi, read the scroll to the king, Jehoiakim angrily snatched it, cut it with a penknife, and threw it into the fire ( 36:20-23). This made necessary the rewriting of the earlier messages (see 36:27, 28, 32). Again, Baruch wrote the words at the dictation of Jeremiah. This second copy was a new and larger edition, containing not only the former messages, but additional messages as well (see 36:32).
The book of Jeremiah strikingly reveals the rich personality of its author. His exquisitely sensitive nature is reflected in a number of passages which have been called his “confessions” ( 11:18-23; 12:1-5; 15:10-18; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-18; 1:4-10; 6:11; 8:21 to 9:1). These passages give us a spiritual autobiography of this man of God. Jeremiah was naturally shy and retiring, and frequently struggled with great inner conflicts. But through divine power he developed a spiritual courage that made him a mighty hero for God.
In addition to this group of deeply personal passages the book of Jeremiah contains a series of biographical and historical narratives. More can be known of the life and ministry of Jeremiah than of the life and ministry of the writers of the other prophetic books. In fact one scholar, A. B. Davidson, has affirmed that this book “does not so much teach religious truths as present a religious personality” (Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, 2, 576).
Jeremiah lived at Anathoth ( 1:1; 29:27), the modern Râs el-Kharrûbeh, about 21/2 (4 ) northeast of Jerusalem. He was of priestly descent ( 1:1). His father was Hilkiah, who is doubtless to be distinguished from the high priest of that name who discovered the book of the law (see 2 Kings 22:8). Jeremiah’s father is designated as “of the priests” and not “the priest” or “the high priest.” The fact that Jeremiah lived at Anathoth implies that he was probably a descendant of Eli and belonged to the line of Abiathar, whom Solomon deposed from the high priesthood (see on 1 Kings 2:26, 27).
Jeremiah’s call to the prophetic office came in 627/626 , the 13th year of Josiah’s reign ( 1:2; see 18, 19; also II, 77). Soon thereafter God bade the prophet to preach in Jerusalem ( 2:2). He did not confine his ministry to Jerusalem, but conducted a preaching tour through the cities of Judah ( 11:6; PK 428). Upon his return to Anathoth his fellow townsmen formed a plot to take his life ( 11:18-23). To escape these persecutions he seems to have transferred his residence to Jerusalem. Here another attempt was made on his life. His bold prediction in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, that the Temple would become like Shiloh, angered the priests, false prophets, and people in Jerusalem, and they demanded that Jeremiah be put to death ( 26:6-11). However, the princes arose to his defense ( 26:16).
Later, when Nebuchadnezzar’s army withdrew from the final siege of Jerusalem for a time to meet the threat posed by the approach of the king of Egypt, Jeremiah was arrested when he attempted to go to Anathoth ( 37:11-15). The prophet was accused of deserting to the Chaldeans and was again beaten and imprisoned. In fact he nearly lost his life in the miry dungeon of Malchiah (see 38:6), but was rescued by Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (see 38:7-13). However, Zedekiah apparently kept him in prison, where he remained until Jerusalem fell ( 38:14-28).
After the desolation of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar gave the prophet his freedom and allowed him the choice of remaining in Palestine or accompanying the captives to Babylon (see 40:1-5). Jeremiah chose to remain with the remnant in Palestine, under their newly appointed governor, Gedaliah ( 40:6). After the murder of Gedaliah a remnant of the Jews under Johanan fled to Egypt, contrary to Jeremiah’s advice, and took the prophet with them ( 42; 43). There at Tahpanhes, Jeremiah predicted the invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar ( 43:8-13), and gave his last message of warning to the Jews who had fled there ( 44). It was apparently in this foreign land that the career of the great prophet came to an end.
A brief note on the differences between the text of the and that of the Hebrew is in order. One striking difference is in the arrangement of the prophecies dealing with foreign nations. In the Hebrew text these prophecies are found in 46 to 51, but in the they are found in 25:14 to 31:44. There is also a difference in the order of dealing with the various nations. In the Hebrew the order is: Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hazor, Elam, and Babylon; in the the order is: Elam, Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Edom, Ammon, Kedar and Hazor, Damascus, and Moab.
There are also variations in text. It has been estimated that the is approximately 1/8, or about 2,700 words, shorter than the Hebrew. The generally does not employ the phrase “saith the Lord” when it is used parenthetically, and such titles as “the prophet” after Jeremiah’s name, and “the king” after the name of the ruling monarch. In the main, the same is true of such divine titles as “the God of Israel” or “the God of hosts.”
Certain whole sections consisting of several verses also do not appear. The following are the most noteworthy of these: 8:10b-13a; 10:6-10; 17:1-5a; ( 34 in ) 27:1, 7, 13, 21; ( 36 in ) 29:16-20; ( 40 in ) 33:14-26; ( 46 in ) 39:4-13; ( 31 in ) 48:45-47; ( 28 in ) 51:44c-49a; and 52:27b-30. Besides these there are minor variations having to do mainly with phrases and single words.
To explain these textual variations some scholars have resorted to the theory of a double recension of the book of Jeremiah. They suppose that one of these was produced in Palestine, and the other in Egypt. Others think that the translator of the deliberately shortened the text by omitting repetitions, simplifying the style, and abbreviating difficult readings. It is thought by conservative scholars that there may be some truth in this second theory. For example, that the omission of 8:10b-12 in the may be due to its similarly to 6:12-15. Again, it is held that the omission of one or two passages may be due simply to the error of the eye in skipping from one line to another with a similar ending and thus leaving out the intervening material, an omission called homoeoteleuton.
The variations discussed above, although more extensive than in the other books of the , do not substantially affect the basic theme or pattern of the book. It may be that a careful study of some of the Dead Sea scrolls (see 86-88; I, 31, 32) will throw further light on the text of Jeremiah.
Deceit. The meaning is apparently that as a fowler’s cage is full of the birds he has captured, so men’s houses are filled with the goods gained by deceit and dishonesty. They had become wealthy by deceiving and overreaching one another in business (see Ps. 73:12).