Jeremiah

JEREMIAH, the son of Hilkiah, of the Priestly Race, was a native of Anathoth, a Jer. i. 1. Jer. i. 5.village in the Tribe of Benjamin. He was appointed for the employment of a Prophet from his mother’s womb, and before his birth. When God first spake to him, and sent him with his orders to the Kings and Princes, the Priests and People of Judah, he excused himself, alledging his youth and want of eloquence. This was in the fourteenth year of his Age, and the thirteenth of Josiah’s reign, in the year of the World 3375, before the Vulgar Æra 629. He continued to prophesy till after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldees, which happened in the year of the World 3416, and he died, as is believed, in Egypt, two years after, viz. in the year of the World 3418, before Jesus Christ 582, before the Vulgar Æra 586.

Jeremiah was satisfied with preaching vivâ voce, without writing any thing down till the fourth year of Jehoiakim King of Judah. Then he began to digest his Prophecies into order, as we shall take notice of by and by. We shall here give an epitome of his life, as far as we are able, observing the time of each particular passage of it. When God called Jeremiah to the prophetick Ministry, he immediately disco vered to him, that he should suffer a great deal from the Jews; but at the same time he promised him to make him as it were a wall of brass against the Kings, Princes, and People of Judah. He likewise shewed him under the figure of the branch of an Almond-tree, and under that of a pot heated Jerem. i. 18, &c. Jer. i. 11, 12, &c.by fire blown up by a north wind, that all Judæa was threatned with some very great Calamity, which was very near befalling them from the Chaldæans. We may say, that this is the general object of almost all the Prophecies of Jeremiah. They turn upon the sins of Judah, and the punishment which God was to inflict on them by the hands of Nebuchadnezzar King of the Chaldæans.

The Prophet begins with a sharp invective against the disorders of the Kingdom of Judah, which were extreme during the first years of Josiah’s reign, which was the time, wherein these Prophecies were pronounced, and before this Prince had reformed Jer. ch. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. &c. 2 Kings xxiii. 4, 5, 6, &c.his Dominions; which he did not do till the eighteenth year of his reign. During all this time, Jeremiah endured great persecutions from the Jews. His very Relations and Fellow-Citizens, the inhabitants of the little Town of Anathoth, threatned to kill him, if he continued prophesying. But he threatens them too, that they should be put Jer. xii. xiii. xiv. xv. xvi.to the sword, and perish by famine. At the same time he complains to God of the prosperity which the wicked enjoy’d, while good men were afflicted and oppressed. There was a famine at that time in the land, the effect of the wrath and indignation which God had conceived against his people. About the same time, God forbad his Prophet to take a wife, and bring up children in Jerusalem, to go into any house where there was mirth and feasting, or into any house of mourning, in order to comfort those, who were in sorrow. The signification of all which was, that God had resolved to deprive his people of all peace, joy and consolation.

It is our opinion, that it was under the reign of Shallum the son of Josiah¹, that Jer. xvi. xvii.Jeremiah received God’s orders to go to a Potter’s house. There he observed a pot which broke within the Potter’s hands, who Jer. xviii.immediately made another of the same clay, whereof the first was composed. Jeremiah declared, that this was an indication of Judah’s reprobation, in whose place God was to raise up another people, which would be more faithful to him. In order to make the meaning of this Prophecy more sensibly understood, he was commanded to take an earthen Pitcher and break it before the Priests and Elders of the people in the Valley of the sons of Hinnom. From thence he went up to the Temple, where he confirmed all that he said. Pashur, the Captain of the Temple ordered him to be seized, and put into a prison belonging to the Temple, in which place he continued till the next day. Then he told Pashur, that he, his sons, and his friends should be carried into captivity.

Jer. xxii. Jer. xxiii.Jehoiakim King of Judah, having succeeded² Shallum, Jeremiah told him, that if he would be stedfast in his fidelity to God, there should be still Kings of Judah seen in his palace, with all the lustre of their Dignity about them; but that if he persevered in his irregularities, God would reduce that place to a Wilderness. But as Jehoiakim, instead of reforming, gave himself up to cruelty and avarice, and amused himself with raising costly buildings, Jeremiah threatens him with a miserable death, and tells him, that he should be deprived of the honours of burial. He farther speaks against Coniah the brother of Jehoiakim, and foretels to him, that he should be delivered up into the hands of the Chaldæans, and should never see any Prince of his family upon the throne of Judah. He declaims strongly against these two Princes, and describes them to be cruel Pastors, who instead of feeding their flock, devour and scatter it.

About the same time, Jeremiah going up to the Temple, foretold clearly the Destruction Jer. xxvi.of it. Whereupon the Priests and false Prophets laid hands on him, and declared, that he had incurr’d the penalty of death. The Princes of the people being come thither to judge him, Jeremiah with undaunted resolution told them, that he had said nothing but by God’s order; and that unless they were converted, they would soon see the effect of his menaces. This discourse mollified his Judges; they acquitted and dismissed him, and justified him by the example of the prophet Micah, who had foretold the same thing under King Hezekiah, without suffering at all for it.

Before the fourth year of Jehoiakim, JeremiahIn the year of the World 3398, and the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jer. xlvi. xlvii. xlviii. xlix. prophesied against several people bordering upon Judæa; such as the Egyptians, Philistins, Tyrians, Phœnicians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, &c. for Jeremiah was appointed to be the Prophet of the Gentiles; Prophetam in gentibus dedite: as St. Paul was to be the Apostle of the Gentiles. The Prophet therefore threatens all these people to make them drink the cup of God’s wrath. But this prophecy was not perfectly fulfill’d, till after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldæans.

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar was sent into Judæa by his father Nabopolassar. He laid siege to Jerusalem, took Jehoiakim and many other Jews, In the year of the World 3398, before J. C. 602, before the Vulgar Æra 606. Jer. xlv. xlvi. xlvii. &c.among whom was Daniel, and his companions. He designed to carry them all captives to Babylon; but he set Jehoiakim at liberty, and was content with having the rest of the captives conducted thither. In this year Jeremiah positively foretold the captivity of the Jews, and that it should endure seventy years, after which God would punish the Chaldæans and Babylonians in their turn. At the same time he foretold once more that the several people bordering upon the Jews should be made to drink of the cup of God’s wrath to an excessive degree.

In this fourth year likewise of Jehoiakim, the Prophet received God’s order to set down every thing in writing which had been revealed to him, from the thirteenth year of Jer. xxxvi.Josiah to that time. Jeremiah obey’d. He dictated his prophecies to his Disciple Baruch, and directed him to go and read them in the Temple, he himself not being in a condition to go thither, because he was in fetters, with which he was loaded by the King’s command. Baruch therefore in the fifth year of Jehoiakim went to the Temple, and upon the great day of Expiation, he read before the Assembly of the people the unwelcome predictions wherewith Jeremiah menaced them. Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, went and gave intelligence of this to the Princes and Magistrates, who sent for Baruch and the Book which he had read publickly. The King was informed of all that had passed, and Baruch was examined concerning the manner, wherein this volume was dictated by Jeremiah. He answered, that the Prophet dictated it to him by heart, without hesitating, and as if he had been reading in a book. The Magistrates directed Baruch to withdraw, and to lie concealed with Jeremiah: in the mean time, they carried the book to the King, who had three or four pages of it read in his presence: but upon hearing the contents of it, he cut it with a pen-knife, and threw it into the fire, which was burning before him. At the same time he commanded Baruch and Jeremiah to be seized, but God did not permit them to be found. Jeremiah received orders a second time to dictate once more to Baruch what was thus burnt, and God caused many new things to be added.

Jeremiah one day, by God’s order, introduced the Rechabites into the Temple, and had wine presented to them. They excused themselves from drinking any of it, saying that Jonadab, one of their Ancestors, had forbidden them to do so, as also to dwell in houses and cities, and allowed them to lodge in tents only. They added, that nothing but necessity had induced them to come into the city, the Chaldæans being in possession of the country, and not suffering them to live there in peace. From this circumstance we may judge, that this fell out during the siege of Jerusalem, in the seventh and last year of Jehoiakim. JeremiahIn the year of the World 3405, before J. C. 595, before the Vulgar Æra 599. took occasion from this answer to reproach the Jews with the little submission which they paid to God’s Laws, while the Rechabites shewed so much deference to the orders of one of their Ancestors.

In some little time after, Jehoiakim was taken, killed, and thrown by the Chaldæans into a common sewer. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him, and reigned three months only. He too was taken by the Chaldæans, and carried away captive to Babylon. After Jehoiachin, Zedekiah reigned from the year of the World 3405 to 3416, which is the year wherein Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldæans.

Jer. xxvii.The Kings of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Tyre, and Sidon, sent Ambassadors to Zedekiah in the beginning of his reign. To each of these Ambassadors, Jeremiah made a present of a yoke to carry to their Masters, with orders to tell them from God, that whosoever should refuse to submit willingly to Nebuchadnezzar, should be compelled to become subject to his Dominion. Jeremiah said the same thing to Zedekiah. And as the Prophet wore bonds and yokes upon his neck, as so many indications to the Israelites of their approaching captivity, and subjection to the Chaldæans, a certain false Prophet, whose name was Hananiah, laid hold of these bonds and yokes, which were upon the neck of Jeremiah, and breaking them publickly, he said, After this manner will the Lord break the yoke which Nebuchadnezzar would impose upon the Jews. As Jeremiah was retiring with great concern, God secretly directed him to return, and tell Hananiah, that instead of the wooden yoke which he had broken, King Nebuchadnezzar would put another on them made of iron: and for your part, Hananiah, said he, since you abuse the name of God with your lyes, you shall die before the end of this Year. Accordingly he died two months after this prediction.

We are of opinion, that it was in the reign of Zedekiah that Jeremiah received God’s orders to go to some cavern near the Euphrates, and hide there a linnen Girdle. Some time after he returned to the same place, and there found the Girdle all rotted, which signified God’s desertion of Judah, which heretofore he had stuck as close to, as a Girdle. In the fourth year of the same Prince, Seraiah, Baruch’s brother, having been sent to Babylon, in all probability In the year of the World 3409, before J. C. 591, before the Vulgar Æra 595.to desire of Nebuchadnezzar the restitution of the Vessels belonging to the Temple, Jeremiah gave him the prophecies, which he had written against Babylon, with directions to read them to the captive Jews, and after that to fasten them to a stone, and throw them into the river Euphrates. Jeremiah wrote again another time to the same captives by Gemariah, whom the King sent to Babylon, advising them to settle in that country, to build houses and marry there, because their captivity was to last seventy years; after the expiration of which, the Lord would deliver them. One Shemaiah, who was then at Babylon, wrote to Zephaniah, who was one of the Chief Priests, and reproved him for permitting Jeremiah to write these things to the captives, and for neglecting to imprison him upon this occasion. Zephaniah read the letter to Jeremiah, and this Prophet wrote again to the captives of Babylon, and foretold to Shemaiah, that he should die in captivity, and that neither he, nor any of his posterity should see the deliverance of the people of Judah.

While Nebuchadnezzar was carrying on the siege of Jerusalem in the tenth year of Zedekiah’s reign, Jeremiah, who was In the year of the World 3414, before J. C. 586, before the Vulgar Æra 590.continually prophesying, that the City would be taken, and the people reduced to captivity, was imprisoned in the Court belonging to the Palace. At that time Hanameel, the son of Jeremiah’s Uncle, visited the Prophet in his confinement, and told him, that the right of redeeming such a field at Anathoth, the place of his nativity, was his. Jeremiah bought it, sealed the writings, and delivered the money for it. He put the writings into Baruch’s hands, xxxiii.and ordered him to keep them, because, added he, the time will come, when this land will be again cultivated and inhabited. During the same siege, the King and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem set their slaves at liberty, because it was the Sabbatical Year; and the view of their present danger made them more exact in the observance of the Law. But Nebuchadnezzar having for some time left the siege, in order to make head against the King of Egypt, who made a shew of coming to its relief, the King and People took their slaves again, without considering their Word, or the Law of God. Jeremiah hereupon rose up against them, and threatned them in a terrible manner. After the siege was broke up, his liberty was given him, and Zedekiah sent to him, recommending himself to his prayers. The Prophet sent the King word, that NebuchadnezzarJerem. xxxvii. would return against the City, that he would take it, and reduce it to ashes. As he was preparing to retire to Anathoth, the place of his nativity, the guards seized him as a deserter, and the Princes threw him into a dungeon, where his life was in great danger by reason of the incommodiousness of the place. Zedekiah some time after sent to know of him, whether he had any new Revelation. Jeremiah told him, that he would infallibly be delivered into the hands of the Chaldæans, and desired him to procure his release out of the place of his confinement. The King granted this favour to him, and appointed bread to be given him every day for his sustenance, as long as there should be any in the City.

Nebuchadnezzar returning to the siege of Jerusalem, blocked it up closer than before; and Zedekiah having sent to ask JeremiahJer. xxi. whether he had any thing good to communicate to him, he answered the persons employ’d on this errand, that the destruction of the King and Grandees was resolved on; but as for the people, that they of them who should surrender to the Chaldæans would have their lives given them, and that they, who should persist obstinately in their design of abiding in the City, would be destroyed with it. As this Prophet continued to foretel the calamities which would befall the City, the Great Men of Jerusalem made their complaints to Zedekiah, who permitted them to do what they pleased with Jeremiah. They let him down therefore with cords into a well, where there was no water, but only mud; here the Prophet must have very soon perished, if Ebedmelech had not given notice of it to the King, who commanded him to be taken out of this place. Notwithstanding, Jerem. xxxviii.he was still left in the court of the prison, and there continued till the City was taken, which happened some time after, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, of the World 3416, before Jesus Christ 584, before the Vulgar Æra 588.

Jeremiah was taken with other captives, and carried to Ramath: but as NebuchadnezzarJer. xxxix. 11,12,&c. xl. 1—6. xli. had expressly charged Nabuzaradan, the General of his troops, to take care of Jeremiah, and leave him at liberty to do as he thought fit; Nabuzaradan gave him the choice of going with him to Babylon, or of staying in Judæa with the remainder of the people. The Prophet accepted this last offer, and went to Gedaliah at Mizpah, where likewise many of the Jews, who had been dispersed into different places by the war, came and joined him. There they lived in peace and security, when Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, attended with ten men, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and treacherously murdered him. But he was pursued by Johanan the son of Kareah, and by him obliged to let go the booty which he had taken, and to fly himself with eight men in his company, to the Ammonites.

Johanan having got together as many Jews as he could find, appointed them to Jer. lxii.meet at Bethlehem, where they consulted Jeremiah, to know whether they should stay in Judæa, or retire into Egypt. The Prophet desired time to consult God; and at ten days end answered them, that if they went into Egypt, they would there perish by the sword, famine, and pestilence; and that if they continued in the land of Judah, God would protect and preserve them. The principal of the people hereupon began to mutiny, and asserted, that this answer did not proceed from God, but was suggested by Baruch, to divert them from going into Egypt. They resolved therefore to go thither, and compell’d Jeremiah and Baruch to accompany them. There this Prophet uttered several predictions against the Jews and Egyptians, told them that Nebuchadnezzar would invade the country, and described the very place where he would erect his throne; threatned the King of Egypt, that God would give him up into the hands of the Chaldæans, as he had already served Zedekiah. This is the account of Jeremiah’s life, which we have collected from his own writings.

Several of the Ancients³ maintain, that he was put to death at Taphnis in Egypt, by the Jews, who were not able to bear his menaces and reproaches; and they explain these words in the Epistle to the Hebrews, They were Heb. xi. 37.stoned, as relating to his death. Some Rabbins are of opinion that he returned into Judæa, and others will have it that he went to Babylon, and there died. Some of the Primitive Fathers⁴ tell us, that as Elijah did not die, so neither did he; because the Scripture says nothing of his sickness, and because the Apostles answered Jesus Christ, who asked Matth. xxvi. 14.them what the Jews said of him, that some took him for Elias, others for Jeremiah. But the common and general opinion of Divines, is, that he died, and must one day rise again. Beside the Book, which contains his prophecies, we have his Lamentations in five Chapters, which are mournful songs composed upon the occasion of those calamities which befel Jerusalem in its declining state, and upon the intire destruction of it by the Chaldæans. This opinion to us appears to have the best foundation. Others⁵ think that Jeremiah composed them upon the death of the pious King Josiah. It is certain that he wrote 2 Chron. xxxv. 25.Lamentations on this subject; but they have not been handed down to us. You have here what we read in the Chronicles relating to these Lamentations: And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for him, and all the singing-men and singing-women spake of Josiah in their Lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel. He is said likewise to be the Author of the cxxxviith Psalm, and some assert that he with Ezekiel composed the lxvth. There are Authors who affirm that he compiled the two Books of Kings, because the last chapter of Jeremiah is the same with the last chapter in the second Book of Kings. But the reason of this is, the last chapter of Jeremiah was taken from the second Book of Kings to serve as a supplement to his Prophecy. There are citations in the Books of the⁶ Maccabees from particular writings of Jeremiah, which were still to be seen in the year of the World 3880, before Jesus Christ 120, and 124 years before our Vulgar Æra. But these writings are lost. Lastly, the Fathers often cite Baruch under the name of Jeremiah; because Baruch is generally mentioned at the end of his master’s prophecies.

Jeremiah appeared after his death to Judas Maccabæus with that holy High-Priest Onias in his company, and gave him a sword of gold, very bright and glittering, with these words, Take this holy sword, the 2 Macc. xv. 13.gift of God, with which thou shalt wound the adversaries. At the same time Onias shewing him Jeremiah, said, This is a lover of the brethren, who prayeth much for the people, and for the holy City.

The Alexandrian Chronicle⁷ relates, Chronic. Pasch. p. 156, 157.that Jeremiah being in Egypt, prophesied to the Egyptian Priests, that their Idols would be overthrown by an earthquake, when the Saviour of the World should be born, and lying in a manger; for which reason they had from that time a Virgin represented with a child lying in a manger, and paid divine honours to him. King Ptolemy asking the Priests the reason of this, they told him what Jeremiah had declared prophetically to their Ancestors. This Chronicle adds, that Alexander the Great going one day to this Prophet’s tomb, and being informed of what he had fore-told concerning his person and conquests, ordered his body to be removed to Alex-andria, and a magnificent monument to be erected for him. John Moschus, in his Pratum Spirituale⁸, relates likewise this last circumstance, and adds, that Jeremiah was very much honoured in that part of Alexandria called Tetraphyla.

Eupolemus, who is cited in Eusebius⁹, informs us also of some particularities concerning the life of Jeremiah, wherein there is no more certainly than in those which we have produced out of the Alex-andrian Chronicle. This Author says, that Jeremiah having declared to the idolatrous Jews, that their destruction was near, King Jehoiakim resolved to have him burnt alive. But the Prophet foretold to him how the Jews, who should be carried in captivity to Babylon, would make use of that very wood, wherewith he designed to burn him, in dressing provisions for the Babylonians, and in digging ditches for them round about the Euphrates and Tigris. Nebuchad-nezzar being informed of this prediction, engaged Assibazus King of the Medes to accompany him in the war, which he proposed to undertake against the Jews; and after he had subdued Samaria, Galilee, Scythopolis and the land of Gilead, he de-stroy’d Jerusalem, took Jehoiakim, and carried away the riches of the Temple, excepting the Ark, and Tables of the Law, which he left with Jeremiah. There are several things in this account, which are not warrantable. But as to this last cir-cumstance of the Ark, we read in the second Book of Maccabees, that Jeremiah having taken the sacred fire, concealed it in a cistern, where, when the Jews re-turned from the captivity, they found only some muddy water, which however took fire when it was poured upon the Altar; and that the same Prophet removed the Tabernacle and the Ark to Mount Nebo, and there hid them in a cave, where they still remain to this day.

Jeremiah was all his life-time exposed to the ill treatment of the Jews, whose irregularities he was continually reproving. Ecclus. xlix. 7.The Author of the Book of Ecclesiasticus, in the Encomium which he gives us of this Prophet, seems to draw his character from the persecutions endured by him. They entreated him evil, who nevertheless was a Prophet sanctified in his mother’s womb. St. Jerom¹⁰ observes, that Jeremiah’s style is lower and more neg-lected, than Isaiah’s for example, and some others of the Prophets. This defect he ascribes to this Prophet’s birth; for he was born and educated at Anathoth, which was a village or little country town. There are other Criticks¹¹ who discover a sublimity, and greatness in his style. Grotius thinks with reason, that his talent lay principally in touching and exciting the passions of tenderness and pity. The Lamenta-tions are a master-piece in this kind.

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