Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jeremiah 29

Clinging to a Counterfeit Cross
Introduction

1  Jeremiah sends a letter to the captives in Babylon to be quiet there,
8  and not to believe the dreams of their prophets;
10  and that they shall return with grace after seventy years.
15  He foretells the destruction of the rest for their disobedience.
20  He shews the fearful end of Ahab and Zedekiah, two lying prophets.
24  Shemaiah writes a letter against Jeremiah.
30  Jeremiah foretells his doom.
Verse 1

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
Cir
A.M. 3407. B.C. 597. Now. This transaction is supposed to have taken place in the first or second year of Zedekiah.
of the letter
25-29, 2 Chronicles 30:1-6, Esther 9:20, Acts 15:23, 2 Corinthians 7:8, Galatians 6:11, Hebrews 13:22, Revelation 2:1-3
the elders
24:1-7, 28:4
Verse 2

(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
Jeconiah
22:24-28
Coniah
27:20, 28:4, 2 Kings 24:12-16, 2 Chronicles 36:9,10
Jehoiachin
eunuchs. or, chamberlains.
2 Kings 9:32; *marg:; 2 Kings 20:18, Daniel 1:3-21
Verse 3

By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
Shaphan
26:24, 39:14, 2 Kings 22:8, Ezekiel 8:11
Gemariah
36:25, 2 Kings 22:12, 2 Chronicles 34:20
Verse 4

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
whom
24:5, Isaiah 5:5, 10:5,6, 45:7, 59:1,2, Amos 3:6
Verse 5

Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
10,28, Ezekiel 28:26
Verse 6

Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
Take ye
16:2-4, Genesis 1:27,28, 9:7, 1 Timothy 5:14
take wives
Genesis 21:21, 24:3,4,51,60, 28:1-4, 29:19, 34:4, Judges 1:12-14, 12:9, 14:2, 1 Corinthians 7:36-38
Verse 7

And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
seek
Daniel 4:27, 6:4,5, Romans 13:1,5, 1 Peter 2:13-17
pray
Ezra 6:10, 7:23, Daniel 4:19, 1 Timothy 2:1,2
Verse 8

For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Let
14:14, 23:21, 27:14,15, 28:15, Zechariah 13:4, Matthew 24:4,5,24, Mark 13:5,6,22,23, Luke 21:8, Romans 16:18, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Ephesians 4:14, 5:6, 2 Thessalonians 2:3,9-11, 2 Timothy 3:13, 2 John 1:7-9, Revelation 13:14, 19:20
your dreams
5:31, Micah 2:11, Luke 6:26, 2 Peter 2:2,3
Verse 9

For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
falsely
Heb. in a lie.
23,31, 27:15
Verse 10

For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
after
25:12, 27:7,22, 2 Chronicles 36:21-23, Ezra 1:1,2, Daniel 9:2, Zechariah 7:5
I will
24:6,7, 32:42-44, Zephaniah 2:7
Verse 11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
I know
Job 23:13, Psalms 33:11, 40:5, Isaiah 46:10,11, 55:8-12, Micah 4:12, Zechariah 1:6, Zechariah 8:14,15
thoughts
3:12-19, 30:18-22, 31:1-33, Isaiah 40:1-46, Ezekiel 34:11-31, Ezekiel 36:1-37, 39:1-29, Hosea 2:14-23, 3:5, 14:2-9, Joel 2:28-32, Amos 9:8-15, Micah 5:4-7, 7:14-20, Zephaniah 3:14-20, Zechariah 9:9-17, 12:5-10, Zechariah 14:20,21, Revelation 14:8-14
expected end
Heb. end and expectation.
Lamentations 3:26
Verse 12

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
31:9, 33:3, Nehemiah 2:4-20, Psalms 10:17, 50:15, 102:16,17, Isaiah 30:19, 65:24, Ezekiel 36:37, Daniel 9:3-19, Zechariah 13:9, Matthew 7:7,8
Verse 13

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
ye shall
Leviticus 26:40-45, Deuteronomy 4:29-31, 30:1-20, 1 Kings 8:47-50, 2 Chronicles 6:37-39, Psalms 91:15, Isaiah 55:6,7, Hosea 5:15, 6:1-3, Amos 5:4-6, Zephaniah 2:1-3, Luke 11:9,10
with
3:10, 24:7, Deuteronomy 30:2,10, 1 Kings 2:4, 2 Kings 23:3, 2 Chronicles 22:9, 31:21, Psalms 119:2,10,58,69,145, Joel 2:12, Acts 8:37
Verse 14

And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
I will be
Deuteronomy 4:7, 1 Chronicles 28:9, 2 Chronicles 15:12-15, Psalms 32:6, 46:1, Isaiah 45:19, 55:6, Romans 10:20
and I will turn
16:14,15, 23:3-8, 24:5-7, 30:3,10, 31:8-14, 32:37-44, 33:7-26, Jeremiah 46:27,28, 50:4,5,19,20,33,34, 51:10, Psalms 126:1,4, Ezekiel 11:16-20, Ezekiel 34:1-31, 36:1-39, Amos 9:14, Micah 4:12, Zephaniah 3:20
Verse 15

Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
8,9, 28:1-17, Ezekiel 1:1,3
Verse 16

Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
3, 24:2, 38:2,3,17-23, Ezekiel 6:1-9, 17:12-21, 21:9-27, 22:31, Ezekiel 24:1-14
Verse 17

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Behold
18, 15:2,3, 24:8-10, 34:17-22, 43:11, 52:6, Ezekiel 5:12-17, 14:12-21, Luke 21:11,23
them like
24:1-3,8
Verse 18

And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
will deliver
15:4, 24:9, 34:17, Leviticus 26:33, Deuteronomy 28:25,64, 2 Chronicles 29:8, Psalms 44:11, Ezekiel 6:8, 12:15, 22:15, 36:19, Amos 9:9, Zechariah 7:14, Luke 21:24
to be a curse
Heb. for a curse.
22, 19:8, 25:9, 26:6, 42:18, Deuteronomy 29:21-28, 1 Kings 9:7,8, 2 Chronicles 7:19-22, 29:8, Isaiah 65:15, Lamentations 2:15,16
Verse 19

Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
6:19, 7:13,24-26, 25:3-7, 26:5, 32:33, 34:17, 35:14-16, 44:4,5, Zechariah 1:4-6, 7:11-13, Hebrews 12:25
Verse 20

Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
hear
Dr. Blayney thinks there were two letters written by the prophet to the captives in Babylon, and the first ends with this verse. That having heard, on the return of the embassy, that the captives had received his advices favourably, and because they were deceived by false prophets, who promised them a speedier deliverance, he therefore wrote a second letter, beginning with the fifteenth verse, and going on with the twenty-first, etc. (in which order these verses are read in the Septuagint,) in which he denounces God's judgments on the three chief of those, Ahab, Zedekiah, and Shemaiah.
all ye
Ezekiel 3:11,15
whom
24:5, Micah 4:10
Verse 21

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
which
8,9, 14:14,15, Lamentations 2:14
Verse 22

And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
shall be
Genesis 48:20, Ruth 4:11, Isaiah 65:15, 1 Corinthians 16:22
roasted
Daniel 3:6,21
Verse 23

Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.
and have
7:9,10, 23:14,21, Psalms 50:16-18, Zephaniah 3:4, 2 Peter 2:10-19, Jude 1:8-11
lying
8,9,21
even I
13:27, 16:17, 23:23,24, Proverbs 5:21, Malachi 2:14, 3:5, Hebrews 4:13, Revelation 1:5, Revelation 3:14
Verse 24

Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
Shemaiah
31,32
Nehelamite
or, dreamer.
Verse 25

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
Because
1 Kings 21:8-13, 2 Kings 10:1-7, 19:9,14, 2 Chronicles 32:17, Ezra 4:7-16, Nehemiah 6:5,17, Nehemiah 6:19, Acts 9:2
Zephaniah
29, 21:1,2, 37:3, 52:24, 2 Kings 25:18-21
Verse 26

The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
officers
20:1,2, 2 Kings 11:15,18, Acts 4:1, 5:24
for every
2 Kings 9:11, Hosea 9:7, Mark 3:21, John 10:20, Acts 26:11,24, 2 Corinthians 5:13-15
and maketh
27, Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Zechariah 13:3-6, Matthew 21:23, John 8:53, 10:33
that thou
20:1,2, 38:6,28, 2 Chronicles 16:10, 18:26, Acts 5:18, 16:24, 2 Corinthians 11:33, Revelation 2:10
Verse 27

Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?
therefore
2 Chronicles 25:16, Amos 7:12,13, John 11:47-53, Acts 4:17-21, 5:28,40
which
26, 43:2,3, Numbers 16:3, Matthew 27:63, 2 Timothy 3:8
Verse 28

Jeremiah 29:1-10

Verse 29

Jeremiah 29:25

Verse 31

Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:
Send
Because
9,23, 14:14,15, 23:21, 28:15-17, Ezekiel 13:8-16,22,23, 2 Peter 2:1
Verse 32

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.
punish
20:6, Exodus 20:5, Numbers 16:27-33, Joshua 7:24,25, 2 Kings 5:27, Psalms 109:8-15, Isaiah 14:20,22, Amos 7:17
he shall
22:30, 35:19, 1 Samuel 2:30-34
behold
10-14, 17:6, 2 Kings 7:2,19,20
rebellion
Heb. revolt.
28:16; *marg:

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