For other uses, see Jeremiah (disambiguation). "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem" by Rembrandt van Rijn Michelangelo's Jeremiah on the Sistine Chapel ceiling Jeremiah or Yirmiyáhu (יִרְמְיָהוּ "Raised-up/Appointed of the LORD", Standard Hebrew Yirməyáhu, Tiberian Hebrew Yirməyāhû) (or, perhaps meaning "YHWH throws") was one of the "greater prophets" of the Old Testament, and the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth. His writings are collected in the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations. Jeremiah is considered by some modern scholars (as well as some ancient Rabbis) to have written, or redacted much of the Old Testament, as we have it today. His language in "Jeremiah" and "Lamentations" is quite similar to that in Deuteronomy and the "Deuteronomic history" of Joshua, Judges, the Books of Samuel, and the Books of Kings. Jeremiah is also famous as "the broken-hearted prophet" (who wrote or dictated a "broken book", which has been difficult for scholars to put into chronological order), whose heart-rending life, and true prophecies of dire warning went largely-unheeded by the people of Judah. YHWH told Jeremiah, "You will go to them; but for their part, they will not listen to you". According to the Book of Jeremiah, he was called to the prophetical office when still young; in the thirteenth year of Josiah (628 BC). He left his native place, Anatoth, (where Jeremiah was perhaps a member of the priesthood) and went to reside in Jerusalem; where he assisted Josiah in his work of reformation. (Josiah is one of the most famous "good kings" of the Israelites; one of the Hebrew scribes "found" a copy of the Old Testament Scriptures, and the chief scribe brought this copy to Josiah. Upon hearing it read to him, Josiah "tore his robes" in grief, at the revealed knowledge of the coming wrath of YHWH, because the nation had not been following the Scriptures. Josiah subsequently embarked upon a furious assault upon idolatry in Judah, removing the idolatrous priest-hood, and restoring the worship of YHWH to Judah.) Jeremiah wrote a lamentation upon the death of this pious king, which has not survived. During the three years of the reign of Jehoahaz, we find no reference to Jeremiah, but in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the enmity of the people against the prophet was expressed with persecution, and Jeremiah was apparently imprisoned. In his most famous confrontation with Jehoiakim, Jeremiah warned the king that "God would roll him up into a little ball, and would throw him out of Judah"; a prophecy which includes a possible pun on the use of Jeremiah's name, which means "YHWH throws". He remained in Jerusalem, uttering from time to time his words of warning, but without much effect. He was there when Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city (Jer. 37:4, 5), 589 BC, as Jeremiah had prophesied before-hand. The rumour of the approach of the Egyptians to aid the Jews in this crisis induced the Babylonians to withdraw, and to return to their own land. However, this siege was raised only for a short time. The prophet, in answer to his prayer, received a message from God, stating that "the Babylonians would come again, and take the city, and burn it with fire" (37:7, 8). The princes, in their anger at such a message by Jeremiah, cast him into prison (37:15-38:13). He was still in confinement when the city was taken (588 BC). The Babylonians released him, and showed him great kindness; allowing Jeremiah to choose the place of his residence, according to a Babylonian edict. Jeremiah accordingly went to Mizpah with Gedaliah, who had been made governor of Judea. Johanan succeeded Gedaliah, who had been assassinated by an Amorite spy, "for working with the Babylonians". Refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsels, Johanan fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch (Jeremiah's faithful scribe and servant) with him (Jer. 43:6). There, the prophet probably spent the remainder of his life, still seeking in vain to turn the people to the Lord; from whom they had so long revolted (44). He lived into the reign of Evil-merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and may have been about ninety years of age at his death. We have no authentic record of his death; he may have died at Tahpanes, or, according to a tradition, may have gone to Babylon with the army of Nebuchadnezzar. Contents 1 Key Word Summary 2 Attitude Toward Jerusalem Priesthood 3 Jeremiah in legend and midrash 4 References 5 See also Key Word Summary Key words in the book of Jeremiah. All word counts are approximate: YHWH (The LORD) ~710 occurrences aw-mar (to say) ~478 times erets (land) ~271 times melek (king) ~267 times ben (son, children) ~229 times bow (come, go) ~213 times dabar (word) ~203 times shamah (hear, listen, obey) ~184 times Yehoodah (Judah) ~182 times Babel (Babylon) ~169 times Summary based on the above key words: YHWH is trying to get Judah and her kings to hear and obey Him. Jeremiah speaks on behalf of YHWH the words of YHWH to Judah and her kings. YHWH is warning Judah and her kings that the king of Babylon will destroy them for the wickedness that Judah has been doing in the land. The Judah will go into captivity into the land of Babylon. Attitude Toward Jerusalem Priesthood The opposition in which Jeremiah seems to have stood to the priesthood of the central sanctuary at Jerusalem may have been a continuation of the opposition which had existed from former times between that priesthood and his family; this would be traceable to Zadok, the successful opponent of Abiathar. Jeremiah's attitude may also have been influenced by the fact that he considered Josiah's measures too superficial for the moral reformation which he declared to be necessary if the same fate were not to befall the Temple of Zion, as had in days gone by, befallen the Temple of Shiloh (I Sam. iv.), which had by then become "desolate". An inward opposition of Jeremiah to the Deuteronomic law is not to be thought of. This may be seen from the exhortation (ib. xi. 1-8) in which Jeremiah calls upon his people to hear "the words of this covenant" (ib. v. 3), which God had given to their fathers "when He brought them up out of Egypt". In this passage, there is a plain reference to the newly-rediscovered torah (law) or "teaching". Just as little-justifiable is the theory, which has recently been suggested, that Jeremiah in his later years departed from the Deuteronomic law. "The false [lying] pen of the scribe," which, as Jeremiah says, "makes the Torah of God into falsehood" (Jer. viii. 8, Hebr.), could not have referred to the Deuteronomic law, nor to its falsification by copyists. Rather, Jeremiah is thinking here of another compilation of laws which was then in progress under the direction of his opponents; the priests of the central sanctuary at Jerusalem. Jeremiah probably expected from them no other conception of law than the Levitical one, which may be seen in the legal portions of the so-called "Priestly" writings, and results from the Priestly point of view. Another possible interpretation is that Jeremiah's prophecies, which included many, repeated dire warnings against "false prophets", is that the hearts of the priests and prophets were wrong. This was followed by Jeremiah's prophecies by way of reminder about "the good things" that YHWH has in store for "his people", Israel, including the "New Covenant"; in which God would "remove the heart of stone of His people, and would give them a new heart: one of flesh, and a new spirit (the Holy Spirit)". Jeremiah in legend and midrash The Christian legend (pseudo-Epiphanius, "De Vitis Prophetarum"; Basset, "Apocryphen Ethiopiens," i. 25-29), according to which Jeremiah was stoned by his compatriots in Egypt because he reproached them with their evil deeds, became known to the Jews through Ibn Yaḥya ("Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah," ed. princeps, p. 99b.) This account of Jeremiah's martyrdom, however, may have come originally from Jewish sources. Another Christian legend narrates that Jeremiah by prayer freed Egypt from a plague of crocodiles and mice; for which reason his name was for a long time honored by the Egyptians (pseudo-Epiphanius and Yaḥya, l.c.). In Jewish rabbinic literature, especially the aggadah, Jeremiah and Moses are often mentioned together; their life and works being presented in parallel lines. The following ancient midrash is especially interesting, in connection with Deut. xviii. 18, in which "a prophet like Moses" is promised: "As Moses was a prophet for forty years, so was Jeremiah; as Moses prophesied concerning Judah and Benjamin, so did Jeremiah; as Moses' own tribe [the Levites under Korah] rose up against him, so did Jeremiah's tribe revolt against him; Moses was cast into the water, Jeremiah into a pit; as Moses was saved by a female slave (the slave of Pharaoh's daughter); so, Jeremiah was rescued by a male slave [Ebed-melech]; Moses reprimanded the people in discourses; so did Jeremiah" (Pesik., ed. Buber, xiii. 112a; comp. Matt. xvi. 14). According to Christian interpretation of this promise to Moses, the promise was fulfilled by the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, "a prophet, like Moses" (who spoke to YHWH face-to-face), and was both Himself the Messenger, as well as the Message (Jesus said to the Pharisees: "For Moses spoke of Me". The apostle John referred to Jesus of Nazareth as "the Logos" of YHWH; which means "the Word", or "the Message" of YHWH. Jesus of Nazareth also did most of the things mentioned above: He was a "prophet, like Moses" (who came "out of the water"; Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, after which "the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, like a dove", as the sign to the Jewish people that Jesus was their promised Messiah); He spoke to YHWH face-to-face (in Heaven, "where He came from"); His own people (the Jewish people) rose up against Him several times, including the priesthood, which eventually had Him crucified; Jesus went to the Pit after being put to death (but Hades could not hold Him; and He arose from the dead on the third day, as He had said He would, and "led captivity captive", emptying Hades of the righteous dead), and also, famously up-braided the people, the scribes and the priest-hood (who later got Him killed). Jeremiah was a popular name in the 1970's, as well as among the early Puritans, who often took the Biblical names of the prophets and apostles for themselves, and for their children. References Friedman, Richard E. Who Wrote The Bible?, Harper and Row, NY, USA, 1987. See also History of ancient Israel and Judah, Documentary hypothesis. This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.cs:Jeremjáš de:Jeremia (Prophet) fr:Jérémie pl:Jeremiasz (Biblia) Search Term: "Jeremiah" Categories: Easton's Bible Dictionary | Hebrew Bible/Tanakh prophets | Christian prophets