Jeremiah 24 Study Notes: The Good and Bad Figs
After King Jeconiah and Judah’s leaders are deported to Babylon, Jeremiah sees a vision of a fine basket of figs and a rotten one. The good figs stand for the exiles, whom God promises to bring back and to give hearts that know Him, while Zedekiah and those left behind face ruin.
General
What did the LORD promise to give the exiles, so that they would be His people and He would be their God (Jeremiah 24:7)?
Answer: Hearts that would know Him as the LORD and turn to Him fully
The LORD promised to give the exiles hearts that would know Him as the LORD. Then they would be His people and He their God, because they would return to Him wholeheartedly (24:7). The heart that knows Him is God’s own gift, and their return grows out of that gift. The same promise appears later in Jeremiah, where God says He will write His law on their hearts (31:33) and grant them a single heart so that they always fear Him (32:39). Ezekiel speaks of God replacing a stony heart with a living, fleshly one (Ezekiel 36:26), and Moses foretold that when the LORD brought His scattered people back to their land, He would circumcise, or inwardly renew, their hearts so they would love Him (Deuteronomy 30:5-6).
- Jeremiah 24:7 (BSB)“I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.”The LORD promises the exiles a God-given heart to know Him and a wholehearted return.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (BSB)““But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.”In the new covenant God puts His law within His people and writes it on their hearts.
- Jeremiah 32:39 (BSB)“I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.”God promises to give His people one heart so that they will always fear Him.
- Ezekiel 36:26 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”God Himself removes the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh.
- Deuteronomy 30:5-6 (BSB)“And the LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”Moses foretold that after bringing His people back to the land, the LORD would renew their hearts to love Him.
Theological
In Jeremiah 24:7, what does the LORD promise to grant the exiles as the basis of the covenant bond between them?
Answer: Hearts that would know Him as the LORD and turn to Him fully
The covenant bond, in which they become His people and He becomes their God, rests here on a divine gift: the LORD Himself grants the exiles knowledge of Him in the heart, and their wholehearted return follows from that gift (24:7). The promise anticipates the new covenant, in which the LORD writes His law on the heart (31:33) and grants a single heart so that His people will always fear Him (32:39); Ezekiel describes the same sovereign renewal as replacing a stony heart with a living, fleshly one (Ezekiel 36:26), and Moses had foretold that the LORD, bringing His people back into the land, would circumcise their hearts so that they would love Him (Deuteronomy 30:5-6). Grace takes the initiative and secures the response.
- Jeremiah 24:7 (BSB)“I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.”The LORD promises the exiles a God-given heart to know Him and a wholehearted return.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (BSB)““But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.”In the new covenant God puts His law within His people and writes it on their hearts.
- Jeremiah 32:39 (BSB)“I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.”God promises to give His people one heart so that they will always fear Him.
- Ezekiel 36:26 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”God Himself removes the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh.
- Deuteronomy 30:5-6 (BSB)“And the LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”Moses foretold that after bringing His people back to the land, the LORD would renew their hearts to love Him.
General
True or False: The LORD said the good figs stood for the people who had stayed behind in Jerusalem, while the bad figs stood for those taken to Babylon.
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD said He counted the exiles as good, those whom He Himself had sent away to Chaldea, that is, Babylon (24:5). He promised to watch over them for good, bring them back, and build and plant them (24:6). It was King Zedekiah, his court, and the people left in Jerusalem or living in Egypt who matched the inedible figs (24:8). Jeremiah later sent the same message to the exiles in a letter (29:16-17), and Ezekiel was told that God Himself would be a sanctuary for those scattered among the nations (Ezekiel 11:16).
- Jeremiah 24:5-6 (BSB)““This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.”The LORD identifies the good figs with the exiles He sent to Babylon and promises them good.
- Jeremiah 24:8 (BSB)“But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.”Zedekiah, his officials, and those left in the land or in Egypt are the bad figs.
- Jeremiah 29:16-17 (BSB)“this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile— this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten.”Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles applies the image of inedible figs to those still in Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 11:16 (BSB)“Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone.’”The LORD tells Ezekiel He has been a sanctuary for those He scattered among the nations.
Theological
True or False: In the LORD’s interpretation, the good figs represent those who remained in Jerusalem and the bad figs represent the exiles in Babylon.
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD declares that He counts as good those exiles He has sent away from Jerusalem into Chaldea (24:5), and He pledges to watch over them for their good, to return them, and to build and plant rather than tear down and uproot (24:6), echoing the commission language of 1:10. The inedible figs are Zedekiah, his court, and the survivors in Jerusalem and Egypt (24:8). The same verdict reappears in Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles (29:16-17), and Ezekiel receives a parallel word that the LORD has been a sanctuary to the scattered (Ezekiel 11:16). Favor rests where God places it, not where outward circumstances suggest.
- Jeremiah 24:5-6 (BSB)““This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.”The LORD identifies the good figs with the exiles He sent to Babylon and promises them good.
- Jeremiah 24:8 (BSB)“But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.”Zedekiah, his officials, and those left in the land or in Egypt are the bad figs.
- Jeremiah 29:16-17 (BSB)“this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile— this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten.”Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles applies the image of inedible figs to those still in Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 11:16 (BSB)“Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone.’”The LORD tells Ezekiel He has been a sanctuary for those He scattered among the nations.
General
What did the LORD say would happen to King Zedekiah, his court, and the people left in Jerusalem or living in Egypt, the ones pictured by the bad figs (Jeremiah 24:8-10)?
Answer: They would be scattered, scorned, and struck until gone from the land
The LORD said He would treat Judah’s king Zedekiah, his court, and the survivors left in Jerusalem or living in Egypt like the figs that were too bad to eat (24:8). He would make them an object of dread and disgrace among all the kingdoms wherever He drove them, and send war, hunger, and disease against them until they were gone from the land He had given their fathers (24:9-10). Staying in Jerusalem did not mean they were safe or favored. Jeremiah repeated this warning in his letter to the exiles (29:17-18), and God had long before warned that disobedience would make Israel a horror among the nations (Deuteronomy 28:37).
- Jeremiah 24:8-10 (BSB)“But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them. And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’””The LORD pronounces judgment on Zedekiah and the remnant pictured by the bad figs.
- Jeremiah 29:17-18 (BSB)“this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.”Jeremiah tells the exiles the same judgment will fall on those still in Jerusalem.
- Deuteronomy 28:37 (BSB)“You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.”Moses warned that covenant breakers would become an object of dread and mockery among the nations.
Theological
What judgment does the LORD pronounce on Zedekiah, his court, and the survivors in Jerusalem and Egypt, whom the bad figs represent (Jeremiah 24:8-10)?
Answer: They would be scattered, scorned, and struck until gone from the land
The inedible figs are Zedekiah, his court, and the survivors in Jerusalem and Egypt (24:8). Upon them fall the covenant curses: they are made a thing of dread, shame, and mockery among all the kingdoms to which they are driven, and the LORD sends war, hunger, and disease until none of them remain in the land given to their fathers (24:9-10). The language is that of Deuteronomy’s curse on covenant breakers (Deuteronomy 28:37), and Jeremiah repeats it to the exiles concerning those still in the city (29:17-18). Remaining in the land carried no guarantee of God’s favor.
- Jeremiah 24:8-10 (BSB)“But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them. And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’””The LORD pronounces judgment on Zedekiah and the remnant pictured by the bad figs.
- Jeremiah 29:17-18 (BSB)“this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.”Jeremiah tells the exiles the same judgment will fall on those still in Jerusalem.
- Deuteronomy 28:37 (BSB)“You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.”Moses warned that covenant breakers would become an object of dread and mockery among the nations.
General
After Nebuchadnezzar took Jeconiah and many leaders of Judah away to Babylon, what did the LORD show Jeremiah set before the temple (Jeremiah 24:1-3)?
Answer: A pair of fig baskets, one very fine and one too spoiled to eat
This vision came after the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar took away Jeconiah (also called Jehoiachin) son of Jehoiakim, together with Judah’s officials and its skilled workers, to Babylon (24:1). The LORD showed Jeremiah a pair of fig baskets set before the temple. One held excellent figs, like the first fruit of the season; the other held figs so poor that no one could eat them (24:2). Asked by the LORD what he saw, Jeremiah described both baskets (24:3). The book of Kings records the same deportation of the king, his court, and the craftsmen (2 Kings 24:12, 14-15). The LORD then explained what each basket meant.
- Jeremiah 24:1-3 (BSB)“After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten. “Jeremiah,” the LORD asked, “what do you see?” “Figs!” I replied. “The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten.””After Jeconiah’s exile, the LORD shows Jeremiah a good basket and a bad basket of figs.
- 2 Kings 24:12 (BSB)“Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.”Kings records Jehoiachin and his officials surrendering and being taken captive.
- 2 Kings 24:14-15 (BSB)“He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained. Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.”Kings lists the craftsmen and leading men carried to Babylon with Jehoiachin.
- Jeremiah 1:11-12 (BSB)“And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied. “You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.””In Jeremiah’s call the LORD also asked what he saw before explaining the sign.
Theological
What vision did the LORD give Jeremiah beside the temple after Jeconiah’s deportation to Babylon (Jeremiah 24:1-3)?
Answer: A pair of fig baskets, one very fine and one too spoiled to eat
The vision follows a deportation: Nebuchadnezzar has taken Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) son of Jehoiakim to Babylon along with the officials, craftsmen, and metalworkers (24:1; compare 2 Kings 24:12, 14-15). Before the temple the LORD shows Jeremiah a pair of fig baskets, one of choice early figs and one of figs too bad to be eaten (24:2), and draws out Jeremiah’s own description (24:3), as He did with the almond branch and the pot in the prophet’s call (1:11-13). The interpretation that follows (24:4-10) places God’s favor on the exiles, not on those who remained in the city.
- Jeremiah 24:1-3 (BSB)“After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten. “Jeremiah,” the LORD asked, “what do you see?” “Figs!” I replied. “The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten.””After Jeconiah’s exile, the LORD shows Jeremiah a good basket and a bad basket of figs.
- 2 Kings 24:12 (BSB)“Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.”Kings records Jehoiachin and his officials surrendering and being taken captive.
- 2 Kings 24:14-15 (BSB)“He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained. Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.”Kings lists the craftsmen and leading men carried to Babylon with Jehoiachin.
- Jeremiah 1:11-12 (BSB)“And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied. “You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.””In Jeremiah’s call the LORD also asked what he saw before explaining the sign.