Jeremiah 29 Study Notes: Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles
Jeremiah writes to the exiles in Babylon, telling them to settle down, raise families and pray for the city’s welfare, since God will bring them home only after seventy years. He promises they will find God when they seek Him wholeheartedly and condemns lying prophets in Babylon, among them Shemaiah.
General
When did the LORD say He would act to bring the exiles home (Jeremiah 29:10)?
Answer: After Babylon’s seventy years had run out
The LORD said that when the seventy years of Babylon were finished, He would come to the exiles and keep His good promise to bring them back to their land (29:10). Jeremiah had already announced this seventy-year period (25:11-12). Daniel later understood from Jeremiah’s words that Jerusalem’s desolation would continue for seventy years (Daniel 9:2), and the book of Ezra says the LORD moved King Cyrus of Persia to let the people return in order to fulfill what He had spoken through Jeremiah (Ezra 1:1). Hananiah’s two-year promise was false, but God’s promise of return was real; it simply came on God’s timetable.
- Jeremiah 29:10 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.”The LORD promises to bring the exiles back once Babylon’s appointed seventy years end.
- Jeremiah 25:11-12 (BSB)“And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.”Jeremiah had earlier announced seventy years of service to Babylon, then Babylon’s punishment.
- Daniel 9:2 (BSB)“in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.”Daniel understood the seventy years from Jeremiah’s prophecy.
- Ezra 1:1 (BSB)“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:”Cyrus’s decree came about so that the LORD’s word through Jeremiah would be fulfilled.
Theological
What timing does Jeremiah 29:10 attach to the LORD’s promise to restore the exiles?
Answer: After Babylon’s seventy years had run out
The restoration is fixed to Babylon’s appointed seventy years: when they are complete, the LORD will visit the exiles and perform His good word to bring them home (29:10; cf. 25:11-12). Scripture records the fulfillment explicitly. Daniel understood the seventy years from the LORD’s message through Jeremiah (Daniel 9:2), and the LORD stirred Cyrus to issue his decree in order to fulfill what He had spoken through Jeremiah (Ezra 1:1). The true word of restoration differs from Hananiah’s not in its hope but in its timing.
- Jeremiah 29:10 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.”The LORD promises to bring the exiles back once Babylon’s appointed seventy years end.
- Jeremiah 25:11-12 (BSB)“And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.”Jeremiah had earlier announced seventy years of service to Babylon, then Babylon’s punishment.
- Daniel 9:2 (BSB)“in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.”Daniel understood the seventy years from Jeremiah’s prophecy.
- Ezra 1:1 (BSB)“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:”Cyrus’s decree came about so that the LORD’s word through Jeremiah would be fulfilled.
General
Why did the LORD say He would hand two prophets among the exiles, Zedekiah son of Maaseiah and Ahab son of Kolaiah, over to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 29:21-23)?
Answer: They had committed adultery and lied in God’s name
Zedekiah son of Maaseiah and Ahab son of Kolaiah were prophets among the exiles who spoke lies while claiming to speak for the LORD (29:21). The LORD said He would hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar, who would put them to death in front of the exiles, and their fate would become a byword used in curses (29:21-22). The reason was their disgraceful sin: they committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and spoke words in God’s name that He never gave them (29:23). The LORD added that He knew all of it and was a witness. Jeremiah also charged Jerusalem’s prophets with adultery and lies (23:14), and nothing in creation escapes God’s sight (Hebrews 4:13).
- Jeremiah 29:21 (BSB)“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.”The LORD names the two lying prophets and their coming fate at Nebuchadnezzar’s hand.
- Jeremiah 29:23 (BSB)“For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He who knows, and I am a witness, declares the LORD.””Their sins were adultery and speaking unauthorized words in God’s name, which He witnessed.
- Jeremiah 23:14 (BSB)“And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.””Jerusalem’s prophets were likewise guilty of adultery and lies.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”All things lie open before God, who will call everyone to account.
Theological
On what grounds does the LORD condemn the exile prophets Zedekiah son of Maaseiah and Ahab son of Kolaiah (Jeremiah 29:21-23)?
Answer: They had committed adultery and lied in God’s name
Zedekiah son of Maaseiah and Ahab son of Kolaiah, both prophets among the exiles, prophesy lies in the LORD’s name (29:21). The LORD will hand them to Nebuchadnezzar, who will execute them before the exiles, and their end will become a formula of cursing (29:21-22). Their crime is a moral and prophetic outrage: adultery with their neighbors’ wives and speaking in His name words He did not command (29:23). The LORD Himself is the One who knows and bears witness, so private sin and public falsehood alike lie open before Him (Hebrews 4:13). The same pairing of adultery and lies marked Jerusalem’s prophets (23:14).
- Jeremiah 29:21 (BSB)“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.”The LORD names the two lying prophets and their coming fate at Nebuchadnezzar’s hand.
- Jeremiah 29:23 (BSB)“For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He who knows, and I am a witness, declares the LORD.””Their sins were adultery and speaking unauthorized words in God’s name, which He witnessed.
- Jeremiah 23:14 (BSB)“And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.””Jerusalem’s prophets were likewise guilty of adultery and lies.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”All things lie open before God, who will call everyone to account.
General
What did the LORD say would happen to the king from David’s line and the people who had stayed behind in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29:16-19)?
Answer: They would be ruined like figs too spoiled to be eaten
The LORD then spoke about those left behind in Jerusalem. The king reigning in David’s line and everyone still in the city would face war, hunger and disease; He would make them like figs so rotten no one could eat them (29:16-17), and they would become an object of horror among the nations (29:18). The reason was that they had refused to listen to the prophets He had sent to them over and over, and the exiles had not listened either (29:19). This repeats Jeremiah’s vision of two baskets of figs, where the bad figs stood for King Zedekiah and those left in Jerusalem (24:8-10). The LORD had sent prophets persistently, and the people had persistently ignored them (25:4).
- 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.”The LORD announces judgment on the king and people still in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 29:19 (BSB)“I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD.””The reason: they did not listen to the prophets the LORD kept sending.
- 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.’””In the vision of the figs, the bad figs are Zedekiah and the remnant in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 25:4 (BSB)“And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.”The LORD sent His prophets repeatedly, but the people would not listen.
Theological
What does the LORD declare in Jeremiah 29:16-19 concerning Zedekiah and the population still in Jerusalem?
Answer: They would be ruined like figs too spoiled to be eaten
The LORD turns from the exiles to those left behind. He pronounces sword, famine and pestilence on the Davidic king and the remnant in Jerusalem, making them like inedible rotten figs (29:16-17) and a horror and reproach among the nations (29:18). The ground is covenant disobedience: they would not hear the words He sent persistently through the prophets who served Him, and the exiles themselves have not heard either (29:19). The oracle interprets the vision of the two baskets, where the bad figs are Zedekiah and the remnant (24:8-10), and echoes the book’s repeated charge of refusing the prophets (25:4).
- 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.”The LORD announces judgment on the king and people still in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 29:19 (BSB)“I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD.””The reason: they did not listen to the prophets the LORD kept sending.
- 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.’””In the vision of the figs, the bad figs are Zedekiah and the remnant in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 25:4 (BSB)“And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.”The LORD sent His prophets repeatedly, but the people would not listen.
General
Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of the LORD’s good plans for His people’s future. In the letter itself, who is being addressed and what is promised?
Answer: The exiles in Babylon, to be restored after seventy years
Verse 11 is part of Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles in Babylon, the people the LORD had removed from Jerusalem (29:4). It comes right after the promise that when the seventy years of Babylon were complete, God would bring them back (29:10). The plans for good, not harm, and the future and hope He speaks of are His purpose to restore His people as a community, which the next verses describe: they would pray and be heard, seek Him and find Him, and be gathered home (29:12-14). It is not a promise of personal wealth or an easy life; the same letter told its hearers to settle in Babylon for decades (29:5-6). In the vision of the good figs the LORD said He would watch over these exiles for good and give them hearts that would know Him (24:5-7), and to weeping Rachel the LORD promises that her children will come back from enemy territory, so their future is not without hope (31:16-17).
- Jeremiah 29:10-11 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.”The promise of good plans follows directly on the promise of return after seventy years.
- Jeremiah 24:5-7 (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. 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 to watch over the exiles for good, bring them back, and enable them to know Him.
- Jeremiah 31:16-17 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD. Then your children will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land.”To weeping Rachel the LORD promises that her children will come home from enemy territory.
Theological
Read in its setting in the letter (29:4-14), to whom is the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 addressed and what does it concern?
Answer: The exiles in Babylon, to be restored after seventy years
Verse 11 belongs to the letter to the exiles (29:4) and grounds the promise of 29:10: after Babylon’s seventy years the LORD will visit and restore them. The plans for their good and not for harm, for a future and hope, are His covenant purpose for the exiled community, unfolded in 29:12-14 as answered prayer, renewed communion and regathering. It is not a promise of individual prosperity; the same letter tells its hearers to settle in Babylon for the long term (29:5-6). The LORD’s purpose for these exiles is also announced in the vision of the good figs, where He pledges to watch over them for their good and to give them hearts that would know Him (24:5-7), and it is echoed in the comfort to weeping Rachel that her children will come home from enemy territory (31:16-17).
- Jeremiah 29:10-11 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.”The promise of good plans follows directly on the promise of return after seventy years.
- Jeremiah 24:5-7 (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. 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 to watch over the exiles for good, bring them back, and enable them to know Him.
- Jeremiah 31:16-17 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD. Then your children will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land.”To weeping Rachel the LORD promises that her children will come home from enemy territory.
General
True or False: The LORD told the exiles that the prophets and fortune-tellers living among them in Babylon had been sent by Him (Jeremiah 29:8-9, 15).
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD warned the exiles not to be fooled by those prophets and fortune-tellers living among them, and not to heed the dreams they encouraged those men to have (29:8). These prophets used His name, but He had not sent them (29:9). Some exiles were saying the LORD had raised up prophets for them in Babylon (29:15), but the LORD answered by announcing judgment on those still in Jerusalem, not the good news the exiles were hoping for (29:16-17). The LORD had said the same about prophets who tell false dreams (23:32), and He had given the same warning to the nearby nations (27:9).
- Jeremiah 29:8-9 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them. For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD.””The LORD warns the exiles against prophets and diviners He did not send.
- Jeremiah 29:15 (BSB)“Because you may say, “The LORD has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,””Some exiles claimed the LORD had given them prophets in Babylon.
- Jeremiah 23:32 (BSB)““Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.”The LORD opposes those who spread lying dreams, whom He never sent.
- Jeremiah 27:9 (BSB)“But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’”The same warning had been given to the surrounding nations.
Theological
True or False: Jeremiah 29:8-9 and 15 affirm that the prophets who arose among the exiles in Babylon were sent by the LORD.
Answer: False
This is false. The LORD warns the exiles against being misled by those prophets and fortune-tellers in their midst and against the dreams they solicit (29:8); these men prophesy falsely in His name without being sent (29:9). The exiles’ boast that the LORD has given them prophets in Babylon (29:15) is answered with a word of judgment on Jerusalem (29:16-17). Prophetic optimism in Babylon mirrors that in Jerusalem, and the LORD’s verdict is the same (23:32; 27:9).
- Jeremiah 29:8-9 (BSB)“For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them. For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD.””The LORD warns the exiles against prophets and diviners He did not send.
- Jeremiah 29:15 (BSB)“Because you may say, “The LORD has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,””Some exiles claimed the LORD had given them prophets in Babylon.
- Jeremiah 23:32 (BSB)““Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.”The LORD opposes those who spread lying dreams, whom He never sent.
- Jeremiah 27:9 (BSB)“But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’”The same warning had been given to the surrounding nations.
General
What did the LORD promise the exiles about seeking Him (Jeremiah 29:12-14)?
Answer: He would be found when they sought Him wholeheartedly
The LORD promised that the exiles would call on Him and pray, and He would listen; they would look for Him and find Him when they searched wholeheartedly (29:12-13). He would let Himself be found, end their captivity, and gather them from every place where He had scattered them (29:14). Moses had said the same long before: from exile Israel would find the LORD if they sought Him with their whole heart and soul (Deuteronomy 4:29), and when they returned to Him wholeheartedly He would end their captivity and regather them from the nations (Deuteronomy 30:2-3). This connects with another promise to these same exiles: the LORD said He would grant them a heart that knows Him, and they would turn back to Him completely (24:7). God calls His people to seek Him, and He also promised to give these exiles a heart to return to Him.
- Jeremiah 29:12-14 (BSB)“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.””The LORD promises to hear the exiles, be found by them, and bring them home.
- Deuteronomy 4:29 (BSB)“But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”Moses promised that Israel in exile would find the LORD by seeking Him wholeheartedly.
- 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 Himself enables the exiles to know Him, so that they turn back to Him wholly.
- Deuteronomy 30:6 (BSB)“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.”God promises to work on His people’s hearts so that they love Him fully.
- Deuteronomy 30:2-3 (BSB)“and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today, then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.”When Israel turns back to God wholeheartedly, He promises to end their captivity and regather them.
Theological
What does the LORD promise in Jeremiah 29:12-14 concerning the exiles’ prayer and seeking?
Answer: He would be found when they sought Him wholeheartedly
The promise of 29:12-14 is relational before it is geographical: the exiles will call, pray and be heard; they will seek and find the LORD when they search wholeheartedly; He will let Himself be found and then bring them back from captivity and regather them from every land (29:14). It echoes the covenant pattern of Deuteronomy 4:29 and 30:2-3, where wholehearted seeking and returning are followed by restoration from captivity. Read alongside 24:7, where the LORD pledges to grant these same exiles a heart that knows Him so that they turn back to Him wholly, the wholehearted seeking of 29:13 can be seen as something He also promised to work in them, much as He promised in the law to circumcise His people’s hearts so they would love Him (Deuteronomy 30:6). His command and His enabling grace go together.
- Jeremiah 29:12-14 (BSB)“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.””The LORD promises to hear the exiles, be found by them, and bring them home.
- Deuteronomy 4:29 (BSB)“But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”Moses promised that Israel in exile would find the LORD by seeking Him wholeheartedly.
- 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 Himself enables the exiles to know Him, so that they turn back to Him wholly.
- Deuteronomy 30:6 (BSB)“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.”God promises to work on His people’s hearts so that they love Him fully.
- Deuteronomy 30:2-3 (BSB)“and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today, then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you.”When Israel turns back to God wholeheartedly, He promises to end their captivity and regather them.
General
What were the exiles told to do for the city where they now lived (Jeremiah 29:7)?
Answer: Work and pray for the city’s good
The LORD told the exiles to seek the good of the city where He had sent them and to pray to Him on its behalf, because their own well-being was tied to its well-being (29:7). The verse says the LORD Himself had sent them there, so living in Babylon was part of His plan, not an accident. Rather than praying for Babylon’s ruin, they were to pray for it. Later the Persian king Darius ordered that the Jewish elders rebuilding the temple be supplied with what they needed for sacrifices, so that they could offer them to God and pray for the king’s life and for his sons (Ezra 6:10). Paul likewise urges prayers for everyone, including kings and all who hold authority, that believers may live peaceful and godly lives (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
- Jeremiah 29:7 (BSB)“Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.””The exiles are told to seek and pray for the prosperity of their new city.
- Ezra 6:10 (BSB)“Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.”Darius’s decree provides for sacrifices so the Jews may pray for the king’s life and his sons.
- 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (BSB)“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.”Paul urges prayer for everyone, including rulers, so believers may live peaceful, godly lives.
Theological
What stance toward Babylon does the LORD command the exiles to take in Jeremiah 29:7?
Answer: Work and pray for the city’s good
The exiles are to seek the welfare of the city where the LORD Himself has placed them, and to pray to Him for it, for in its welfare lies their own (29:7). Exile is the LORD’s sending, not merely Nebuchadnezzar’s deportation, and the covenant people are to seek the good of their captors’ city even in the place of judgment. Later Darius decreed that the temple builders be supplied for sacrifices so they might pray for the king’s life and for his sons (Ezra 6:10), and Paul urges prayer for everyone, including kings and all who hold authority, that believers may live tranquil and godly lives (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
- Jeremiah 29:7 (BSB)“Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.””The exiles are told to seek and pray for the prosperity of their new city.
- Ezra 6:10 (BSB)“Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.”Darius’s decree provides for sacrifices so the Jews may pray for the king’s life and his sons.
- 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (BSB)“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.”Paul urges prayer for everyone, including rulers, so believers may live peaceful, godly lives.
General
In his letter to the exiles in Babylon, what did Jeremiah tell them the LORD wanted them to do there (Jeremiah 29:4-6)?
Answer: Make homes, raise families and grow in number
From Jerusalem, Jeremiah wrote to the elders, priests, prophets and people who had been carried off to Babylon (29:1). Through it the LORD told them to settle in for a long stay: put up houses and live in them, grow gardens and live on their harvest, marry, have children, find spouses for their children, and increase in number rather than dwindle (29:5-6). These were not the plans of people expecting to go home soon. The exile would be long, as Jeremiah had said the nations would be subject to Babylon’s king for seventy years (25:11). Shemaiah, one of the exiles, understood the letter that way and complained that Jeremiah was saying the exile would be lengthy (29:28).
- Jeremiah 29:5-6 (BSB)““Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.”The LORD tells the exiles to settle down, raise families and grow in number.
- Jeremiah 25:11 (BSB)“And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.”The nations would be subject to Babylon’s king for seventy years.
- Jeremiah 29:28 (BSB)“For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’””Shemaiah complains that Jeremiah’s letter assumed a lengthy exile.
- Jeremiah 28:3 (BSB)“Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and carried to Babylon.”Hananiah had promised a return within two years, the opposite of this counsel.
Theological
What instructions does the LORD give the exiles about daily life in Babylon in Jeremiah 29:4-6?
Answer: Make homes, raise families and grow in number
The letter to the exiles (29:1) instructs them to build, plant, marry, give their children in marriage and multiply, not diminish (29:5-6). This is the counsel of long residence, directly opposed to Hananiah’s two-year horizon (28:3). Seventy years of Babylonian rule had been decreed (25:11), and Shemaiah’s protest shows that the exiles took Jeremiah’s letter to mean a lengthy exile (29:28). God’s people were to live faithfully and fruitfully in the place of judgment rather than wait idly for a quick rescue.
- Jeremiah 29:5-6 (BSB)““Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.”The LORD tells the exiles to settle down, raise families and grow in number.
- Jeremiah 25:11 (BSB)“And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.”The nations would be subject to Babylon’s king for seventy years.
- Jeremiah 29:28 (BSB)“For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’””Shemaiah complains that Jeremiah’s letter assumed a lengthy exile.
- Jeremiah 28:3 (BSB)“Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and carried to Babylon.”Hananiah had promised a return within two years, the opposite of this counsel.
General
Shemaiah the Nehelamite, an exile in Babylon, sent a letter to Zephaniah, a priest in Jerusalem. What did he want Zephaniah to do (Jeremiah 29:24-28)?
Answer: Rebuke Jeremiah and restrain him in the stocks
Shemaiah sent letters on his own authority to the residents of Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to the other priests (29:25). He reminded Zephaniah that, as chief officer of the temple, he was responsible to lock any madman acting as a prophet in the stocks and an iron collar (29:26). Why, then, had he not rebuked Jeremiah (29:27)? His complaint was that Jeremiah had told the exiles to settle down for a long stay (29:28). Instead, Zephaniah read Shemaiah’s letter to Jeremiah (29:29). Jeremiah had suffered this kind of treatment before, when Pashhur had him beaten and locked in the stocks (20:2), and at other times priests, prophets and officials demanded his death (26:8-9; 38:4).
- Jeremiah 29:26-28 (BSB)“‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet—you must put him in stocks and neck irons. So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’””Shemaiah urges Zephaniah to restrain Jeremiah for telling the exiles to settle in.
- Jeremiah 29:29 (BSB)“(Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.)”Zephaniah reads Shemaiah’s letter to Jeremiah.
- Jeremiah 20:2 (BSB)“he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.”Pashhur earlier had Jeremiah beaten and confined in the stocks.
- Jeremiah 26:8-9 (BSB)“and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die! How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.”Priests, prophets and people once seized Jeremiah and called for his death.
- Jeremiah 38:4 (BSB)“Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.””Officials later accused Jeremiah of seeking the people’s ruin.
Theological
What did Shemaiah the Nehelamite demand of Zephaniah the priest in his letters to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29:24-28)?
Answer: Rebuke Jeremiah and restrain him in the stocks
Writing in his own name, Shemaiah reproaches Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest in charge of the temple, for not using against Jeremiah his authority to put any madman claiming to prophesy in the stocks and collar (29:25-27), because Jeremiah’s letter told the exiles that the captivity would be long (29:28). Zephaniah instead reads the letter to Jeremiah (29:29). The episode repeats the pattern of the book: Jeremiah’s word is treated as madness or sedition, as when Pashhur put him in the stocks (20:2) and when priests, prophets and officials sought his death (26:8-9; 38:4).
- Jeremiah 29:26-28 (BSB)“‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet—you must put him in stocks and neck irons. So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’””Shemaiah urges Zephaniah to restrain Jeremiah for telling the exiles to settle in.
- Jeremiah 29:29 (BSB)“(Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.)”Zephaniah reads Shemaiah’s letter to Jeremiah.
- Jeremiah 20:2 (BSB)“he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.”Pashhur earlier had Jeremiah beaten and confined in the stocks.
- Jeremiah 26:8-9 (BSB)“and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die! How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.”Priests, prophets and people once seized Jeremiah and called for his death.
- Jeremiah 38:4 (BSB)“Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.””Officials later accused Jeremiah of seeking the people’s ruin.
General
True or False: The LORD said Shemaiah the Nehelamite would have no descendant remaining among the people and would not see the good God would do for His people (Jeremiah 29:31-32).
Answer: True
This is true. The LORD told Jeremiah to send word to the whole exile community about Shemaiah (29:30-31). Shemaiah had prophesied though God had not sent him, and he had made the people rely on a falsehood (29:31). So the LORD would punish him and his descendants: none of his line would remain among the people, and he would not see the good God was going to do for His people, because he had stirred up revolt against God (29:32). The charges are the same ones Jeremiah had brought against Hananiah (28:15-16), and God’s law named urging revolt against the LORD as the crime of a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:5).
- Jeremiah 29:31-32 (BSB)““Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie, this is what the LORD says: ‘I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’””The LORD declares Shemaiah unsent and sentences him and his descendants.
- Jeremiah 28:15-16 (BSB)“Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie. Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’””Hananiah faced the same charges: not sent, misleading the people, and urging revolt.
- Deuteronomy 13:5 (BSB)“Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.”The law gives urging revolt against God as the reason a false prophet must die.
Theological
True or False: According to Jeremiah 29:31-32, Shemaiah is sentenced to have no descendant remaining among the people and to be excluded from seeing the good the LORD will bring.
Answer: True
This is true. Through a further message to the exiles (29:30-31), the LORD indicts Shemaiah as a prophet He did not send who has made the people trust a falsehood (29:31), and He sentences him and his offspring: no one of his line will remain among the people, and he will not see the good the LORD will do for His people, because he has incited revolt against the LORD (29:32). The indictment mirrors that of Hananiah almost word for word (28:15-16) and applies the law against the prophet who incites revolt against the LORD (Deuteronomy 13:5). The restoration promised in 29:10-14 is real, but those who oppose the LORD’s word exclude themselves from it.
- Jeremiah 29:31-32 (BSB)““Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie, this is what the LORD says: ‘I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’””The LORD declares Shemaiah unsent and sentences him and his descendants.
- Jeremiah 28:15-16 (BSB)“Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie. Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’””Hananiah faced the same charges: not sent, misleading the people, and urging revolt.
- Deuteronomy 13:5 (BSB)“Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.”The law gives urging revolt against God as the reason a false prophet must die.