| Jeremiah 1 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) A high-resolution scan of the Aleppo Codex showing the Book of Jeremiah (the sixth book in Nevi'im) | |
| Book | Book of Jeremiah |
| Hebrew Bible part | Nevi'im |
| Order in the Hebrew part | 6 |
| Category | Latter Prophets |
| Christian Bible part | Old Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 24 |
Jeremiah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book, one of the Nevi'im or Books of the Prophets, contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. This chapter serves as an introduction to the Book of Jeremiah and relates Jeremiah's calling as a prophet.[1][2]
The original text of this chapter, as with the rest of the Book of Jeremiah, was written in Hebrew. Since the division of the Bible into chapters in the medieval period, this chapter is divided into 19 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).[3]
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).[4]
The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex.[5] Jeremiah 1 is the First prophecy in the Prophecies of Destruction (Jeremiah 1–25) section. {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.
The New King James Version (NKJV) organises this chapter as follows:
J. A. Thompson organises the chapter as follows.[6]
The superscription (verses 1–3) gives the introduction to the whole book by stating authoritative claims for its content.[7] For 40 years Jeremiah conveyed the word of the Lord to the people, from the 13th year of king Josiah (627 BCE) until the deportation of the people from Jerusalem (587 BCE).[7]
This verse is an "editorial introduction" which is reasonably comprehensive as it contains the prophet's "name, family, status and place of origin," and more complete than most books of prophets.[1] According to Judges 21:17–18, Anathoth was one of the levitical or priestly cities located within the land of the tribe of Benjamin, about 3 miles northeast of Jerusalem.[2] The prophecies of Jeremiah and Amos (Amos 1:1) are attributed to them individually in the opening words of the relevant biblical books, while in other cases, such as Hosea 1:1, Joel 1:1 and Micah 1:1, their prophecies are described from the outset as "the word of the Lord". Septuagint version has "The word of God which came to Jeremiah" for "The words of Jeremiah".[2]
"The 13th year of his reign": The prophetic career of Jeremiah started in about 627 BCE.[10][11] An argument that this is the year of Jeremiah's birth cannot be reconciled with the expression "the word of the Lord came".[10] This verse (as emphasizes further in Jeremiah 25:3) affirms that the conveyed words are not Jeremiah's own creation, but of supernatural origin, that is, from Yahweh.[10][12] This time period was five years after Josiah, king of Judah, initiated the religious reformation (in his 8th year of reign, 632 BC) and five years before the finding of the Book of Law in his 18th year of reign in 622 BCE.[13] Although Josiah was 16 years old when he "began to seek after the God of David his father" (2 Chronicles 34:3), it was in his 12th year of reign (he was 20 years old; 629/628 BCE) when he began the repudiation of the "official Assyrian cult" with a "radical purge of all kinds of idolatrous practices both in Judah and in Northern Israel" (cf. 2 Chronicles 34:3–7), one year before Jeremiah was called and about the same time Sinsharishkun took the throne of Assyria,[13] following the chaos after Ashurbanipal's death, as the Assyrian Empire rapidly diminished.[14]
"The fifth month": The official ministry of Jeremiah ends at the time of the deportation of the people from Jerusalem (July/August 587 BCE) in the early part of the 6th century BCE.[12][16]
The call account of Jeremiah certifies him to be a true prophet.[7] Verses 4–10 contains the poetic audition in form of a dialogue between Jeremiah, speaking in the first person, and Yahweh (the LORD), whose words are written as quoted statements.[7] The subsequent part (verses 11–19) is in the form of prose visions.[7]
The formula of this statement is reused in Jeremiah 2:1.[18]
"I sanctified you": "I set you apart"[20] (Jeremiah 1:5 NIV) – this was "a designation for the prophetic function rather an inward sanctification".[21]
"Ah" is rendered Alas in the Darby Translation and New International Version, and this Hebrew word in the opinion of biblical commentator A. W. Streane: "expresses not so much an entreaty that things should be arranged otherwise, as a lament that they are as they are".[23]
Just as with Moses and Isaiah, Yahweh rejected any excuses and proceeded with His instruction: "for you will go," and Jeremiah has to say all what Yahweh commanded him.[25]
Repeated again at the end of verse 19, closing this chapter:
Yahweh commissioned Jeremiah to be His spokesperson by a "symbolic gesture of touching Jeremiah's mouth" (cf. Numbers 23:5; Deuteronomy 18:18, Isaiah 6:7; Ezekiel 2:9–3:2).[27]
Verses 11–16 records the dialogue between Jeremiah, speaking in the first person, and Yahweh (the LORD), whose words are written as quoted statements.[7] Jeremiah saw a visions of "a branch of an almond tree" (verses 11–12) and then a vision of "a boiling pot tilt away from the north" (verses 13–16).[7] Yahweh, not Jeremiah, interprets both visions: the first one to assure the prophet (and the audience) of the certainty of the prophecies, and the second to point at "the foe from the north" which is revealed in Jeremiah 20:4–6 as Babylon.[7]
"Branch" is alternatively translated as a "rod" of an almond tree (KJV, ASV). The meaning is poetic, referring to a blossoming almond tree. These verses contain a play on words using the Hebrew shaqed (almond) and shoqed (watching over). Thompson notes that in modern times Anathoth (modern village Anata) is still "a center for almond growing" and display memorable views of blooming almond trees in the early spring.[30]
Israel's enemy "always comes from the north": the Jerusalem Bible notes that Ezekiel 26:7 and Joel 2:20 also express this point.[32]
The medieval Jewish commentator Rashi considered that this prophecy, "They shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem", was fulfilled as reported in Jeremiah 39:3: "All the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat at the Middle Gate".[34]
The verses 17–19 can be seen as connecting back to verses 4–10 or be a separate fragment where Yahweh gave a charge (verse 17) and a promise (verses 18–19) to Jeremiah in connection to the call.[35] Speaking directly using imperatives Yahweh prepares Jeremiah for the battle, that Jeremiah must announce everything in the face of opposition and he will prevail because Yahweh strengthens him as "a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall".[18] Although the encouraging assurance is directed to Jeremiah, it may also have resonances for the readers in exile.[18]
