Jeremiah
Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, was a prophet who ministered during the reigns of the last kings of Judah, warning of the Babylonian exile and calling for repentance.
Biography
Jeremiah son of Hilkiah was a Levitical priest from Anathoth in Benjamin, called by God to prophetic ministry before his birth (Jeremiah 1:5). He ministered from the reign of Josiah through the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC and beyond, spanning the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Known as the 'weeping prophet,' Jeremiah preached an unpopular message of imminent judgment, called Judah to repentance, and foresaw the seventy-year exile (Jeremiah 25:11). He suffered imprisonment, public ridicule, and near-martyrdom for his faithfulness. He also proclaimed a New Covenant, the most explicit pre-exilic promise of a future inward transformation of God's people (Jeremiah 31:31-34), a passage cited extensively in the New Testament book of Hebrews.
Significance
Jeremiah occupies a towering place in biblical theology. His prophecy of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12 and 10:16-17, is the clearest Old Testament anticipation of the gospel transformation accomplished through Christ. His ministry demonstrates that faithfulness to God's Word does not guarantee earthly success or acceptance, but is nonetheless indispensable. Jeremiah also models lament as a legitimate spiritual discipline, as his confessions and complaints before God reveal authentic faith that wrestles honestly with suffering. His life prefigures Christ's own rejection by his people and his bearing of sorrow for their sake.
Verse Appearances (124)
Ezra
Jeremiah
Daniel
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]
- William L. Holladay (1986) Jeremiah 1: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapters 1-25 (Hermeneia). doi:10.2307/3267639.Exhaustive critical commentary analyzing Jeremiah's oracles, confessions, and compositional history.
- Jack R. Lundbom (1999) Jeremiah 1-20. Anchor Bible, vol. 21A.Detailed rhetorical and philological commentary on the early Jeremianic material.
- Robert P. Carroll (1986) Jeremiah: A Commentary. Old Testament Library.Radical tradition-historical reading arguing for extensive Deuteronomistic shaping of the Jeremiah tradition.
- Kathleen M. O'Connor (1988) The Confessions of Jeremiah: Their Interpretation and Role in Chapters 1-25. doi:10.2307/1518644.Literary analysis of the confessions as a window into prophetic identity.
