Jeremiah 29 Study Notes
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29:1 The remaining exiled elders appears to describe those who had survived deportation to Babylon.
29:2 King Jeconiah is another name for King Jehoiachin (see note at 22:24-30). The Hebrew form of queen mother is a feminine ending on the same masculine form for “a mighty man of valor” or a “hero” (Hb haggevirah). The court officials (Hb hassarisim) is usually rendered “eunuchs,” but it was also a title for palace officers (52:25; Gn 37:36; 40:2; 1Sm 8:15).
29:3 Jeremiah sent his letter to the exiles in Babylon by two of King Zedekiah’s emissaries to Nebuchadnezzar. The two men who carried the letter were Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah. Shaphan was a sort of secretary of state under King Josiah (2Kg 22:8-14), and Gemariah was the high priest under Josiah (2Ch 34-35). Despite a crooked government and priesthood, these men show that some people remained faithful to the Lord, even during the worst of times.
29:4-7 Jeremiah’s letter must have arrived in Babylon shortly after the exiles did. It warned that this would not be a short exile.
29:7 Jeremiah’s advice to the exiles was remarkable. He urged them to pray for Babylon and its prosperity. By doing this, the exiles would thrive as well (1Tm 2:1-2).
29:10 The seventy years for Babylon are also noted in 25:11. The duration of the Babylonian kingdom is linked with the length of the exile (see note at 25:11). From Nebuchadnezzar’s accession to the throne in 605 BC to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC was sixty-six years.
29:11 Many a faithful believer has found comfort in these words of hope.
29:12-14 These verses are a renewal of God’s promise in Dt 30:3-5.
29:15-19 Many interpreters think these verses are misplaced since Jeremiah was so critical of Zedekiah in a letter carried by his ambassadors. But vv. 4-23 may not be a single letter. Verses 15-19 could be a second letter not carried to Babylon by the king’s officials.
29:17 The people left in Jerusalem who were not among the initial exiles will be made like rotten figs. This same imagery appears in chap. 24.
29:20-23 Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah were two prophets singled out for committing adultery with their neighbors’ wives as well as prophesying lies. There is a wordplay here. The name Kolaiah is related to the Hebrew term qelalah (“curse”) and qalah (“to burn”). Thus they would roast in the fire. So heinous were their lying prophecies that the king of Babylon would charge them with treason and condemn them to death by burning (Dn 3:6,20,23).
29:24-25 Shemaiah the Nehelamite was another false prophet. He had apparently ordered the priest Zephaniah to silence Jeremiah. Zephaniah was warden over police regulations in the temple (21:1; 37:3; 52:24).
29:26 Shemaiah charged Jeremiah with being a madman.
29:29-32 Zephaniah the priest read Shemaiah’s letter to Jeremiah, who responded with another letter from the Lord to the exiles. He exposed Shemaiah’s hypocrisy and set his punishment—that he would have no descendants and he would not live to see the restoration God had predicted. No harm, however, came to Jeremiah, in fulfillment of God’s promise (1:8,19; 15:20).