Jeremiah 29:1

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

XXIX.

(1) These are the words.—The prophecy in this chapter was addressed to those whom we may describe as the first of the Babylonian exiles who had been carried into captivity with Jeconiah (see Note on Jeremiah 35:2). Among these also, probably in connection with the projects which we have traced in the preceding chapter, there was a restless disquietude, fostered by false prophets, who urged the people to rebel against their conquerors. Against that policy Jeremiah, in accordance with the convictions on which he had all along acted, enters an earnest protest. The letter was sent by special messengers, of whom we read in Jeremiah 29:3, and shows that Jeremiah had been kept well informed of all that passed at Babylon. The spelling of the prophet’s name, in the Hebrew text, as Jeremiah, instead of the form Jeremiahu, which is the more common form throughout the book, is probably an indication that the opening verse which introduces the letter was the work of a later hand. The date of the letter was probably early in the reign of Zedekiah, before the incidents of the previous chapter. It is brought before us as following in almost immediate sequel on the deportation mentioned in Jeremiah 29:2. The term “residue of the elders,” in connexion with “priests and prophets,” points to the fact that the whole body of counsellors, so named, had not been carried into exile, but only the more prominent members. Such “elders” we find in Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 20:1. Ezekiel himself may be thought of as among the priests and prophets.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 29:1. Now these are the words of the letter — Hebrew, דברי הספר, the words of the book, or writing, as both the LXX. and the Vulgate translate it. Although this title announces but one, Blaney gives it as his opinion that this chapter undeniably contains the substance of two writings sent at different times, which, he says, “is evident from comparing Jeremiah 29:28 with Jeremiah 29:4-5, and that the distinction between them is at the end of Jeremiah 29:20. For in the first the prophet exhorts the captives to accommodate themselves to their present circumstances, under an assurance that their captivity would last to the end of seventy years; after which period, and not before, God would visit and restore them. And to prevent their listening to any false suggestions that might flatter them with hopes of a speedier return, he informs them of what would happen to their brethren that were left behind at Jerusalem, for whom a harder fate was reserved than for those that had been carried away. After this, finding, as it should seem, upon the return of the messengers, the little credit the first message had met with, he sends a second to the same persons, denouncing the divine judgments against three of their false prophets, by whose influence chiefly the people had been prevented from hearkening to his good advice.” The time when one or both of these written declarations of the divine will was sent to Babylon is not known, but it is thought to have been at the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign. By the residue of the elders, Lowth thinks that the remnant of the members of the Sanhedrim is intended, who were carried away captive in the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign, (Daniel 1:3,) or in Jeconiah’s captivity, (see 2 Kings 24:14,) many of whom might die by the hardships they suffered in their transportation. These, being persons of authority, were more likely to influence the rest of the people, and induce them to hearken to the prophet’s advice. Houbigant, however, not content with this interpretation, renders it, Unto the principal elders. Instead of prophets, here the LXX. read ψευδοπροφητας, false prophets: but the Chaldee understands by the word the scribes or doctors of the law; while others again think that Ezekiel, (carried away with Jeconiah,) Daniel, and other prophets of the captivity, may be meant.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

29:1-7 The written word of God is as truly given by inspiration of God as his spoken word. The zealous servant of the Lord will use every means to profit those who are far off, as well as those who are near him. The art of writing is very profitable for this end; and by the art of printing it is rendered most beneficial for circulating the knowledge of the word of God. God's sending to the captives by this letter would show that he had not forsaken them, though he was displeased, and corrected them. If they live in the fear of God, they may live comfortably in Babylon. In all conditions of life, it is our wisdom and duty not to throw away the comfort of what we may have, because we have not all we would have. They are directed to seek the good of the country where they were captives. While the king of Babylon protected them, they must live quiet and peaceable lives under him, in all godliness and honesty; patiently leaving it to God to work deliverance for them in due time.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The residue of the ciders - i. e., such of the elders as were still alive.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 29

Jer 29:1-32. Letter of Jeremiah to the Captives in Babylon, to Counteract the Assurances Given by the False Prophets of a Speedy Restoration.

1. residue of the elders—those still surviving from the time when they were carried to Babylon with Jeconiah; the other elders of the captives had died by either a natural or a violent death.Jeremiah’s letter to the captives in Babylon, to be quiet there, Jeremiah 29:1-7: not to believe false prophets; nor expect to return till after seventy years, Jeremiah 29:8-14. The destruction of those who remained in Judah for their disobedience, Jeremiah 29:15-19. The fearful end of two lying prophets, Jeremiah 29:20-23. Shemaiah’s letter against Jeremiah, Jeremiah 29:24-29, who readeth his doom, Jeremiah 29:30-32.

There were two carryings into the captivity of Babylon, the latter about eleven or twelve years after the former; the first was in the time of Jehoiachin, of which we read in 2 Kings 24:14, when the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths, were carried away, as we read there, amongst whom were some priests and prophets.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem,.... The argument and tenor, the sum and substance, of an epistle, which the prophet Jeremiah, being at Jerusalem, wrote, under the inspiration of God, to his countrymen abroad, afterwards described; so the prophets under the Old Testament instructed the people, sometimes by their sermons and discourses delivered by word of mouth to them, and sometimes by letters and epistles; as did the apostles of the New Testament; and they were both ways useful and profitable to men:

unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captive; some perhaps dying by the way, and others quickly after they came to Babylon; some were left, who had been rulers or civil magistrates in Judea, and perhaps of the great sanhedrim:

and to the priests, and to the prophets: false prophets, as the Syriac version; for we read only of one true prophet that was carried captive, and that was Ezekiel; but of false prophets several:

and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; which was eleven or twelve years before their last captivity thither. This was a catholic epistle, common to all the captives of every rank and class, age or sex.

Geneva Study Bible

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to {a} the rest of the elders who were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

(a) For some died in the way.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. Now these are the words of the letter] The exiles in Babylon were subjected to the same danger from false prophets predicting a speedy return (cp. Ezekiel 13), as were their fellow countrymen who remained at home. Jeremiah earnestly deprecates such a belief, and insists that the punishment would last for seventy years.

the residue] The reference of the word is obscure, but it may allude (so Du.) to some disaster, well known at the time. LXX omit the word, and so Gi.

and to the priests … to Babylon] Du. omits all these words, holding that Jeremiah addressed the letter to the elders alone. Co. agrees. Gi. now (2nd ed.) rejects the latter part (“whom … to Babylon”), which is absent from LXX. Moreover, he and others consider the whole or the greater part of Jeremiah 29:2 to be an expansion.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - The residue of the elders; i.e. the surviving elders. Some may, perhaps, have died from natural causes, some by violence, some from grief. Jeremiah 29:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

A Letter from Jeremiah to the Captives in Babylon, together with Threatenings against their False Prophets. - As in Jerusalem, so too in Babylon the predictions of the false prophets fostered a lively hope that the domination of Nebuchadnezzar would not last long, and that the return of the exiles to their fatherland would soon come about. The spirit of discontent thus excited must have exercised an injurious influence on the fortunes of the captives, and could not fail to frustrate the aim which the chastisement inflicted by God was designed to work out, namely, the moral advancement of the people. Therefore Jeremiah makes use of an opportunity furnished by an embassy sent by King Zedekiah to Babel, to address a letter to the exiles, exhorting them to yield with submission to the lot God had assigned to them. He counsels them to prepare, by establishing their households there, for a long sojourn in Babel, and to seek the welfare of that country as the necessary condition of their own. They must not let themselves be deceived by the false prophets' idle promises of a speedy return, since God will not bring them back and fulfil His glorious promises till after seventy years have passed (Jeremiah 29:4-14). Then he tells them that sore judgments are yet in store for King Zedekiah and such as have been left in the land (Jeremiah 29:15-20); and declares that some of their false prophets shall perish miserably (Jeremiah 29:21-32).

Heading and Introduction. - The following circular is connected, in point of outward form, with the preceding discourses against the false prophets in Jerusalem by means of the words: "And these are the words of the letter," etc. The words of the letter, i.e., the main contents of the letter, since it was not transcribed, but given in substance. "Which the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders of the captives, and to the priests and prophets, and to the whole people, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon." "The residue of the elders," Hitz. and Graf understand of those elders who were not at the same time priests or prophets. On this Ng. pronounces: "It is impossible that they can be right, for then 'the residue of the elders of the captivity' must have stood after the priests and prophets." And though we hear of elders of the priests, there is no trace in the O.T. of elders of the prophets. Besides, the elders, whenever they are mentioned along with the priests, are universally the elders of the people. Thus must we understand the expression here also. "The residue of the elders" can only be the remaining, i.e., still surviving, elders of the exiles, as יתר is used also in Jeremiah 39:9 for those still in life. But there is no foundation for the assumption by means of which Gr. seeks to support his interpretation, namely, that the place of elders that died was immediately filled by new appointments, so that the council of the elders must always have been regarded as a whole, and could not come to be a residue or remnant. Jeremiah could not possibly have assumed the existence of such an organized governing authority, since in this very letter he exhorts them to set about the establishment of regular system in their affairs. The date given in Jeremiah 29:2 : "after that Jechoniah the king, and the sovereign lady, and the courtiers, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the workmen and smiths, were gone away from Jerusalem," points to the beginning of Zedekiah's reign, to the first or second year of it. With this the advice given to the captives in the letter harmonizes well, namely, the counsel to build houses, plant gardens, etc.; since this makes it clear that they had not been long there. The despatch of this letter is usually referred to the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign, because in Jeremiah 28:1 this year is specified. But the connection in point of matter between the present chapter and Jeremiah 28 does not necessarily imply their contemporaneousness, although that is perfectly possible; and the fact that, according to Jeremiah 51:59, Zedekiah himself undertook a journey to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign, does not exclude the possibility of an embassy thither in the same year. The going away from Jerusalem is the emigration to Babylon; cf. Jeremiah 24:1, 2 Kings 24:15. הגּבירה, the queen-mother, see on Jeremiah 13:18. סריסים are the officials of the court; not necessarily eunuchs. Both words are joined to the king, because these stood in closest relations to him. Then follows without copula the second class of emigrants, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, i.e., the heads of the tribes, septs, and families of the nation. The artisans form the third class. This disposes of the objections raised by Mov. and Hitz. against the genuineness of the words "princes of Judah and Jerusalem," their objections being based on the false assumption that these words were an exposition of "courtiers." Cf. against this, 2 Kings 24:15, where along with the סריסים the heads of tribes and families are comprehended under the head of אוּלי הארץ. Jeremiah 29:3. "By the hand" of Elasah is dependent on "sent," Jeremiah 29:1. The men by whom Jeremiah sent the letter to Babylon are not further known. Shaphan is perhaps the same who is mentioned in Jeremiah 26:24. We have no information as to the aim of the embassy.