Chapter One

1–3. The inscription of the book. 4–19. Jeremiah’s calling to prophetic ministry.

Jer 1:1-3. In the first three verses, the prophet’s person and the duration of his ministry are described briefly.

Jeremiah 1:1. The words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, The name Jeremiah—see the “Introduction.” “One of the priests.” Jeremiah is not directly called a priest, probably because he never served as a priest. In Anathoth. This indicates the place where Jeremiah was born and where he first lived (see the “Introduction” regarding this city).

Jeremiah 1:2. To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign, Regarding the chronological date given here, see the “Introduction.”

Jeremiah 1:3. And also in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. “And also”—that is, the revelations of the Lord to Jeremiah continued further in the days of Jehoiakim and so on. The brief reigns of Jehoahaz and Jeconiah the prophet passes over in silence—this is natural. But why is the prophet’s activity limited here to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, when it is known that it continued even after this time? It is very likely that this gives a hint that with the fall of the Kingdom of Judah, the proper Jewish reckoning of time, the Jewish era, came to an end, and that, properly speaking, the prophet from the time of the fall of the Kingdom of Judah ceased to regard himself as a public figure in the direct sense of that word. Moreover, perhaps the date of the third verse refers mainly to chapters I–XXXIX of his book and perhaps to chapters XLVI–LI. Jer 1:4-19. Here Jeremiah’s calling to prophetic ministry is depicted. Jehovah dispels all the doubts that arose in Jeremiah at the thought of this difficult mission, and by touching His hand to the prophet’s lips, He consecrates him to His service. Then in two symbolic visions, the main content of his preaching is revealed before Jeremiah, with which he must go to his people, and afterward, in conclusion, God commands the prophet, without dismay, in reliance on Jehovah’s help, to begin his activity.

Jeremiah 1:4. And the word of the Lord came to me: The formula that here introduces the divine revelations to follow is striking in its simplicity, especially if compared to the detailed account given in corresponding cases by the prophets Isaiah (chapter VI) and Ezekiel (chapter 1). The explanation for this extraordinary restraint in depicting his calling can be found in the fact that Jeremiah represents a transition from ancient prophecy to a new form. Ancient prophecy was not, in principle, freed from a certain connection to manticism: gigantic powerful natures, like Elijah, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, who, conscious of their higher mission, driven by the Spirit of God, rushed into the world as bold warriors, could be called—of course, in the best and noblest sense of that word—“seized” by the Divine Spirit. But Jeremiah, although he clearly recognizes that he must go to struggle against all and that he has been destined for this from eternity, yet this eternal predestination does not act on him as a decretum absolutum. He is not “seized” by the Deity, but feels himself before the face of Jehovah as a person who has his own desires, his own concerns, his own needs. There is, as it were, a struggle between the prophet and Jehovah: Jeremiah strives to carry out the divine decision, often struggling with himself in this, with his personal sympathies and antipathies. Furthermore, Jeremiah relates skeptically, reflecting upon something that for ancient prophets constituted, one might say, the cornerstone of their prophetic self-consciousness—the very visions and revelations, the ecstatic states, which, according to his conviction, in some were a purely subjective phenomenon, self-deception, and not at all a sign of divine inspiration. Of course, in his own inner life, the prophet was able to distinguish his own thoughts and God’s revelations (cf. Jer 42:7), but still he did not attach importance to a description of these visions, on which even false prophets based their right to preach in the name of Jehovah.

Jeremiah 1:5. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you: I appointed you a prophet to the nations. The speech of Jehovah in this verse has a rhythmic character, and the entire verse is divided into three parts. “I knew you.” Here not only intellectual knowledge is meant, but knowledge joined with a heart’s affection for the one known (cf. in the New Testament Rom 8:29; Rom 11:2; 1 Pet 1:20). “I sanctified you”—that is, singled you out from among other people and from the sphere of their interests, placing Jeremiah in special personal relations with Me, consecrated you as My servant—“I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Already Amos and Isaiah were prophets to various nations, but only in regard to Jeremiah is this circumstance put forward as the primary thing, as giving character to the truth of his prophetic calling (cf. Jer 1:10; Jer 36:2; Jer 25:15; Jer 18:9; Jer 27:2). By this circumstance the reality of his calling and the truth of his prophetic ministry are especially emphasized. According to Jeremiah, true prophets necessarily spoke oracles about various nations (cf. Jer 28:8), and he has to speak about them especially often, thus expanding the sphere of his ministry, because—such, obviously, was the prophet’s thought—the Kingdom of Judah, having become a vassal state in relation to Babylon, has now entered into the life of the entire world, and its history is now closely bound up with the history of the great Babylonian kingdom, which contains within itself many different nations.

Jeremiah 1:6. And I said, “Alas, Lord God! I cannot speak, for I am still young. Jeremiah was not at all an impetuous nature, striking in his courage. Rather, he was a quiet, self-absorbed soul, a man of peace, not battle, who did not greatly rely on his own strength for the great task that lay before him. “I am still young.” The Septuagint translates this passage more correctly, using the word νεώτερος, that is, too young. It is difficult to determine what age is designated by the word “naar” standing here in the Hebrew Bible (cf. 1 Sam 4:21; 1 Sam 1:24; Gen 14:24). One can only presumptively say that Jeremiah at that time might have been about twenty-five years old.

Jeremiah 1:7. But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am young’; for to everyone to whom I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Jeremiah 1:8. Do not fear them; for I am with you to rescue you, says the Lord. Yet Jehovah reassures Jeremiah’s alarm, promising him that he will be able to carry out God’s will, because God Himself will help him in this, will rescue him from the attacks of enemies. “You shall go”—better translated by the imperative: Go. “You shall speak”—Speak.

Jeremiah 1:9. And the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my lips, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. Jeremiah should not be troubled by the thought of his inability to speak eloquently. He will, after all, proclaim not his own words, but God’s words. As a sign that henceforth the Lord is putting His words in Jeremiah’s mouth, He touched the prophet’s lips with His hand (cf. Isa 6:5; Ezek 2:9; Ezek 3:1), and by this once and for all made the prophet’s lips His own lips.

Jeremiah 1:10. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. In the prophet Zephaniah, Jehovah is depicted as the Judge of the world, calling nations and kingdoms to Himself for judgment (Jer 3:8). Jeremiah, as a delegate of this Supreme Judge, must also overthrow and rebuild nations and kingdoms. According to ancient Hebrew prophetic understanding, the word of Jehovah is an objective magnitude, a real force that manifests its action in the world (Isa 9:7; Hos 6:5), and Jeremiah himself later (Jer 5:14) says that the word of Jehovah in his mouth will become fire, and the house of Israel—wood that will be consumed by this fire. In Jer 23:29, Jeremiah compares the word of Jehovah to a hammer that shatters rocks. These parallel passages explain to us the meaning of the expressions by which Jeremiah’s calling is characterized. It is clear that the prophet will be not only a herald of the fate of nations, but himself, by his inspired prophetic utterances, will bend this fate in a certain direction. There is no corresponding word in the Septuagint for the expression “to overthrow.”

Jeremiah 1:11. And the word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree. Jeremiah 1:12. The Lord said to me, “You have seen well; for I am watching over My word to perform it. Here it is not said that the prophet in the present case had a vision in a state of prophetic ecstasy. No, he truly saw a blooming almond branch, and his gaze upon this branch, under the influence of divine inspiration, led him to the conviction which he expressed in verses 12 and 14. The almond tree in Hebrew is called the waking tree evidently because it blossoms earlier than other trees after winter sleep, that is—in Palestine—at the end of January and the beginning of February, when nature still appears, one might say, to be completely dead, frozen by winter’s cold. The image is not hard to explain. Although in the life of humanity, it would seem, everything is still quiet, everything is frozen—Jehovah is awake, and His word will be fulfilled, everything that He has ordained for the nations and kingdoms will come into complete fulfillment. The prophet should therefore not be troubled by the apparent stability of the order of things about which he will preach destruction.

Jeremiah 1:13. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time: “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilted away from the north. Jeremiah 1:14. And the Lord said to me, “Out of the north evil will break forth upon all the inhabitants of this land. Here God further reveals the way in which He will bring His word to fulfillment. To the prophet, who saw a large pot (cf. 2 Sam 4:38 and Ezek 24:3) that was boiling, God explained that this pot, which appeared to the prophet as if moving toward Judah from the north, designates the disasters, misfortunes that will be poured out upon the inhabitants of Judah from the north, from which calamity came, comparatively recently, upon the kingdom of Israel. Various punishments from God are, so to speak, being cooked and prepared in this pot for Judah, which will come upon Judah from the hand of the mighty northern (Chaldean) kingdom. From verse 14 to the end of the chapter, the prophet’s speech again takes on a rhythmic character.

Jeremiah 1:15. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they will come, and each will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and round about all its walls, and against all the cities of Judah. Jeremiah 1:16. And I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, for they have forsaken Me and have offered incense to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. The various nations that served in the army of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 25:9) are called northern because the armies of Nebuchadnezzar descended into Palestine from the north, through Syria. “They will set his throne”—that is, they will besiege Jerusalem and other cities (cf. Jer 15:7). “Have offered incense.” The verb standing here, kitter, means the burning of fat or flour as an offering, not the burning of incense.

Jeremiah 1:17. But you, gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you; do not lose heart before them, or I will strike you down before them. “Gird up your loins.” In order to work more adroitly, an Eastern person wearing ordinarily long and wide clothes needs to gird himself (cf. Exod 12:11; 1 Sam 18:46). So the prophet Jeremiah must prepare himself for the activity that lies before him, by girding himself spiritually. “Do not lose heart.” This expression more precisely defines in what this spiritual girding of the prophet must consist. Jeremiah was a person far too shy and timid, not making any particular impression by his outward appearance. Now he must act with greater confidence—otherwise his speech will not be successful.

Jeremiah 1:18. And behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. Jeremiah 1:19. They shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the Lord, to rescue you. The prophet will be, with the help of God, invincible, like a strongly fortified city. (The expressions “iron pillar” and “bronze wall” are not in the Septuagint and are, strictly speaking, superfluous.) Kings of Judah, princes, priests, and common people will attack him, but God will constantly protect the prophet. Special remarks. Some critics (Duhm, Stade, Giesebrecht) express doubts about the authenticity of chapter 1 of Jeremiah. But if some later author had wanted to glorify Jeremiah, he would certainly have tried harder to embellish the story of his calling. Moreover, there is nothing in the revelation that Jeremiah receives here that would indicate its later origin. All thoughts about the action of Divine Providence among nations were known long before Jeremiah, and the explanation of God’s wrath against the Jews, given in verse 16, is in complete agreement with other passages from the book of the prophet Jeremiah (cf. Jer 2:19-21; Jer 3:23; Jer 5:7, etc.).