Chapter Twenty-Four

1–10. A vision of two baskets of figs and the explanation of the vision.

Jer 24:1-10. King Jeconiah with some of his subjects was taken into exile to Babylon. At this time the prophet saw in a vision two baskets – one with good figs, the other with bad ones. The Lord then explained to the prophet that the good figs represent the Judahites taken into exile to Babylon with Jeconiah, because there, in captivity, they will turn to God. The bad figs represent King Zedekiah and the Judahites remaining in Jerusalem, as well as Judahites who found refuge in Egypt. These the Lord will strike with various plagues and will give them over to shame among different nations.

Jeremiah 24:1. The Lord showed me: and behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away captive from Jerusalem Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, and brought them to Babylon: “Before the temple.” Here stood baskets of fruit that were dedicated to God. The priests, of course, had to first examine the fruit before bringing it into the temple, and this examination naturally took place in the temple courtyard. – Concerning the exile of Jeconiah, see 2 Sam 24:14 and following.

Jeremiah 24:6. and I will set My eyes upon them for good and I will bring them back to this land, and I will build them up and not tear them down, and I will plant them and not uproot them; Cf. Jer 1:10.

Jeremiah 24:7. and I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord, and they shall be My people, and I will be their God; for they will return to Me with their whole heart. Deliverance is promised to the exiles, of course, on the condition of their turning to God, which in turn will take place under the special action of the divine grace that transforms human hearts. Cf. Deut 4:29 and following.

Jeremiah 24:8. But as for the bad figs, which cannot be eaten because of their badness, so the Lord says: Thus will I make Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes and the rest of the Jerusalemites, those who remain in this land and those living in the land of Egypt; Judahites could find refuge in Egypt because before the fall of the Judahite kingdom they were on friendly terms with the Egyptians. Special note. This vision evidently belongs to the time of Zedekiah. Later, the sharp distinction between the two classes of exiles would have no longer had any sense or importance, since subsequently the captives were to be mixed together.