Geremia 1:3 Commento

In this chapter we have, I. The general inscription or title of this book, with the time of the continuance of Jeremiah's public ministry (Jer 1:1-3). II. The call of Jeremiah to the prophetic office, his modest objection against it answered, and an ample commission given him for the execution of it (Jer 1:4-10). III. The visions of an almond-rod and a seething-pot, signifying the approaching ruin of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Jer 1:11-16). IV. Encouragement given to the prophet to go on undauntedly in his work, in an assurance of God's presence with him (Jer 1:17-19). Thus is he set to work by one that will be sure to bear him out.

This chapter contains the title or inscription of the book; the call of the prophet to his office, and the encouragement he had to enter upon it. In the inscription the prophet is described by his name, by his descent, by the place of his birth, and the time of his prophesying, Jer 1:1, the appointment and ordination of him to his office, which was very early, and the signification of it to him, are in Jer 1:4, his excuse, on account of his childhood and weakness, Jer 1:6, the encouragement given him, notwithstanding this, from the mission and command he had from the Lord, and the promise of his presence with him, Jer 1:7, and not only is he encouraged by words, but also by signs; by the Lord's touching his mouth with his hand, as a symbol of putting his words into his mouth, and setting him over nations and kingdoms, to publish in a prophetic way their destruction, Jer 1:9, and by a vision of an almond tree, signifying the quick and hasty performance of the word of the Lord by him, Jer 1:11, and by another vision of a seething pot northwards, intimating the coming of the Chaldeans from the north against Jerusalem, and their taking it, and carrying the Jews captive because of their wickedness, which was a principal part of the message he was sent with, Jer 1:13 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to him to take heart, and be of good courage, and not be dismayed; since he was made a defenced city, an iron pillar, and brasen wall, against the whole land of Judea, its kings, princes, priests, and people; who, though they should fight against him, should not prevail, because God was with him, Jer 1:17.

And it came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah,.... In the beginning of his reign, and in the fourth year of his reign; see Jer 25:1, no mention is made of Jehoahaz, who reigned between Josiah and Jehoiakim, because his reign was short, but three months, Kg2 23:31, and perhaps no word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in his time, though it did before and after: unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah; so that Jeremiah must prophesy in the land of Judea upwards of forty years; eighteen under Josiah, Kg2 22:11, three months under Jehoahaz, Kg2 23:31 eleven years under Jehoiakim, Kg2 23:36, three months under Jeconiah, Kg2 24:8, and eleven years under Zedekiah, when the city was besieged and taken, Kg2 25:2. Josiah had three sons as kings of Judah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, under all whom Jeremiah prophesied: even unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month: the month Ab, which answers to part of July and part of August; and it was on the ninth or tenth day of this month that the city of Jerusalem was burnt, and the people carried captive, Kg2 25:8 the ninth of the said month is now kept by the Jews as a fast on that account.

(Chapter 1, Verses 1 onwards) The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah concerning the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: the word of the Lord that came to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. And it came to pass 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 exile of Jerusalem, in the fifth month. The other prophets, such as Isaiah, Hosea, and Joel, were before the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel, or of the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. Others were after the captivity, such as Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah. However, Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied as the captivity was imminent: one of them in the land of Judah, the other in Babylon. Jeremiah began prophesying when he was still a young boy, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah. And he prophesied during his reign for nineteen years, and afterwards under his son Joachim for eleven years, and under Zedekiah, who was the last of the kings of Judah, for eleven years, until the fifth month when Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians. But the three months of Joachaz and Jehoiachin (one of whom was taken to Egypt and the other was taken with his mother to Babylon) are included in the aforementioned years: thus, from the beginning of his prophecy until the captivity of Jerusalem, in which he himself was also taken captive, he prophesied for forty-one years, except for the time when he was taken to Egypt. Here, he prophesied in Taphnis, as is contained in this very volume. According to the words of Jeremiah, the Septuagint placed, 'The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah' (Jeremiah 43:8), in this sense, that the words of Jeremiah are the word of the LORD. He belonged to the class of priests who lived opposite the north of Jerusalem, in the third mile, and the village of Anathoth. At the same time, there was the wonderful mercy of the LORD, that even with the captivity approaching and the Babylonian army besieging Jerusalem, He still prompts the people to repentance, preferring to save the converted rather than to destroy the sinners. Regarding the transmigration, which all others have translated with a consistent voice, the Seventy have expressed captivity. But after the beginning of Jeremiah's prophecy, in the thirty-fifth year of his prophecy, Ezekiel, who was in Babylon with those who had been captured with him, began to prophesy.

(Jer 1:1-3, probably prefixed by Jeremiah, when he collected his prophecies and gave them to his countrymen to take with them to Babylon [MICHAELIS]) Anathoth--a town in Benjamin, twenty stadia, that is, two or three miles north of Jerusalem; now Anata (compare Isa 10:30, and the context, Isa 10:28-32). One of the four cities allotted to the Kohathites in Benjamin (Jos 21:18). Compare Kg1 2:26-27; a stigma was cast thenceforth on the whole sacerdotal family resident there; this may be alluded to in the words here, "the priests . . . in Anathoth." God chooses "the weak, base, and despised things . . . to confound the mighty."