Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 29

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 anxiety, 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 consistently acted, makes 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 transpired in Babylon.

The spelling of the prophet’s name, in the Hebrew text, as Jeremiah, instead of the form Jeremia hu, 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 presented to us as following in almost immediate sequel to the deportation mentioned in Jeremiah 29:2. The term “residue of the elders,” in connection 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.

The queen. —This was probably the queen-mother, Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan (2 Kings 24:8). The name probably indicates a connection with the Elnathan, the son of Achbor, of Jeremiah 26:22, but we cannot assert with any confidence that these two were the same person.

The carpenters, and the smiths. —See Note on Jeremiah 24:1. Among the exiles thus referred to as “princes” we have to think of Daniel, and those who are best known to us by their Babylonian names as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (Daniel 1:6–7). The conduct, we may well believe, was in accordance with Jeremiah’s teaching.

By the hand of Elasah ... —The names of the messengers are of some interest. Elasah, the son of Shaphan, was the brother of Jeremiah’s protector, Ahikam (Jeremiah 26:24). Gemariah (to be distinguished from his namesake the son of Shaphan in Jeremiah 36:12) was probably the son of Hilkiah, the high-priest under Josiah who found the lost Book of the Law (2 Kings 22:4), and took a prominent part in the work of reformation. Each would therefore naturally take his place among the prophet’s friends and supporters. They carried his letter as well as the diplomatic missive of the king.

That they had been sent as envoys by Zedekiah indicates that the policy of the weak and vacillating king had been to some extent affected by the counsels of Jeremiah, and that he had at least half abandoned the idea of revolt, and had sent to acknowledge the suzerainty of Nebuchadnezzar. It is hardly likely, at least, that the letter from the prophet, which they carried, would have been in flagrant antagonism with their mission as envoys from the king. The embassy was probably prior to the personal visit of Zedekiah recorded in Jeremiah 51:59.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts ... —We have here the nearest parallel in the Old Testament to the Epistles which make up so large a portion of the New, the very text of a written letter sent to those with whom the teacher was no longer able to hold personal communication. It obviously furnished the type which was followed by the writer of the apocryphal letter from Jeremiah in Baruch 6.

Build ye houses, and dwell in them. —The command had a twofold bearing. It counselled a patient acceptance of the present state of things. It announced, as the next verse does yet more emphatically, that their exile would last for at least two generations.

It indicates, also, the comparative leniency with which the exiles were treated. They were allowed to become possessors of both lands and houses. The favour shown to Daniel and his friends would, of course, tend to make their condition more tolerable.