Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 29:15

"Because ye have said, Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;" — Jeremiah 29:15 (ASV)

Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets ... — These words point to the boast of some of the exiles that they, too, had the guidance of prophets whom, as in Jeremiah 29:20, 24, they were inclined to follow in preference to Jeremiah.

In answer to that boast, he emphasises the contrast between the exiles—in whom the prophet sees the future hope of his nation—and the worthless king (Zedekiah) and people who had been left in Jerusalem, for whom he foretells yet sharper sufferings.

The symbolism of the “vile figs” is reproduced in Jeremiah 29:17 from Jeremiah 24:1-2. The word for “vile,” however, is not the same as in that passage and has the stronger force of “horrible” or “loathsome.”