At a Glance
Jeremiah at a Glance
- Author. Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, a priest from Anathoth, a town in Benjamin (Jeremiah 1:1). His scribe Baruch wrote down what he spoke (Jeremiah 36:4).
- Date. His ministry began in the thirteenth year of King Josiah, about 627 BC (Jeremiah 1:2), and reached past the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The book was gathered by theme, not by date. Chapter 52 is a historical closing that follows the line Thus far are the words of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 51:64).
- Written To. The people of Judah in their last forty years as a kingdom, and the exiles who were carried to Babylon.
- Setting. Josiah's reforms fade after his death in 609 BC (2 Kings 23:29). His sons and grandson rule badly, Babylon rises, and Nebuchadnezzar carries captives away in 605, 597, and 586 BC.
- Key Verse. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).
- Key Word or Theme. Turning. The Hebrew word shuv means to turn or return, and it runs through the book: Judah has turned from the LORD, and He calls her to turn back.
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Further reading
For Deeper Study
- Be DecisiveAmazon Warren W. WiersbeA readable guide through Jeremiah, with a pastor's heart for the weary.
- Jeremiah: A CommentaryAmazon Charles Lee FeinbergA dispensational, premillennial commentary that reads Israel's promises plainly.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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How the Bible Fits Together
The Bible is sixty-six books written by about forty men over some fifteen hundred years, yet it tells one story of God's redemption from creation to the new earth, and its center is Jesus Christ.
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