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1–23. Letter from Jeremiah to Babylon to the Jewish captives. 24–32. Jeremiah's words to Shemaiah. Jeremiah 29:1–23. In the letter that Jeremiah sent to the Jewish captives taken away with Jehoiachin, the prophet urged his fellow tribesmen not to look at captivity as a short-lived punishment. No, they will have to live there for a long time. They must build themselves strong houses and plant gardens in the regions of Babylon. For them, Babylon should be a second fatherland, for the benefit of which they should pray to God. Those prophets who deceive captives with the hope of a speedy release lie. The only thing that is true is that the Lord will return His people from captivity again after 70 years. Even the Jews who remained in Jerusalem, for their disobedience to God, will also be taken into captivity. As for the false prophets - Ahab and Zedekiah, who deceived the captives, they will be executed by Nebuchadnezzar. Jer.29:2. After King Jehoiachin and the queen and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters and smiths, came out of Jerusalem, “Eunuchs” - here this expression generally means courtiers and is explained by the following expression: princes. Jer.29:3. through Eleasha the son of Saphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: The embassy sent by Zedekiah to Babylon obviously had the same thoughts with Jeremiah, if they take his letter with them. And the king himself at this time, obviously, followed the suggestions of Jeremiah. He clearly wants to maintain good relations with Nebuchadnezzar. Jer.29:21. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, about Ahab the son of Koliah, and about Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy lies to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your eyes. Nebuchadnezzar's anger against false prophets is very understandable. With their speeches they predicted the overthrow of his power. Jeremiah 29:24–32. A certain Shemaiah, outraged by the above letter from Jeremiah, sent a letter to the priests of Jerusalem, in which he advised the chief caretaker of the church to take Jeremiah into custody. For this, the prophet announces a severe punishment to Shemaiah: after him there will be no descendants. Jer.29:29. When Zephaniah the priest read this letter aloud to the prophet Jeremiah, Zephaniah probably had a different opinion about Jeremiah than Shemaiah, and acquainted the prophet with Shemaiah's letter. Jer.29:32. Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nechelamite and his tribe; There will be no man of him living among this people, and he will not see the good that I will do to My people, says the Lord; for he spoke contrary to the Lord. Deprivation of offspring for a Jew was the most severe punishment. Special note. The embassy was sent to Babylon by Zedekiah, probably two years after his accession, because in the 4th year of his reign he himself had already traveled to Babylon, and soon afterwards he joined the coalition of Palestinian states against Babylon and at that time, of course, would not have sent the embassy mentioned above. You might be interested in: