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1–3. Book inscription. 4–19. Jeremiah's Call to Prophetic Ministry. Jeremiah 1:1–3. The first three verses briefly describe the personality of the prophet and the length of his ministry. Jer.1:1. The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests in Anathath, in the land of Benjamin, Name of Jeremiah - see "Introduction". "Of the Priests". Jeremiah is not directly called a priest, probably because he never performed priestly service. - In Anathof. This indicates the place where Jeremiah was born and where he originally lived (for this city, see the “Introduction”). Jer.1:2. to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon king of Judah in the thirteenth year of his reign, For the chronological date indicated here, see the “Introduction.” Jer.1:3. and also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, until the removal of Jerusalem in the fifth month. And also, that is, the revelations of the Lord to Jeremiah continued further, in the days of Joachim and so on. – The prophet here passes over the short reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin in silence – this is natural. But why is the activity of the prophet limited here to the 5th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah, when it is known that it continued after this period? It is very likely that this gives a hint that with the fall of the Kingdom of Judah, the actual Jewish account of time, the Jewish era, ended, and that, strictly speaking, the prophet, since the fall of the Kingdom of Judah, ceased to look at himself as a public figure in the literal sense of the word. Moreover, perhaps the date of verse 3 refers mainly to chapters I-XXXIX of his book and, perhaps, to chapters XLVI-LI. Jeremiah 1:4–19. This depicts Jeremiah's call to prophetic ministry. Jehovah dispels all the doubts that aroused in Jeremiah at the thought of this difficult mission, and with the touch of His hand on the lips of the prophet, he dedicates him to His service. Then, in two symbolic visions, the main content of his sermon is revealed to Jeremiah, with which he must go to his people, and then, in conclusion, God commands the prophet to begin his activities without embarrassment, in the hope of Jehovah’s help. Jer.1:4. And the word of the Lord came to me: The formula, which here serves as an introduction to the divine revelations further communicated, is striking in its simplicity, especially if you compare it with the thoroughness that, in appropriate cases, is seen in the prophets Isaiah (chapter VI) and Ezekiel (chapter 1). The explanation for this extreme restraint in depicting his calling can be found in the fact that Jeremiah represents a transition from an ancient prophecy to a new one. The ancient prophecy did not, in principle, abandon some connection with the mantika: gigantic powerful natures, like Elijah, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, who, in the consciousness of their highest embassy, ​​driven by the Spirit of God, rushed into the world like brave fighters, could be called - of course, in the best and noblest sense of the word - “embraced” by the Divine Spirit. But although Jeremiah clearly understands that he must go to fight against everyone and that he has been destined for this from eternity, this eternal destiny does not act on him as a decretum absolutum. He is not “embraced” by the Divine, but feels himself before the face of Jehovah as a person who has his own desires, his own requests, his own needs. There seems to be a struggle between the prophet and Jehovah: Jeremiah strives to implement the divine decision, often fighting with himself, with his personal likes and dislikes. Then Jeremiah is skeptical, reflective, about what for the ancient prophets constituted, one might say, the cornerstone of their prophetic self-awareness - to the visions and revelations themselves, to ecstatic states, which, in his conviction, for some were a phenomenon of purely subjective origin, self-deception, and not at all a sign of divine inspiration. Of course, in his personal inner life the prophet knew how to distinguish between his thoughts and revelations from God (cf. Jer 42.7), but still he did not attach importance to the description of these visions, on which the false prophets based their right to preach in the name of Jehovah. Jer.1:5. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you; I made you a prophet to the nations. Jehovah's speech in this verse is rhythmic and the entire verse is divided into three parts. "I have come to know you". Here we mean not only intellectual knowledge, but knowledge combined with a heartfelt disposition towards the knowable (cf. in the New Testament Rom 8.29; Rom 11.2; 1 Pet 1.20). “I have sanctified you,” that is, I have singled you out from among other people and from the sphere of their interests, placing Jeremiah in a special personal relationship with Me, ordaining him as My servant—“I have made you a prophet to the nations.” Already Amos and Isaiah were prophets for different nations, but only in relation to Jeremiah this circumstance comes to the fore, as giving the character of truth to his prophetic calling (cf. Jer 1.10; Jer 36.2; Jer 25.15; Jer 18.9; Jer 27.2). This circumstance especially emphasizes the reality of his calling and the truth of his prophetic ministry. True prophets, according to Jeremiah, certainly spoke about different nations (cf. Jeremiah 28.8), and he has to talk about them especially often, thus expanding the scope of his ministry, because - this, obviously, was the thought of the prophet - the kingdom of Judah, which became a vassal state in relation to Babylon, has now entered the life of the whole world and its history is now closely connected with the history of the great Babylonian kingdom, which contains many different nations. Jer.1:6. And I said: Oh, Lord God! I don’t know how to speak, because I’m still young. Jeremiah is not at all a fast-moving person; he does not amaze with his courage. Rather, he is a quiet, self-absorbed soul, a man not of struggle, but of peace, who does not rely much on his own strength in such a great task that he has to perform. "I'm still young". LXX translates this place more correctly, putting the word νεὠτερος, i.e. too young. It is difficult to determine what age is denoted by the word naar found here in the Hebrew Bible (cf. 1 Kings 4.21; 1 Kings 1.24; Gen. 14.24). One can only speculate that Jeremiah could have been about 25 years old at that time. Jer.1:7. But the Lord told me: do not say: “I am young”; For to everyone to whom I send you you will go, and whatever I command you you will say. Jer.1:8. Don't be afraid of them; For I am with you to deliver you, said the Lord. Jehovah, however, calms Jeremiah's confusion, promising him that he will be able to fulfill the will of God, because God Himself will help him in this, will save him from the attacks of his enemies. If you go, it would be more correct to translate. inclination: go. - If you say it, speak it. Jer.1:9. And the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. Jeremiah should not be embarrassed by the thought of his inability to speak eloquently. He will, after all, proclaim not his own words, but the words of God. As a sign that from now on the Lord was putting His words into his mouth, He touched Jeremiah’s mouth with His hand (cf. Is 6.5; Eze 2.9; Eze 3.1) and thereby made the prophet’s mouth His mouth once and for all. Jer.1:10. Behold, I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and destroy, to destroy and destroy, to build and to plant. In the prophet Zephaniah, Jehovah is depicted as the Judge of the world, calling nations and kingdoms to Himself for judgment (Jer 3.8). Jeremiah, as the commissioner of this Supreme Judge, must also overthrow and rebuild nations and kingdoms. According to the ancient Jewish prophetic view, the word of Jehovah is an objective value, a real force that reveals its action in the world (Isa 9.7; Hos 6.5), and Jeremiah himself further (Jer 5.14) says that the word of Jehovah in his mouth will become fire, and the house of Israel will be a tree that will be destroyed by this fire. In Jeremiah 23.29, Jeremiah compares the word of Jehovah to a hammer breaking down rocks. These parallel passages explain to us the meaning of the above expressions that characterize the calling of Jeremiah. It is clear that the prophet will not only be a herald of the fate of nations, but he himself, with his inspired prophetic decrees, will tilt this fate in a certain direction. The expression “destroy” has no corresponding word in LXX. Jer.1:11. And the word of the Lord came to me: What do you see, Jeremiah? I said: I see the almond tree rod. Jer.1:12. The Lord said to me: you see correctly; for I am watching over My word, so that it may speedily be fulfilled. It is not said here that the prophet in the present case had a vision in a state of prophetic ecstasy. No, he actually saw a blossoming almond branch, and looking at that branch, under the influence of divine inspiration, led him to the conviction that he expressed in the 12th and 14th verses. Almond tree in Heb. It is called a waking tree obviously because it blooms earlier than others after winter sleep, namely - in Palestine - at the end of January and at the beginning of February, when in nature, one might say, everything is dead, everything is frozen from the winter cold. This image is not difficult to explain. Although in the life of mankind, apparently, everything is still calm, everything is frozen, Jehovah is awake, and His word will be fulfilled, everything that He has determined for nations and kingdoms will come into full fruition. The prophet should therefore not be embarrassed by the apparent solidity of the order of things about the destruction of which he will preach. Jer.1:13. And the word of the Lord came to me another time: What do you see? I said: I see a boiling cauldron blown by the wind, and its face is from the north. Jer.1:14. And the Lord said to me: From the north a disaster will be revealed on all the inhabitants of this land. Here God reveals more closely the way in which He will bring His word to fruition. To the prophet, who saw a large cauldron (cf. 2 Kings 4.38 and Ezekiel 24.3), which was boiling, God explained that this cauldron, which seemed to the prophet as if moving towards Judea from the north, signifies disasters, misfortunes that would fall on the inhabitants of Judea from the north, from where trouble had already come, relatively recently, to the kingdom of Israel. They are boiling, boiling in this cauldron, therefore preparing for Judea various punishments from God, which will come to Judea from the hand of the mighty northern (Chaldean) kingdom. – From the 14th century. and until the end of the chapter the prophet’s speech again takes on a rhythmic character. Jer.1:15. For behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they will come and set every throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and around all its walls, and in all the cities of Judah. Jer.1:16. And I will pronounce My judgments on them because of all their iniquities, because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to foreign gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. The various nations that served in Nebuchadnezzar's army (Jer 25.9) are called northern because Nebuchadnezzar's troops descended into Palestine from the north, through Syria. - “They will set up their throne,” that is, they will lay siege to Jerusalem and other cities (cf. Jer 15.7). - “They burned incense.” The verb kitter here means the burning of fat or meal as a sacrifice, not the burning of incense. Jer.1:17. And you gird up your loins, and stand up, and tell them everything that I command you; do not be faint-hearted before them, lest I strike you in their sight. "Gird up your loins." In order to act more dexterously when working, an Eastern person, who usually wears long and wide clothes, has to girdle himself (cf. Exodus 12.11; 1 Kings 18.46). Likewise, the prophet Jeremiah must prepare for the activity ahead of him by girding himself spiritually. - “Don’t be cowardly.” This expression defines more precisely what the spiritual girdle of a prophet should consist of. Jeremiah was a too shy and timid man, who had not previously made much of an impression with his entire appearance. Now he must act with greater self-confidence - otherwise his speech will not be successful. Jer.1:18. And behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, in all this land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. Jer.1:19. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; For I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. The prophet will, with the help of God, be invincible, like a strongly fortified city. – (The expressions: “iron pillar” and “copper wall” are not in LXX and they are, strictly speaking, superfluous). He will be attacked by the kings of Judah, princes or priests and the common people, but God will constantly protect the prophet. Special notes. Some critics (Duhm, Stade, Giesebrecht) have expressed doubts about the authenticity of the 1st chapter of Jeremiah. But if some later author wanted to glorify Jeremiah, then he, of course, would have tried more to embellish the story of his calling. Moreover, in the revelation that Jeremiah receives here, there is nothing that would indicate its later origin. All thoughts about the action of God’s Providence among the nations had long been known before Jeremiah, and the explanation of God’s wrath against the Jews, given in verse 16, is in full agreement with other passages from the book of the prophet Jeremiah (cf. Jer 2.19–21, 23, 27; Jer 3.23; Jer 5.7, etc.). You might be interested in: