Editing Jeremiah (section)

== Biblical narratives ==
=== Lineage and early life ===
[[File:Jeremiah by Enrico Glicenstein.jpg|thumb|''Jeremiah'' by [[Enrico Glicenstein]]]]
Jeremiah was known as a prophet from the thirteenth year of [[Josiah]], [[Kingdom of Judah|king of Judah]] (626&nbsp;BC),{{sfn|Douglas|1987|p=559–560}} until after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|fall of Jerusalem]] and the destruction of [[Solomon's Temple]] in 587&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Sweeney|2004|p=917}} This period spanned the reigns of five kings of Judah: Josiah, [[Jehoahaz of Judah|Jehoahaz]], [[Jehoiakim]], [[Jehoiachin]], and [[Zedekiah]].{{sfn|Douglas|1987|p=559–560}} The prophetess [[Huldah]] was a relative and contemporary of Jeremiah, while the prophet [[Zephaniah]] was his mentor.{{sfn|Singer|1926|p=100,130}}

Jeremiah was the son of [[Hilkiah]], a priest from the land of Benjamin in the village of [[Anathoth]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|1:1}}</ref> The difficulties he encountered, as described in the books of Jeremiah and [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]], have prompted scholars to refer to him as "the weeping prophet".{{sfn|Henderson|2002|pp=191–206}}

Jeremiah was called to prophecy {{circa|626|lk=no}}&nbsp;BC{{sfn|Longman|2008|p=6}} by God to proclaim Jerusalem's coming destruction<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|1:14–16|HE}}</ref> by invaders from the north.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|4|HE}}</ref> This was because Israel had forsaken God by worshiping the [[Idolatry|idols]] of [[Baal]]<ref>{{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|2|HE}}, {{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|3|HE}}, {{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|5|HE}}, {{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|9|HE}}</ref> and burning their children as offerings to Baal.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|19:4–5|HE}}</ref> The nation had deviated so far from God's laws that they had broken the covenant, causing God to withdraw his blessings. Jeremiah was guided by God to proclaim that the nation of Judah would suffer famine, foreign conquest, plunder, and captivity in a land of strangers.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|10|HE}},{{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|11|HE}}</ref>

[[File:SA 160-Jeremia op de puinhopen van Jeruzalem.jpg|thumb|left|[[Horace Vernet]], ''Jeremiah on the Ruins of Jerusalem'' (1844)]]
According to {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|1:2-3|HE}}, Yahweh called Jeremiah to prophesy in about 626&nbsp;BC,{{sfn|Longman|2008|p=6}} about five years before Josiah's famous reforms.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Kings|22:3-13|HE}}</ref> However, they were insufficient to save Judah and Jerusalem from destruction, because of the sins of [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]], Josiah's grandfather,<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Kings|23:26–27|HE}}</ref> and Judah's return to the idolatry of foreign gods after Josiah's death.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|11:10|HE}}, {{bibleverse|2 Kings|23:32|HE}}</ref> Jeremiah was said to have been appointed to reveal the sins of the people and the punishment to come.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|1:1–2:37|HE}}</ref>{{sfn|Ryken|2001|pp=19–36}}

Jeremiah resisted the call by complaining that he was only a child and did not know how to speak,{{sfn|Freedman|1992|p=686}} but the Lord placed the word in Jeremiah's mouth,<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|1:6–9|HE}}</ref> commanding "Get yourself ready!"<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah |1:17|HE}}</ref> The qualities of a prophet listed in [[Jeremiah 1]] include not being afraid, standing up to speak, speaking as told, and going where sent.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|1:4–10|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|1:17–19|HE}}</ref> Since Jeremiah is described as emerging well trained and fully literate from his earliest preaching, his relationship with the [[Shaphan]] family has been used to suggest that he may have trained at the scribal school in Jerusalem over which Shaphan presided.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Kings|22:8–10|HE}}</ref>{{sfn|Freedman|1992|p=687}}

In his early years of being a prophet, Jeremiah was primarily a preaching prophet,<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah |1:7|HE}}</ref> preaching throughout Israel.{{sfn|Freedman|1992|p=687}} He condemned idolatry, the greed of priests, and false prophets.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|3:12–23|HE}},{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|4:1–4|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|6:13–14|HE}}</ref> Many years later, God instructed Jeremiah to write down these early oracles and his other messages.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|36:1–10|HE}}</ref> [[Charles Cutler Torrey]] argues that the prophet accuses priests and scribes of altering the [[Torah|actual Scriptures]] with "scribal additions" to accommodate the worship of other deities.<ref>Torrey, Charles C. "The Background of Jeremiah 1–10". ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', vol. 56, no. 3, 1937, pp. 193–216. {{doi|10.2307/3259609}}. Retrieved 5 June 2023.</ref>

=== Persecution ===
[[File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn - Jeremia treurend over de verwoesting van Jeruzalem - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|[[Rembrandt van Rijn]], ''Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem'' ({{Circa|1630|lk=no}})]]

Jeremiah's prophecies prompted plots against him.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|11:21–23|KJV}}</ref> Unhappy with Jeremiah's message, possibly from concern that it would shut down the [[Anathoth]] sanctuary, his priestly kin and the men of Anathoth plotted to kill him. However, the Lord revealed the conspiracy to Jeremiah, protected his life, and declared disaster for the people of Anathoth.{{sfn|Freedman|1992|p=687}}<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|11:18–2:6|KJV}}</ref> When Jeremiah complains to the Lord about this persecution, he is told that the attacks on him will become worse.{{sfn|Sweeney|2004|p=950}}

A priest, [[Pashur]] the son of Immer, a temple official in Jerusalem, had Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin for a day. After this, Jeremiah laments the travails and mockery that speaking God's word have caused him.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|20:7|KJV}}</ref> He recounts how, if he tries to shut God's word inside, it burns in his heart and he is unable to hold it in.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|20:9|KJV}}</ref>

=== Conflict with false prophets ===
While Jeremiah was prophesying the coming destruction, he denounced a number of other prophets who were prophesying peace.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|6:13–15|KJV}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|14:14–16|KJV|14:14–16}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|23:9–40|KJV|23:9–40}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|27:1–28:17||27:1–28:17}}, {{bibleverse|Lamentations|2:14|KJV|2:14}}</ref>

According to the book of Jeremiah, during the reign of King Zedekiah, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to make a yoke with the message that the nation would be subject to the king of Babylon. The false prophet Hananiah took the yoke off Jeremiah's neck and broke it, prophesying that within two years the Lord would break the yoke of the king of Babylon, but Jeremiah prophesied in return: "You have broken the yoke of wood, but you have made instead a yoke of iron."<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|28:13|KJV}}</ref>

=== Relationship with the Northern Kingdom (Samaria) ===
Jeremiah was sympathetic to, as well as descended from, the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|northern Kingdom of Israel]]. Many of his first reported oracles are about, and addressed to, the Israelites at Samaria. He resembles the northern prophet Hosea in his use of language and examples of God's relationship to Israel. Hosea seems to have been the first prophet to describe the desired relationship as an example of ancient Israelite marriage, where a man might be polygamous, while a woman was only permitted one husband. Jeremiah often repeats Hosea's marital imagery.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|2:2|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|2:3|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|3:1–5|HE}},{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|3:19–25|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|4:1–2|HE}}</ref>{{sfn|Anon.|1971|p=126}}

=== Babylon ===
The biblical narrative portrays Jeremiah as being subject to additional persecutions. After Jeremiah prophesied that Jerusalem would be handed over to the Babylonian army, the king's officials, including Pashur the priest, tried to convince King Zedekiah that Jeremiah should be put to death for disheartening the soldiers and the people. Zedekiah allowed them, and they cast Jeremiah into a [[cistern]], where he sank down into the mud. The intent seemed to be to kill Jeremiah by starvation, while allowing the officials to claim to be innocent of his blood.{{sfn|Barker|Youngblood|Stek|1995|p=1544}} [[Ebed-Melech]], an Ethiopian, rescued Jeremiah by pulling him out of the cistern, but Jeremiah remained imprisoned until Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian army in 587&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|38:7-13}}</ref>

The Babylonians released Jeremiah, and showed him great kindness, allowing him to choose the place of his residence, according to a Babylonian edict. Jeremiah accordingly went to [[Mizpah in Benjamin]] with [[Gedaliah]], who had been made governor of [[Judea]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|40:5–6|KJV}}</ref>

=== Egypt ===
[[Johanan]] succeeded [[Gedaliah]], who had been assassinated by an Israelite prince in the pay of [[Ammon]] "for working with the Babylonians." Refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsel, Johanan fled to Egypt, taking with him Jeremiah and [[Baruch ben Neriah|Baruch]], Jeremiah's faithful [[scribe]] and servant, and the king's daughters.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|43:1–13|KJV}}</ref> There, the prophet probably spent the remainder of his life, still seeking to turn the people back to God.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> There is no authentic record of his death.