The Book of

JEREMIAH

J. A. Thompson

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan

©1980 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Thompson, John Arthur, 1913

The book of Jeremiah.

(The New international commentary on the Old Testament) Bibliography: p. 131

Includes indexes.

1. Bible. O.T. Jeremiah—Commentaries. I. Title.

II. Series: New international commentary on the Old Testament.

BS1525.3.T47 224´.2´077 7916510

ISBN 0-8028-2530-3

TO MARION

Author’s Preface

It is many years now since the late Professor E. J. Young invited me to write a commentary on the books of Samuel for this series. On his death there were some changes in his original assignments and I was invited to transfer to Jeremiah. I was more than happy to make the change since I had worked on the Hebrew text of Jeremiah in my student days while studying for both Arts and Divinity degrees, and later, when I became a teacher, it was a continuing delight over some years to teach both the Hebrew text and the English version of Jeremiah to theological students.

Over the years I have set foot in Jerusalem, Shiloh, Bethel, Dan, and other places known to Jeremiah. Archeological work carried out in these and other sites has had a particular fascination for me. The reader will discover many references to archeological discoveries in the pages that follow.

I can still recall quite vividly the first visit I made to the modern Arab village of ‘Anata, which must represent the approximate site of Jeremiah’s village of Anathoth. The whole village seemed to be a blaze of almond blossoms in every direction. I climbed a high fence and plucked a half dozen almond kernels left over from the last season to take home to Australia as a useful teaching aid. In fancy I saw Jeremiah toiling across the intervening hills on his three-mile walk into Jerusalem to take up his stand in the temple courtyard and preach his Temple Sermon. I have returned again and again to that sermon for my own preaching over the years, but not alone to the Temple Sermon. The whole book still seems alive and is a never ending source of instruction to me, and I would hope to those whom I have taught.

It has been a rare privilege to write the commentary that follows. It is my hope and prayer that readers of this volume may enter a little into the experiences of that lonely figure of the late seventh and early sixth centuries b.c. and to catch something of the deep significance of his call to his own people to be true to their covenant Lord and to live in conformity with his covenant.

Clearly, no writer can produce a commentary without the help of others. Much of the work for this volume was carried out in the University Library in Cambridge, England, where I spent three happy and profitable years on a research project. I knew that few libraries could provide more source material than the Cambridge University Library....