Old Testament prophet, whose prophecies are recorded in the Book of Jeremiah, born near Jerusalem. He was in Jerusalem during the siege by Nebuchadrezzar II, and was persuaded to flee to Egypt after the assassination of Gedaliah, the governor appointed by the Babylonians for the province of Judah. Jeremiah is said to have been stoned to death by his fellow Jews for constantly rebuking them for idolatry.
Jeremiah (יִרְמְיָהוּ "the LORD will raise", Standard Hebrew Yirməyáhu, frequently misspelt as Yirmiyáhu, Tiberian Hebrew Yirməyāhū) (or, perhaps meaning "God will throw, cast away"), (Arabic: ʔArmiyā, Armiyā أرميا) was one of the greater prophets of the Hebrew Bible and is regarded by Christians as one of the[[Greater prophets of the Old Testament.
His writings are collected in the Book of Jeremiah and, according to tradition, the Book of Lamentations. Jeremiah is also famous as "the broken-hearted prophet" (who wrote or dictated a "broken book", which has been difficult for scholars to put into chronological order), whose heart-rending life, and true prophecies of dire warning went largely-unheeded by the people of Judah. God told Jeremiah, "You will go to them;
According to the Book of Jeremiah he was called to the prophetical office when still young; Josiah subsequently embarked upon a furious assault upon idolatry in Judah, removing the idolatrous priest-hood, and restoring the worship of God to Judah.) Jeremiah wrote a lamentation upon the death of this pious king.
During the three months of the reign of Jehoahaz, we find no reference to Jeremiah, but in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the enmity of the people against the prophet was expressed with persecution, and Jeremiah was apparently imprisoned. In his most famous confrontation with Jehoiakim, Jeremiah warned the king that "God would roll him up into a little ball, and would throw him out of Judah"; a prophecy which includes a possible pun on the use of Jeremiah's name, which means "God throws".
In his various exhortations, Jeremiah made extensive use of performance art, using props or demonstrations to illustrate points and engage the public. 37:4, 5), 588 BC, as Jeremiah had prophesied before-hand. The princes, in their anger at such a message by Jeremiah, cast him into prison (37:15-38:13). allowing Jeremiah to choose the place of his residence, according to a Babylonian edict. Refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsels, Johanan fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch ben Neriah (Jeremiah's faithful scribe and servant) with him (Jer.
Introspection
The book of Jeremiah depicts a remarkably introspective prophet, a prophet struggling with and often overwhelmed by the role into which he has been thrust. Jeremiah interspersed efforts to warn the people with pleas for mercy until he is ordered to "pray no more for this people" -- and then sneaks in a few extra pleas between the lines.
Jeremiah in legend and midrash
The Christian legend (pseudo-Epiphanius, "De Vitis Prophetarum"; 25-29), according to which Jeremiah was stoned by his compatriots in Egypt because he reproached them with their evil deeds, became known to the Jews through Ibn Yaḥyà ("Šalšelet ha-qabbālāh," ed. 99b.)
This account of Jeremiah's martyrdom, however, may have come originally from Jewish sources. Another Christian legend narrates that Jeremiah by prayer freed Egypt from a plague of crocodiles and mice;
In Jewish rabbinic literature, especially the aggadah, Jeremiah and Moses are often mentioned together; 18, in which "a prophet like Moses" is promised: "As Moses was a prophet for forty years, so was Jeremiah; as Moses prophesied concerning Judah and Benjamin, so did Jeremiah; as Moses' own tribe [the Levites under Korah] rose up against him, so did Jeremiah's tribe revolt against him; Moses was cast into the water, Jeremiah into a pit;
Jeremiah was a popular name in the 1970's, as well as among the early Puritans, who often took the Biblical names of the prophets and apostles for themselves, and for their wives.
Writings and authorship
Traditional perspectives
Jeremiah is traditionally credited with authoring the Book of Jeremiah and Book of Lamentations with the assistance and under the editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple.
Critical perspectives
Jeremiah is considered by some modern scholars to have written, or redacted much of the Old Testament, as we have it today. His language in "Jeremiah" and "Lamentations" is quite similar to that in Deuteronomy and the "Deuteronomistic History" of Joshua, Judges, the Books of Samuel, and the Books of Kings.
Contemporary Commentary
Jewish
Commentator Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote that the book is written as if Jeremiah not only heard as words but personally felt in his body and emotions the experience of what he prophesized, that the verse
Are not all my words as fire, sayeth the LORD, and a hammer that shatters rockwas a clue as to how difficult the overwhelming, personality-shattering experience of being a vehicle for Divine revelation was, on one of the most difficult task ever assigned, and how difficult it was to be able to see, in advance, ones own failure.
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