Jeremiah

Biblical Figures

Jeremiah is one of the major Jewish prophets. He warned of the coming destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon as punishment for the sins of Israel but was mocked and ignored. After the destruction of the First Temple and Jerusalem in 586 BCE, he went into exile alongside many other Judeans. The books of Jeremiah and Lamentations are traditionally attributed to him.

Notable Sources

All Sources

The Tormented Prophet

TANAKH

Jeremiah's personal anguish and feelings of isolation, despite his innocence, make his story deeply relatable and poignant. The Book of Jeremiah, part of the Prophets, captures the prophet's struggles against idolatry and corruption, and his own tormented existence.

Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me—
A man of conflict and strife with all the land!
I have not lent,
And I have not borrowed;
Yet everyone curses me.

Jeremiah 15:10

Jeremiah and the Authorship of Biblical Books

TALMUD

The Talmud attributes the authorship of various biblical books to different figures. The Talmudic tractate Bava Batra credits Jeremiah writing his own book, the book of Kings, and Lamentations.

Jeremiah wrote his own book, and the book of Kings, and Lamentations. Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote the following, and a mnemonic to remember which books they wrote is yod, mem, shin, kuf: Isaiah [Yeshaya], Proverbs [Mishlei], Song of Songs [Shir HaShirim], and Ecclesiastes [Kohelet]. The members of the Great Assembly wrote the following, and a mnemonic to remember these books is kuf, nun, dalet, gimmel: Ezekiel [Yeḥezkel ], and the Twelve Prophets [Sheneim Asar]…

Bava Batra 15a:2

A Prophet from Birth

TANAKH

Jeremiah was designated a prophet from before birth and called by God when he was young. The first chapter of the book of Jeremiah recounts God's call to Jeremiah, empowering him despite his youth and inexperience.

The word of GOD came to me: Before I created you in the womb, I selected you;
Before you were born, I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations. I replied:
Ah, my Sovereign GOD!
I don’t know how to speak,
For I am still a boy.…

Jeremiah 1:4-10

The Prophet in the Pit

COMMENTARY

Jeremiah's unwavering commitment to his prophecies, even in the face of imprisonment and threats to his life, underscores the tension between prophetic truth and political power. Jeremiah, a major prophet, faced persecution for his prophecies against the ruling elite of Judah, for example in his imprisonment in a pit.

They pulled Jeremiah with the ropes and lifted him from the pit, and Jeremiah remained in the court of internment. He was not set free because he did not retract his statements; consequently, he was not allowed to circulate in the city and repeat his prophecies. One can understand why the pathetic princes could not bear to hear the prophet, and why they sought to take the ultimate vengeance against him. However, since the king had ordered him removed from the pit, they had no option other than to detain him again.

Steinsaltz on Jeremiah 38:13

Jeremiah's Lament

COMMENTARY

Jeremiah is traditionally identified as the author of the book of Lamentations, in which he describes the destruction of Jerusalem as he witnessed it. The third chapter of Lamentations is composed in a first-person voice, and Rashi, the renowned 11th-century biblical commentator, explains how this text emerged from Jeremiah's particular experience.

I am the man who has seen torment. Yirmiyahu lamented, saying, “I am the man who has seen torment,” [i.e.,] who has seen torment more than all the prophets who prophesied concerning the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh, for the Beis Hamikdosh was not destroyed in their days, but it was [destroyed] in my days .

Rashi on Lamentations 3:1:1

Jeremiah, Babylon, Israel, and God

MIDRASH

Jeremiah had complicated and sometimes surprising relationships with the Babylonians, the Israelites, and God. The midrashic work Eikhah Rabbah expands upon the Biblical account of Jeremiah's treatment and decisions as Babylon conquered the land of Judah.

“For the mountains I will take up weeping and wailing…” (Jeremiah 9:9) – Rabbi Aḥa said: Nebuchadnezzar commanded Nevuzaradan three matters concerning Jeremiah: “Take him and keep your eyes on him” (Jeremiah 39:12) – on him and not on his nation. “Do not do anything harmful to him” (Jeremiah 39:12) – to him do not do, but to his nation do as much harm as you please. “As he will say to you so you shall do to him” (Jeremiah 39:12) – but not to his nation. Jeremiah would see a group of lads placed in collars, and he would place his head with them…

Eikhah Rabbah, Petichta 34

Divine Divorce

KABBALAH

The prophetic literature often describes the relationship between God and the Jewish people as a marriage, and when that relationship breaks down, it sometimes uses the language of legal divorce. Rabbi Elazar Rokeach of Amsterdam, in his mystical commentary Maaseh Rokeach, proposes that the book of Jeremiah itself can be understood as a bill of divorce from God to Israel.

And let us return to the content of our tractate to explain the precise inferences with which we began. Behold, at first glance, the words of the commentators seem strange when they ask from one verse to the other — Isaiah said: Where is the bill of divorce of your mother (Isaiah 50:1); whereas Jeremiah said: and I handed her a bill of divorce (Jeremiah 3:8), as I have brought above. But what is their difficulty? Behold, Isaiah was before Jeremiah, as is well known. Hence in the days of Isaiah, there was truly still no divorce bill…

Maaseh Rokeach on Mishnah, Seder Nashim, Gittin 26-27

The Danger of Unexamined Habits

MUSAR

People can become so entrenched in their habitual behaviors that they commit evil without even realizing it. In his 18th-century ethical work, Mesillat Yesharim, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto uses the prophet Jeremiah's lament to highlight the dangers of unexamined habits and actions.

Jeremiah would bemoan on the evil of his contemporaries' affliction with the disease of this trait. They would turn a blind eye to their deeds, not putting heart to consider what they were doing, whether to do or refrain from doing it. Regarding them he said: "no man regrets of his evil, saying, What have I done? Each one running to his own course, as the horse rushes into the battle." (Jer. 8:6) The explanation is that they would pursue and go by the momentum of habit and conduct, without leaving themselves time to consider their deeds and ways. Thus they fell into evil without even seeing it.

Mesillat Yesharim 2:5-7

Huldah and Jeremiah

TALMUD

The book of Kings describes Huldah the prophetess prophesying during the same period as Jeremiah. The Talmud discusses how it was not an affront to Jeremiah that Huldah prophesied at the same time as such a great prophet, and also why King Josiah chose to consult with her rather than with Jeremiah.

Huldah was a prophetess, as it is written: “So Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam and Achbor and Shaphan and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess” (II Kings 22:14) as emissaries of King Josiah. The Gemara asks: But if Jeremiah was found there, how could she prophesy? Out of respect for Jeremiah, who was her superior, it would have been fitting that she not prophesy in his presence. The Sages of the school of Rav say in the name of Rav: Huldah was a close relative of Jeremiah, and he did not object to her prophesying in his presence…

Megillah 14b:5-7

Jeremiah's Dual Honor

MIDRASH

Biblical prophets play the role of advocating for God to the people and also advocating for the people to God. This early midrash from the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael recognizes Jeremiah for taking on both responsibilities, contrasting him with Elijah and Jonah.

We find there to have been three (kinds of) prophets. One claimed the honor of the Father and the father of the son; another, the honor of the Father, but not the honor of the son; another, the honor of the son, but not the honor of the Father. Jeremiah claimed the honor of the Father and the honor of the son, viz. (Eichah 3:42) "We have offended and rebelled" (the honor of the Father); "You have not forgiven" (the honor of the son). Therefore, his prophecy was "doubled," (Jeremiah 36:33) "… and many other words were added to them" (the prophecies of Jeremiah)…

Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Pischa 1:17-18

The Will to Surrender

JEWISH THOUGHT

One of the messages Jeremiah preached to the people in the name of God was to surrender to the Babylonians, rather than rebel. Rav Shagar, a 20th-century Israeli thinker, struggles with the implications of this prophetic message and reflects on the complexity of interpreting God's will.

The zealotry of the Maccabees built the Temple. The zealotry of Zechariah ben Avkolas — who did not want to offer a sacrifice for the welfare of the Caesar — destroyed it (Gittin 56a). And in a different time period, a true prophet, Jeremiah preached what appeared to be treason to the people, to submit to the hands of the Chaldeans and not to fight. This is something frightful and terrible. All of the people are fighting; they are all going out with great patriotism. Then the prophet comes and says, "Give up…

Panekha Avakesh 15:32

The Commandment to Release Slaves and the Fall of Jerusalem

HALAKHAH

The failure to uphold the commandment to release slaves led to the Babylonian siege and eventual destruction of Jerusalem. Rabbi Eliezer Melamed’s contemporary legal text, Peninei Halakhah, discusses the historical and spiritual significance of this commandment as emphasized by the prophet Jeremiah.

Hence the commandment of the release of slaves is critical to our existence in the Land of Israel. A regular slave is released after six years, and a pierced slave [one who has asked to stay past the six years] at the Jubilee. And this was one of the sins on account of which the king of Babylonia came against Jerusalem to besiege it and destroy it. But when the officers of Jerusalem saw that the evil was set against them, they hearkened to Jeremiah's call of rebuke and freed their slaves. So a miracle was performed for them…

Peninei Halakhah, The Nation and the Land 1:12:3

Lamentations on Tisha B'Av

JEWISH THOUGHT

The book of Lamentations, Jeremiah’s mournful elegy for the fallen Jerusalem, is traditionally recited publically on Tisha B'Av, the day commemorating Jerusalem's destruction. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s 19th-century work, Horeb, delves into the emotional and instructive aspects of this practice.

Tisha B'Av at night: The scroll of Lamentations. It is the emotions of the prophet Jeremiah's soul and his dirge that he took up about the destruction of the holy city of Jerusalem and the Temple. And it is especially about the sin that Jerusalem and his people sinned, which is what caused that awful destruction to happen. And while glancing with eyes full of tears, he instructs and shows the path that leads to repentance and towards the revival of Israel, to renew our days as of old (alluding to Lamentations 5:21).

Horeb 666:33

Haftarot from Jeremiah

HALAKHAH

Jeremiah is the source for many weekly haftarot, readings from the Prophets that accompany the Torah portions. Rabbi David Abudarham’s 14th-century commentary on the prayerbook, Sefer Abudarham, lists all the haftarot for the year, including, in this excerpt, a haftarah from Jeremiah.

And [for Parashat] Mishpatim, it is: The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after he sealed (Jeremiah 34:8), until without inhabitant (Jeremiah 34:22). Then he concludes, If My covenant be not with day and night, etc. (Jeremiah 33:25). And it is in Jeremiah.

Abudarham, Hebrew Calendar, Order of Parashiot and Haftarot 19

The Consequence of Neglecting Prayer

CHASIDUT

One of the potential roles of a prophet is to intercede with God on behalf of the people. In this text, Jacob Joseph of Polonne records an interpretation that he learned from his teacher the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, explaining that Jeremiah suffered imprisonment during his life as punishment for failing to pray on behalf of the people of Israel.

And I heard from my master an explanation of the verse, Guard your tongue from evil, etc., until Shun evil and do good, seek amity and pursue it (Psalms 34:14-15): That the name of Isaiah the prophet is half fury and half consolation, which is not the case with Jeremiah. And Jeremiah the prophet was punished in a pit that he was thrown into, and that which is similar to it, because he did not pray for the Jewish people when the prophecy was told to him, etc. And concerning thoughts, it is like dreams, that they follow [the words of] the mouth, etc. [Berakhot 55b]…

Ben Porat Yosef, Kuntres Acharon 7

The Improbable Birth of Ben Sira

MIDRASH

The figure Ben Sira is the author of an apocryphal wisdom book from the second century BCE. Another text, 'Alphabet of Ben Sira,' from the Middle Ages, blends folklore and moral teachings, and tells a surprising story of the conception and birth of Ben Sira, as both Jeremiah’s son and grandson.

It is written, (Job 9:10) "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed, And wondrous things without number." Come and see how great are the Holy Blessed One's deeds! Since it says, "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed," why does it also say "And wondrous things without number"? And since it says "And wondrous things without number," why does it also say "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed"? How have the Sages interpreted it? "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed…

Otzar Midrashim, The Aleph Bet of ben Sira, The Alphabet of ben Sira, (alternative version) 2

The Fulfillment of Jeremiah's Prophecy

TANAKH

Jeremiah's prophecy about the return from exile and the rebuilding of the Temple was fulfilled, demonstrating the divine orchestration of historical events. The book of II Chronicles recounts the edict of Cyrus the Great, the actualization of Jeremiah's promise.

in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, until the land paid back its sabbaths; as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, till seventy years were completed. And in the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, when the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah was fulfilled, the LORD roused the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his realm by word of mouth and in writing, as follows: “Thus said King Cyrus of Persia: The LORD God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth…

II Chronicles 36:21-23