Near the close of the reign of Jehoiakim (B.C. 599"), and during the short reign of his successor Jehoiachin or Jeconiah (B.C. 598), we find him still uttering his voice of warning (see ch. xiii, 18 ; comp. 2 Kings xxiv, 12, and Jer. xxii, 24-30), though without effect; and, after witnessing the downfall of the monarchs which he had himself predicted, he sent a letter of condolence and hope to those who shared the captivity of the royal fam- ily (ch. xxix-xxxi). It was not till the latter part of the reign of Zedekiah that he was ])ut in continemcnt, as we find that "they had not put him into jirison" when the array of Nebuchadnezzar commenced the siege of Jerusalem (xxxvii, 4, 5) (B.C. 589). On the investment of the city, the prophet had sent a message to the king declaring what would be the fatal issue, but this had so little effect that the slaves who had been liberated were again reduced to bondage by their fellow-citizens (ch. xxxiv). Jeremiah himself was in- carcerated in the court of the prison adjoining the palace, where he predicted the certain return from the impend- ing captivity (xxxii, 33). The Chald.eans drew off their army for a time on the report of help coming from Eg>-pt to the besieged city, and now, feeling the danger to be imminent, and yet a ray of hope brightening their prospects, the king entreated Jeremiah to pray to the
JEREMIAH
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Lord for them. The hopes of the king were not re- sponded to in the message wliich Jeremiah received Irom God. He was assured that the Egyptian army would return to their own land, that the Chaldeans would come again, and that they would take the city and biu-n it with tire (xxxvii, 7, 8). The princes, ap- parentlv irritated by a message so contrary to their wishes,'made the departure of Jeremiah from the city (^for he appears to have been at this time released from confinement), during the short respite, the pretext for accusing him of deserting to the Chaldaeans, and he was forthwith cast into prison, where he might have perish- ed but for the humanity of one of the royal eunuchs (xxxvii, 12-xxxviii, 13^. The king seems to have been tlu-oughout inclined to favor the prophet, and sought to know from him the word of the Lord ; but he was wholly under the influence of the princes, and dared not communicate with him except in secret (xxxviii. l-i-28), much less could he follow advice so obnoxious to their views as that which the prophet gave. Jere- miah, therefore, more from the hostility of the princes than the inclination of the king, was still in confinement when the city was taken, B.C. 588. Nebuchadnezzar formed a more just estimate of his character and of the value of his counsels, and gave a special charge to his captain, Nebuzar-adan, not only to provide for him, but to follow his advice (xxxix, 12). He was accord- ingly taken from the prison and allowed free choice cither to go to Babylon, where doubtless he would have been held in honor in the royal court, or to remain with his own people (B.C. 587). With characteristic patriot- ism he went to Mizpah with Gedaliah, whom the Bab- ylonian monarch had appointed governor of Judaea, and, after his miu-der, sought to persuade Johanan, who was then the recognised leader of the people, to remain in the land, assuring him and the people, by a message from God in answer to their inquiries, that, if they did so, the Lord would l)uUd them up, but if the}^ went to Egypt, the evils which they sought to escape should come upon them there (ch. xlii). The people refused to attend to the divine message, and, under the com- mand of Johanan, went into Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch along with them (xliii, G). In Egypt the prophet still sought to turn the people to the Lord, from whom they had so long and so deeply revolted (ch. xliv), but his writings give us no subsequent informa- tion respecting his personal history. Ancient traditions assert that he spent the remainder of his life in Egypt. According to the pscudo-Epiphanius, he was stoned by the people at Taphn* (tv Tatt>ratc). the same as Tah- panhes, where the Jews were settled (/><■ l';V/x Prophet. ii, 23S), quoted by Fabricius, C'odi.r /'.-■< ml, jiii/rdji/m.i V. T. i, 1110). It is said that his bones were removed by Alexander the Great to Alexandria (Carpzov, Introd. pt. iii,p. 138, where other traditions respecting him may be found).
JEHE^IIAH, Book or. Jeremiah was contempo- rary- with Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel, and Daniel. No one who compares them can fail to perceive that the mind of Jeremiah was of a softer and more delicate texture than that of his illustrious contemporary Eze- kiel, with whose writings his are most nearly parallel. His whole history convinces us that he was by nature mild and retiring (Ewald, Prop/wten dci A It. Bund. p. 2), highly susceptible and sensitive, especially to sorrow- ful emotions, and rather inclined, as we should imagine, to shrink from danger tlian to brave it. Yet, with this acute perception of injury, and natural repugnance fmm being "a man of strife," he never in the least dcgreo shrinks from publicity; nor is he at all intimidated hy reproach or insult, or even by actual punishment anil threatened death, when he has the message of God to deliver.