Jeremiah 24:1-7

Baskets of Figs and the Returnees

1 After ¹Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me: behold, two ²baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD!

2 One basket had very good figs, like ³first-ripe figs, and the other basket had ⁴very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness.

3 Then the LORD said to me, "⁵What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness."

4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

5 "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Like these good figs, so I will regard ⁶as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

6 'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will ⁷bring them again to this land; and I will ⁸build them up and not overthrow them, and I will ⁹plant them and not pluck them up.

7 'I will give them a ¹⁰heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be ¹¹My people, and I will be their God, for they will ¹²return to Me with their whole heart.

Jeremiah 24:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 24

This chapter contains a vision of two baskets of figs, representing the Jews both in captivity, and at Jerusalem. The vision is declared, Jer 24:1-3; where both time and place are pointed at, in which the vision was seen, and the nature of the figs described, and what passed between the Lord and the prophet concerning them. The explication of the vision begins, Jer 24:4; and continues to the end of the chapter. The good figs were an emblem of the good people that were carried captive with Jeconiah into Babylon, which the Lord says was for their good; and he promises to own them, and set his eyes upon them for good, and that they should return to their own land, and have a heart to know him as their God, and return unto him, Jer 24:5-7; the bad figs signify the people that were with Zedekiah at Jerusalem, and those that were in Egypt, who are threatened to be carried captive into all lands, and there live under the greatest reproach and disgrace; or be destroyed in their own land by the sword, famine, or pestilence, Jer 24:8-10.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Kings 24:10-16; 2 Chronicles 36:10; Jeremiah 27:20; Jeremiah 29:1, 2
• 2. Amos 8:1
• 3. Micah 7:1; Nahum 3:12
• 4. Isaiah 5:4, 7; Jeremiah 29:17
• 5. Jeremiah 1:11, 13; Amos 8:2; Zechariah 4:2
• 6. Nahum 1:7; Zechariah 13:9
• 7. Jeremiah 12:15; Jeremiah 29:10; Jeremiah 32:37; Ezekiel 11:17
• 8. Jeremiah 31:4; Jeremiah 32:41; Jeremiah 33:7; Jeremiah 42:10
• 9. Jeremiah 32:41
• 10. Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:40; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26
• 11. Isaiah 51:16; Jeremiah 7:23; Jeremiah 30:22; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 14:11; Zechariah 8:8; Hebrews 8:10
• 12. 1 Samuel 7:3; Psalms 119:2; Jeremiah 29:13