Jeremiah 24 Study Notes

24:1-10 In this vision Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs, one good and one bad. These images seem to fit poorly with Jeremiah’s pessimistic estimate that all Jerusalem was wicked (chap. 5) and his attitude toward the exiles (chap. 29). Those who remain true to God in the midst of mass compromise often mistakenly think they are all alone in devotion to God (see 1Kg 19:14-18).

24:1 The phrase the Lord showed me marks a supernatural revelation to the prophet, much like that in Am 7:1,4,7. This happened in a vision and not in reality because bad figs could not be offered to the Lord (Dt 26:2).

24:2 The early figs, which ripened in May-June, were very juicy and were considered a delicacy. Their Hebrew name was bakkuroth (“newly ripe,” “early ripening”), suggesting the similar Hebrew word for “firstfruits.”

24:5 God regarded as good the exiles from Judah that he sent away to Babylon in 597 BC. They were the pride of the nation in skills, leadership, and craftsmanship. Some of the leaders in that deportation had intervened on Jeremiah’s behalf on several occasions (chaps. 26; 36). There were ten thousand deported at that time, including King Jehoiachin (aka Jeconiah) and the prophet Ezekiel.

24:6 In keeping with the call of Jeremiah in 1:10, God promised these good figs that he would build them . . . plant them . . . not demolish, and not uproot them.

24:7 Two parts of the tripartite formula for the promise of God appear in this verse: They will be my people, and I will be their God. God would give them a heart to know him because they would return to him with all their heart. The new heart did not depend on the people returning to God, because he had already given them a heart to know him. The new heart of 32:37-41 was also an unconditional promise of God.

24:8-10 The bad figs were inedible. This describes those who were still living in the land or those who had fled to Egypt. Their disobedience to God led them into ever greater sin as they hardened their hearts. As he had done with Pharaoh, God responded by further hardening their hearts.