Jeremiah 29:16

16 for thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who did ¹not go with you into exile -

Jeremiah 29:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 29:16

[Know] that thus saith the Lord
Or "for", or "wherefore thus saith the Lord" ^F24; for the word "know" is not in the text, and seems needless; though it is also supplied by other interpreters ^F25. The words are illative, and follow upon the former; and the sense is, that since they gave heed to their false prophets in Babylon, who told them that they should quickly return; therefore the Lord sent the following message to them, informing them that it was so far from being true that they should in a short time return to Jerusalem, that, on the other hand, they that were there should soon be with them in captivity, or be destroyed: of,
or "concerning" the king that sitteth on the throne of David;
that is, King Zedekiah, who was then the reigning king at Jerusalem: and of all the people that dwelleth in this city;
the city Jerusalem, where Jeremiah was, and from whence this letter was written, in the name of the Lord, to the captives at Babylon: and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
that lived in the several parts of the land of Judea, who were left behind, and not carried captive, when those were to whom these words are directed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (rma hk yk) "nam sic ait", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "ideo", Calvin; "ita namque", Schmidt.
F25 "Scitote quod", Vatablus.

Jeremiah 29:16 In-Context

14 'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD , 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD , 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

15 "Because you have said, 'The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon '-

16 for thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile -

17 thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.

18 'I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a horror and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,

Cross References

• 1. Jer 38:2, 3, 17-23