Overview of Jeremiah: Author and Date

Author

Jeremiah is most clearly stated to be the author of the book in the very beginning (Jer. 1:1). Jeremiah was the son of a priest and lived in a city called Anathoth, which was located nearly two miles north of the city of Jerusalem. Jeremiah had been nearly killed in his earlier days, having been forced to flee to king Jehoiakim. Jeremiah was made fun of and placed into a cistern because of his shocking message that God had revealed to him, a message of judgment but also of grace. His authorship of the book was not only confirmed by other prophets such as Daniel, (Dan. 9:2) but also in Ecclesiastes, the Works of Josephus, and the Talmud.[1]

Date

The date of the book of Jeremiah’s ministry and writings is around 627 to about 580 B.C. During this time, Babylon had taken over much of the Near East and overthrown Nineveh, the old capital of Assyria in 622 B.C. It is said that the time frame of Jeremiah’s writing can be easily broken down into three areas.

1. 627 – 605 B.C. Jeremiah prophecy while Judah was being attacked Assyria and Egypt.

2. 605 – 586 B.C. Jeremiah proclaiming God’s judgment while Judah was being attacked Babylon.

3. 586 – 5580 B.C. Jeremiah ministry in Jerusalem and Egypt after the fall of Judah.