Overview of Jeremiah: Historical Analysis

Political Situations

At the time of the book of Jeremiah (627) the Assyrian Empire had been in control of most of the ancient Near East for over 200 years. With the death of King Ashurbanipal, however, the empire slowly collapsed within 30 years. Israel and Syria began competing for new control of their own lands, and the Babylonians began to expand their own empire, destroying everything in their path. Josiah became king of Judah was 8 years old in 640, close to the end of the Assyrian empire. In time Josiah wanted to complete Judah’s independence, but died in battle before fully accomplishing this, leaving the kingship to Jehoiakim. Within a few years, both Judah and Israel were taken captive by the Babylonians under the leadership of king Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah was an eyewitness to all of this, seeing not only the constant disobedience of the Lord’s people, but also suffering the events of the destruction of an entire nation.[1]

Critical Approaches

One issue that many readers may have with the book of Jeremiah is the amount of material in it that completely lacks organization. The oracles in different periods, undated material, and material that is not in chronological order throughout the book make it extremely hard to read. Oftentimes scholars even have a hard time placing the book with a single writer, due to the large amounts of it that may have been edited and revised. Some scholars, on the other hand, see that there is a close relationship between the book of Jeremiah and his own life. These scholars believe that the undated material most likely is dictated sermons that Jeremiah preached, something like Moses’ in the book of Deuteronomy.[2]

Key People

Jeremiah– priest and prophet of southern Judah.

King Jehoahaz– 16^th king of southern Judah, Jer. 1:1-3; 22:11; 18

King Jehoiakim– evil son of Josiah, 18^th king, Jer. 22:18-23; 25:1-38; 26:1:24; 27:1-11; 35:1-19, 36:1-32.

King Jehoiachin– son of Jehoiakim, 18^th king, Jer. 13:18-27; 22:24-30

Baruch– served Jeremiah’s scribe, Jer. 32:12-16; 36:4-32; 43:3-45:4

Ebed- Melech– Ethiopian police officer who helped Jeremiah, Jer. 38:7-39:16

King Nebuchadnezzar– king of Babylon, Jer. 21-52

The Rechabites– the obedient descendents of Jonadab, Jer. 35:1-19[3]