Jeremiah 26 is the twenty-sixth chapter of the

Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah () is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1#Superscription, Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the book as "th ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

.Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': An Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. It is numbered as Jeremiah 33 in the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

. This book contains prophecies attributed to the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. This chapter contains an exhortation to repentance (verses 1–6), causing Jeremiah to be apprehended and arraigned (verses 7–11); he gives his apology (verses 12–15), resulting the princes to clear him by the example of Micah (verses 16–19) and of Urijah (verses 20–23), and by the care of Ahikam (verse 24).

Text

The original text of this chapter was written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

. This chapter is divided into 24 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex () is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, and was endorsed for its accuracy by Maimonides. ...

(10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

, i.e., 4QJer^a (4Q70; 225–175 BCE) with extant verses 10, and 4QJer^c (4Q72; 1st century BC) with extant verses 10–13 (similar to Masoretic Text). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

known as the

(with a different chapter and verse numbering), made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus, designated by siglum Q, is a 6th-century Greek language, Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. It is now in the Vatican Library. The text was writte ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Parashot

The ''

parashah The term ''parashah'', ''parasha'' or ''parashat'' ( ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian , Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book ...

'' sections listed here are based on the

. Jeremiah 26 is a part of the ''Tenth prophecy (Jeremiah 26– 29)'' in the section of ''Prophecies interwoven with narratives about the prophet's life (Jeremiah 26–45)''. : open ''parashah''; : closed ''parashah''. : 26:1–6 26:7–10 26:11–15 26:16–24

Verse numbering

The order of chapters and verses of the Book of Jeremiah in the English Bibles, Masoretic Text (Hebrew), and

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

(Latin), in some places differs from that in

(LXX, the Greek Bible used in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

and others) according to Rahlfs or Brenton. The following table is taken with minor adjustments from ''Brenton's Septuagint'', page 971. The order of Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint/Scriptural Study (CATSS) based on ''

Alfred Rahlfs Alfred Rahlfs (; ; 29 May 1865 – 8 April 1935) was a German Biblical scholar. He was a member of the history of religions school. He is known for his edition of the Septuagint published in 1935. Biography He was born in Linden near Hanover, a ...

' Septuaginta'' (1935), differs in some details from Joseph Ziegler's critical edition (1957) in ''Göttingen LXX''. ''Swete's Introduction'' mostly agrees with Rahlfs edition (=CATSS).

A warning to the cities of Judah (26:1–6)

Verse 1

: ''In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord:'' The events of this chapter took place at "the beginning of the reign of

Jehoiakim Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate King of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of King Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim. Background Af ...

the son of

Josiah Josiah () or Yoshiyahu was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE). According to the Hebrew Bible, he instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Until the 1990s, the biblical description of Josiah’s ...

, king of Judah", whereas the events of the previous chapter took place "in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah". Jehoiakim reigned from 609 to 598 BCE. The

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...

uses less precise wording, ''Early in the reign ...'' According to biblical scholar

Michael Coogan Michael D. Coogan is lecturer on Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Harvard Divinity School, Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum, editor-in-chief of Oxford Biblical Studies Online, and professor emeritus of religious studies at Sto ...

, "in the beginning of the reign" technically refers to "the part of the year between the day the king ascended to the throne and the beginning of his first full year", which usually began in the spring month of

Nisan Nisan (or Nissan; from ) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although it ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag' ...

(March–April).The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, Editors. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2007. p. 1119-1121 Hebrew Bible.

Jeremiah threatened with death (26:7–24)

Verse 18

:''"Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Kingdom of Judah, Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "G ...

king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying,'' ::'''Thus says the Lord of hosts:'' ::''"Zion shall be plowed like a field,'' ::''Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,'' ::''And the mountain of the temple'' ::''Like the bare hills of the forest."'"'' This prophecy of Micah is recorded in Micah 3:12. * "Temple": literally "house".

Verse 24

:''Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.'' Cross references: Jeremiah 39:14 * " Shaphan" (, which means "

hyrax Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, stout, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the family Procaviidae within the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Modern hyraxes are typically between in length a ...

, rock badger, coney"), son of Azaliah, a scribe or secretary of Josiah's court who was mentioned several times in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' 2 Kings 22:3–14, ; parallels in

2 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tan ...

;

26:24; ; 39:14; ff; and 43:6). He had at least sons named in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Ahikam ( Jeremiah 26:24; ; ), Elasah ( Jeremiah 29:3), Gemariah () and Jaazaniah, who was among the idol worshippers seen in vision of Ezekiel (). His grandson were Micaiah, the son of Gemariah () and Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the short-lived governor of Judah appointed by

Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

after the destruction of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in 586 BCE ( 39:14; and 43:6). The name "Shaphan" is attested in a bullae were discovered during the excavations at the City of David headed by Israeli

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

Yigal Shiloh in the layer of destruction by the Babylonians in ca. 586 BCE, with the inscription ''belonging to Gemaryahu ben Shaphan'', identified with "Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe" ( Jeremiah 36:10), although it is equally possible that there is no connection between the names found on the bullae and the person mentioned in the Bible.Yair Shoham, "Hebrew Bullae" in City of David Excavations: Final Report VI, Qedem 41 (Jerusalem:

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, 2000), 33

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Jewish

Jeremiah 26 Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

Jeremiah 26 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeremiah 26 26