Bible Commentaries

Verses 1-10

Jeremiah 24:1-10 . The Good and Bad Figs.— The prophet sees (either in vision or actuality; see on Jeremiah 1:11; Jeremiah 1:13; cf. Amos 7:1, etc.) baskets of good and bad figs respectively; Yahweh tells him that the former represent the first body of exiles under Jeconiah (Jehoiachin, 2 Kings 24:15 f.) who shall be restored, and the latter the people remaining under Zedekiah, together with those in Egypt. For Ezekiel’ s similar judgment of the Palestinian and Babylonian sections of Judah, see Ezekiel 17:11 ff; Ezekiel 11:17 ff.; the opinion was justified, those deported having been the picked men of the nation; moreover, the future of Judaism, as matter of history, was committed to their charge.

Jeremiah 24:2 . For the firstripe fig as a delicacy, see Isaiah 28:4; Micah 7:1.

Jeremiah 24:5 . Chaldeans: i.e. “ Babylonians,” as often; the Kaldu, SE. of Babylonia, became supreme there, c. 626 (pp. 58– 60).

Jeremiah 24:8 . Egypt: see 2 Kings 23:34, for the exile thither of Jehoahaz. The Elephantine papyri (p. 79) show the existence of a Jewish community in Egypt, possessing a temple, before 525, possibly from the seventh century, cf. Deuteronomy 17:16.

Jeremiah 24:9 . Read mg.; omit “ for evil” with LXX.