Jeremiah 1

Jeremiah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah. Because no chapter precedes it, it begins with a superscription for the entire book and then opens with a call narrative recounting the prophet's commissioning.

Outline

• Verses 1–3: The superscription of the book. Jeremiah is introduced as the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. The word of the Lord came to him from the thirteenth year of Josiah until "the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month" of the eleventh year of Zedekiah.
• Verses 4–10: God declares that He knew Jeremiah before he was born, sanctified him, and ordained him "a prophet unto the nations." Jeremiah draws back, protesting that he is "a child." God promises to be with him and to deliver him, touches his mouth, and puts His words there. He then entrusts him with the commission to root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down, and to build and to plant.
• Verses 11–12: In the first vision Jeremiah sees the rod of an almond tree. God declares that He will watch over His word to perform it.
• Verses 13–16: In the second vision Jeremiah sees a seething pot whose face is toward the north. The kingdoms of the north will come against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. The reason given is that the people have burned incense to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.
• Verses 17–19: God again commands Jeremiah to gird up his loins, arise, and speak. He promises to make Jeremiah "a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls," and assures him that his adversaries will not prevail against him.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee": frequently cited as a confession that one's calling rested with God even before birth.
• Jeremiah 1:10 "To root out, and to pull down, and to destroy … to build, and to plant": read as a summary of Jeremiah's entire ministry, encompassing both judgment and restoration.
• Jeremiah 1:19 "They shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee": a promise that sustains the prophet through the persecution that follows.

People and Places

• Jeremiah: the prophet of this book.
• Hilkiah: a priest of Anathoth and the father of Jeremiah. Whether he is the same person as the high priest Hilkiah who found the Book of the Law in the time of Josiah is uncertain.
• Anathoth: a village in the land of Benjamin, a short distance northeast of Jerusalem.
• Josiah: the son of Amon and king of Judah. Many scholars date his thirteenth year to around 627 BC.
• Jehoiakim: the son of Josiah and king of Judah.
• Zedekiah: the son of Josiah and the last king of Judah.
• Jerusalem: falls in the eleventh year of Zedekiah (587 or 586 BC).

Points for Reflection

• Verses 11–12 are known for a Hebrew wordplay. The word shaqed, rendered "apricot tree" in the Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version, properly refers to the almond tree. It sounds similar to shoqed, "watching."
• Chapter 1 does not identify "the north." The common interpretation is that it is revealed as Babylon in a later chapter (Jeremiah 25:9).
• Jeremiah 1:5 is cited in a variety of discussions. The Reformed tradition, which holds to predestination, reads it as an example of God's prior election. In bioethical debate it is also used as grounds for affirming the life of the unborn (abortion and the church). Others emphasize that the verse concerns the commission of one particular prophet.
• In Galatians 1:15–16, Paul writes that he was called by God, "who separated me from my mother's womb," language that recalls the call formulas of this chapter and of Isaiah 49:1.

In the Korean Church

Jeremiah 1:6–10 is frequently used in sermons on calling and also serves as a text for ordination services and missionary commissioning services. "Say not, I am a child" (1:7) is often quoted in sermons at youth and young adult gatherings.