Several of you asked for a thread briefly outlining key aspects of Jeremiah!

So to start, we will do a profile of what we know about Jeremiah's family & origin.

(this photo is of my illuminated ESV Bible)

1. Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah (Jer 1:1; 2 Kgs 22:8), who was the high priest during King Josiah's reign.

Hilkiah found the book of the Law (probably a form of Deuteronomy or the Torah) in the temple. Hilkiah verifies the veracity of the book with prophetess Huldah.

2. Then, Josiah launches nationwide reform (2 Kgs 23) & Jeremiah's work as a prophet follows in the legacy of this reform.

Jeremiah's family is from Anathoth (2-4 miles NE of Jerusalem), which was set aside for the Levites by the tribe of Benjamin (Josh 21:17-18).

3. Jeremiah is a descendant of one of David's priests, Abiathar (1 Sam 22:20) who escaped Saul's attack on Nob & remained loyal to David.

Solomon later banishes Abiathar back to Anathoth for supporting Adonijah (1 Kgs 2:26) rather than him.

4. Abiathar's father, Ahimelech (shortened to Ahijah), was from Shiloh (1 Sam 14:3) & was a direct descendant of Eli.

Shiloh housed the tabernacle until the Philistines captured the ark (1 Sam 4). Jeremiah probably grew up hearing Shiloh stories & later used them (Jer 7:12-15).

5. Imagine the stories Jeremiah grew up hearing about his family:
-Eli lived thru the destruction of Shiloh & raised up Samuel.
-Ahimelech was killed by Saul for kindness to David.
-Abiathar was banished for supporting a certain kingly lineage.
-Hilkiah catalyzed Josiah's reform.

6. We have no record of whether Jeremiah was trained as a priest.

But we can at least tell by his family history & his prophecies/sermons that, even if he wasn't trained as a priest, he was highly familiar with Israel's scripture & temple practices/traditions.

7. In the first chapter, we see Jeremiah's call & an echo of Moses (I don't know how to speak) & Samuel (I'm only a youth)! While he's not a descendant of either, he sees these 2 as origins of the prophetic vocation.

Here, we will briefly focus on the reference to Samuel.

8. Jeremiah (Jer 1:6) & Samuel (1 Sam 3:1) are called a "na'ar" when the Lord calls.

Na'ar can describe age (anywhere from infancy to young adulthood) or unpreparedness.

Some believe this means Jeremiah was a child when called, others that he hadn't finished priestly training.

9. There aren't concrete answers to which is right, or if both are.

What the text does purposefully communicate, though, is that God specifically appointed Jeremiah to prophesy & equipped him to do so. Without God's supplying his words, Jeremiah feels inadequate to be a prophet.

10. The next thread will be about Jeremiah's times and some important events that happened throughout his ministry!

Thank you guys for giving me topics you'd like to hear about regarding Jeremiah.