Jeremiah (2) in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
LITERATURE
1. Name and Person:
The name of one of the greatest prophets of Israel. The
Hebrew yirmeyahu, abbreviated to yirmeyah, signifies either
"Yahweh hurls" or "Yahweh founds." Septuagint reads Iermias,
and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.)
Jeremias. As this name also occurs not infrequently, the
prophet is called "the son of Hilkiah" (Jer 1:1), who is,
however, not the high priest mentioned in 2 Ki 22 and 23, as
it is merely stated that he was "of the priests that were in
Anathoth" in the land of Benjamin In Anathoth, now Anata, a
small village 3 miles Northeast of Jerusalem, lived a class
of priests who belonged to a side line, not to the line of
Zadok (compare 1 Ki 2:26).
2. Life of Jeremiah:
Jeremiah was called by the Lord to the office of a prophet
while still a youth (1:6) about 20 years of age, in the 13th
year of King Josiah (1:2; 25:3), in the year 627 BC, and was
active in this capacity from this time on to the destruction
of Jerusalem, 586 BC, under kings Josiah, Jehoahaz,
Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Even after the fall of
the capital city he prophesied in Egypt at least for several
years, so that his work extended over a period of about 50
years in all. At first he probably lived in Anathoth, and
put in his appearance publicly in Jerusalem only on the
occasion of the great festivals; later he lived in
Jerusalem, and was there during the terrible times of the
siege and the destruction of the city...
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