Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
And concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou shalt speak, saying,
`And unto Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou dost speak, saying,
And thou shalt speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
Jeremiah — The weeping prophet of Judah's final generation — 627 BC call under Josiah to the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem and into Egyptian exile. Fifty-two chapters of lament, confrontation, and covenant promise, with the New Covenant glimpsed at the book's theological apex.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices6
(Verse 24 and following) And to Semeias the Nehelamite you shall say. And what follows: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Since you have sent in your name letters to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Sophonias the son of Maasias the priest. And again from the Hebrew: And to all the priests (the Vulgate adds saying).
Jerome· Commentary on Jeremiah, 420patristic
Thus shalt thou speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite,.... Or, "the dreamer" (h); because he pretended to have dreams from the Lord; or because what he delivered as prophecies were mere dreams; as that the captives should quickly return to their own land; so Kimchi: but Jarchi takes it to be the name of a place, from whence he was so called; perhaps the place of his birth, or habitation formerly; so the Targum, paraphrasing "who was of Halem;'' he was, another of the false prophets in Babylon.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
Speak to Shemaiah - Zephaniah was the second priest, sagan, or chief priests deputy, and Seraiah, high priest, when Jerusalem was taken. See Jer 52:24. Shemaiah directs his letter to the former, and tells him that God had appointed him to supply the place of the high priest, who was probably then absent. His name was either Azariah or Seraiah his son, but called Jehoiada from the remarkable zeal and courage of that pontiff. See the passages in the margin. - Dodd. After the taking of Jerusalem, Zephaniah was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, see Jer 37:
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical
Nehelamite - It is probable there was such a place as Nehelam, from whence he was.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical
To give - This deliverance will not depend upon your merits, but upon my own mercy, and kind thoughts and purposes I have for the seed of Abraham my servant, and I am resolved in my own thoughts what to do, I intend not the blotting out of the name of Israel from the earth, but to give such an end to their trouble as themselves expect and desire.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical
Jeremiah was but the scribe or amanuensis. It would be comfortable to them, in their captivity, to hear that God is the Lord of hosts, of all hosts, and is therefore able to help and deliver them; and that he is the God of Israel still, a God in covenant with his people, though he contend with them, and their enemies for the present are too hard for them.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
The verses this one reaches3
“Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,
If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
