Jeremiah 29:24
in Jeremiah 29You are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou shalt speak, saying,
KJV
Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
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This verse in Jeremiah 29
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThus 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.
This site's exposition
speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite
on Jeremiah 29:24-26
Shemaiah the Nehelamite answers Jeremiah's letter with one of his own, addressed not to Jeremiah but to the priesthood in Jerusalem, invoking the authority of Jehoiada's successor to demand that Jeremiah be put in the stocks as a madman who makes himself a prophet. The charge Shemaiah brings, that Jeremiah has no proper standing, is the same accusation any true prophet risks from an offended establishment, made here by a man the text has already marked as unsent. The letter shows opposition organizing itself through the very office meant to guard against false prophecy, turned instead against the true one.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
Nehelamite - It is probable there was such a place as Nehelam, from whence he was.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Speak to Shemaiah - Zephaniah was the second priest, sagan, or chief priest’s 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:
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A narrative showing the effects of Jeremiah’s letter. Shemaiah the leader of the false prophets wrote to Zephaniah, urging him to restrain the prophet’s zeal with the prison and the stocks. Jer 29:24 To Shemaiah - Rather, concerning. The Nehelamite - Not as in the margin; but one belonging to the village of Nehlam (unknown). Jer 29:26 Officers - Deputy high priests who had the oversight of the temple. Mad - See 2Ki 9:11 note. Many of the symbolic actions of the prophets, such as that of Jeremiah going about with a yoke on his neck, would be mocked at by the irreverent as passing the line between prophecy and madness. Prisons - Rather, the stocks Jer 20:2. The stocks - Rather, collar. Jer 29:28 This captivity is long - Rather, It is long. God’s anger, their punishment, the exile, the time necessary for their repentance - all is long to men who will never live to see their country again.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שְׁמַעְיָ֥הוּ | shema'yahu | Shemaiah | H8098 → | 41 times |
| הַנֶּחֱלָמִ֖י | hanechelami | the Nehelamite | H5161 → | 3 times |
| תֹּאמַ֥ר | tomar | you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֵאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
שְׁמַעְיָ֥הוּShemaiah
shema'yahuH8098 →41 times
הַנֶּחֱלָמִ֖יthe Nehelamite
hanechelamiH5161 →3 times
תֹּאמַ֥רyou will say
tomarH559 →5305 times
לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.