Jeremiah 29:24
You are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that
BSB
ASV
And concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou shalt speak, saying,
KJV
Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
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.
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.
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:
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
