JEREMIAH 24

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

(The parentheses represent poetic literary units)

NASB	NKJV	NRSV	TEV	NJB
Basket of Figs and the Returnees	The Sign of Two Baskets of Figs	The Vision of the Basket of Figs	Two Baskets of Figs	The Two Baskets of Figs
24:1-3	24:1-3	24:1-3	24:1-3a	24:1-10
			24:3b
24:4-7	24:4-7	24:4-7	24:4-7
24:8-10	24:8-10	24:8-10	24:8-10

READING CYCLE THREE (see
“Bible
Interpretation Seminar”)

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR’S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which
means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the
light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not
relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare
your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is
the key to following the original author’s intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every
paragraph has one and only one subject.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: JEREMIAH 24:1-3
¹After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord! ²One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. ³Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”

24:1 “Nebuchadnezzar” See
SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF NEO-BABYLON

▣ This specifically dates this strophe as 597 B.C. (cf. 2 Kgs. 24:10-16;
2 Chr. 36:9-10). The king goes by three names

Jeconiah, 24:1; 27:20; 28:4; 29:2
Coniah, 22:24,28; 37:1
Jehoiachin, 52:31; 2 Kings 24-25

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF
THE DIVIDED KINGDOM

▣ “craftsmen” This term (BDB 360, cf. Jer. 29:2) refers to an engraver of

gems (cf. Exod. 28:11)
stone (cf. 2 Sam. 5:11)
wood (cf. Jer. 10:3)
metal (cf. Jer. 10:9)

It can also mean “idol-maker” (cf. 2 Kgs. 24:14,16; Isa. 44:11; 45:16).

▣ “smith” This ambiguous term (BDB 688, KB 604 II) may refer to a metal worker
(NJB, NET). It could also mean “harem” (REB textual marginal note) or possibly “builders” or “engineers.”

▣ “two baskets of figs” This is another visual image to communicate God’s message
vividly to the people of Judah who were left in Jerusalem.

Amos used the same type of imagery in Amos 8:1-3.

▣ “set before the temple of the Lord“ These baskets
of figs represented two groups of people. They were seen as offerings to YHWH (cf. Deut. 26:2-11),
to use for His purposes.

good figs ‒ those Judeans already exiled
bad figs ‒ those Judeans in Palestine

24:2 “very bad figs” These figs are characterized in two ways.

very good figs
1. NOUN, BDB 1061, “figs”
2. ADJECTIVE, BDB 373 II, “good”
3. ADVERB, BDB 547, “very”
very bad figs
1. NOUN, BDB 1061, “figs”
2. ADJECTIVE, BDB 948, “bad”
3. ADVERB, BDB 547, “very”
bad
1. PREPOSITION, “so”
2. NOUN, BDB 947, “bad”

These same inedible, rotten figs are mentioned in Jer. 29:17.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: JEREMIAH 24:4-7
⁴Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁵“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. ⁶For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. ⁷I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

24:5 The good figs are, surprisingly, the Judeans taken into exile. One would
have thought the ones left in Palestine were the favored ones, but not so. YHWH will
work with the exiles (to whom Ezekiel ministered in Babylon).

▣ “Chaldeans” See
SPECIAL TOPIC: CHALDEANS

24:6-7 List the promises YHWH makes to the Judeans in exile.

He will regard them as “good”
He will set His eyes on them for good
He will bring them back to Judah
He will build them up and not overthrow them
He will plant them and pluck them up
He will give them a heart to know Him

Jer. 24:7 has several covenant terms. It speaks of a new day of faithfulness and
devotion (cf. Ezek. 36:22-38; Jer. 31:31-34). YHWH will give them a “new heart” and a “new mind.”

The phrases “build them up” (BDB 124, KB 139); “not overthrow them”
(BDB 248, KB 256); “plant them” (BDB 642, KB 694); and “not pluck them up” (BDB 684, KB 737)
are also used in Jeremiah’s call in Jer. 1:10. Here these VERBS are preceded by a vision, but
there they are preceded by two visions (an almond rod and a boiling pot).

24:7 “they will return to Me” This VERB (BDB 996, KB 1427) is used to
express true repentance. See SPECIAL
TOPIC: REPENTANCE (OT). This involves the mystery of foreknowledge, human free will and predestination (see
SPECIAL
TOPIC: PREDESTINATION [CALVINISM] vs HUMAN FREE WILL [ARMINIANISM] and
SPECIAL
TOPIC; ELECTION/PREDESTINATION AND THE NEED FOR A THEOLOGICAL BALANCE).

▣ “with a whole heart” This is a Hebrew idiom of complete devotion (cf. Jer. 3:10;
1 Sam. 7:3; 1 Chr. 22:19; 2 Chr. 22:9; Joel 2:12-14; see
SPECIAL TOPIC: HEART). It was used
of David’s devotion to YHWH but not Solomon who, in his old age, became involved in idolatry (cf. 1 Kings 11).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: JEREMIAH 24:8-10
⁸“‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness-indeed, thus says the Lord-so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹I will make them a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places where I will scatter them. ¹⁰I will send the sword, the famine and the pestilence upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.'”

24:8-10 The royal family of Zedekiah and all his helpers will be abandoned (BDB 678,
KB 733, Qal IMPERFECT). This VERB has a wide semantic
field. The context requires “give over” (cf. Num. 21:3,29; Deut. 7:2,23; 31:5; Jdg. 20:13; etc.). This
is so shocking in light of 2 Samuel 7!

24:8 “the remnant of Jerusalem” See
SPECIAL TOPIC: REMNANT (three senses).

▣ “the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt” Who these are depends on to whom verses 8-10
refer. It probably refers to those in Zedekiah’s day, after the exile of 597 B.C. If so, then
who are “the ones”?

those taken into exile by Pharaoh Necho along with Jehoahaz (609 B.C.; cf. 2 Kgs. 23:31-34)
pro-Egypt supporters who fled when they saw Babylon invading
a future reference to those who fled to Egypt after the murder of Gedaliah (cf. Jeremiah 40-41)

24:9-10 These two verses describe what YHWH will do to those who remain in Judah and those
who fled to Egypt.

make them a terror (BDB 266)
make them an evil (BDB 949, cf. v. 2)
make them a reproach (BDB 357)
make them a proverb (BDB 605)
make them a taunt (BDB 1042)
make them a curse (BDB 887)
send the sword
send the famine
send the pestilence

This was because of their continuing, unrepentant covenant disobedience. YHWH
revoked the covenant promises made to their forefathers (cf. Jer. 24:10). Instead of the “nations” seeing
YHWH’s mercy, grace, and justice in the covenant people, they saw His judgment (cf. Deut. 28:25,37;
Ezek. 36:22-23). This very purpose in YHWH’s calling Abraham (cf. Gen. 12:3) has been compromised!

Old Testament Studies

Table of Contents

Previous Section

Next Section