Jeremiah 24:1-6

The Good and the Bad Figs

1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah[a] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen and metalsmiths[b] from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs[c] placed before the temple of the Lord.
2 One basket [contained] very good figs, like early figs,[d] but the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they were inedible.
3 The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible."
4 The word of the Lord came to me:
5 "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
6 I will keep My eyes on them for their good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them.[e]

Jeremiah 24:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 24

This chapter contains a vision of two baskets of figs, representing the Jews both in captivity, and at Jerusalem. The vision is declared, Jer 24:1-3; where both time and place are pointed at, in which the vision was seen, and the nature of the figs described, and what passed between the Lord and the prophet concerning them. The explication of the vision begins, Jer 24:4; and continues to the end of the chapter. The good figs were an emblem of the good people that were carried captive with Jeconiah into Babylon, which the Lord says was for their good; and he promises to own them, and set his eyes upon them for good, and that they should return to their own land, and have a heart to know him as their God, and return unto him, Jer 24:5-7; the bad figs signify the people that were with Zedekiah at Jerusalem, and those that were in Egypt, who are threatened to be carried captive into all lands, and there live under the greatest reproach and disgrace; or be destroyed in their own land by the sword, famine, or pestilence, Jer 24:8-10.

Footnotes 5

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