Jeremiah 24:3-10

3 Then the LORD said to me, "¹What 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."

4 Then 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 ²as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

6 'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will ³bring them again to this land; and I will ⁴build them up and not overthrow them, and I will ⁵plant them and not pluck them up.

7 'I will give them a ⁶heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be ⁷My people, and I will be their God, for they will ⁸return to Me with their whole heart.

8 'But like the ⁹bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness -indeed, thus says the LORD -so I will abandon ¹⁰Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the ¹¹remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of ¹²Egypt.

9 'I will ¹³make them a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a ¹⁴reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a ¹⁵curse in all places where * I will scatter them.

10 'I will send the ¹⁶sword, the famine and the pestilence upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.' "

Jeremiah 24:3-10 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.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 1:11, 13; Amos 8:2; Zechariah 4:2
• 2. Nahum 1:7; Zechariah 13:9
• 3. Jeremiah 12:15; Jeremiah 29:10; Jeremiah 32:37; Ezekiel 11:17
• 4. Jeremiah 31:4; Jeremiah 32:41; Jeremiah 33:7; Jeremiah 42:10
• 5. Jeremiah 32:41
• 6. Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:40; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26
• 7. Isaiah 51:16; Jeremiah 7:23; Jeremiah 30:22; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 14:11; Zechariah 8:8; Hebrews 8:10
• 8. 1 Samuel 7:3; Psalms 119:2; Jeremiah 29:13
• 9. Jeremiah 29:17
• 10. Jeremiah 39:5; Ezekiel 12:12, 13
• 11. Jeremiah 39:9
• 12. Jer 44:1, 26-30
• 13. Jeremiah 15:4; Jeremiah 29:18; Jeremiah 34:17
• 14. 1 Kings 9:7; Psalms 44:13, 14
• 15. Isaiah 65:15
• 16. Isaiah 51:19; Jeremiah 21:9; Jeremiah 27:8; Ezekiel 5:12-17

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "give up"