Jeremiah 24:8

8 "But thus says the LORD: Like 1the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat 2Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who 3dwell in the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah 24:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 24:8

And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil,
&c.] Here follows an explication of the evil figs, and an application of them to the wicked Jews: surely thus saith the Lord, so will I give Zedekiah the king of
Judah;
who was then the reigning king of Judah, Jeconiah's father's brother; whom the king of Babylon had made king in his stead, and changed his name from Mattaniah to Zedekiah, ( 2 Kings 24:17 ) ; him the Lord threatens to give up to ruin and destruction, or to deliver into the hands of the enemy: and his princes, and the residue of them, that remain in this land;
the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem that continued in the land of Judea, and were not carried captive: and them that dwell in the land of Egypt;
who had fled thither for safety upon the invasion of their land, and besieging their city; all these being like to the bad figs, exceeding evil and wicked, are threatened to be delivered into the hands of their enemies, though they might think themselves safe and secure where they were.

Jeremiah 24:8 In-Context

6 I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not uproot them.
7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
8 "But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.
9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.
10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers."

Cross References 3

  • 1. ver. 2; Jeremiah 29:17
  • 2. Jeremiah 21:1
  • 3. See Jeremiah 43 - 44
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.